Shampoo Ingredients to Avoid (9 Toxic & Harmful Chemicals)
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Wondering which shampoo ingredients to avoid? Many conventional shampoos contain harsh chemicals that can irritate your scalp, disrupt hormones, or damage your hair over time.
Below are the most common harmful shampoo ingredients—and what to look for instead.
that aren’t obvious from the front label.
Shampoo Ingredients to Avoid
- Parabens
- Sulfates (SLS/SLES)
- Synthetic Fragrance
- Formaldehyde & releasers
- PEG compounds
- DEA, MEA, TEA
- Propylene Glycol
- Artificial dyes
- Drying alcohols
These are the most common shampoo ingredients to avoid—keep reading for why each one matters and how to spot them on labels.
9 Shampoo Ingredients to Avoid
Here are some ingredients you might wish to avoid in your shampoo and other personal care products.
Parabens (Hormone Disruption)
Parabens are preservatives used to extend shelf life in shampoos and other personal care products. Common types include methylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, and ethylparaben.
These ingredients have been shown to mimic estrogen in the body, which may contribute to hormone disruption. Some research has also found parabens in breast tissue, raising concerns about their potential long-term effects.
In addition, parabens can sometimes irritate sensitive skin or trigger reactions in people with allergies.
What to look for on labels:
Ingredients ending in “-paraben” (such as methylparaben or propylparaben)
Sulfates (SLS & SLES) (Can Irritate the Scalp)
Sulfates are cleansing agents that create the foamy lather in many shampoos. The most common types are sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and sodium laureth sulfate (SLES).
While sulfates are effective at removing dirt and oil, they can also strip away your hair’s natural oils. This may lead to dryness, irritation, and a more sensitive scalp—especially for those with eczema, color-treated hair, or curly hair.
What to look for on labels:
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES), Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate (ALS), Sodium Coco-Sulfate (SCS), and variants ending in “sulfate” or “sulfonate.”
Fragrance (Hidden Toxins)
Many products list “fragrance” as a single ingredient, but it can actually represent a mixture of dozens or even hundreds of undisclosed chemicals.
The terms fragrance and/or parfum on a label can include so many toxic ingredients. If you're like me, the smell of artificial fragrance can really give you a headache. Additionally, fragrances in beauty products are one of the most common causes of skin irritation and allergic reactions.
What to look for on labels:
The terms “fragrance” or “parfum.”
Formaldehyde (Carcinogenic)
Formaldehyde (and formaldehyde releasers) are classified as carcinogens that can cause irritation, respiratory issues, allergic reactions, and even hair loss when used in high concentrations. More recent studies link the frequent use of formaldehyde-containing hair straighteners to an increased risk of uterine cancer.
What to look for on labels:
Formalin, Methanal, DMDM hydantoin, Quaternium-15, Imidazolidinyl urea, Diazolidinyl urea, and Sodium hydroxymethylglycinate
Propylene Glycol (Mutagenic & Reproductive Issues)
According to the MSDS, propylene glycol can be mutagenic (that means it affects genetic material) and cause adverse reproductive and birth defects.
What to look for on labels:
1,2-Propanediol, Propane-1,2-diol, or 1,2-Dihydroxypropane. Methyl Glycol, Trimethyl Glycol, or E1520 (in Europe).
Synthetic Dyes and Colors (Potential Toxicity)
Although these dyes are not classified as carcinogens by the WHO and US EPA, there is evidence that they are a big problem. One study found that women who dye their hair regularly are much more likely to develop bladder cancer. Side note: hair highlighting is likely to be less dangerous since the chemicals don't typically go all the way to your scalp.
What to look for on labels:
FD&C, D&C, Color names, CI followed by a number in Europe, Color, Dye, and Coal Tar Dyes.
Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) Compounds (Toxic Byproducts)
PEGs are made by ethoxylation which uses ethylene oxide (a carcinogen) to react with ingredients to make them less harsh for skin. However, in the process, 1-4 dioxane (a carcinogen) is created and often isn't removed from the final product. There is also some concern about the potentially toxic effects of combinations of PEGS, especially when combined with other ingredients, which of course occurs in shampoos and other haircare products.
