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 are these claims actually true or are they just marketing claims? What’s actually in Native Shampoo and are the ingredients effective for improving hair quality and apperance? Are there any questionable additive ingredients? And do real users rate and describe the effects of Native Shampoo?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Native Shampoo and Native Conditioner based on clinical studies to give our take on whether or not these products are likely to improve hair quality and appearance.
We'll feature unsponsored customer reviews of the brand, share our opinion on whether or not Native Shampoo can cause hair loss, and provide a cost comparison to show which retailer sells Native Shampoo for the best price.
Native Shampoo Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in Native Shampoo are shown above.
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 apperance of hair.
We don't currently recommend this product due to the inclusion of fragrance and sodium benzoate.
One of the most popular reviews of Native Shampoo comes from a YouTube creator named Britt:
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 above, and this ingredient list is highly similar to that in 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.
Are There Toxins in Shampoo?
One of the most popular YouTube videos on toxins in shampoo is published by a creator named Dr. Wendy Myers who's a Naturopathic Doctor (ND).
We typically don’t recommend medical advice from NDs but this video is informative in our opinion:
Where to Buy Native for the Best Price
Native hair products are sold at a variety of online retailers. Here's a price breakdown for a one-time purchase at the time of updating this article:
Native Shampoo
Amazon: $16.50 (third-party seller, link)
Walmart: $9.97 (plus shipping, link)
Brand website: $10 (free shipping, link)
Native Conditioner
Amazon: $14.99 (third-party seller, link)
Walmart: $9.97 (plus shipping, link)
Brand website: $10 (free shipping, link)
Native's website has the best price on individual orders by around 50% when factoring in shipping fees.
Amazon does have a Native Shampoo & Conditioner set that's the same price as the brand's website ($20 for both products combined).
Real Customers Review Native Shampoo
Amazon is a better resource for unbiased customer reviews than a brand's website in our opinion.
Native's shampoo and conditioner 2-pack has been reviewed over 250 times on Amazon at the time of updating this article, with an average review rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.
The top positive review is written by a user named "Kimberly DoBraska" who gives the product a 5/5 star rating, and likes both the scent and product experience:
"I originally bought a travel size of these, and I loved it. I love the smell and how this makes my hair feel! Will order again"
The top negative review comes from a user named "Hailey B." who gives the product a 1/5 star rating, and dislikes the scent and texture:
"I love other Native products, such as their mint/cucumber shampoo, deodorants, but this one just wasn't great. It leaves my hair greasy-looking and smells like my grandma."
Native currently has an average review rating of 2.44 out of 5 stars on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website, and the brand has failed to respond to the majority of customer complaints at the time of updating this article, which is a red flag in our opinion.
Native Shampoo currently has an average review rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars on Google.
Our Clean Hair Care Picks
Acure Vivacious Volume Shampoo is our top shampoo pick, and only costs $7.49 at the time of updating this article.
This shampoo is formulated with effective and non-toxic plant-based compounds like aloe vera juice and argan oil. It also contains rosemary leaf oil which was shown in a clinical trial published in the Phytotherapy Research journal to promote hair growth.
Happy Head Topical is our top hair growth solution.
This formulation uses FDA-approved hair loss ingredients like minoxidil which is clinically shown to increase hair count by 11%.
The brand also publishes the percentage concentration of each active ingredient, which is a sign of quality and transparency.
Pros and Cons of Native Shampoo
Here are the pros and cons of Native Shampoo in our opinion:
Pros:
- Contains effective cleansing ingredients
- Great packaging
- Affordable
- Native Conditioner contains a hair growth agent
- Mostly positive online customer reviews
- Free shipping from brand's website
- Unlikely to cause hair loss
Cons:
- Contains fragrance
- Native Shampoo contains a preservative
- Native Conditioner contains an ingredient described as "highly likely...toxic to humans" in a medical review
- Doesn't appear clinically tested
