Did you even think that you had to worry about gluten in your shampoo? I know, it’s one more thing to worry about, finding gluten free shampoo & conditioner! When we were diagnosed we didn’t even think about it until someone told us. We went right home, looked up our ingredients & found the word WHEAT, listed on the label. We were crushed! We used Pureology Essential Repair. It was our FAVORITE. Even as I’m writing this, I miss the smell… Anyway, most, if not all, shampoo has wheat. Shampoos, lotions & other like products contain many ingredients that most people are unfamiliar with. We are well versed to some extent in the ingredients we ingest, but rarely do we scan the lists on labeled bottles of conditioner or makeup remover. Finding gluten free shampoo & conditioner can be a very difficult & daunting task. That’s why we would like to save you the hassle of doing the time, research, experimenting & money!
Our hair history & symptoms:
When we were growing up, Bri had the most staticky hair known to man. We didn’t think it was physically possible for a single human being to hold THAT much electricity. She asked the hairstylist, me- when I became one, about her static problem, so I asked my instructors & other salon professionals for their input. We decided to give her hydrating shampoo, non-hydrating shampoo, serums, hairsprays, gels, & we even rubbed non static dryer sheets all over her hair…just kidding, we didn’t actually do that. Nothing seemed to work. I eventually just told her, sorry!
When I was going to hair school, my hair started burning off mid shaft while blow drying my hair. I kid you not. It was the weirdest thing. I considered myself an extreme caretaker of my hair. I had never dyed it before & I was using products that were supposedly “good” for my hair. So I stopped using a lot of the products & went back to the basics: Shampoo, conditioner, hairspray, letting my hair dry on it’s own, etc…No root lifter, serums, or anything like that.
Years later, when Bri & I were living together, I felt like I had narrowed our products down to a perfect science. We were using my coveted Pureology Shampoo, combined with the Hydrate Light Conditioner, & about every three washes we would use the Hydrate Conditioner, which is a more intense hydrator. This seemed to be the perfect combination to maintain our static. We had our limitations though. If we used the intense hydrator too much or too little, our hair would be flat & staticky. We couldn’t use any conditioner on our scalp (I never do this, even now), even though we needed it. Our scalp was SO dry. We were itchy, flaky &, I know this seems gross, we could go several days without shampooing our hair. Days. The natural oils that our scalp was suppose to produce, were depleted. In high school, our hair had body, shine, bounce, etc. Now, it was lacking in all those departments. What the heck!?
After I got married, I started to notice that my hair was falling out. I would brush it in the shower & when I ran my hands through my hair, tons of strands would fall out. I did this several times until each time less & less came out, until nothing came out. My hair was more thin than it should have been.
Hair recovery:
When we discovered there was gluten in our shampoo we immediately stopped using it. I had just purchased a huge bottle, so I had to sell mine (it was not cheap!) to another stylist. Then the search was on. We researched as many ingredients as we could find. I was determined to find a high quality brand, pretty equal to Pureology, that we liked. And as always, I try looking for non-labeled gluten free products before going the certified route because it’s usually cheaper. I looked through Loreal Professional, Redkin, Biolage & a few others. Every time, without fail, we found a red flag ingredient. (These brands may have gluten free shampoos now, I don’t know, but at the time we could not find anything they offered that didn’t have a product containing gluten).
So, because I couldn’t find anything, I asked one of the representatives who worked at the place I get my product (only licensed cosmetologists are allowed to shop there) to see if they had any gluten free shampoo & conditioner. She directed me to the Sexy Hair Line (I briefly mentioned this gluten free shampoo & conditioner in our post, “Getting Started on the Gluten Free Lifestyle in 6 Steps.” ). So, because we were desperate for GF shampoo, we tried it. Unfortunately, even after several washes, our hair was still extremely staticky. I also remember my hair feeling heavy & weighed down. So I went back & looked at a few of the certified GF brands.
And then we found it.
Gluten Free Shampoo
The reasons why we tried Alterna Bamboo Volume Gluten Free Shampoo & Conditioner
:
:1- It provided a shampoo & conditioner for every type of hair; something that was very important to me because not all hair is created equal. Providing all these specialized products demonstrated that they understand that, just because we are looking for a gluten free shampoo & conditioner, it doesn’t mean the options have to be limited.
