Alterna • Bamboo smooth anti frizz • Shampoo

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annalynn77 on 3/3/2013 11:03:00 AM more reviews by annalynn77

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination, Olive, Warm   Hair: Brunette, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Brown    

Tried many shampoos before finding this gem.. It's gentle to your hair, cleanses well and the anti frizz benefits are noticeable.. I happen to also use the same conditioner an love it. Don't care to much for the twist up tops as product gets trapped between the bottle and the cap that's my only complaint..

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nyp on 2/13/2013 9:36:00 AM more reviews by nyp

Age: 19-24   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Green    

It's definitely better than the cheap shampoos, it doesn't upset the ph balance of your hair (so I think). I still think it's too expensive though. The packaging is so bad. I had to keep it upright all the time, it leaked on furniture in a B&B and stained it. I don't know how to explain it but when you undo the lid, at the top of the bottle there are two little plastic things that stick up and it looks like the top of each are melted down. I don't know how but they seemed to have "burst" before I even took it home. Shampoo leaks from there. I had to buy another bottle by the time I realised and same thing happened. Poor packaging.

My hair was less frizzy but still frizzy enough to be embarrassed by going out without styling it properly.

For me it's not worth the price tag.
I use Moroccanoil shampoo and conditioners now and so much better (honestly).

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myrtoula12 on 9/25/2012 9:20:00 AM more reviews by myrtoula12

Age: 30-35   Skin: Oily, Fair, Warm   Hair: Brunette, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Green    

I love both the shampoo and the conditioner. Hair are really almost frizzy free after using these products even with no heat styling at all. Huge difference when using these compared to othe products. I dont think it;s so pricey compared to other alterna products or all other salon brands and it's definatelly worth the money. I love that is sulfate and paraben free. Also both products do really hydrate hair. I do find though they work much better when combined. Another user mentioned that alterna conditioners are not moisturising. I disagree. I find Alterna conditioners and treatments more hydrating than every other brand i have tried. My hair dont really like protein and i believe alterna doesn;t have protein in the bamboo line that's why ly hair likes it so much. I will try the shine shampoo and conditioner in the future. I would definatelly reccoment the smooth anti frizz.

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Australianforbeerk2k3 on 9/13/2012 8:14:00 PM more reviews by Australianforbeerk2k3

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination   Hair: Black   Eyes: Brown    

This shampoo is wonderful, and I notice a huge difference when I use it vs. when I do not. When I use it, my hair is smooth, easier to blowdry, frizz-free, and full of body. When I don't, it frizzes and is very unmanageable. This shampoo also protects my color, and it isn't tested on animals, which I appreciate! I highly recommend - I've tried many shampoos but always come back to this one, as it provides obvious results!

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*TOP REVIEWER* lchoe on 5/25/2012 8:22:00 AM more reviews by lchoe

Age: 44-55   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Black, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Brown    

This is my favorite out of the Alterna Shampoos (I've been using this brand off and on since 1998) and I have purchased this after using samples from Sephora. As I have long stick-straight silky hair (korean) 3" past my shoulders, I would never have thought of a shampoo with "smooth anti frizz" working well for me b/c I don't have any frizz and I look for shampoos that give me body & fullness (I associate smooth w/ flat hair). My favorite Sephora rep recommended this shampoo to me & wow, I am glad she did.


The $20 price is reasonable for Alterna (other Alterna shampoos cost $32 - $50 for 8.5 oz). Like most Alterna shampoos, you only need a tiny amount of shampoo for a full lather. My scalp felt so clean (but not dried out), the shine factor was good but what I loved was that my hair had decent BODY & when I moved, my hair would SWING which I love (nice surprise)! I LOVE how Alterna shampoos keep my scalp CLEANER LONGER than most other shampoos without drying out my scalp/hair and this shampoo did not disappoint in that factor. Overall this shampoo is reliable for a good hair day & I use this when I have an important event & my hair needs to look its best.


*ONLY culprit (why I gave this a 4 instead of a 5) for this shampoo is that this is HIGH up on the EWG Website for potentially health harming ingredients (www.ewg.org, measures health hazard ingredients in our toiletries). Alterna Shampoos have ranked 7 - 9! (10 is the WORST) on the EWG Website I do not feel comfortable washing my hair/scalp frequently w/ harm causing chemicals (your scalp pores are large so it/your body soaks up anything you put on it) which Alterna Shampoos are abundant in so I save this shampoo for rare occasions. I use Trader Joe's Tea Tree Oil Shampoo (no sulfates, almost no parabens) for most of my shampoo needs (great results and only a 4 on the ewg website). Trader Joe's other tea tree products: conditioner & body wash are AMAZING & only $3.99 for 16 oz (it is very RARE for me to use low priced items).