What to look for on labels:
Ingredients with “PEG” (like PEG-40, PEG-100), or compounds ending in “-eth” (such as ceteareth, laureth).
Diethanolamine (DEA), MEA, and TEA (Endocrine and Cancer Concerns)
These compounds are used to create foam and adjust pH in shampoos.
These are all endocrine disruptors (hormone-disrupting chemicals) and are known to form cancer-causing compounds called nitrates and nitrosamines. According to Dr. Samuel Epstein, Professor of Environmental Health at the University of Illinois, “repeated skin applications of DEA-based detergents resulted in a major increase in the incidence of two cancers – liver and kidney cancers.”
What to look for on labels:
DEA, Cocamide DEA, Lauramide DEA, DEA-Cetyl Phosphate, or Triethanolamine (TEA), or 2,2′-Dihydroxydiethylamine.
Alcohol (Damaging to Hair)
Alcohol is a solvent and denaturant (meaning it's a poisonous substance that changes the qualities of other natural substances). Isopropyl alcohol has been associated with headaches, flushing, dizziness, depression, nausea, vomiting, and even coma. That sounds terrible, but since the alcohol quickly evaporates on hair, a more realistic concern with putting some alcohols (propanol, isopropanol, and other drying alcohols) is that they can dry out your hair.
Not all alcohols are bad for your hair—fatty alcohols like cetyl, stearyl, and cetearyl alcohol are actually moisturizing and beneficial.
What to look for on labels:
Isopropyl alcohol, ethanol, SD alcohol 40, propanol, and alcohol denat. As mentioned, note that cetyl, stearyl, and cetearyl alcohols are beneficial hydrating agents.
This is all a lot to consider, but it's worth it for better health.
Frequently Asked Questions: Shampoo Ingredients to Avoid
What ingredients should you avoid in shampoo?
The most common shampoo ingredients to avoid include parabens, sulfates (SLS/SLES), synthetic fragrance, formaldehyde and its releasers, PEG compounds, DEA/MEA/TEA, propylene glycol, artificial dyes, and certain drying alcohols. These ingredients may irritate the scalp, dry out hair, or raise health concerns with frequent exposure.
Are sulfates bad for your hair?
Sulfates aren’t inherently “toxic,” but they can be harsh. They strip away natural oils, which may lead to dryness, irritation, and frizz—especially for people with sensitive scalps, curly hair, or color-treated hair.
Is fragrance in shampoo harmful?
Fragrance can be a concern because it often represents a mixture of undisclosed chemicals. For some people, it can trigger headaches, skin irritation, or allergic reactions. Those with sensitivities may benefit from fragrance-free products. In addition, more information is coming out about other health and environmental effects of these chemicals.
What is the safest shampoo to use?
The safest shampoos typically avoid harsh sulfates, parabens, synthetic fragrance, and formaldehyde-releasing preservatives. Look for simpler ingredient lists and brands that are transparent about their formulations.
Are natural shampoos better?
Not always—but many natural shampoos avoid common irritants found in conventional products. The best option depends on your hair type, sensitivities, and what you personally wish to avoid. It may take some trial and error to find what works best for you.
How do I know if my shampoo is toxic?
Check the ingredient label for common problem ingredients like parabens, sulfates, fragrance, and formaldehyde releasers. If you’re unsure, look up unfamiliar ingredients or choose products from brands that prioritize transparency.
How to Avoid Harmful Shampoo Ingredients (Simple Tips)
Once you know which shampoo ingredients to avoid, the next step is choosing better options for your hair and scalp.
1. Avoid Chemical Treatments
I used to get perms twice a year, but those days are over since I realized how toxic they are. Skip the perms and go natural if you can. If you really feel the need to add some color to your hair, try henna or at least do highlights instead of overall color to avoid chemicals being in contact with your scalp.
2. Buy or Make Toxin-free Products
Basically, you should start thinking about the ingredients in your hair products just like you think about what you eat. Read labels and be discerning about what you use on your hair.
