OGX and Herbal Essences are both popular high street brands, well known for using exotic ingredients in their products. I compared OGX to Herbal Essences looking at the range of products from each brand, their price, ingredients and results. This post is my comparison between OGX vs Herbal Essences.
OGX Vs Herbal Essences
Overall Herbal Essences make a larger range of shampoos compared to OGX. A couple of their shampoos are similar to OGX, but the vast majority contain different key ingredients.
Since Herbal Essences make such a larger selection of products they have more options than OGX, for example by making shampoos both with and without sulfates, and shampoos with and without silicones.
In this article I compared which product lines were similar from both OGX and Herbal Essences, and which were different. I also looked in detail at their formulations, price, packaging, who the products were suited to and whether they were cruelty free.
Ranges that are Similar
Other hair care brands like HASK have lots of similar shampoos to OGX, with the same key ingredients. When I compared OGX to Herbal Essences however, I only found two shampoos with similar key ingredients. These are shown in the table below.
Ranges that are Unique to Each Brand
Most of the key ingredients in Herbal Essences shampoos are completely different to OGX. Herbal Essences also make shampoo bars whereas OGX only make liquid shampoos.
In the two tables below I have listed the different liquid shampoos by OGX and Herbal Essences with their purpose and key ingredients.
OGX Shampoos
| OGX Shampoos | Purpose | Key Ingredients |
|---|---|---|
| Coconut Miracle Oil Shampoo | Repair damage | Coconut Oil |
| Kukui Oil Shampoo | Hydrate & Defrizz | Kukui Oil |
| Keratin Oil Shampoo | Strength & Length | Argan Oil & Keratin |
| Apple Cider Vinegar Shampoo | Clarify & Shine | Apple Cider Vinegar |
| Liquid Pearl Shampoo | Smooth and Shine | Sea Kelp & Pearl Extract |
| Coconut Curls Shampoo | Defines Curls | Coconut Oil, Honey, Citrus Oil |
| Tea Tree Mint Shampoo | Refreshes the scalp | Tea Tree and Peppermint Oil |
| OGX Charcoal Detox Shampoo | Clarifies | Charcoal & Kaolin Clay |
| OGX Biotin & Collagen Shampoo | Creates Volume | Biotin, Collgan & Wheat Protein |
| OGX Orchid Oil Shampoo | Protects Colour | Orchid Extract & Grape Seed |
Herbal Essences Shampoos
| Herbal Essences Shampoos | Purpose | Key Ingredients |
|---|---|---|
| Passion Flower & Rice Milk shampoo | Nourishment | Passion Flower & Rice Milk |
| Avocado shampoo | Gently soothes | Avocado |
| Dazzling Shine shampoo | Adds radiant Shine | Citrus Essences |
| White Grapefruit & Mosa Mint shampoo | Adds fullness & shine | White Grapefruit & Mint |
| Bee Strong shampoo | Repairs damage | Honey Essences |
| Micellar Water & Blue Ginger shampoo | Gentle Cleansing | Micellar Water & Blue Ginger |
| Hello Hydration shampoo | Hydration | Coconut Essences |
| Moroccan My Shine shampoo | Nourish & Repair | Argan Oil |
| Bourbon & Manuka Honey shampoo | Deep Repair | Manuka Honey and Aloe |
| Beautiful Ends shampoo | Keratin Protection | Pomegranate |
| White Strawberry & Sweet Mint shampoo | Purifying & hydrating | Strawberry, Mint & Aloe |
| Daily Detox Shine shampoo | Purifying | Golden Raspberry & Mint |
| Uplifting Volume Shampoo | Creates Volume | Citrus Essences |
| Ignite My Colour Shampoo | Protects Colour | Moroccan Rose |
| Sulphate-free* Pure Aloe & Hemp shampoo | Hydrate & Nourish | Aloe & Hemp |
| Sulphate-free* Pure Aloe & Mango shampoo | Colour protect & Shine | Aloe & Mango |
| Sulphate-free* Pure Aloe & Bamboo shampoo | Strength & Moisture | Aloe & Bamboo |
Ingredients
Sulfates
One big difference between OGX and Herbal Essences is their sulfate content. All OGX shampoos are free from sulfates, but Herbal Essences only make three shampoos which are sulfate free.
