Finding the perfect hair care products can feel like winning the lottery. These sustainable, clean, and oh-so-effective picks from the Ethos founders are must-try products for healthy, shiny, happy hair.
The quest for perfect hair can seem fruitless. From the coloring, curling, drying, and everything in between, it can feel impossible to ever achieve the hair we want. Add to that the shampoos and hair products that can strip our locks of precious oils, dry out our scalps, and lead to split ends. Whether you’re an overwasher, an underwasher, or somewhere in between, your hair washing habits could be adding to the problems.
We’re not promising miracles, and healing your hair can be a process, but with the right hair care products, anything is possible. At the very least, these picks shouldn’t make your situation worse. Check out our favorite sustainable and clean hair care products for locks that deserve the very best.
Jill’s Picks
1. dpHUE Apple Cider Vinegar Shampoo
If you’re not washing your hair with apple cider vinegar, are you even washing your hair? Apple cider vinegar, or ACV, is the shine-maker. It cleans, balances the scalp, and keeps your color intact. There’s science to back this up. Credit the acidity in ACV. Dry, brittle, and (ahem) frizzy hair, is generally more alkaline. The acidity of ACV helps to lower the pH and promote balance. Because it’s also microbial, it can keep the scalp healthier, too. And because vinegar is all-natural, it’s safer for your body and the planet. The dpHUE ACV shampoo is free of all nasties like parabens, phthalates, and sulfates, and is made with all vegan ingredients.
2. Reverie Milk Anti-Frizz Leave-In Nourishing Treatment
Don’t let the name fool you. There’s no dairy here, just sustainable, natural plant oils that tame frizz, promote moisture, and lock in the shine. Suitable for all hair types, it’s infused with 16 essential oils for a fresh scent everyone will love. Reverie’s products are handcrafted in California is small batches made from wild harvested, sustainable, and organic ingredients. Use throughout the day to keep your shine.
3. Bread Beauty Supply Scalp-Serum: Cooling Greens Exfoliating Scalp Treatment
From vegan hair care brand Bread Beauty Supply comes this must-have for healthy hair. After all, healthy hair starts with a healthy scalp, and this scalp serum aims to bring new life to your head. It’s a revelation; cooling mint soothes, reduces itching, exfoliates thanks to lactic acid, and it’s easy to use. Just squeeze a few drops onto your scalp and massage through with fingers for a scalp refresh. Plus, this formula is free from added fragrance, just pure peppermint goodness for your healthiest scalp ever. It’s a great mid-afternoon pick-me-up if you need a little refresh. The recyclable bottles look adorable too.
4. Kitsch Coconut Oil Deep Moisturizing Conditioner Bar
Bar shampoo is one of the hottest beauty trends for 2022. But bar conditioners are going to be hot, too, just like this coconut oil moisturizing bar from Kitsch. Ditch the plastic bottles but not the healthy hair with this oil-rich and emollient conditioning bar. A single bar is estimated to last through 100 washes, which will save at last two bottles of liquid shampoo or conditioner. Simple to use and shower space saver, you’ll never go back after you make the sustainable switch to bar conditioner.
Jackie’s Picks
5. Aveda Nutriplenish Leave-In Conditioner
I’ll be honest, I was never too concerned with my hair care routine. I was lucky enough to be born with naturally wavy, silky smooth locks that didn’t take too much effort. That drastically changed when I moved to Colorado and found every inch of my body, including my hair and scalp, desperately dehydrated. While I started to slather on pounds of intensive lotion to my skin and switched to a hydrating shampoo, I still suffered from sad locks, until I found this leave-in conditioner from Aveda. I load it on after my showers to replenish, hydrate, and protect my strands from everything the Colorado weather tries to throw at it. I love Aveda’s products as they are packed with good for you and good for the planet ingredients. It also uses wind and solar manufacturing and its bottles are crafted from post-consumer materials.
6. R+Co Dry Shampoo
Dry Shampoo has been a girl’s best friend for years now and I am definitely a believer. I used to be a “wash my hair every day” kinda gal because I could not handle the greasy hair I woke up to on day 2, let along trying to make it to Day 3. That all changed when I found the right dry shampoo. This one from R+Co is lightweight so to not overly weigh down my hair and leaves no white residue. The formula is equipped with Vitamin E to hydrate the hair while Pro-Vitamin B5 adds that extra body and volume we all need and want.
7. SunBum Purple Shampoo
I hate brassiness in my hair. I loathe it actually. I prefer my (color treated) locks to be Daenerys Targaryen icy white. Yes, there is a lot of maintenance involved but if you had a killer Purple Shampoo, trips to the salon can be much farther apart. As long as you’re good with the slightly grown-out look—which I have come to love. This affordable Purple Shampoo from cruelty-free brand SunBum is honestly a lifesaver. I have tried pretty much all of the vegan purple shampoos on the market in my 32 years of being a blonde and this is one of the best. With Blue Spirulina, Violet extracts, and banana, it gently cleanses and tones hair, while helping it stay soft and hydrated.