Native Shampoo is a natural shampoo sold by the popular personal care brand Native. The company claims that their shampoo contains “clean and effective ingredients” and is free of harmful additive ingredients.
But does Native Shampoo contain research-backed ingredients for improving hair quality? Does it contain any unhealthy ingredients? What was our Product Tester's experience trying it for a month? And is Native Shampoo better or worse than other popular "natural" shampoo brands like Humby Organics?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Native Shampoo and Native Conditioner to give our take on whether or not these products are likely to improve hair quality, and whether or not they're healthy.
We'll also discuss whether or not Native Shampoo may cause hair loss, share our Product Tester's one-month trial (including images) and compare Native to other popular shampoo brands.
Key takeaways:
- Contains some cleansing ingredients
- Contains two inactive ingredients we consider unhealthy
- We do not currently recommend Native Shampoo
Native Shampoo Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in Native Shampoo are shown below:
image source: https://www.nativecos.com/
Lauramidopropyl betaine is a natural and non-toxic cleansing ingredient derived from coconut.
Sodium cocoyl isethionate is another cleansing agent derived from coconut that was shown to be safe and effective in a medical review published in the International Journal of Toxicology.
Native Shampoo contains two additive ingredients that may be questionable from a health perspective.
Fragrance may cause “serious risks” to human health according to a 2016 medical review.
Sodium benzoate is a preservative that can irritate the skin, as we discussed in our Nexxus Shampoo reviews article.
Overall, we consider Native Shampoo likely to be effective for cleaning the hair, but we're unable to identify any ingredients we consider to strengthen or improve the aesthetic appearance of hair.
We don't currently recommend this product due to the inclusion of fragrance and sodium benzoate.
We Tested Native Shampoo
One of our Product Testers named Jerry Hall tested the special edition Boston Kreme scent of Native Shampoo for a month.
Here's his experience:
The product packaging was simple and functional yet the pump was broken, so the product had to be poured from the open bottle.
This shampoo really captured the Dunkin' Donuts scent effectively. It was pleasant but not overpowering.
The product left my hair softer than normal, and was effective with a hard water system.
Here's an image of my hair after a month of use:
The concentration and thickness of the product was a bit overdone for me, but I didn't experience any side effects or other negative effects during use.
I would probably choose a different scent if I were to purchase this product again, rather than a novelty one.
Overall, I would rate Native Shampoo 7/10.
Does Native Shampoo Cause Hair Loss?
There are a number of TikTok videos suggesting that Native Shampoo and Conditioner cause hair loss, so consumers may be concerned about this potential risk when considering the brand.
While we don’t currently recommend Native Shampoo or Native Conditioner, we don’t believe that either product is likely to cause hair loss.
Even the questionable inactive ingredients like fragrance and sodium benzoate do not appear to cause hair loss in clinical studies.
People often blame a product for a health condition that may have occurred while using the product, but that can be correlation rather than causation.
There are millions of users of Native hair care products, which means that many are likely to experience hair loss while using Native products, but it does not necessarily follow that Native products caused the hair loss.
We do not consider this to be a legitimate risk, and the risk of side effects can only be confirmed from clinical trials and not from anecdotal user reports.
Native Conditioner Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in Native Conditioner are shown below:
image source: https://www.nativecos.com/
This formulation list is highly similar to that of Native Shampoo.
Glutamic acid is an interesting ingredient for a conditioner, and a good choice in our opinion, because an animal study found that it promoted hair growth.
1,2 hexanediol is a skin conditioning agent that we recommend avoiding.
A medical review published in the Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety journal described this ingredient as potentially damaging to the environment, and the study authors published the following statement: “it is highly likely that 1,2-hexanediol is toxic to humans.”
Fragrance is included in this formulation as well, and we described in the previous ingredient analysis section why we consider this ingredient to be questionable from a health perspective.
Overall, we consider this to be a less healthy formulation than Native Shampoo due to the inclusion of 1,2 hexanediol, and we don't currently recommend this product.
Native vs. Healthy Shampoo Brands
Here's how Native Shampoo compares to other shampoo brands in terms of potential effectiveness and healthiness, in our opinion:
Briogeo
Contains avocado oil, which is clinically shown to protect hair from damage.
Also contains fragrance, but is free from any synthetic preservatives, giving Briogeo the (very slight) edge in healthiness over Native Shampoo
Winner: Briogeo
Humby Organics
Like Native Shampoo, contains research-backed, naturally-derived active ingredients, and also contains fragrance.
Humby Organics comes in bar form, rather than liquid in single-use plastic, which gives it an edge in regard to healthiness.
Bar shampoo formulations are better for the environment and may reduce the risk of microplastic and other contaminant leaching from plastic bottles.
Winner: Humby Organics
Routine Shampoo
Brand offers a fragrance-free version, and we consider this version to be healthier than Native Shampoo.
Winner: Routine Shampoo
Our Clean Hair Care Picks
Acure Vivacious Volume Shampoo is our top shampoo pick.
It contains argan oil which is clinically shown to help protect hair from damage.
Ritual HyaCera is our top hair growth supplement.
This supplement contains wheat oil extract, and a 2024 clinical trial reported that a wheat lipid complex had "a reducing effect on hair shedding and a stimulating effect on hair reappearance and growth."
Both of the products recommended in this section are free of ingredients we consider to be unhealthy.
Native Shampoo Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Contains effective cleansing ingredients
- Native Conditioner contains a hair growth agent
- Our Product Tester appreciated scent
- Our Product Tester found that it improved his hair qulity
- Unlikely to cause hair loss
Cons:
- Contains fragrance
- Native Shampoo contains a preservative
- Our Product Tester disliked the texture
- Our Product Tester noted the pump was broken
- Native Conditioner contains an ingredient described as "highly likely...toxic to humans" in a medical review
- Doesn't appear clinically tested