If a shampoo is sulfate free, this means it is free from Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES). Whether you want to avoid SLS and SLES in your shampoo will depend on your hair type.
If you have dry hair, a dry scalp or regularly colour your hair, you may want to avoid sulfates since they can strip the natural oils from the hair shaft.
If you have especially greasy hair, or an oily scalp however, you might prefer a shampoo with sulfates. Sulfates are very good at dissolving and removing excess oil and grease.
Whereas all OGX shampoos are sulfate free, Herbal Essences only have three which are sulfate free. These shampoos are:
- Pure Aloe & Hemp shampoo Hydrate & Nourish Aloe & Hemp
- Pure Aloe & Mango shampoo Colour protect & Shine Aloe & Mango
- Pure Aloe & Bamboo shampoo
Parabens
Currently both OGX and Herbal Essences are not using parabens in any of their products.
Silicones
Both OGX and Herbal Essences make shampoos both with and without silicones.
Silicones are often used in hair care products as they coat the hair shaft and help to lock in moisture. They give the hair a glossy and silky feel, and help to reduce dryness and frizz.
Silcones don’t work well for every hair type however. They are most beneficial for dry, frizzy or coarse hair, but can cause problems in other hair types. If your hair is prone to product buildup, silicones can leave residue on the hair over time, weighing it down.
Silicones are also not recommended if you are following the Curly Girl Method.
Herbal Essences have a larger range of shampoos without silicone compared to OGX. I have listed the shampoos from each brand below sorted by whether or not they contain silicones.
Herbal Essences Shampoos Without Silicones
- Passion Flower & Rice Milk shampoo
- Daily Detox Shine shampoo
- Daily Detox Clean shampoo
- Coconut Milk shampoo
- White Grapefruit & Mosa Mint shampoo for fine hair
- Argan Oil shampoo
- Bourbon & Manuka Honey shampoo
- Volumising White Strawberry & Sweet Mint shampoo
Herbal Essences Shampoos that Contains Silicones
- Sulphate-free* Pure Aloe & Bamboo shampoo
- Sulphate-free* Pure Aloe & Hemp shampoo
- Sulphate-free* Pure Aloe & Mango shampoo
- Avocado Shampoo
- Bee Strong shampoo
- Micellar Water & Blue Ginger Shampoo
- Hello Hydration shampoo
- Moroccan My Shine shampoo
- Beautiful Ends shampoo
- Uplifting Volume shampoo
- Dazzling Shine shampoo
OGX Shampoos Without Silicones
OGX Shampoos that Contains Silicones
- Anti-Breakage Keratin Oil Shampoo
- OGX Coconut Miracle Oil Dry Shampoo
- OGX Hydrate & Defrizz Kukui Oil Shampoo
- OGX Nourishing Coconut Milk Shampoo
- OGX Colour Protect Orchid Oil Shampoo
- OGX Purifying + Charcoal Detox Conditioner
- OGX Refreshing Scalp Tea Tree Mint Shampoo
- OGX Renewing Argan Oil of Morocco Shampoo
- OGX Restoring & Bonding Plex Shampoo
- OGX Thick & Full Biotin & Collagen Shampoo
Artificial Fragrance
Both OGX and Herbal Essences use synthetic fragrances in their shampoos.
Protein
OGX uses a lot more protein based ingredients in their shampoos compared to Herbal Essences.
Protein is excellent for high porosity, damaged or brittle hair, but not good for low porosity hair, or hair that is suffering from protein overload.
Some of the protein ingredients found in OGX shampoos include egg white protein, collagen, silk protein, wheat protein, milk protein and conchiolin (protein secreted by mollusks).