I do not use the Alterna Conditioner & Masques as over & over (since 1998), I have found their conditioning products to be WEAK and not effective. My favorite Sephora Sales Associates agree with me on this one (exception for them: they love Kendi Oil, but this is too heavy/greasy for my straight hair).


Other Alterna Shampoos I have used):
~ALTERNA Luminous Shine Shampoo, $20 for 8.5 oz - left a yukky film/coating on my hair and my hair was not that shiny after using this.
~ALTERNA Caviar Moisture Shampoo, $32 for 8 oz, *warning - after 3 uses, this made my hair from neck down so brittle & snarled, I had to immediately get a trim to cut off the damage (my stylist was in shock that a shampoo could cause such damage), 7 - 9 rating on ewg.org


I am 46, have fine (but lots of it) long (3" past shoulders), Korean, black, straight hair. I also use: Kerastase Bain Miroir 1 & 2 Shampoos, Kerastase masques (MasquIntense, UV Defense), Bumble & Bumble (Super Rich Cond.), Joico (K-Pak deep conditioners), Redken (Extreme Conditioner, All Soft).

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*TOP REVIEWER* italiana800 on 5/24/2012 11:49:00 PM more reviews by italiana800

Age: 19-24   Skin: Normal, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

I finally gave in to buying this shampoo, with the matching conditioner. I will start off by saying I do not like the smell of this shampoo at all. Something about the smell makes me nauseous, it's gross. The conditoner on the other hand, smells a lot better & I can tolerate it. Besides that, this shampoo felt very nice on my hair & it gently, but effectively cleaned my scalp & hair very well. I think this shampoo removed a lot of the build up from hair products. This has not dried my hair out so far, & this did leave my hair really smooth, with almost no frizz in sight. This did not eliminate 100% of the frizz, but it did make a lot of it less noticeable. This shampoo/conditioner is very expensive, especially for the amount you get. I have very thick, naturally curly hair....so I'll be done with this bottle in 3 weeks tops. Which, really doesn't justify the price of this. So overall, I'm not sure if I would buy this again. This did work well, but it wasn't anything amazing. Definitely not HG material. I still gave this a rating of 4 out of 5, because the product itself was pretty good. I just know I can find something that's just as good as this shampoo/conditioner, for way less that comes with a way higher amount of product.

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kjmakeupaddict on 4/14/2012 1:36:00 PM more reviews by kjmakeupaddict

Age: 18 & Under   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair, Neutral   Hair: Brunette, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Green    

OHMYGOD I looove this so much! I have wavy, long and really fine hair that's prone to frizz, split ends and DULLNESS. Oh yes, my hair is never shiny. Never. I have tried so many produtcts to tame frizz and make my hair look shiny and healthy. Error. Nothing has worked so far. I first used the Bamboo Luminous Shine collection and it worked really well!! My hair looked a bit shiny and was soft but it was somehow undernourished... So when my friend offered me some samples I took them. I used the shampoo&conditioner without anything else as I wanted to see how it performed without added products (I normally use leave in-conditioner, a hair oil and a split end serum)..and WOW! my hair was oh so soft, really shiny (I couldn't stop checking if it was actually MY hair!) and my split ends (I get them all the time, even 1 week after a trim!) were much less noticeable. I am more than happy with this and will definitely buy the full size once the Luminous Shine stuff is empty! Try it, you won't be disappointed! Also love the bottle design and the twist/squeeze bottles!
Oh and btw, if you add the Kendi Oil Treatment your hair will look EVEN shinier and healthier! :)

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AMMC on 4/11/2012 6:44:00 PM more reviews by AMMC

Age: Unknown   Skin: Sensitive, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Green    

I recieved in a swap so I cannot comment on price. This weighed my hair down more & made it dull/greasy then it did from my frizz. While using this shampoo, my hair seemed to always have some sort of coating to it. The bamboo shape of the bottle was cute, but the top is made where when you get to the end of the product, it is hard to have it come out.

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hrhirene on 3/6/2012 3:31:00 AM more reviews by hrhirene

Age: 19-24   Skin: Sensitive, Fair, Cool   Hair: Brunette, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Brown    

Got this as a sample at Sephora and decided to give it a try. I really have no strong feelings on this shampoo one way or the other. It has quite a nice, inoffensive smell that I enjoyed greatly, and I like that it's sulfate-free. However, I didn't notice anything miraculous or even particularly notable. My hair is short (chin length) and was already fairly shiny and healthy, despite being colored. I suspect over time it would weigh my hair down slightly, but then again this isn't exactly formulated for my hair type, so not really anyone's fault.

I did like that it lathered easily and well (yay!) unlike some of the other sulfate-free shampoos I have tried, and seemed to leave my scalp feeling clean for the life of the sample (around 3 shampoos.) IMO, not quite enough time to really get a feel for it. It is important to note that, during that time, my hair and scalp felt clean, which is something I've lacked with other sulfate-frees.

