• HEALTH & WELLNESS
Jupiter Shampoo Review: Clean, Effective Dandruff Solution
Reviewed by Nathaniel Lang
Last Updated March 2022
Featured Product: Triple Threat Set
Price: $71
Jupiter specializes in hair and scalp care for sensitive, itchy, irritated, and dandruff-prone scalps. The Jupiter Balancing Shampoo is a calming scalp cleanser using Zinc Pyrithione as an active ingredient to treat your scalp, reduce hair breakage, and gently cleanse hair.
Using a vegan, non-toxic formula with aromatic mint, vanilla, sage, and lavender along with other plant-based ingredients, the Balancing Shampoo is designed to work best with the Jupiter Nourishing Conditioner and the Restoring Serum. Working as a system, these three products relieve itching, flaking, and redness in a cleanse-control-condition “Triple Threat” Set.
Ratings Breakdown
QUALITY
★★★★★
Jupiter works closely with a well-known board-certified dermatologist to ensure safe, effective products with healthy, vegan, cruelty-free formulations. Both the shampoo and conditioner really worked for me.
VALUE
★★★★
More expensive than some other scalp-treating hair care, but discounts available in sets or with an auto-ship subscription.
CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE
★★★★★
Very effective! I had dandruff before using the shampoo and now I don’t. I think that’s the best endorsement possible. Plus—soft hair.
BRAND
★★★★★
Excellent brand, starting with their approach of de-stigmatizing scalp issues. They donate 5% of their profits to mental health initiatives and are working to make more and more of the packaging from recyclable materials. A responsible, conscious, and caring brand.
Who Is Jupiter?
Jupiter is a new privately-held company, founded in 2020 and based in NYC. Its founders, Ross Goodhart and Robbie Salter, have struggled with the insecurities and frustrations of scalp issues including dandruff. Tired of not finding satisfactory solutions, they created Jupiter to be an elevated hair and scalp care brand that is effective, smells great, and nourishes hair with healthy ingredients.
Now one of the fastest growing direct-to-consumer brands, Jupiter’s pioneering formulas have been featured in Vogue, InStyle, Allure, Refinery29, GQ, and the Today Show.
Jupiter sits at an interesting intersection. Its medicated scalp treatments and other hair care products are reviewed and backed by dermatological experts like Dr. Julie Karen, a board-certified dermatologist affiliated with NYU’s Langone Medical Center.
But unlike more traditional options, its formulas are focused on clean, non-toxic ingredients and are sulfate, paraben and phthalate-free, dye-free, vegan, safe for all hair types, safe for color and chemically treated-hair. Plus, they smell good, and are cruelty-free as certified by Leaping Bunny.
Then add their deeper mission into the mix. Their hashtag is #ZeroFlakesGiven and their goal is to reassure people that what they experience with scalp issues is normal. Focusing on positivity, inclusivity, confidence, and a shared sense of community, they even donate 5% of their profits to mental health initiatives.
Pros
- Works for eliminating dandruff
- Smells wonderful
- Makes hair feel soft
- Works with all hair types
- Vegan, cruelty-free, and safe for color-treated hair
- Formulated without sulfates, parabens, phthalates, dyes, or artificial fragrances
- Company uses a positive, supportive approach to normalizing and de-stigmatizing the experience of dandruff
- Company donates to mental health initiatives
- Packing materials use recycled materials
- Products are reviewed by a board-certified dermatologist
- Website provides lots of informative articles about scalp care and specific ingredients
Cons
- Lots of ingredients without clarifications, making it harder to research if you are concerned about natural or “clean” products
- More expensive that some other scalp-treatment shampoos
Jupiter Shampoo Experience And Performance
The Jupiter Product Line
I personally tested the Balancing Shampoo and the Nourishing Conditioner (both $23/9.5 fl oz. before discounts).
Those with extra scalp or hair needs might want to check out other Jupiter products:
- The medicated Restoring Serum ($25/3.4 fl. oz. before discounts) to treat the scalp between washings
- The Purifying Mask ($29/5 oz. before discounts) to purify and nourish the scalp
- The Scalp Brush ($15 on time purchase) to remove scalp build up
How I Used Jupiter Products
I used Jupiter over the course of four weeks.
For reference, I have short, thin, blonde hair and I hardly ever use any other hair products. My usual hair care routine consists of a daily shampoo in the shower. So basically, pretty low maintenance.
Currently I use a tea tree-oil based natural shampoo to control my dandruff. Honestly, it hasn’t really been working that well, but it has been better than nothing.
For a month, I used the Jupiter Balancing Shampoo every other day, mixed in with my normal hair treatment. I can say for a fact that now I have less dandruff! That alone makes this product worth buying again.
Jupiter advertises that it helps itchy scalps. I never really had an itchy scalp before and I don’t have one now, so that didn’t really change. Given that sometimes “treatment” shampoos can be harsh enough to CAUSE an itchy scalp, I am happy that I received the anti-flake benefits without trading it for another problem.
Do Jupiter Products Work?
