A look at a top-selling natural shampoo on Amazon.com…
This product costs $32 for 11 ounces it claims to be all natural and good at preventing dandruff. Is it worthwhile? Let’s take a look at the label.
Komenuka Bijin All Natural Moisturizing Shampoo Ingredients
Water
As always, water is the main solvent in shampoo.
Coconut oil derivatives
This is not an approved name for a cosmetic ingredient so it’s a little difficult to understand exactly what’s in the formula. Quite a few cleaning agents in shampoos are derived from coconut oil. Sodium lauryl sulfate, the ingredients every one loves to hate, is one example. Based on this ingredient list it’s impossible to tell if this product contains SLS or a different surfactant derived from coconut oil.
Glycol amide stearate
Again this is not be technically correct name for this ingredient but this appears to be a thickener or a pearling agent.
Ginseng, rice bran, rice germ oil, swertia (herb), wheat extract, seaweed, aloe
These natural extracts certainly look convincing on the label, however they add no functionality to a rinse off product such as this one.
Butylene glycol, alcohol
These are the solvents used to dissolve the extracts.
Polyglyceryl, PEG-150
This is a thickener and I’m curious how they justify their natural claims while using an ethoxylated material.
Fragrance
This, of course, is the scent of the product. I also wonder if they are using all natural fragrance ingredients which exist but which are more expensive.
Missing ingredients
Besides noting what’s in the formula it’s also important to notice what is not here. In particular, note that there are no anti-dandruff ingredients even though the website describes the product’s ability to remove and prevent dandruff. There are also no preservatives listed.
Below is a link to Komenuka Bijin shampoo
Reference: Truerenu.com
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve never tried the product but I think highly unfair to judge it solely basing on infomation provided by a reseller.
Komenuka Bijin is a Japanese brand and its official website does not say anything about the shampoo being all-natural nor preventing dandruff. The shampooo’s ingredient list cited on your reference and on your Amazon link is grossly mislisted as well. Its full ingredient list is provided on its official website, and in case you’re wondering, sodium lauryl sulfate, cocamide DEA, and sodium laureth sulfate are its cleansing agents.
@Haruka: Thanks for the additional information. I looked on their website but was unable to find a full ingredient list. However, I still contend that fans of “natural” ingredients will balk at SLS, SLES, and Cocamide DEA. Perhaps the company will find it helpful to know that resellers are making unsupportable drug claims for their product.
@thebeautybrains: http://www.komenuka-bijin.com/ is not actually their official website, although it may appear that way. It’s another reseller. Nihonsakari Co. (Japanese sake producer) is the company behind Komenuka Bijin. Official Website is http://www.nihonsakari.co.jp/index.shtml and the shampoo in question (with the most recent packaging) is https://shop.nihonsakari.co.jp/items/view/48. It’s in Japanese (Komenuka Bijin does not have an official English website) along with its ingredient list.
Here is the ingredients list I found upon my first search for the product because one of my subbies said it was great, so naturally I looked it up – Water, Rice bran, Rice germ oil, Aloe, Seaweed, Coconut oil, Wheat, Swertia, TEA-Cocoyl Glutamate, Butylene glycol, Etidronic acid, Citric acid, Ginseng, Lauramidopropyl betaine, Sodium laureth-3 carboxylate, Sodium lauryol methylaminopropionamate, Glycol distearate, Polyquaternium-10, Ethylthexyl methoxycinnamate, Decyl glucoside, PEG-7, PEG-120, PEG-150, Alcohol (Sake), Fragrance (Natural), Sodium propionate, Phenoxyethanol
Just wanted to clarify that there is a preservative. I got it off here: http://www.komenuka-bijin.com/index-hair.htm