The sample did its job and acted as a gateway to Alterna for me... I decided to try some of the other shampoo/conditioners and am hoping they will work out!

If this is something that you think will work for your hair type I'd definitely give it a whirl... not really for finer, naturally a bit limper (particularly on day 2) short fairly frizz-free hair.

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km1704 on 1/23/2012 11:45:00 AM more reviews by km1704

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination, Medium, Cool   Hair: Brunette, Curly, Medium   Eyes: Brown    

EDIT: I stopped using this and went back to Moroccan oil shampoo. I just found that it wasn't really doing anything for me -- if anything it's been drying out my hair or making it more fly-away... can't put my finger on it. Glad I only bought the travel sized bottles.

I got this as a sample from sephora once (with conditioner and serum). I don't usually use sample shampoos but I was going on a trip and could only bring a small amount of shampoo/conditioner/serum with me on-board the plane. I normally use Moroccan oil (moisturizing conditioner/shampoo and deep conditioning treatment) but after annoyingly buying a fresh bottle of shampoo after running out, I'm not so sure anymore if Moroccan oil shampoo is for me. I loved it at first but i feel as though my hair almost needs a break from it now... Anyway this shampoo came at the perfect time and I may alternate between the two from now on.
I love the smell the most - i think that is the main reason i'm hooked on this. it also makes my hair soft and shiny (i wash it 2.5 times a week and blowdry/flat iron - my hair is naturally curly and not too, too processed with color, but it gets damaged easily)...
I will go out and buy this stuff bc of the smell and i think it'll be nice to switch back and forth with the moroccan oil. will edit this review after multiple uses to see how it holds up over time.

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louloupgarou on 1/12/2012 12:17:00 PM more reviews by louloupgarou

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Neutral   Hair: Brown, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Brown    

This shampoo (with the Bamboo smooth anti frizz conditioner) saved my hair during a really difficult time. A year and a half ago, due to a prescription medication, I started losing my hair and it continued until half was gone. What I did left have turned frizzy, dull, and it lost a lot of its color..totally dead hair.

I did a lot of research - I wanted to go with a sulfate free shampoo because of how stripping the sulfates can be. This shampoo seemed to promise to deliver what I wanted. My mom gave me a few bottles on a trip to visit me and when I left her hotel, I ran home and washed my hair immediately! When I saw her later she commented that my hair looked a lot better - and it did. I have been using this product for 7 months now. My hair has grown out a lot and I've cut most of the dead stuff off now. I could go for something else... frankly, I want a change. But during that time where I was desperate, I can't think of a better shampoo for dull, frizzy scary hair. I plan to always keep a bottle of this in my shower.

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*TOP REVIEWER* cerulfox on 11/29/2011 3:09:00 PM more reviews by cerulfox

Age: 25-29   Skin: Sensitive, Tan, Warm   Hair: Black, Curly, Medium   Eyes: Black    

I wonder how thick and dry the hair of the previous reviewers' is since this did absolutely NOTHING for mine. It simply doesn't moisturize and de-frizz my hair any better than a drugstore product even though it's 3x the price. It smells nice, and I like the twist-cap bottle, but the shampoo and conditioner themselves are overpriced and useless *for me*. If you have finer, thinner, normal hair this might be fine for you but it's definitely NOT for me.

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*TOP REVIEWER* Sour on 8/4/2011 12:28:00 PM more reviews by Sour

Age: 19-24   Skin: Oily, Medium   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

This is my HG shampoo, I've purchased it twice already and would totally do so for a third time. I was first attracted to it because I wanted to experiment with a sulfate-free shampoo. This product basically does what it says it will do, make your hair smooth and frizz free. I'd rather pay for a quality product rather than put chemicals in my hair from drugstore shampoos. No more brittleness and dry hair for me. And it doesn't even make my hair go greasy because its not stripping it and making it go into sebum overdrive. I'm very happy my hair dresser introduced me to this.

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kittybearchiyo on 7/20/2011 3:17:00 AM more reviews by kittybearchiyo

Age: 18 & Under   Skin: Oily, Fair, Cool   Hair: Brunette, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Green    

I received this as a sample pack of the shampoo and conditioner at Sephora.

This was my first experience with a sulfate-free shampoo. I was very pleasantly surprised; I did not need to use much at all, and actually used a smaller amount than I usually do with my badforyou sulfate shampoo. There is a little pleasant foaming, with none of the stripping feeling.

I was worried about two things when it comes to sulfate-free shampoos; one being how clean they get my hair, and also that I would end up using too much to compensate for the lack of foaming. My hair feels very clean and smooth, and there was just enough foam to satisfy me and keep me from piling it on. :)

The scent is lovely. It smells very clean, natural, and does not linger too much once your hair is dry (I don't want it to compete with any other scented perfumes/products I use later) but still smells nice and makes the shower enjoyable.

