My Favorite Clean Hair Care for 2025
by Sarah Villafranco, MD
As the chief formulator for a natural skincare company, and as a medical doctor, I care A LOT about what goes on my skin, and have spent years researching ingredient safety, which informs my decisions about what to use in our products, as well as the other, non-Osmia products I use in my daily routines. Because I’m an expert in the field, and because our awesome Instagram community has come to trust my take on ingredient safety, I get lots of questions about skincare-adjacent products, such as makeup, home cleaning products, and hair care! Since all of these products affect your skin almost as much as your skincare, I’ve done my research and have a few tried and true favorites to recommend. Below you’ll find my favorite hair care products. This is in no way a complete list of all the awesome hair products out there, but I have used all of these products below myself, and can offer my firsthand experience, which is why I’m sharing them here! I don’t have any affiliation with any of these brands, by the way. Just my honest opinion! And, for reference, I have thick, wavy, coarse, undyed, perimenopausal hair. Before that I had thick, dyed hair. And before that, I had even thicker, undyed hair.
Ingredients I Avoid in Hair Care Products
The list of ingredients you might want to avoid in your hair care products can get pretty long, but as someone with sensitive skin (including a history of perioral dermatitis) who cares about the planet and reacts badly to synthetic fragrance, these are some of the things I try to avoid:
My Favorite Natural Shampoos
| My number one favorite shampoo is the Balance Shampoo by Josh Rosebrook. Organic aloe is the first ingredient, and the foaming agent is saponified coconut oil, or liquid coconut soap, and the rest of the ingredient list is full of simple, beautiful plants. The scent is soft, mildly citrusy, and incredibly pleasant. When I use it with the Balance Conditioner and allow my hair to air dry as I usually do, I get soft, delightfully chunky waves, and my hair feels clean and nourished. |
| I also love theHydrating Cream Hairbath by Innersense, which works well for my thick and thirsty hair. They also released their unscented line within the last few years, a bold move that I applaud loudly on behalf of the sensitive people of the world! The Clarity Hairbath is the unscented shampoo, and I often recommend it to people with sensitive skin and noses. It leaves a slightly more squeaky clean finish than the Hydrating Cream Hairbath, so I alternate between them. |
| Evolvh makes a few kinds of shampoo, some of which have a scent that’s too strong for my nose. But their Ultrashine Ultra Hydrating Shampoo has a pleasant scent and a nice sudsy texture. It does contain cocamidopropyl betaine, which can be a mild irritant for some folks with extremely sensitive skin, but my daughters and I both use it regularly without any issues. |
| For a budget option, I like the Desert Essence Fragrance Free Shampoo. It’s nothing fancy, but leaves my hair feeling clean and soft. They do use synthetic fragrance in some of their products, so I prefer the unscented option which doesn’t have any of the ingredients I try to avoid. |
My Favorite Natural Conditioners
| Again, Josh Rosebrook is usually my first choice, especially for a routine hair wash day. The Balance Conditioner is light, effective, and smells absolutely lovely in a very understated way. With organic aloe as the first ingredient, this feels like giving my hair a nutritious smoothie. It’s not super rich, so if I need something for more of a deep conditioning effect, sometimes I’ll just use the Balance near my scalp and something richer on the ends. |
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| When I want a richer conditioner, I reach for either the Hydrating Cream Conditioner or the Clarity Conditioner from Innersense. Both are thick, rich, and very hydrating for my hair, leaving it soft and easy to brush through in the shower. |
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| The Evolvh Ultrashine Ultra Hydrating Conditioner has a really different feeling than most conditioners. It’s like my hair drinks it up and then it’s all gone, almost like I could get away without rinsing it (although I do rinse it well). It’s hard to explain, but it’s not unpleasant, and my hair feels good after using it! | |
| And, again, for a slightly less spendy option, the Fragrance Free Conditioner by Desert Essence totally does the job for my hair. If you have multiple people sharing your shower, this is not a bad option! |
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My Favorite Styling Products
| If I’m going to let my hair air dry into my natural waves, I use the Innersense Sweet Spirit Leave In Conditioner and the I Create Life Volumizing Foam while I’m still in the shower and my hair is sopping wet. I brush the leave in conditioner through my hair, then use my hands to apply the foam with “prayer hands” as they recommend on their website. |
| If I’m going to dry my hair, I use either theJosh Rosebrook Serum Spray or the Evolvh SuperFinish Polishing Balm. Both of these products work to protect my hair from heat styling, and leave it super silky and smooth! My stylist loved the Evolvh balm so much that she brought it in to her salon and now I don’t have to bring my own anymore! |
My Favorite Hair Styling Tools
My daughter asked for a very posh styling tool called the Dyson Airstraight for Christmas this year, and Santa was generous with her. She, in turn, was generous with me and let me try it on my hair. I have to say, I was impressed. (I better be, with that pricetag!!) It was easy to use, dried my hair straight in less time than when I use a hairdryer, and my hair looked good for the next three days! I don’t have the time or energy to dry my hair often, but when I do, this takes a lot less work than the hair dryer and a round brush.