I really enjoy using the shampoo and after my month of using it, I was impressed with its effectiveness. Add in the vegan, cruelty-free formulation with no sulfates, parabens, phthalates, dyes, or artificial fragrances—and I am sold on continuing to use it.
The Jupiter Nourishing Conditioner deserves a special mention. When I use the conditioner, my hair comes out so luxuriously soft that I can’t believe it. If you are going to use the Balancing Shampoo, I highly recommend just getting the Gotta Get Set with the conditioner as well and using both together.
That being said about Jupiter and its effectiveness, I do wonder if another anti-dandruff shampoo would give me a similar result. The shampoo that I’m using now is not exactly medicated. I was not able to give these a medicated head-to-head test (pun intended).
Jupiter Products Ingredients Deep Dive
Jupiter focuses on formulas with ingredients that are either naturally derived or safely synthetic—nothing toxic. Part of their mission is to be safe for all hair and skin types, especially important since they are specifically addressing scalp issues.
The Balancing Shampoo and the Restoring Serum both feature the Zinc Pyrithione as the medicated active ingredient scientifically proven to treat dandruff. Their signature scent is created with vanilla, rosemary, coconut oil, and spearmint.
It may be a small detail, but I do wish the Jupiter website could explain some of the ingredients a bit more. At first, the huge list of ingredients was a little suspect to me. The list starts with the medicated ingredient and water, then includes a variety of chemical names and a bunch of natural ingredients (which I really like).
Initially that concerned me, but once I looked at some of them on the Environmental Working Group. The EWG is a environmental non-profit dedicated to providing transparent information about products and ingredients to determine their safety. It is a great resource to look up ingredients if concerned about their potential health impact.
When I looked up Jupiter’s ingredients, most had low (meaning safe) scores. As a random example, how about “Acrylates Copolymer”? Who automatically knows what that is or if it’s harmful? But not to worry, EWG has it at a low 2 score.
So after a bit of research, I realized that these chemical-sounding names, while unfamiliar to me, shouldn’t be held against Jupiter or their products, because they are all fairly clean according to the EWG.
Jupiter might want to consider mentioning some of these ingredients and what they do on their website. Even a quick reference could reassure people who might not have the time or motivation to research.
That all being said, it’s a minor nitpick. Personally, I will definitely be saying “buh bye” to my old shampoo and using Jupiter from now on.
Is Jupiter Shampoo Good Quality?
Yes. Especially given how effective I found them to be.
Part of Jupiter’s mission is safe beneficial treatment for all hair and skin types, which is especially important given the scalp issues they aim to address. Jupiter has created non-toxic formulas without parabens, sulfates, dyes, phthalates, and artificial fragrances.
They also have the Leaping Bunny cruelty-free certification.
Each product page has all the ingredients listed if you want to verify them with EWG. Various soothing, nourishing, and healing ingredients include things like:
- Squalane – EWG 1
- Sugar kelp extract – EWG 1
- Green tea extract – EWG 1-2 (depending on dosage)
- Colloidal oatmeal – EWG 1
- Niacinamide – EWG 1
- Argan oil – EWG 1
- Aloe vera juice – EWG 1-3 (depending on dosage)
All these, together with the medicated Zinc Pyrithione to directly treat dandruff, in products that are fully reviewed by dermatological specialists, mean great quality products that truly work.
Is Jupiter Shampoo Worth It?
Again, yes. Admittedly, they run a bit more than drugstore medicated shampoo. You are paying for the clean, non-toxic, vegan, and non-stripping color-safe ingredients.
You can save money in multiple ways (recurring subscriptions, larger orders, etc). You can also order product sets like the “Gotta Get” Set of Shampoo/Conditioner, the “Triple Threat” Set of Shampoo/Conditioner/Serum, or “The Whole Darn Set” which includes all products in the Jupiter line.
If you suffer from dry, itchy, red, flaking scalp and the havoc it wreaks on your hair, you very well might find it worth paying the extra money, especially if regular drugstore options have left you frustrated.
The company openly supports mental health initiatives, putting its money where its marketing mouth is. I am particularly impressed with this, and the way in which it works to destigmatize the shame of dandruff.
Vegan, non-toxic, effective products in mostly recyclable packaging from a socially-conscious and proactive company—definitely worth it.
FAQs
Jupiter Shampoo Summary
Jupiter’s specialized and scientifically-reviewed products are effective, non-toxic, vegan, and cruelty-free. The shampoo worked for me in a matter of weeks and the conditioner gave me the softest hair I have ever had.
These and the other Jupiter products are created to help sensitive, itchy, irritated, and dandruff-prone scalps as well as reducing hair breakage and gently cleansing hair.
Jupiter donates a portion of all profits to mental health initiatives and welcomes customers reaching out to them directly, especially if they are not seeing results. Jupiter really does seem to mean it when they say they want to be there for people all the way through their scalp care journey.
The company aims to destigmatize having dandruff. As the website says, “Bottom line: we’re here to take the mental pain, discomfort and isolation away from something more common than freckles.”