Do you actually need a different shampoo while you’re pregnant? You might if your situation meets certain criteria.
For example, are you trying to protect the health of your growing baby? Then you’re probably avoiding harsh chemicals. Although only a handful of studies have looked at how much impact hair products have on pregnancy, you can’t be too careful. After all, in the 1920s, people used to think that radioactive toothpaste would make teeth stronger.
Next, it’s likely that your hair will be thicker and perhaps more curly while you’re expecting. The extra hormones change the shape of your hair follicle. You might also notice that your scalp is oilier. If you’re not used to dealing with extra volume and curls, you’ll be surprised how the right shampoo will help.
Also, if you’re using a medicated dandruff shampoo, you’ll want to discuss it with your doctor or switch to something milder during these months.
Finally, your sense of smell and your skin may be too sensitive right now for your current shampoo. That’s no problem as some of the best shampoos and conditioners for pregnancy are fragrance-free.
Let’s look at mild shampoos and conditioners that will keep your tresses in top shape while you’re expecting.
Best Shampoos & Conditioners for Pregnancy (2024 Update)
1. Paul Mitchell Original Shampoo One
It’s a classic – the Original Shampoo One from Paul Mitchell is gentle enough for washing every day of the week. It won’t fade color-treated hair. Plus, the vegan formula is free of parabens. But yes, it has a mild fragrance.
2. Paul Mitchell The Conditioner
If you’ve put aside styling products for the duration, you can still manage your hair with The Conditioner from Paul Mitchell. It’s a leave-in conditioner that tames frizz, reduces static, and allows you to shape and style your locks. One of the key ingredients is Hawaiian Awapuhi.
3. Klorane Shampoo with Oat Milk
Klorane’s Oat Milk shampoo has a mild earthy scent and lathers up into a pleasing foam. It’s free of silicones, sulfates, and parabens. Moreover, this is one product everyone in the family can use.
The oat milk calms sensitive scalps. It also leaves oily hair shiny and light. Follow up with the Oat Milk conditioner to get rid of tangles and static electricity.
4. Klorane Conditioner with Oat Milk
Klorane’s matching conditioner ensures that your hair looks salon fresh. It’s also free of sulfates, silicones, parabens, and sodium chloride.
5. Klorane Shampoo with Peony
If you don’t mind a floral fragrance, Klorane’s Shampoo with Peony is a handy alternative to dandruff shampoo. It heals flaky scalps and fortifies fragile hair with Vitamin B5. Of course, there are no sulfates, silicones, or parabens and it’s safe for color-treated hair.
6. Klorane Gel Conditioner with Peony for Sensitive and Irritated Scalp
Klorane’s Peony Conditioner turns frizz into luminous wavy curls. But it won’t weigh down your strands because it’s free of silicones, parabens, and sulfates.
7. Not Your Mother’s Beach Babe Moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioner
Are you struggling with oily hair? Try this shampoo and conditioner to gently deep-clean your scalp without the need for sulfates. It won’t strip moisture as it hydrates with sea kelp and coconut oil. These ingredients give it a beachy fragrance. And it leaves your strands shiny, soft, and with plenty of volume.
8. Avalon Organics Clarifying Lemon Shampoo
Avalon Organics Clarifying Lemon Shampoo doesn’t just define your curls, but it also protects highlights and any color treatment. Although it has no sulfates, customers say it makes plenty of foam. It’s a salon formula used by the pros.
9. Jessicurl Too Shea Extra Moisturizing Conditioner,
Follow up the Cleansing Shampoo with Jessicurl’s Moisturizing Conditioner. It’s perfect for blond and highlighted hair because it polishes each strand to a high shine.
10. Cleure Hypoallergenic Replenishment Conditioner for Sensitive Skin
Keep your tresses moisturized with Cleure’s Replenishment Conditioner. It’s also free of allergens like artificial fragrances, parabens, gluten, sulfates, and so on. Together, this conditioner and the shampoo have answered the prayers of people with sensitive skin across the country.
11. Pharmaceutical Specialties Free & Clear Hair Shampoo for Sensitive Skin
Remember the brand name Vanicream? Now their products are labeled as from Pharmaceutical Specialties. But this Free & Clear Shampoo is the same fragrance-free, pH-balanced one as before.
Why does it matter if your shampoo is pH-balanced? Your hair, like your skin, is slightly acidic. If you use an alkali soap on it, you damage the natural barrier against moisture loss and pollutants. It’s like what happens if you wash the dishes by hand.
Free & Clear also avoids artificial dyes, sulfates, parabens, and even masking fragrances. But even with all that it lacks, users say it makes their hair feel clean and fresh.
12. Free & Clear Hair Conditioner
To add a little shine after you use the Free & Clear shampoo, don’t forget the matching conditioner. It won’t leave any residue on your scalp or strands. Let it work for a few minutes before rinsing for best results.
13. Paula’s Choice All Over Hair & Body Shampoo Fragrance-Free Shampoo & Body Wash
If you’re tired, busy, or just don’t want to clutter up the shower, this all-in-one solution might spark your interest. It’s from Paula’s Choice, a company started by Paula Begoun. She was dealing with sensitive skin and couldn’t find products that met her needs. Now the ones her company makes meet a high standard. They always lack fragrances, and the label always explains the purpose of each ingredient.
This shampoo and body wash is mild enough for color-treated hair and delicate skin. It won’t leave a residue, either. You might find it interesting to read their article on why they include SLES, a sulfate.
