Review :: Aveeno Nourish+ Dandruff Shampoo

Aveeno are a brand I’m very familiar with. As I also suffer from eczema, I use their moisturizing lotion as I find it really helps. The moisturizer contains Colloidal Oatmeal – essentially oatmeal ground into a very fine powder. Colloidal is said to help soothe itchy dry skin and I can say from experience that it really works. Aveeno Nourish+ Dandruff Shampoo also contains oats although in a different form to the moisturizer. The shampoo contains oat peptides and oat extract. Oat peptides are said to condition and moisturize the hair while having excellent foaming properties.

The shampoo is specifically designed for seborrheic dermatitis sufferers as it contains Zinc Pyrithione. Zinc Pyrithione is a relatively cheap anti fungal agent that help control the fungus that cause mild outbreaks of seb derm. This disappointed me as Zinc Pyrithione is ten a penny these days and won’t control medium or severe outbreaks of seb derm. Only the mildest. That said, plenty of people find it very effective. And just reading the marketing blurb coupled with the performance of the moisturizer made me quite excited to try this relatively new shampoo.

The bottle arrived and first impressions were a bit “meh”. The bottle is decent enough but it’s not exactly stand out. Of course one should never judge a shampoo by its bottle, but still, its important to stand out in this ever more saturated market. The shampoo is a thick white liquid with a faint, sweet fruity smell. Although pleasant I could tell that the shampoo contains fragrance without even checking the ingredients.

The shampoo foamed very well and my hair felt very clean afterward. Some people have complained that the shampoo has dried their hair out, and I can see that, this shampoo will strip your hair of the natural oils. So what is under the hood?

I was astonished to see some of the harsh contact allergens Aveeno have added to this shampoo. I genuinely expected more from them. In addition to the Fragrance (contact allergen of the year 2007), the shampoo contains Cocamidopropyl Betaine (contact allergen of the year 2004) and Methylisothiazolinone (contact allergen of the year 2013).  This stuff is like the Oscars of contact allergens! The shampoo can’t even claim to be sulfate or silicone free…

I would steer well clear of this shampoo. The active ingredient is ten a penny these days (Head and Shoulders etc) and will only control mild outbreaks anyway.  If you’re looking for a quality shampoo containing Zinc Pyrithione I would recommend something like this offering from Dead Sea Spa. If you’re looking to control anything more than mild outbreaks of seb derm, I can’t recommend Sebamed highly enough. In terms of gentle formulations, they are both far, far superior to this.

For a company like Aveeno, a company of such repute and good products, this is such a shame.

Aveeno Nourish+ Dandruff Shampoo is on sale now at Amazon