Avalon Organics Shampoo and Conditioner

Maybe you're allergic to ammonium laurel sulfate or perfumes found in most beauty care products. Or maybe you're looking for something a little more earth-friendly to wash your hair with in the morning. Either way, Avalon Organics shampoo and conditioner might be the hair care product you've been dying to find.

An 11 ounce bottle of Avalon Organics shampoo or conditioner costs between $4.49 and $6.99, depending on the smell. The prices vary because the prices of the essential oils used to create the smell of the shampoo and conditioner vary widely. Like the price, the smells tend to vary widely in their appeal. When I go to my local Whole Foods, the Avalon Organics section of the shampoo and conditioner aisle is always selectively picked over. I recommend the peppermint as having the best smell by far. Although the tea tree oil type works best for dandruff control, the trade off is that it smells a little like gasoline.

For the environmentally minded individual, Avalon Organics uses no animal products, no funky chemicals, and does no animal testing. All the ingredients (including the ingredients that make the smell) come from plants.

Because Avalon Organics shampoo and conditioner does not contain ammonium laurel sulfate, which is a detergent and a foaming agent, individuals used to a more mainstream shampoo might be disappointed by the lack of lather produced by the shampoo. Once you get used to the lack of soapy excess in Avalon Organics shampoo, though, normal shampoo will feel like a horrible waste when most of it foams up and washes down the drain. With Avalon Organics shampoo, you can actually use much less to make your hair feel clean and save money in the long run.

A distinct advantage of using a shampoo and conditioner without ammonium laurel sulfate is that Avalon Organics leaves more of your hair's natural oils in your hair. The natural oil your scalp produces protects your hair from sun damage and breakage. Most people who use a conventional shampoo must condition after shampooing to coat the hair with a protective film to replace the oils that have been stripped by the detergent in the shampoo. Because Avalon Organics shampoo is ammonium laurel sulfate-free, you may or may not actually need to use a conditioner after shampooing.

Personally, I have what I consider to be fairly normal hair. It's about medium-length and slightly wavy. I get a little dandruff when the weather changes, and I dye my hair about once every two months. With a conventional shampoo, I need to condition every time I wash my hair. With Avalon Organics, I can skip the conditioner most of the time. The steep price tag associated with buying Avalon Organics shampoo and conditioner ends up balancing itself out this way, too, as you'll end up using less product to get the same results from your hair.