On the other end of the financial spectrum, thisWet Brush on Amazon is easily the best detangling brush I have ever used, and my daughter, whose hair is as thick as mine used to be, agrees. I only brush my hair wet in the shower, so it’s the only brush I use!
My Favorite Natural Hair Oils
| You knew this was coming, but our Rosemary Scalp Oil is my favorite hair oil of all time, and I use it three times a week. It’s a prewash scalp treatment, and my favorite time to apply it is before a workout, so my scalp heats up while it’s on. I massage it in with my fingertips, leave it in for an hour or two, and then wash and condition as usual. I’ve noticed that my hair feels stronger, and seems to fall out less than it used to. I can also see new growth in some of the areas my hair is a bit thinner lately, and that makes me almost as happy as the beautiful smell of rosemary! | |
 | I also like theI Create Shine serum by Innersense. I use it as the final step in my hair routine on wash days, scrunching it into my air-dried waves on curly days, or smoothing it into my straight hair on the rare days when I get inspired to dry my hair. The ingredient list includes “fragrance,” but they say it is a 100% natural fragrance. I’d love to see the fragrance ingredients listed, as it always makes me feel better than not knowing exactly what’s in there, but I trust Innersense as a brand, so I’ll keep the faith! |
One last note, in case you have either of these products on hand at home: our Naked Body Soap makes an amazing shampoo bar (follow with a conditioner), and I use our Naked Body Mousse as a hair mask occasionally, applying it to wet hair and leaving it on for an hour or two before washing it out! Now that you know all of my hair secrets, I hope you find some great products to try for yourself!
OUR WELLNESS + SKINCARE EXPERT
Sarah Villafranco, MD
Dr. Sarah Villafranco attended Georgetown University Medical School, and went on to complete her residency in emergency medicine at George Washington University. She moved to Colorado, where she practiced as a board-certified emergency medicine physician at Aspen Valley Hospital, Snowmass Clinic, and Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs, CO. After losing her mother to pancreatic cancer, she took a local soap making class, and fell in love with the chemistry and artistry of making soap. Sarah went into research mode and was alarmed to learn how many potentially harmful ingredients were in most skincare products on the market. She knew she could make better, safer products that were as effective (if not more so) than conventional products. After a few years of research and development, Sarah stepped away from the emergency room to launch Osmia Skincare in April of 2012. She remains a licensed physician in Colorado, and now helps people find healthier, happier skin as CEO of the brand.
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Rosemary Scalp Oil
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Rosemary Scalp Oil
A natural, rosemary hair oil to support healthy hair growth and scalp health.
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A natural, unscented body soap for all skin types, including dry or sensitive skin, pregnancy, and newborn babies.
Naked Body Mousse
A natural, unscented body butter for all skin types, including sensitive skin, pregnancy, and newborn babies.