Just let my hair air dry an immediately noticed how much shinier it looks.

I do love this shampoo and the conditioner. It's so expensive that I'm not sure about buying an actual bottle, but it I get some extra money soon, I'll definitely be buying it as a treat for my hair.

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gurlypowa on 6/28/2011 12:54:00 PM more reviews by gurlypowa

Age: 30-35   Skin: Normal, Fair   Hair: Black   Eyes: Brown    

even though i will not buy this again, im giving this shampoo a 4 star rating because it is very good, and it does what it promises - elimiates frizz! i have terrible hair, its crinkley course, fine, flat, dull, frizzy, lifeless. (if you didn't think you could have fine and coarse hair at the same time, u haven't seen mine haha). despite it's appearance i still keep my hair long to my waist, just because i love the look of long hair!

i saw this at my salon and bought it for $28 for 8oz, at my salon. it was pricey but reading the other reviews i decided to try it. it was way better than the one i had been using (Nioxin, which i used to combat hair thinning, but it really dried out my hair). it delivered as promised - it really cut down on the frizz. it also smelled amazing... without a doubt the best smelling shampoo i've ever used.

unfortunately i needed something MUCH more volumizing, and MUCH more moisturising. i was very pleased with the product otherwise, so i decided to stick with the brand and try Alterna's Science of 10 shampoo...which is even more expensive than this one. the Science of 10 is my HG shampoo, it definately delievered. i can't believe it solved ALL my hair problems :o)

if the only problem you have is frizziness, i would highly recommend the alterna anti fizz shampoo. if you have extremily problematic hair like mine, that needs extra extra special care, (providing you can afford the price tag, it's something like $60 for 8oz) id suggest Science of 10. read my review on that one :o).

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peepeepod on 2/25/2011 6:11:00 PM more reviews by peepeepod

Age: 30-35   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

This shampoo contains no irritating ingrediants or SLS, Lately, I've been avoiding SLS, Sodium Chloride and other chemicals because my hair is fine/fragile. This brings my hair back to life and even makes it easier to style. Even though its not a bodying shampoo, it seems to give my hair more body, less frizz..what more could I want. Plus, my scalp feels healthy, no itchies, no oilies, makes it easier to comb even with using a very light conditioner. Sure, it's pricey but worth it...I can't wait to try some other Alterna Sulfate Free Shampoos as well as other products.

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*TOP REVIEWER* wtfiholly on 12/2/2010 10:48:00 AM more reviews by wtfiholly

Age: 44-55   Skin: Very Dry   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Green    

I bought this new shampoo from Alterna in hope that I would not deal with the second day poof. Even women who have long hair (mine is down to my bum) deal with frizzy, fried, too much build-up hair. I braid mine almost everyday which tends to help break it. I bought this and didn't expect to find such a wonderful product, I thought there was nothing to compare to "ten" or "caviar", oh boy was I wrong!
I took my normal shower and used the shampoo. Most times I don't get a nice slip from shampoos that keep the frizz down. This one gave my hair a nice slip. I have psoriasis and one of the things that happens to me when I use a shampoo and conditioner is I get itchy and claw at myself while showering, that's when I know that what I am using will not be good for me.
This shampoo has no SLS, parabens, gluten, sodium chloride, phthalates, synthetic color, mineral oil, petrolatum, & paba. It has Bamboo extract in it and something called kendi oil. I have never used this oil before and so far (after 1 week) it's working great! It smells like spring to me and it stays in my hair from the day I wash it to the next (which is good to me, I like that). It rinses away clean and the slip I mentioned is not an overly oily one it is smooth like, softened already without conditioner. It is supposed to help strengthen hair and keep it from frizz used with the matching conditioner.
I have shine from this. I have had compliments on my hair glistening and how beautiful it looks. My husband loves the smell, but I love the smell more. My scalp feels clean (bonus points to alterna) and my hair when dry feels soft and manageable.
So far Alterna has hit a home run (again) with this shampoo for me.
If you are sensitive to smell do not use this, it is a very strong clean and flowery smell. It lasts a long time even in a room with smokers. It does not however clash with my favorite perfumes.
I think it gave my hair more body without the frizz that goes along with something like that, it has for me anyway, IMHO.
It's a bit pricey, $20 for 8.5 OZ, and the same for the conditioner. I think I will use this for the winter and see how well it stands up to the cold, rainy, snowy, icy, then into dry air indoor days of winter.
The bottle is a bit difficult to squeeze at first, but if you drop it, it will not spill since the lid is not a flip or push up top. Good thing for me since I am fumble fingers in the shower, LOL.
Give it a try if you are not sensitive to smells and want frizz free, shiny, soft hair.

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