2- The other organic/gluten free shampoo & conditioner lines were extremely small. I didn’t want to feel like I was doomed to a single product that was a “one size fits all” type of thing just because I needed GF shampoo. It was out of my comfort zone to go to the more “natural side” of hair care, too.
The product:
Once we purchased our first bottle, we were sold. The first week we noticed that our static had gone down. Again, NOTHING had worked up until this point. That was the main reason why we continued using it. Over time, we noticed our hair began to exhibit major changes. We noticed more shine. Our hair had life again. After even more time it started to feel fuller. I started losing less & less hair. The static present in our hair leveled out to a normal amount.
Obviously this shampoo & conditioner, coupled with abstaining from gluten, is the perfect recipe to having normal hair again. You cannot be eating gluten occasionally or using the occasional gluten-filled hairspray. You are what you eat. Your hair, skin & nails are a byproduct of what you consume. If you have Celiac Disease or a Gluten Intolerance & you’re eating food with gluten in it, it WILL harm you regardless of how little you consume.
After more than a year of using our gluten free shampoo & conditioner & over two years of being off gluten, we can finally say our hair is back to normal. I think the reason it took us so long is simply because we have long hair. Naturally, its going to take longer. 😉
It is important to keep your hair clear of gluten, just like your tummy! If you are having some of the symptoms we listed up above & you don’t know what to do or what products to try, give this shampoo & conditioner a shot! See if it works for you!
Looking for other hair products we love, click on over here!
D @ The Kosher Cave Girl
I’ve never heard of that brand, but I’ll have to check them out! Thank you, girls!
Connect-the-Cloths
Oh no! Well, I’m glad you ladies found a solution! Beautiful hair! I’m so jealous ;D
<3 Carsla
Founder & CEO of Connect-the-Cloths
http://www.connect-the-cloths.com
A stylist, foodie, & writer's blog in development.
Aly
Hey! I nominated y’all for the Liebster Award. You can find the post here: http://alyarmstrong.com/liebsteraward/. I would love to see your answers!
Juliana
This is awesome! I bought some of this shampoo and conditioner almost as soon as I read this post and I LOVE it! I thought I just had crappy hair! Have you found any foundations that are gluten-free and work really well? I found a foundation that I love and just found out it has gluten in it (UGH!).
Brooke Roundy
Oh my gosh I’m so glad we were able to save your hair from Celiac Destruction!! Glad you found as much success with this duo as we did! As far as foundation, we are believers in bareMinerals Powder Foundation. Have you tried it?
Juliana
I have and I reacted badly to the bismuth oxychloride in it. I just ordered some gluten and bismuth oxychloride free mineral foundation samples from Alima. I am hoping it will work a little better for me than the bareMinerals did. 🙂
Bill
My hair seemed A-OK even after I found I had Celiac disease. It was full and easy to manage.
But, every time I shampooed my EYES looked so red and raw, it was as if I was about to bleed to death out of them. The doctor said, “No more tears” will solve that. Made them just as read; so I called J&J & they gave me the ‘middleman’ answer of “We don’t knowingly use gluten as an ingredient, but can’t say it is gluten free.”
So does this product leave your eyes red and raw or just A-OK?
Valerie
I read that Bri has a sensitivity soy also, I also do and have been looking for product I’m going to try this since it doesn’t seem to bother her. Is there a body lotion you could recommend?
Brooke Roundy
Hi Valerie! We use Jergens body lotion. We have never had an issue with it!
Kim
Thank you for this! I was just diagnosed with celiac disease a couple days ago and I felt so overwhelmed with everything that needs to change. I went and bought some of this today and it was kind of a sigh of relief to have one less thing to worry about.
Brooke Roundy
Oh I am so glad!! Thank you for your comment! We would love to know how you like it after you try it! We hope you love it as much as we do 😉
Melissa Sandrone
I have tried many so called gluten free shampoos and conditioners which do not work for me because I also have dermatitis herpeditiformis, the skin disease that goes along with celiac. The companies are either not cleaning there vats between batches or there is gluten floating around in the plant contaminating the gf product. Each time when I wash my hair besides the gross hair loss I itch all down my body when rinsed out and takes approx. 8 washes to get it clear. My question is do you have this problem also and if so is this product ok?
