*facepalm*

[eruthros]

My usual shampoo/conditioner is out of stock and even if it were in stock the price has increased $3/bottle. And I already have to buy on the internet because nobody in town sells a shampoo that I know I'm not allergic to - there are some that might be okay, but I'm not paying $30 to find out. So now I'm doing the cosmeticsdatabase + amazon.com thing to find out if there's an alternative that doesn't cost a fortune and is in stock and isn't evil.

This is how I am now seriously contemplating buying a shampoo called "Yes to Carrots!"

(Yes I know you can make your own shampoo, yes I know some people can shampoo with castile soap, yes I know about shampoo-free living, please do not suggest I just immediately switch to one of those things. But if you have I-like-this-relatively-inexpensive-brand recs I would be glad to hear them!)

Comments

[anatsuno]

I have enjoyed using Yes to Carrots! shampoo in the past… I have no recs but I will be crossing my fingers that this one works out for you!

[grammarwoman]

If there's a TJ Maxx or Marshalls store near you, they will often have a wide selection of salon-style discounted shampoos and conditioners. I've picked up Korres, Rusk, and other brands for much cheaper than standard price. I think they even sometimes have the Carrots brand.

If you need to try a bunch, at least it might help if they're cheaper, right?

[theleaveswant]

Do you know what ingredients you react to, specifically? Or would that be just too easy?

[glass_icarus]

I would add Harmon's to the list of places where you could potentially get a variety of cheap products? (I'm pretty sure it's a chain, but don't know how widespread it is!)

[stewardess]

I bought yes to carrots! Liked it a lot.

[telesilla]

I'm not allergic but I am wary of using more chemicals than I have to. I've fallen in love with Oyin's shampoo bar. Their stuff is designed for PoC's hair needs, but the shampoo bar works fine on my straight white girl "normal to oily" hair too. If you have really dry hair, their conditioner is really nice too.

[blushingflower]

I don't know what you're allergic too, and I'm sure you've tried this, but I have a friend who's allergic/sensitive to a zillion different perfumes/dyes/other things and she finds that White Rain and Suave (you know, the cheap stuff) tends to give her fewer problems than more expensive shampoos. Also, Johnson's Baby Shampoo.

[lauredhel]

I'm mostly useless to you, I suspect - I use homemade for all sorts of things - soap, body butter, hair treatment, etc - but shampoo is the one thing I fork out $$$ for, having discovered over years (decades) of experimentation that this is what works for me.

I don't know brands - we're nowhere near each other, I don't think - but my only other suggestion is that if it's the fragrances you're allergic to, you could look up unfragranced shampoo base suppliers (often stocked at soapmaking suppliers here), and just use that without adding fragrance. I do this for hair conditioner.

Oh wait, I may have a useful last-minute suggestion? A way to stretch shampoo quite a lot is to dilute it by about one in three or one in four, and dispense it with a foamy bottle (might be called "foaming bottle" or "foamer bottle" where you are). It really spreads a lot further that way. Example supplier (I have no connection).