I have a pretty simple routine now of a clean shampoo, this Apple Cider Vinegar Hair Rinse and clean hair products including this DIY Hair Spray or a clean alternative. This hair growth oil blend is nourishing for the scalp and hair so you might need fewer products.
Non-toxic Shampoos and Hair Care Products
It's hard to find non-toxic haircare that works well but I've found some great solutions.
- Shampoo: Poofy Organics Mighty Mane Shampoo is my favorite all-natural choice for your hair that I truly love. My hair feels so much stronger with this.
- Shampoo Bars: Both Poofy Organics and Rowe Casa have shampoo bars and Rowe Casa has a Conditioner Bar. The shampoo bar didn't work well for me, but many many people love both of their products.
You can get 20% off your first order at Rowe Casa with code WNM, and 10% off your first order at Poofy Organics with the same code.
Note: if you end up moving to healthier hair products, your hair might act kind of funky for a while. Typically this is a result of your hair losing the icky coatings. After that, you should be on to naturally nicer, healthier hair.
Hope that helps you move towards a more natural beauty routine. Cause a nice “do” for sure isn't very pretty if it makes you sick.
Now that you know which shampoo ingredients to avoid, will you do it?
You’re welcome:)
I have fine straitish white girl hair but I have some black friends that the no poo thing works for. It does destroy hard to keep strong hair. My hair is DRY
Wow. Well, mine is pretty fine and wavy. No way then. Thanks!!!
Listen to your friends, DO NOT do no poo! I did it for 6 months and I’m suffering from it still trying to heal my hair 2 months later
Oh my goodness. I wonder why so many say this and others say it’s the best thing that happened to their hair. What kind of hair do you have? Dry / oily / fine / thick / curly / straight?
I started having problems with a spot on my scalp and the itch was terrible and regular shampoo was not helping. I had already switched to all natural soap bar that had been helping with my exczema and dry skin and decided to try their shampoo bars. They say that different bars work better on different types of hair and it was true. I got different samples and the very first one my hair didnt like. But the second was much better. They work for me and the small sample bar seems to last a while, so I imagine the regular bar lasts ages. Though I havnt finished all my samples yet to know. The itchy spot on my scalp went away and my hair seems healthier. They post different articles on there and one was about hard water and how it rinces your hair differently. They said if you have hard water and you are using their soap bars, extra rincing will keep hair from feeling gummy. I did that and followed their other advice about the shampoo bars and never had any problems with the switch. Its called Chagrin Valley Soap and Salve Company in case anyone is interested.
Thanks for the info. For sure hard water does different things. I stayed w/ a friend who had hard water and my hair was sooooo curly after showering. It was like a DIY perm w/o the chemicals!
I’ve been using Everyday Shea shampoo and after an adjustment it seems to be working well! Today in Whole Foods I asked the employee which shampoo had the fewest ingredients. She went straight to Everyday Shea. I also like that the brand is fair trade, gluten free, and inexpensive. I also asked the Whole Foods employee if she had any ideas about how to handle the oiliness that can come from using more natural shampoos. She said that I could use castile soap every few days on my hair to remove the excess oil, and that it’s what she uses as shampoo when she’s camping. So there’s an extra little tip. 🙂
So she uses castille soap on the camping days? I was told by one of the natural hair companies that it isn’t good for your hair but I forget why – perhaps it strips you of your natural oils?
Yes you are right, I believe it strips the natural oils. The lady said only to use it when I felt like my hair was getting too oily, sort of as a clarification between uses of the regular shampoo. I haven’t tried it yet. Instead I’m just trying to use a ton of the Everyday Shea shampoo until I get a good suds. That seems to be working better than just using a normal shampoo amount.. 🙂
I have been using a great shampoo bar made by a nice company called Camamu. The shampoo bar is Rosemary/Nettle, two herbs that are great for hair. Camamu also has several other shampoo bars that work great for other conditions and hair types. I have been using these bar shampoos for several years, now, and also rinse with either plain ACV, or a concoction I make using a strong tea from rosemary, nettle, and horsetail herbs letting it steep overnight, usually, then adding it and the same amount of ACV. This has worked great for me, and keeps my hair looking its best, while taking good care of it,.
