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Rinse, Refill, Repeat: The 11 Best Refillable Shampoos & Conditioners

1 year ago

For hair as clean as your conscience

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Rinse, Refill, Repeat: The 11 Best Refillable Shampoos & Conditioners

Ready to clean up your act? In the race to net zero, single-use plastic is one of the supervillains. There’s no time like the present to overhaul single use plastic in your beauty regime. Enter refillables: a term which all beauty junkies will be familiar with in 2022. Like many solutions striving to be more sustainable, refillables aren’t perfect (and amongst a deluge of greenwashing it’s important to do your research) but when it comes to thinking about the environmental impact of your haircare, reducing your plastic packaging is a good place to start. Ready to clean up your act? Here are some of the best refillable and zero-waste shampoos and conditioners to invest in to keep your locks in tip top shape.

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The Best Refillable Shampoos & Conditioners

Hands holding bottle around net bag on green background

Centred

Lasting up to 60 washes, Centred’s solid shampoo bar packs a surprising amount of power into its pocket-sized packaging.

The wrapping is zero plastic and low waste for a more eco-friendly addition to your bathroom shelf, and a formula of organic flower waters, aloe vera and caffeine moisturises and strengthens your hair. If you’re not a fan of scent, it also comes in a fragrance-free version with 99.75 per cent naturally-derived ingredients. Just think of how much space you’ll save in your washbag…

Hero product: Centred Altered State Solid Shampoo Bar, £20, wearecentred.com

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Bower

Bower has transformed the UK refills business with its household cleaning and personal care ranges, but it’s also on a constant quest for improvement – which is why it’s currently developing reusable packaging to give its refill pouches a longer lifespan.

Made in the UK and packed with 100 per cent natural and cruelty free ingredients this lemon, mandarin and rosemary formula intensively conditions your locks with the vitamin E and Shea butter. Once you’re all out, simply pop your pouch in a pre-paid postal return box and send it back to Bower to be recycled.

Hero product: Bramley lemon, madarin and rosemary conditioner refill, £19.99, bowercollective.com

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Ouai

Ouai deserves a mention as a haircare brand striving to be greener and improve its environmental credentials.

There’s a little way to go yet – but several of its hit products (including the Detox, Fine, Thick and medium shampoo and conditioner bottles) are both recyclable and made from PCR. On top of that, its refill pouches use 60 per cent less plastic than traditional bottles.

Hero product: Ouai Medium Hair Shampoo Refill, £56, theouai.co.uk

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Lush

All hail Lush – not only are all of its products delicious-smelling and packed with natural ingredients, but its shampoo bars will ensure your hair is as clean as your conscience at all times.

As with all of Lush’s products the formula is cruelty free with zero-waste packaging. We love the ‘Honey I Washed My Hair’ bar, made with Fair Trade honey, wild orange oil and bergamot. This gently hydrating formula is perfect to nourish dried out, dull, cold-weather hair.

Hero product: Lush Honey I Washed My Hair shampoo bar, £9, lush.com

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Kiehl’s

Kiehl’s lovers will be thrilled to find that it now has its own dedicated range of refills. For a while the brand has been making steady progress with its eco credentials – with a Recycle and Be Rewarded scheme which has been going since 2009 for customers to drop off their empties in store and a focus on sustainably-sourced ingredients.

But why throw away your empties if you can repurpose them? For a less plastic-intensive haircare routine, its signature Amino Acid shampoo and conditioner both come as refillable pouches. The brand also has refillable versions of its grapefruit liquid hand and body cleanser and créme de corps moisturiser.

Hero product: Kiehls refillable Amino Acid shampoo, £52, kiehls.co.uk

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Davines

Aiming to go completely plastic free? Take your eco-resolutions a step further and treat your locks to this hydrating solid shampoo bar, enriched with red celery extracts and made with 97 per cent biodegradable ingredients.

A B Corp since 2016, Davines is committed to generating a positive ethical and sustainable impact. So while you’re picking up your shampoo, it’s worth checking out its other haircare products. The paper wrapper is 100 per cent FSC, and you can pop it straight in your recycling when you’re finished.

Hero product: Davines Dede shampoo bar, £15, davines.com

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Showcase your work with this high-quality mockup of a glossy stand up pouch. Premium quality. Incredibly simple to use. Includes special layers and smart object for your design. This mockup is available for purchase only on Yellow Images. Sample design

Rahua

Certified by Symbiotic, Rahua is committed to never harvesting non-regenerative rainforest ingredients and helps support self-sustained rainforests. Its formula is also kinder to your hair than synthetic-heavy counterparts, with natural Symbiotic classified ingredients, purchased at a price to help sustain indiginous economies, and recycled and 100 per cent recyclable PET packaging.

Plus, by using its refills – it claims your plastic consumption will be reduced by 90 per cent versus normal shampoo. Result.

Hero product: Rahua Hydration shampoo refill, £32, rahua.uk

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Hairstory

Hairstory wants to debunk the idea that we need both shampoo and conditioner for healthy hair, instead offering a line of refillable cleansers that allegedly work for all hair types.

Having narrowed down its product line to three cleansers, the brand also promotes transparency by listing every ingredient on the back of its bottles. Hairstory is run by a small team in Manhattan, and is also part of the 1% for the Planet initiative.

Hero product: Hairstory New Wash Original, £44, hairstory.com

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Refillable bottles and pouches of hair product

Fiils

When looking for refillable shampoos and conditioners, we suggest looking closer to home. UK beauty brand Fiils, which is carbon neutral, has so far offset enough CO2 emissions to heat a home for 100 years and reduced 30 per cent more emissions and 70 per cent more plastic waste than the typical shampoo supply chain.

As well as using natural, vegan and cruelty-free ingredients, Fiils has also made sure its products are easily refillable (pumps and bottles are all reusable) and therefore low waste.

Hero product: Fiils Lemongrass Hair Duo, £26, fiils.co

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Love Ocean

Want to get the whole family involved in your routine shake-up? Children’s haircare and bodywash brand Love Ocean was founded by Gabi Jennings, a self-professed ocean lover and mother, who wanted a soothing bath product for her kids without compromising the planet.

Every purchase with Love Ocean removes 1kg of plastic from the ocean, and all products are cruelty-free, dermatologist approved and suitable for sensitive skin, aged 6 months and above.

Hero product: Love Ocean Hair & Body Wash Refill Pouch, £6.99, johnbellcroyden.co.uk

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The Body Shop

British high street stalwart The Body Shop has long been dedicated to doing good, so it should come as no surprise that it has begun offering a new refill service in nearly 800 of its stores across the world. Simply head into your closest store, pick up one of the jazzy aluminium bottles on display and fill it with your favourite shampoo or conditioner. Once you’ve used up your haircare at home, simply rinse out the bottle and bring it back into store so you can fill it up again.

You can find out more about The Body Shop’s refill scheme, with a list of stores offering the service, here.

Hero product: The Body Shop Moringa Shine & Protection Shampoo, £9, thebodyshop.com

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Main image: Unsplash, @taisiiastupak