Chāmpo Pitta Shampoo Review – hype or hero?

What’s so good about Chāmpo?

This thoughtful, UK based company is both vegan and cruelty-free, and uses largely natural ingredients (98% at the time of publishing this Chāmpo Pitta shampoo review). In doing so, this brand has therefore chosen not to use a wide range of additives commonly included in other haircare products like silicones, parabens, synthetic fragrances and SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulphate).

Therefore, when you use Chāmpo and look in the mirror at your shiny hair, and smell its gorgeous fragrance, it is down to all those lovely natural plant-based ingredients, and not because of a variety of synthetic additives!

I am sure that there are times when synthetic ingredients are helpful, so I would never dismiss them completely. But I also can’t help thinking that given the choice, I prefer to be using a product like Chāmpo, whose philosophy is steeped in thousands of years of Ayurvedic principles (albeit brought up to date appropriately). Ayurveda is an ancient form of Indian medicine still practised today. See the reference section at the bottom of this review if you would like to find out more.

In addition, although these are liquid products which are packaged in plastic bottles, Chāmpo is very conscious of their packaging. Firstly, they have a recycling scheme for their bottle caps, the bottles are fully recyclable, and they do not use fancy cartons or additional packaging for shipment, just a recycled cardboard box – and that’s just fine with me!

Chāmpo adds volume and shine

I have fine hair which has a tendency to look a bit limp and lifeless by the end of the day, even when I have only just washed it. Also, although my hair (so far!) has very little grey in it, it has lost much of its youthful colour and so can look a bit flat in that way too. Think ‘ditchwater’ and ‘dull as’ together in the same sentence…

So needless to say, I demand a lot from my haircare products and I was prepared to be disappointed when Chāmpo offered to send me their Pitta range to try. However, I’m happy to say that my experience was quite the opposite, right from the first time I tried it.

The first and most noticeable thing was the shine. I guess the natural ingredients in these lovely, luxurious products all gang up together (in a good way!) and seem to give my hair a really glossy look and feel that I’ve not experienced for quite a long time.

The second thing was the increased bounce and volume. I didn’t use the Chāmpo Pitta Growth Serum initially, so this was very much down to the shampoo and conditioner alone. Now, using just a few drops of the serum as well, my hair is retaining noticeably more volume for 2-3 days, and I don’t really feel the need to wash it until the 4th day either.

Luckily, my hair doesn’t seem to be thinning. I do have a bit of a ‘widow’s peak’, but my hairline has always been like that so consequently, I haven’t been trying the serum for that purpose. However, Chāmpo’s clinical trials and independent reviews suggest some impressive results for those people who do need that bit of help. It’s certainly true that some of the ingredients Chāmpo is using, including caffeine and creatine, are scientifically proven to help with hair loss – see some of the reference sites I provide at the bottom of this Chāmpo Pitta Shampoo review for more independent information on that.

A little goes a long way

If you couple the fact that I am washing my hair less with only needing to use small amounts of this concentrated shampoo and conditioner, what initially seems to be quite an expensive product quickly becomes much better value for money.

The shampoo is very thick (and grey in colour because Chāmpo want it to be natural and so choose not to add colour to it). I find I only have to use a small amount, and I also don’t ‘rinse and repeat’ – providing I get my hair wet enough at the outset, just one wash does the trick.

Similarly, with the conditioner, I don’t need to use much. As you’ll see from the earlier photo, I have shoulder-length hair (fairly average I guess) and if I brush it before washing it, it doesn’t really seem to get tangled at the top with this shampoo. Consequently, I condition it only from the middle downwards.

Smells divine

I don’t really know how to describe the scent of the Chāmpo Pitta range. It is very exotic, and smells floral but also combined with sandalwood. I absolutely love it. And all this is achieved through the careful use of natural essential oils. The smell stays with you too – that’s not to say that it goes into battle with your perfume or other, similar body products, but you just get the occasional whiff of it, even the day after you’ve washed it.

OK, maybe I could have described that with a bit more finesse, but I’m sure you get my drift! It smells divine.

Shampoo is slow to dispense

This lovely shampoo is thick and creates a very rich lather on your hair. But I have found it difficult to get out of the bottle. It’s only a minor irritation to be honest (and I can be a little impatient) but as a consequence, I end up unscrewing the top, tipping too much out into my hand, then having to scrape some back into the bottle!

The conditioner has a different, push down dispenser and I don’t have any problems with that, it’s only the shampoo.

In a way, I guess the small aperture is a good thing because the shampoo is concentrated and it means that you don’t end up using too much. So perhaps I just need to learn to be more patient – not a virtue that I’m endowed with…

Vegan Mum’s Chāmpo Pitta Shampoo Review Conclusion

It’s probably pretty obvious just how much I love this Chāmpo Pitta shampoo and conditioner. Not only does it add loads of volume and shine to my hair, it makes it smell good too! I haven’t been using the serum long enough to know whether it can really add further regrowth, but as I said earlier in the review, it does contain ingredients that are independently proven to help.

I know that it seems pricey, and you are certainly going to pay more for it than for your local supermarket’s own budget brand, but you are getting a premium product. And because it is concentrated (and comes out of the bottle so slowly!) you don’t use anywhere near as much.

In addition, it meets many of the criteria I set out when using a personal care product, including the fact that it’s vegan, cruelty-free, contains natural ingredients and avoids the dubious ones. Chāmpo also seems to be a very thoughtful brand, embracing its Ayurvedic roots (for once, not a deliberate pun on my part!) and using that knowledge to create a modern, clinically-tested product that works.

And if it’s important to you, these premium hair care products also make a statement on your bathroom shelf – the packaging is understated in a very stylish way, so it endows a certain level of sophistication (even when I’m using it). I also like the fact that they dispense in different ways (despite my problems with getting the shampoo out!) because you can identify which product is which in the shower without having to study the bottle through soap-filled eyes.

All in all, it’s quite difficult to not like Chāmpo really and to top it all, they have a hair quiz on their site so that you can identify your ‘dosha’ – and who doesn’t love a quiz?

Where can I buy Chāmpo Pitta Shampoo and Conditioner?

You can buy these products direct from Chāmpo’s own online store here.

FAQs

How can I make my thin hair look thicker?

There are plenty of quick ‘tricks’ to make your hair appear thicker, including:

• getting a shorter cut
• changing your parting
• chucking your hair over your head when you blow dry it
• using volumising products like Chāmpo Pitta shampoo and conditioner
• using a combination of highlights and lowlights – check it out with your hairdresser

What causes thinning hair?

There are many causes of thinning hair, so if you are genuinely concerned about hair loss, your first stop should be to get it checked out by a medical professional.

However, contributory factors to hair loss, particularly for females, can include:

• hormonal changes, pregnancy and childbirth
• harsh hair treatments and overly tight hairstyling
• stress
• age
• genetics
• vitamin deficiencies

This is not an exhaustive list, and Vegan Mum is not here to offer medical advice, so I have provided a couple of good reference sites at the end of this review in case you’d like to read more.

Needless to say, in most cases you have to address the cause of your thinning hair, but products like Chāmpo Pitta growth serum can help to encourage new growth, using clinically proven ingredients like caffeine, important amino acids and Ayurvedic elements too.

Reference sites

• Healthline – thinning hair
• NHS – women and hair loss
• Brittanica’s Ayurveda entry

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