I heard about that awhile ago too. I was a little skeptical after reading some of the negative reviews on Amazon about them and it looked like they get used up fairly quickly. Has that been your experience? I do use rosemary essential oils on my hair and I used to put nettle on it :). I did feel that straight ACV was a little much for my hair and made it brittle – I actually have to be careful about using my hair rinse too often for the same reason. Maybe you have stronger hair than I :)?
Hi Adrienne!
I usually don’t use straight ACV: I either add the herb tea 1/2 & 1/2 and then dilute it with water from the shower, or ACV with about 1/3- 2/3 ACV to water ratio. Guess I didn’t explain that very well….no, I never use straight ACV, either….much too strong. But I do love the shampoo bars.
I did try the Moroccan Method shampoos for awhile, but they just got too expensive, and after awhile, I did note my hair feeling greasy again. With using the shampoo bars, and the tea/ACV/water, I can actually go one or even two days without washing! I have VERY fine, thin hair, so yucky greasy hair is not an option for me. I have noticed since adjusting my diet, including LOTS of coconut oil in cooking, and as a moisturizer that my hair isn’t as greasy as it used to be. Score a big one for eating well!
I just searched Amazon, but didn’t find the Camamu shampoo bars…I order them direct from Camamu. They have always been very nice, and they are in my home state. I prefer to support local if I can, even if they offered it on Amazon I would still go through the Camamu website…
I do have short hair right now, but the bars seem to last forever for me!!! I don’t use that much, just a few small swipes onto the scalp part, then lather it up, and it does lather! I leave it on for a few minutes, then rinse with water, then the tea rinse. Sometimes, if my hair isn’t looking too bad, I will just rinse with the tea, and not shampoo at all. Next time I start a shampoo bar, I’ll note the date, and when it is gone, Ill let you know how long it lasted, but it really does go several months before I need a new one…
I think because I use so much coconut oil in my cooking, that my hair isn’t brittle, but has lots of natural moisturizer… I did try the no poo method, but decided that using baking soda on a regular basis was not really a good thing for my hair, so stopped. I never really got into that anyway….I even tried the WENN method (sp?) which was a product (NOT natural and full of junk ingredients), that seemed to be just conditioner, it was VERY much like shampooing with conditioner, and made my hair yucky! (I accidentally did wash my hair with conditioner, once. I wondered why it got oily SO quickly!!!) Duh. 😉
Interesting – I can actually go many days b/t shampoos w/ several options, but typically I use a little dry shampoo. I should add more coconut oil to my diet. I am doing pretty well but could do more. I saw WENN and saw the many varying reviews so I didn’t try it. Glad I never tried that!
Hi Adrienne! Will have to try this shampoo. Some time ago I ordered (from QVC) a shampoo by a stylist upon recommendation of a friend. Man, that stuff made my scalp sore to touch. My hair is super fine and limp and I need body. Don’t like a perm either because of all the chems in it. I also tried the no poo and did not like it either, my hair felt like straw. I got into essential oils a while back (and thank you for the posts on the oils, very informative) and have tried different recipes off the internet, none to my liking. Thanks for this post, will have to check into this shampoo.
What shampoo did you try, may I ask? I remember researching shampoos awhile ago and I think one that I looked at was offered on QVC. So many of my friends said that No Poo ruined their hair. I just feel like it makes sense – all the ACV and baking soda seems really really harsh.
You are so welcome for the posts on the oils. I really had no idea where that was going when I started writing :).
I hope you like the shampoo and would love to hear what you think. I am really happy with it and with the company as they are trying to push for change across the board. They sincerely seem to be about change regarding chemicals that people use and not just wanting people to buy their stuff and I love that.
I think I replied in the wrong place, lol. The shampoo was by Nick Chavez, a huge bottle which I cannot use as my head was sore to touch. Wanted to say also that I love Native American Nutritionals and Rocky Mountain Oils, they are high quality oils and a great company to deal with.
Oh you’re fine – that’s a different shampoo than the one I was looking at. How terrible? Did you get your money back? I love their oils too and need to place another order. I’m running out of some of my favorites. Thanks!
