Nature’s Best Kept Secrets for Stunning Strands: Non-Toxic Conditioner!
We spend so much time worrying about finding the best natural shampoo. But what about the best natural conditioner?
You put so much work into cleaning your hair, you have to preserve your hair’s health so it can grow long and strong!
Finding a good nontoxic conditioner is just as important as nontoxic shampoo. It will keep your hair moisturized to prevent static while making it manageable for styling.
If you’re a stickler for ingredient lists (or want to be one), you’re in the right place! Let’s find you a new favorite conditioner.
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What Makes a Natural Conditioner “Natural?”
A “natural” conditioner is one that doesn’t have harsh chemicals or questionable substances. Each personal care product you use every day has its own set of chemicals that you should be aware of.
In the case of conditioner, its job is to coat the strands of your hair to make it softer, shinier, and healthier for the best styling. You can do all of these things with natural ingredients just fine!
But since there are little to no regulations within the cosmetics industry, companies can use anything they want to get the same effect.
Big-name companies need to make massive amounts of their products very quickly, which means that they’ll use ingredients that are cheap and easy to manufacture on a massive scale.
Whether or not those ingredients are good for you doesn’t matter at all!
That’s why it’s super important that you gradually switch out your beauty and personal care products to safer, nontoxic options. You’ll be doing your body a huge favor in the long-run.
What the Heck is in My Conditioner?!
While there is a whole slew of toxic ingredients you can find in just about any and every beauty product, conditioners are known to have these ingredients:
- Sulfates (e.g., Sodium Lauryl Sulfate or Sodium Laureth Sulfate): Used for their cleansing properties, but can strip natural oils, causing dryness and irritation.
- Silicones (e.g., Dimethicone, Cyclomethicone): These can build up on hair, weighing it down and preventing essential moisture from penetrating the hair follicles. This one is super common in conditioners!
- Parabens (e.g., Methylparaben, Propylparaben): Used as preservatives; suspected to disrupt hormone function by mimicking estrogen in the body, and linked to breast cancer and reproductive issues.
- Formaldehyde Releasers (e.g., DMDM Hydantoin, Imidazolidinyl Urea): Preservatives that slowly release formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, can cause allergic reactions and skin irritation.
- Fragrances/Perfumes: Can cause allergies and dermatitis; often it’s unclear what chemicals comprise the “fragrance” as it’s considered a trade secret.
- Polyethylene Glycols (PEG): Used as thickeners and can be contaminated with ethylene oxide and 1,4-dioxane, which are toxins and possible carcinogens.
- Synthetic Colors (e.g., Dyes listed as CI followed by a five-digit number): Can cause sensitivity and irritation; some are linked to behavioral issues, like hyperactivity in children.
If you see any of these ingredients on your conditioner’s label, get a natural conditioner when it runs out.
And if you want to learn how to read ingredient lists and make the best informed decision for yourself, check out my ebook Essential Moves to Clean Beauty! It’s the crash course I wish I had when I first started!
How Do I Know Which Conditioner is Best for Me?
While you can totally make a conditioner yourself with some nourishing essential oils, or even some food ingredients, there are plenty of great natural conditioner options for you to choose from.
Most natural conditioners will be full of essential oils and whole food ingredients that nourish your hair much like your diet does. Your hair “drinks” whatever you put on it while wet (and dry too, but mostly wet), so you want to give it a good diet.
What those whole ingredients are, depends on the conditioner’s marketing and ingredient list. Like whom it’s meant for and what it wants to accomplish.
That’s why you’ll see different kinds of conditioners for different hair types. For example, someone with thick, dry hair shouldn’t be using the same conditioner as someone with fine, silky hair.
It all depends on the heaviness of the ingredients involved. Lighter hair should go with lighter ingredients, like aloe vera and apple cider vinegar. Thicker hair should look for ingredients like shea butter or even castor oil.
But you don’t have to worry about this too much. Once you find a few companies you can trust, they do all the research for you. All you have to worry about is finding the one meant for your hair type!
The Best Nontoxic Conditioner for Normal Hair | Just Nutritive Normal Hair Conditioner
If you’re a lucky one with normal hair that’s not too thick, not too thin, and relatively manageable, then you need to check out this conditioner! It’s packed with vitamins and minerals that will keep your hair healthy and moisturized so it can live its best life.
Just Nutritive was one of the first natural hair care brands I stumbled across when I started my clean beauty journey, and I’m so glad I did! You can read all about their amazing hair care line and what I think about them for more details.
I’ve used this conditioner before, and I can confidently say that this stuff works! It’s full of ingredients like aloe and grapeseed oil, among many others that will keep your hair hydrated and manageable.
I will say though, that it was a bit heavy for my hair because it’s very fine. But I’ve found that my hair handles thicker conditioners if I dilute it in a little squeeze bottle first.
