Review: Beauty Without Cruelty Daily Benefits Shampoo

Long before it was trendy, Beauty Without Cruelty was making cruelty-free beauty products (since 1963, according to their website). I remember seeing BWC products in natural food stores many years ago, but I'm ashamed to say I have never actually tried anything from this brand. Until now, that is!

I was contacted by BWC recently and they kindly sent me a couple of products for review. The first one, which I'm going to review today, is the Daily Benefits Shampoo:

Beauty Without Cruelty Daily Benefits Shampoo

(retail: $10.95, 16 oz)

Ingredients (from the BWC website):

Botanical infusion of: Betula alba (birch) leaf, Betula alba (birch) sap,Melilotus officinalis (clover) blossom, Tussilago farfara (coltsfoot), Equisetumarvense (horsetail), Urtica dioica (nettle), Achillea millefolium (yarrow),inositol, Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary), Salvia officinalis (sage) inpurified water, sodium c14-16 olefin sulfonate, cocamidopropyl betaine,panthenol, hydrolysed soy protein, niacin, Aloe barbadensis (aloe) leaf juice*,soy protein, yeast extract, citric acid, phospholipids, sodium benzoate,potassium sobate, ethyl hexyl glycerin, Cympobogon flexuosus (lemongrass) oil*,Citrus aurantium (sweet orange) oil*, Lavandula hybrida (lavandin) oil*. 10%Organic Content. *organic ingredients NOP & ECOCERT, certified by BCS.

I've mentioned before on this blog that sulfate-free shampoos are often hit-or-miss for me. Since I have fine, long, wavy, color-treated hair that's dry on the ends and oily at the roots, I've found that some SLS-free shampoos either make my hair feel drier, or they just don't clean my oily roots deeply enough, leaving my hair flat and lifeless. So that said, I'm pretty particular about my SLS-free shampoos.

Before I give you my personal take on this shampoo, I want to briefly tell you about Mr. G's experience. Whenever I'm testing a product, I will put it in the shower (if it's a product intended for use in the shower, of course) and I'll casually mention to Mr. G that it's in there, in case he wants to give it a whirl. Usually I'm met with, "Oh, yeah, sure. Wait, what did you say?" Clearly he doesn't get as excited as you or I might be to find a new product in the shower!

Maybe he was drawn to the minimalist packaging. Who knows? But he actually used this product, and after the first time he used it, he came to me and said, "Wow. That new shampoo is amazing. I think it's my favorite shampoo to date." I asked him why he felt this way, and he proceeded to explain that it's the first shampoo he's used in a long time that didn't make his hair feel even a tiny bit dry (for reference, Mr. G's a life-long surfer who has a lot of natural-lightening due to being in the sun and ocean). But on the flipside, he said it really cleaned his hair, and that "a lot of the shampoos in the shower" leave his hair feeling coated, greasy or heavy (hey, I like my moisturizing shampoos, what can I say?).

Sounds like a glowing review, right? And from a visual standpoint, I'd like to add that even though he NEVER (and I do mean never) uses a hair dryer, Mr. G's hair looks like he's actually styled it when it dries! His hair seems to lie on his head more uniformly, and it just looks and feels softer. (I actually think it's adorable that he doesn't really style his hair, but it is nice when it looks like he has!)

After using this shampoo many times now, I can 100% confirm that I feel the same way about it as Mr. G. This shampoo lathers beautifully, and I find that I don't need a lot to get the job done. The fragrance is not strong or overbearing, and I love it (it smells like pure orange essential oil to me). I find that this shampoo rinses easily and leaves my hair feeling squeaky clean, but NOT in a "wow, my hair feels like hay" kind of way. My hair feels like a child's hair when I'm done using this shampoo, and I say that in the best possible way. You know how when wash a child's hair (which is of course extremely healthy and undamaged) it just has that soft, squeaky-clean texture to it? That's what MY hair feels like when I rinse this shampoo out of my hair.

I've used this shampoo with a variety of different conditioners in my stash, and I find that it works well with all of them. I don't know how else to put this, but I find that this shampoo readies my hair to "accept" the conditioner in a way that other shampoos do not. It's like it cleans my hair in a way that really lets the conditioner do it's work to its fullest potential.

FINAL VERDICT: This is both my, and Mr. G's, new favorite shampoo. I find that it leaves my hair shiny, bouncy and squeaky-clean in the best possible way. My hair feels weightless when it's dry, and my waves are soft and uniform. I find this shampoo to work well with every conditioner I own, as it seems to prepare my hair so that my conditioner can work its magic. If your hair is similar to mine, I think you might very much enjoy Beauty Without Cruelty Daily Benefits Shampoo.

You can purchase Beauty Without Cruelty Daily Benefits Shampoo on the brand's website. For more information about where to purchase Beauty Without Cruelty products, click here.

Have you tried any Beauty Without Cruelty products? If so, do you have any favorites? Please check back soon for my review of the Fragrance Free Body Lotion.

A sample of this product was given to Nouveau Cheap for editorial purposes, either directly from the manufacturer or from the agency that works on behalf of the manufacturer. All reviews on NouveauCheap.blogspot.com are the honest opinion of its author and editorial samples do not, in any way, affect the outcome of product reviews.