I have been using Morrocco Method shampoos and their other hair care products and they are great. No toxic ingredients and they work really well.
I am trying their products too. I think I need more time and want to figure out things more. They are clearly a more complicated line for people to use rather than just picking out a shampoo and conditioner, you know?
Not sure if you were replying to me or not but if so then yes it is a little more complicated since they recommend rotating through the 5 different shampoos using a different one each time. But it does make sense that your hair would get used to one shampoo type and not respond as well just like if you do the same exercise every day your muscles get too used to that routine and you need to mix it up. I started with the shampoos and a couple of the conditioners and now I am even onto using the elixirs which seem to last forever. But I guess just using the 5 shampoos and one or 2 conditioners, it is nice that they offer sampler sizes, will be good and I plan to go back to that once I finish up the elixirs.
Yes, I was replying to you. I agree with you on changing things up – that that could be worthwhile. On the other hand, I think that it would make more sense that using the same thing on your hair over and over would be more of an issue if it was depositing things on your hair. One thing I wonder about Morocco is the issue of detoxing and losing your hair – and it sometimes feels that their products leave deposits on the hair. Not that that is necessarily a problem, but it kind of feels like my hair did when I was at a friend’s house where they had really hard water.
Just some of my thoughts at present…..and why I am still figuring their products out.
I made the promise to myself nearly 3 years ago to stop purchasing shampoo and conditioner once I ran out.
I use to buy a bottle of shampoo and a bottle of conditioner every month. I kept my word and stopped purchasing them. I also stopped washing my hair daily. And I probably use a little less per application now then I did before.
I am STILL using up my inventory!
I have – for fun – made my own conditioner and loved how it worked!
I have – for a “let’s see if I can do this” – did the no poo method with just rinsing my hair. I wasn’t quite ready for it, I think, because the feel of my hair was different, although it looked very good and very healthy.
I hope the shampoo and the conditioner work for you!
I use way less per application than I did before as well. So are you using a DIY version or the ones you purchased?
I also have the “let’s see if I can do this” mentality and it can be a blast or too much sometimes, you know?
Thanks!
I am still using the store bought shampoo and conditioner. I can’t believe I stopped buying the stuff nearly three years ago!
I do mix things up and use my own homemade conditioner once in awhile. I want to make sure I had enough time to “tweak” things to my liking before totally running out of the store bought stuff. (Nailed it!)
I am getting ready next week to start trying the homemade shampoos and maybe another go at the no poo method. I know my hair will have to go through a “transition” with the next phase, but I know I have options, and I am confident that I can handle it. 🙂
It IS a blast (and sometimes a mess) to try to do it all homemade, but man, it’s so worth it if you can fine tune the method and the recipe and have fun! You definitely inspire me to keep on trying!
Well, I stock up myself, so I get it – the 3 years thing. And I hear you on needing to tweak.
I don’t seem to need that much conditioner but I would be interested in what you are using. Right now I am not able to handle too much more DIYing out of what I am doing already, but perhaps soon I will. I did try a DIY astringent but it wasn’t quite what I was after. Thanks!
I tried the “no poo” method for a few months and HATED it! Here are my favorite hair care products and I have been using them for years!
https://lorialexander.blogspot.com/2013/06/my-favorite-nontoxic-shampoos.html
Hi Lori. Nice to “meet you”. I tried Aubrey a number of years ago and wasn’t thrilled – I think it made my hair feel sticky. I am pretty sure it was their “body” shampoo. Have you tried that?
Nice to meet you, too! I have enjoyed reading your blog for many years. I haven’t tried the “body” shampoo just the Rosa Mosqueta Nourishing Shampoo in the picture and it has NEVER made my hair sticky. I can go days without washing my hair. It works just as good as all the junky shampoos worked; better, in my opinion. I order it from iherb.com. I even use it to shave my legs and as my body soap. It also has a wonderful smell!
I might have to try that. I have been talking to Aubrey recently, interestingly enough. I don’t wash my hair daily for sure anymore – no time for that :).