Brooke Roundy
Melissa, that sounds like such a hard thing to deal with! I can’t even imagine! We don’t have this problem so unfortunately I don’t know which product would work for you. 🙁 Have you tried using baking soda instead of shampoo and doing an apple cider vinegar rinse to condition? I don’t know if that would irritate your skin or not but it’s 100% natural and I know it’s worked for some people who have severe sensitivities to even the slightest hint of gluten. Good luck!!
krystal
I have your solution!!! Hugo Naturals!!! I have the worlds itchy scalp and after using these products boy did it cure it. I have dermatitis on my scalp. also they test their gluten to be 5ppm and less which is the strictest gluten testing standards.
Jacqueline Wong
Melissa, I have this problem and I totally understand. I switch shampoo/conditioner every month this past 6 months my symptoms have toned down thanks to new discoveries. I’ve been using “100% PURE Shampoo & Conditiioner” its GF, I switched off to “ShISEIDo Ma Cherie” from Japan and Essence Moist Spray (leave-in protector); once a week I give my hair a Deep Moisture Treatment. UNITE, R+CO, HEMPZ. I am ordering Christopher Robins hair products, its GF and PH balance. My naturopath suggested I take Probiotics, B6+B12
Caitlin Ray
Hello! I have been undiagnosed for over 10 years and May of 2014 they FINALLY gave me an answer! Celiac’s has made me so sensitive to gluten that when even a lotion product with wheat touches me my skin swells and burns and turns red for days. Do you know if this company also has a gluten free hair heat protector and hairspray? I love curling my hair but hate not using a protector on it also. Also, where can I buy these products? Thank you! 🙂
Brooke Roundy
Hello Caitlin! Wow! I am so sorry to hear about how long you went diagnosed. My sister totally can relate! Alterna offers a pretty solid gluten free line so I’m sure they have other products you might be interested in. I know Ulta carries it. I haven’t seen it anywhere else. I buy mine from the licensed cosmetologist store. So if you know a hair stylist, maybe see if she can grab some for you! Otherwise you can shop online. 🙂
Caitlin Ray
Thank you so much!
Abigail
I would really love to try this shampoo but I have oily hair so it concerns me when it says moisturizing. Any suggestions?
Brooke Roundy
Hi Abigail! It really is awesome! If you are worried about the one listed above, they do provide other shampoo’s. I would look at their website and see which one you feel most comfortable with and what might fit your specific hair type!
Abigail
Thank You will do
Misa
I ‘m 27 And I was diagnosed in 16 (but I have it since I was born). And I didnt know that gluten is also in shampoo,thank you so much for this info!! This shampoo you are writing about is also in my country, I’ll definitely try it! Sometimes I have dandruff, do you think this shampoo will help me? Thank you.
Brooke Roundy
Hi! When I was eating gluten and using a shampoo that wasn’t gluten free, my scalp was SUPER dry causing dandruff. I haven’t had a problem since I started using this gluten free shampoo. So I sure hope it will fix your problem!!
Carol Johnson
I definitely want to try. Was diagnosed with a gluten intolerance a couple months ago and my hair is awful(it is very fine and not much of it) it breaks and looks dry and damaged no matter what I do. Thank you. Do you also use a multivitamin? I am trying to find a good gluten free multi too. Thanks again.
Darise McLoughlin
Has Alterna changed their ingredients? I’m looking on their website and it’s showing up with gluten as an ingredient.
Brooke Roundy
Hmm where are you seeing that and what ingredient are you referring to? I just looked up it up on Alterna’s website and each bottle in the Bamboo line still says, “Free Of:
Parabens, Sulfates, Phthalates, Synthetic Color, Sodium Chloride, Gluten, DEA/TEA & Triclosan”
Here is a link to the ingredients for the shampoo: http://shop.alternahaircare.com/bamboo/volume/shampoo?