14. Paula’s Choice Smooth Finish Conditioner
The Smooth Finish Conditioner is fragrance-free and doubles as a shaving cream. Rinse it off after a few minutes, or leave it in to tame kinky or coarse hair throughout the day.
15. Jason Fragrance-Free Shampoo
The Jason Fragrance-Free Shampoo is another popular purchase among shoppers with sensitive scalps. It won’t fade color treatments, and it doesn’t have phthalates, sulfates, or parabens. Instead, aloe and panthenol keep your locks moisturized while sage makes them shine.
Shampoo for Oily Hair & Oily Scalp – Natural Dandruff Treatment for Women & Men from Maple Holistics
Earlier we mentioned one shampoo from Klorane that can help resolve dandruff. This one from Maple Holistics can, too. It contains botanical extracts like rosemary, cypress, lemon, and basil. These ingredients heal flaky skin and reduce oiliness to clarify your scalp and leave your hair radiant. But the manufacturer warns it may take up to 10 days to get dandruff under control.
It has an herbal aroma from the natural components, not from chemicals. Give it a try knowing you can get a full refund if you’re not satisfied.
16. Silk18 Natural Hair Conditioner by Maple Holistics
The Silk18 hair conditioner is packed with silk amino acids. It makes each strand luminous and soft while it reduces static and frizz. Some of the other key ingredients include argan and jojoba oils plus botanical keratin. The only fragrance comes from 100% natural vanilla.
17. Maple Holistics Tea Tree Oil Shampoo and Hair Conditioner
Another solution for dandruff is tea tree oil, also known as Melaleuca. It’s antiseptic and antifungal, so it eliminates the root causes of flakiness and scalp irritation. The shampoo and conditioner in this set calm itchiness and repair brittle, thinning hair as well.
18. Christina Moss Naturals Hair Shampoo
If you’ve purchased other items from Christina Moss Naturals, you already know they avoid harmful chemicals. Their shampoo and conditioner are made with organic and natural components and backed by a satisfaction guarantee. They are even mild enough for babies. Users who are happy with the shampoo say that a little goes a long way.
19. Christina Moss Naturals Hair Conditioner
Keep your hair vibrant and hydrated with this conditioner. It contains aloe, shea butter, olive oil, kelp extract, and other natural moisturizing ingredients.
20. Aveeno Scalp Soothing Apple Cider Vinegar Blend Shampoo
Aveeno normally makes oatmeal-based skin care products. So it appears that they made a big leap to apple cider vinegar shampoo. Except when you read the label, you’ll discover that it still has oats as a primary ingredient.
The shampoo is free of artificial dyes, parabens, and sulfates. And it’s exactly what you need to clarify your locks and scalp if they’re weighed down with build-up. It eliminates all that leftover mousse, gel, and silicone. In addition, it smells like fresh apples.
21. Aveeno Scalp Soothing Apple Cider Vinegar Blend Conditioner
Enjoy this clarifying conditioner along with the matching shampoo above. Together, they will make your tresses terrifically shiny. Moreover, they are free from artificial dyes, parabens, and sulfates.
22. Volaire Weightless Volumizing Shampoo
Volaire is a weightless volumizing daily use shampoo. It is a lightweight shampoo and consists of natural extracts like algae plus and coconut. The avocado oil present in the shampoo helps to strengthen and nurture the hair. It also ensures healthy, soft and shiny hair. It also adds volume to the hair.
Volaire volumizing shampoo is lightweight. After shampooing the hair, your hair becomes soft and leaves your hair non-sticky. The algae extracts present in the shampoo are rich in helpful vitamins, nutrients, and minerals. It also provides shine and moisture leaving the hair healthy and energetic.
23. Cleure Hypoallergenic Shampoo
Up to this point, we’ve covered shampoos and conditioners with gentle fragrances. But now we’re going to get serious about protecting sensitive skin. Cleure’s Hypoallergenic Shampoo is one of the top recommendations for people with sensitivities to perfumes and other chemicals. It’s absolutely fragrance-free.
Next, there are no sulfates that can strip the natural oil, leaving your hair and scalp overly dry. There are no salicylates, either. That’s convenient as no one knows for sure what effect they might have during pregnancy.
To continue, the shampoo lacks formaldehyde and gluten, plus it’s pH-balanced. It’s so mild, yet effective, that the American Contact Dermatitis Society recommends it for all hair types and color-treated hair. Even the Environmental Working Group gives it a safe rating on their Skin Deep database.
Conclusion
Switching to a mild yet effective shampoo and conditioner during pregnancy is a smart move. It protects your sensitive skin and your baby, too.
Additionally, keep the rest of your body healthy and comfortable. Be sure to check out our reviews of the best body washes and moisturizers for pregnancy.
Related Articles
22
Oct
Can You Dye Your Hair While Pregnant? Here Are the Facts
You gain weight, get food cravings, feel exhausted, and might not feel good about how your body looks. All these things tend to happen when you’re pregnant. Pregnancy comes with a host of body changes as the baby develops, and[...]
19
Oct
Does Dye Work on Synthetic Hair?
It's not that dye doesn't work on synthetic hair. The fact is that these processed fibers don't have the natural pigment in human hair, so the hair dyes we use on human hair don't work on synthetic fibers. So, can[...]
08
Oct
How to Use a Scalp Brush & Stimulate New Hair Growth
If you want to have hair that turns heads, the first thing you need to do is take proper care of your scalp. In case you are wondering how to do that, I am here to tell you that it[...]
Categories: Pregnancy, Hair Care, Shampoo & Conditioner
