If you’re new to veganism or in the process of transitioning, you’re likely on the hunt for a new cruelty-free shampoo. After all, traditional formulas often contain a surprising amount of animal ingredients, and they’re not always obvious. (It doesn’t help that some ingredients, like keratin or amino acids, can be derived from both animal and plant sources.)
To help you find the best vegan shampoo, we’ve gathered and tested all of our favorite vegan hair care brands. Below, you’ll find reviews of the top 10 shampoos that made the cut. From probiotic products that clarify to clean formulas that cut down on frizz, there’s something for everyone on this list.
Table of Contents
Best Vegan Shampoos at a Glance
- Top Choice: The Earthling Company Shampoo Bar
- Plantoria Moroccan Argan Oil Shampoo, Anti-Frizz Formula
- Ethique Eco-Friendly Solid Shampoo Bar
- The Seaweed Bath Co. Balancing Argan Shampoo
- Acure Curiously Clarifying Lemongrass Shampoo
- Alba Botanica Drink It Up Coconut Milk, Hawaiian Duo Set
- ecoLove Natural Shampoo with Organic Cucumber Spinach & Parsley
- Nature Sustained Raw & Wild Soap Nut Probiotics Shampoo
- Mokita Natural Regenerate Voluminizing Shampoo
- superzero All Over Hair and Body Bar
What Makes a Great Vegan Shampoo?
Vegan shampoos come in a range of different formulations and, even, different forms. But they all have a few things in common.
First, these shampoos are made without animal-derived ingredients. That means they don’t contain:
- Lanolin (derived from wool)
- Squalene (from shark liver oil)
- Stearic acid (often derived from pigs’ stomachs)
- Glycerin (from animal fat)
- Keratin (from feathers, wool, and horns)
- Casein (from cow’s milk)
- Beeswax
- Silk powder (from silkworms)
- Biotin (often derived from organ meat or eggs)
- Gelatin
- Honey
While these are some of the most common animal derivatives found in shampoos and conditioners, they’re not the only ones.
In addition to what’s in the bottle, vegan shampoo products also do not utilize animal testing.
All vegan shampoos use only plant-based ingredients and humane testing practices. But the best ones use superior formulations containing clean, safe, effective, nourishing ingredients that help repair damaged hair and target specific problem areas.
Today, vegan shampoos can be found in traditional liquid formulas as well as hard bar options. Bars have the added benefit of contributing less to waste and resource use. They also often contain fewer filler ingredients and are cleaner to produce and safer to wash down the drain.
The Best Vegan Shampoos
Top Choice: The Earthling Company Shampoo
- Type: Bar
- Main Ingredients: Cocoa butter, marshmallow root, coconut oil, jojoba oil
- Best for: All hair types
The Earthling Company is one of our favorite new creators of vegan haircare products. Their shampoo bars, especially, have a lot of great features to offer.
Compared to traditional liquid shampoos, this option is lightweight, zero waste, and is the perfect addition to your hair care routine and vegan lifestyle.
Each of Earthling Company’s shampoo bars is made with a short list of simple ingredients that are better for you and the planet. Cocoa butter and naturally derived surfactants make up the base of each bar. Specialty ingredients such as marshmallow root, jojoba oil, and vitamin B5 elevate the effects to give you strong hair that shines.
This hair perfector works to repair and support all hair types. It provides nourishing moisture to dry hair and is highly clarifying to balance oily hair.
Best of all, this awesome shampoo comes in seven wonderful scents including sweet sandalwood, citrus sun, and cool breeze.
Earthling Company Shampoo bars get our vote for the best vegan shampoo because of their clean, simple formulas, their commitment to sustainable, vegan practices, and how good they make our hair feel.
Plantoria Moroccan Argan Oil Shampoo, Anti-Frizz Formula
- Type: Liquid
- Main Ingredients: Coconut oil, argan oil, avocado oil, jojoba
- Best for: Curly hair with frizz problems
If your hair is prone to frizz, try this argan oil anti-frizz vegan product by Plantoria. It’s perfect for taming curls but also formulated to fight dandruff, making it a wonderful two-in-one product. Besides, who says anti-dandruff shampoo needs to be harsh on the scalp? Thanks to this shampoo, you can banish flakes with a gentle vegan formula that’s free of dyes, parabens, and artificial ingredients.