Most of Herbal Essences shampoos on the other hand are vegan so they don’t use egg derivatives, milk derivatives or shellfish in any of their products. The only ingredient I found in their shampoos which contains protein is rice milk, and rice milk only has a low amount of protein.
Although OGX do make some shampoos that are protein free, you are guaranteed to find a protein free shampoo from Herbal Essence.
If you are looking for a shampoo that contains protein I would recommend one of the following shampoos from OGX.
| OGX Shampoo | Protein Type |
|---|---|
| OGX Biotin and Collagen Shampoo | Collagen and wheat protein |
| OGX Coconut Milk Shampoo | Egg white protein |
| OGX Hydrate and Revive+ Argan Oil of Morocco Shampoo | Silk protein |
| OGX Brazilian Keratin Smooth Shampoo | Keratin protein |
| OGX Keratin Oil Shampoo | Keratin protein |
| OGX Hydrating + Tea Tree Mint Shampoo | Milk protein |
| OGX Liquid Pearl Shampoo | Conchiolin (protein secreted by mollusks) |
Salt
Both the OGX and Herbal Essences use sodium chloride in their shampoos, which means neither are a good choice if you have had a keratin treatment on your hair.
Be aware that even though the Herbal Essences Beautiful Ends shampoo claims to be for keratin protection, it still contains salt. This is the same for the OGX Brazilian Keratin Smooth Shampoo.
Salt strips the hair of keratin very quickly and should be avoided if you have had salon treatments such as the Brazilian Blowout.
Price
I found that both Herbal Essences and OGX shampoos were roughly the same price, ranging between £4.00-£6.00. Herbal Essences shampoo comes in a slightly smaller bottle (380ml) compared to OGX shampoo (385ml), so you get less of the product.
Packaging
All Herbal Essences shampoos comes in a tall thin bottle, wheres OGX shampoos come in round, chunky bottles. I prefer the Herbal Essences bottles over the OGX bottles just because I found the conditioner easier to get out of the bottle when it was coming to the end.
Cruelty Free
At the time of writing this post Herbal Essences is completely cruelty free, whereas OGX is not.
Recommendations
Since Herbal Essences have such a large range of shampoos, I think they have a shampoo for everyone.
In my opinion OGX may be better suited for drier hair types however, since the brand uses a more gentle cleansing agent compared to most Herbal Essences shampoos.
I have listed below my recommendations from each brand for dry, brittle and oily hair.
For Dry Hair
Since OGX shampoos are all gentle and sulfate free, I would recommend this brand if you have especially dry hair.
My top recommendations for dry hair are:
- OGX Kukui Oil Shampoo
- OGX Argan Oil Shampoo
- Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Shampoo
- Herbal Essences Sulphate-free Pure Aloe & Bamboo shampoo
For Brittle Hair
OGX have more protein in their shampoos. Protein is good for damaged, brittle and high porosity hair types.
My top recommendations for brittle hair are:
- OGX Biotin & Collagen shampoo (contains collagen and wheat protein)
- OGX Coconut Milk shampoo (contains egg protein)
- Herbal Essences Bee Strong shampoo
- Herbal Essences Bourbon & Manuka Honey shampoo
For Oily Hair
If you have very greasy hair, I would recommend Herbal Essences over OGX. This is because Herbal Essences uses sulfates in most of their shampoos. Sulfates help to clean the hair thoroughly, and may be preferable if you have very oily hair.
My top recommendation for oily hair are:
- OGX Charcoal Detox Shampoo
- OGX Apple Cider Vinegar Shampoo
- Herbal Essences White Strawberry & Sweet Mint shampoo
- Herbal Essences Daily Detox Shine shampoo
OGX Vs Herbal Essences
Thank you for reading my comparison between OGX vs Herbal Essences. If you have tried any of the products mentioned in this post, please leave me a comment below and let me know how you got on.