If you have thick or normal hair, you shouldn’t have to worry about it at all.
The Best Sustainable Natural Conditioner | Viori Conditioner Bar
Ever heard of a conditioner in bar form? I hadn’t either, until I found Viori Beauty!
You can read all about their amazing mission of helping an indigenous tribe in Asia in my Viori Beauty review. It’s a company that gives back and helps with preservation!
If you’ve ever heard of a shampoo bar before, it’s the exact same concept. It’s just like a soap bar except is meant to go on your hair.
While I was very impressed with Viori’s shampoo bars, I was even more impressed with the conditioner bars! Once I lathered the bar in the shower, it felt and behaved like conditioner straight from a bottle.
And it worked wonderfully on my hair! It didn’t feel gunky or weighed-down at all. Instead, my hair felt smooth and moisturized.
Plus, it’s amazing for saving waste! I love to bring my bars when I travel to save on liquid items.
The Best Natural Conditioner for Curly Hair | Evolvh SmarCurl Hydrating Conditioner
Evolvh is known to be a higher-end brand when it comes to natural hair care, but it’s certainly worth every penny!
I never understood the frustration of managing curly hair until I had my son and he inherited his dad’s curls. I totally get that you need to invest in the right amount of time and resources to get what you want.
The SmartCurl Hydrating Conditioner is one of the best natural conditioners for curly hair on the market! Evolvh also makes a fantastic leave-in conditioner if your hair needs something extra.
While I don’t have the curly hair to properly test out this conditioner, I can say that it does a fantastic job for my son’s hair! It feels so silky and moisturized afterwards with the cutest formed curls, instead of turning into poofy frizz if I just wash it and leave it alone.
Because of this, I can say with utmost confidence that their curly hair conditioner should work wonders for you. Your curly hair is finicky enough without chemicals, let’s not make it any worse.
The Best Natural Conditioner for Frizzy Hair | Rahua Hydration Conditioner
Another fantastic option for general hair care is Rahua. I love the story that the founder named their company after an oil that the people of the Amazon use in their hair to get strong, thick locks.
You’ll be taking some of that Amazonian goodness to your shower with this frizz-friendly conditioner! But this stuff does much more than manage frizz.
It works to penetrate deep into the hair shaft to strengthen and create shine on hair that’s thirsty and has had enough of its damaging routine.
I have had frizzy, dry hair for as long as I can remember. I don’t have to worry about frizz too much because the humidity where I live is basically zero, but my baby hairs around my face will turn into mini afros when it becomes remotely humid.
But when I’m in my typical environment of super dry air, my hair becomes very staticky. There’s just no winning with me when I don’t use a good conditioner!
But I’ve found that this hydrating conditioner gives me the best of both worlds. It smooths out frizz even when I spend time in a greenhouse, and it never gets staticky any other time as well. That’s why it’s one of my personal favorite natural conditioners and totally worth every penny.
The Best Natural Conditioner for Fine Hair | John Masters Conditioner for Fine Hair
Can I get a sound off from all my fine-haired girls in the comments?? Because I need solidarity sometimes!
But seriously, this conditioner makes having fine hair that much easier to deal with. Yes, it’s true that I still can’t replicate most hair tutorials I find on YouTube, but hey, it’s not their fault.
The John Masters conditioner for fine hair will always have my heart because I feel like most brands don’t acknowledge fine-haired people. But we have issues too!
This is the first conditioner to show me what it’s like to have hair that’s completely satisfied with moisture without being the least bit weighed down. I didn’t realize that most of my conditioners were weighing my hair down to some degree until I tried this stuff!
And that’s the most frustrating part about having fine hair. There’s an incredibly fine (No pun intended) line between being dry and overdoing the moisture. But this lovely conditioner hits it right on the nose every time.
The Best Natural Drugstore Conditioner | Acure Organics
If you’ve clicked on a few of the links to these conditioners and weren’t too thrilled with the price, I get it. I can be a total cheapskate for things like shampoo and conditioner.
Luckily, not every natural conditioner on the market costs you an arm and a leg! Allow me to introduce you to Acure, one of my favorite clean beauty brands.
They make clean products for your hair and skin that are actually affordable and effective. Their conditioners are what I’ve been using for several years! I like to rotate between the different scents after running out.
My favorite conditioner is the hydrating line with the yellow bottle. It keeps my hair feeling light and bouncy while maintaining good moisture, which is huge with me.
And you can find their hair care products just about anywhere! I love the convenience of being able to grab some conditioner during my grocery store trip.
Before You Go!
Do you want to learn how to read ingredient lists and become your own clean beauty advocate? Then you need to check out my ebook!
Essential Moves to Clean Beauty will teach you everything you need to know so you can make your own informed decisions on what you put on your body every single day. Click the button below to learn more!