Suffering from a serious skin condition? I think I’ve found the perfect shampoo...

I’m not allergic to peanuts or penicillin. I can drink milk, and I don’t react to pollen but when it comes to most hair and beauty products? Boy do I suffer! 

Way back when I was thirteen years old, I remember being really excited to get my first ‘grown-up’ shampoo. My mom took me to the local drugstore and I spent (what felt like) hours picking the perfect bottle. I think it was something by Tresemme or L’oreal in the end. Wrapped in gold, with a glamorous name and one of those little black stoppers that you flip up and down with your thumb. 

I couldn’t *wait* to give it a whirl. I was convinced that it’d make me look like the women I saw on the billboards outside my school and the whole thing felt like some incredible, exquisite coming of age ceremony. I was here, I’d arrived. I was ready to grow up.

Sadly, that first shampoo brought me up in a terrible rash. My scalp was a livid red for days, and I vividly remember my mom shouting at me to stop scratching every time she walked past my bedroom door. 

Fast forward to 2020 and I’m avoiding drugstore shampoo like the plague. In fact, I have to avoid anything with a chemical irritant on the ingredient list and I spend most of my free time searching for hypoallergenic beauty products that won’t leave me scratching at my scalp. 

And I know I’m not alone in this, because figures released by Frontiers in Medicine suggest that 60 - 70% of Americans suffer from sensitive skin, and while it’s true that some suffers won’t be triggered by the same chemicals as me, I suspect that most people react poorly to drugstore shampoo. In fact, a quick survey of my friend group revealed that at least one in every six people get an itchy scalp after washing their hair, and a survey conducted by Health.com seems to back up these findings, arguing that as many as 50% of us could be sensitive to everyday hair products. 

What’s more, approximately 16.5 million Americans also suffer from a condition called contact dermatitis; a form of eczema that’s triggered by contact with an irritating substance (like the parabens found in most beauty products). Contact dermatitis isn’t the worst thing in the world, but it comes pretty close. It’s incredibly itchy, and break-outs can leave your sin looking red and cracked for days. It’s also strongly associated with cosmetic products, and my own research shows that a lot of European countries are starting to ban the ingredients that are linked to this punishing skin condition. Cos let's face it, no hairdo is worth that kind of pain! 

And then there’s the actual allergy sufferers, who end up with an awful, red rash every time they use a standard beauty product

Now, we can prove that all three of these conditions are linked to chemical contaminants, In fact, we can even go so far as pinpointing the individual culprits; proving that additives like DMDM hydantoin release formaldehyde every time they start to break down in your skin cells, or showing that benzophenones can trigger all sorts of allergic reactions

But avoiding these nasty chemicals can be incredibly tough. They’re lurking in most beauty products and they’re always cropping up in unexpected places. Like facial cleansers, or shampoos. This is partly because they help cosmetic manufacturers to cut corners and extend the shelf life of their products, but it's also part of what I see as a wider issue in the beauty industry - where manufacturers simply don’t pay close enough attention to the potential side-effects of their decisions.

Like many allergy sufferers, I’ve spent a *huge* amount of time searching for beauty products that won’t irritate my skin. I’ve browsed literally thousands of web pages and I’ve also tried more products than I’d like to admit. And yes, that does mean that I’ve spent a lot of time sporting a red and itchy scalp!

I think it’s worth it though, because every so often I come across something like No Nothing’s moisturising shampoo. 

Now, I want to start off by saying that I’m not one to gush about beauty products, so trust me when I say that this (game changing) product has absolutely redefined my routine. It’s incredibly gentle, it’s completely hypoallergenic and it really seems to soothe and nourish my hair. 

The manufacturer has gone to extraordinary lengths to remove any potential irritants too. In fact, last time I checked the ingredient list I think there were only about 8 different substances in there, and at least 3 of them were derived from avocado and coconut.

It’s also one of a (tiny) handful of shampoos that’s endorsed by Finland’s Allergy and Asthma Federation, and that’s a pretty big deal because Finland’s Allergy and Asthma Federation is internationally renowned for it’s high standards and unerring attention to detail. 

To get their stamp of approval, I’m told that you have to submit your product to a specialist control group of (highly-qualified) doctors and dermatologists, who go all-in, and test for every chemical irritant known to man. I’m also told that you have to supply the federation with any research connected to the ingredients that are used to manufacture your product so I think it’s pretty safe to say that this awesome little shampoo is safe for sensitive (or allergy prone) skin. 

But I’m not just recommending it because it’s clean. I’m recommending it because it’s actually brilliant. Remember that search for the* perfect* shampoo I embarked on when I was thirteen years old? The dream was to find something that’d make my hair look like a model. Something that’d give my hair body and shine. Something that’d leave me looking like I’d just walked out of the most expensive hair salon in LA.

I was disappointed when I found that I couldn’t use Loreal or Tressme, but I finally feel like I’ve found a viable alternative, because this stuff? Well lets just say that it’s head and shoulders above the majority of hypoallergenic hair products. It’s deeply nourishing. It’s designed to drive moisture deep into the roots of your hair and it’s enriched with avocado oil - a fantastic (and incredibly gentle) ingredient that softens dry hair; giving it that pearlescent, silky shine that we’re all lusting after. 

No Nothing’s moisturising shampoo is also one of the few shampoos that doesn't seem to leave much buildup. I’ve been using it for over three months now, but there’s no sign that I’m developing dull or lank tresses. In fact, it seems to work just as well as it did when I started out, and that’s a big deal for me because I work out a lot, and that means washing my hair at least every two days. 

So yeah, if you’re like me and you’re desperate for a good shampoo that won’t stress your skin, I’d definitely consider giving this stuff a go! In fact, I’ve been recommending it to my friends and family for months and I’ll continue to advocate until products like this are on the shelves of every drug store. It’s not fair that people with sensitive skin face such limited choice on a daily basis, and I think everyone should know that there are viable alternatives to the chemical-laden products we see advertised on TV.