Ethique Eco-Friendly Solid Shampoo Bar
- Type: Bar
- Main Ingredients: Cocoa butter, coconut oil
- Best for: Balanced to dry hair
One of the easiest ways to reduce your plastic waste is to use a solid shampoo bar, like this peppermint one by Ethique. In fact, it’s equivalent to three bottles of liquid shampoo! The bar, which is made of coconut cream and cocoa butter, is also vegan, cruelty-free, and palm oil-free.
On Amazon, Ethique offers eight different shampoo bars, including one that doubles as a shave bar.
The Seaweed Bath Co. Balancing Argan Shampoo
- Type: Liquid
- Main Ingredients: Seaweed, chlorella, aloe
- Best for: Normal to oily hair
The Seaweed Bath Co.’s Balancing Argan Shampoo is one of the best vegan hair products for normal hair, oily hair, and everything in between. It also contains aloe, argan oil, and organic bladderwrack seaweed from Maine, which is jam-packed with more than 65 vitamins and minerals. Your hair will adore the natural ingredients in this budget-friendly, fragrance-free vegan formula.
Acure Curiously Clarifying Lemongrass Shampoo
- Type: Liquid
- Main Ingredients: Aloe, lemongrass extract, argan oil
- Best for: Color-treated hair and oily hair
For a vegan shampoo that’s safe for color-treated hair, look no further than this cleansing lemongrass shampoo by Acure. It contains zero synthetic fragrance, paraben, sulfate, silicone, sodium chloride, and phthalate.
Alba Botanica Drink It Up Coconut Milk, Hawaiian Duo Set
- Type: Liquid
- Main Ingredients: Coconut oil, macadamia nut oil, aloe, calendula
- Best for: Dry hair
With ingredients like coconut milk and calendula, this vegan shampoo and conditioner set is a must for dry and thirsty hair. It also doesn’t hurt that it smells like a tropical oasis!
To top it off, both products are sulfate-free, formaldehyde-free, paraben-free, and phthalate-free, so you’ll feel good knowing that they’re gentle and safe.
ecoLove Natural Shampoo with Organic Cucumber Spinach & Parsley
- Type: Liquid
- Main Ingredients: Aloe, dead sea minerals, green tea extract, parsley extract
- Best for: Normal hair and those with sensitive skin
Need a vegan shampoo for the whole family? Try ecoLove’s family shampoo with organic cucumber, spinach, and parsley. Because the formula is so gentle, children and babies as young as six months old can use it.
The shampoo, which contains 26 Dead Sea minerals and organic herb extracts, is 100% certified vegan and is SLS-free, paraben-free, and petrocehmical-free.
Nature Sustained Raw & Wild Soap Nut Probiotics Shampoo
- Type: Liquid
- Main Ingredients: Soap nut, makrut lime, elephant apple, probiotics
- Best for: Oily hair, dandruff, and itchy scalps
Described as “kombucha for your scalp,” this organic shampoo by Nature Sustained is made with soap nuts, which produce a natural soap called saponin. The vegan probiotic content is also designed to relieve scalp conditions like greasiness, itching, and scalp erythema.
Mokita Natural Regenerate Voluminizing Shampoo
- Type: Liquid
- Main Ingredients: Vegan biotin, argan oil, vegan keratin
- Best for: Thinning hair and fine hair
Mokita Natural’s thickening biotin shampoo is made for men and women with all types of hair. Its botanical formula, which includes ingredients like marigold and rosemary, is pH balanced, hypoallergenic, vegan, and cruelty-free. According to Amazon reviewers, the consistency is thick and the smell is light and pleasant.
superzero All Over Hair and Body Bar
- Type: Bar
- Main Ingredients: Shea butter, charcoal powder, soy protein
- Best for: All-in-one use
Formulated to replace shampoo and body wash, superzero’s multi-use bar is essential for travelers and minimalists alike. It features a blend of biotin, caffeine, and charcoal and boasts a soothing freshwater scent. The bar, like superzero’s other products, is certified climate neutral and free of silicones, parabens, and sulfates.
