Shampoo / Everyday cleanser, balanced
Add it to your products. We’ll tell you if it’s ever recalled.
Scent:
Reviewers describe it as cacao.
Strength: Strong
Manufacturer page: kiyobeauty.com
Personal fit
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$49 with 60 days of follow-up questions and plan updates
$99 with 12 months. Pay once; the year renews only if you choose.
The rest of what your plan weighs on this product.
The consultation builds your hair profile, checks every factor in this table against it, and tells you where this product fits or what to use instead.
Start your consultation$49 once, with 60 days of follow-up questions and plan updates. Nothing renews, and you never have to buy a product.
Your avoid-list
Lower cost than most shampoos
$0.50/oz at 13.5 oz, less than 88% of the 1544 shampoos , which mostly run $0.79–3.04/oz.
Great for
Maybe skip if
What the formula actually does
Each row says where it comes from: F means we derived it from this product’s own ingredient list, S means it is a claim the brand makes that the formula neither confirms nor contradicts.
Removes oil and product; leaves some conditioning behind.
An ordinary shampoo lather.
Conditioning agents are present, lower in the list.
Humectants near the top: binding water is one of its main jobs.
No over-the-counter scalp active.
Contains chelators, which bind hard-water and pool minerals.
Nothing here needs a detergent wash to remove.
Protein appears, low enough to be a supporting ingredient.
Fragrance is listed; it sits below the working ingredients.
Ingredients that matter
The workhorse ingredients, plus anything lower down that changes a decision. The chips name what an ingredient does. They are not safety scores, and no ingredient here is rated good or bad on its own.
| Ingredient | What it does | Why it matters | Chip |
|---|---|---|---|
| WaterWater (Aqua) | solvent | The base everything else is dissolved in | Neutral |
| Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Extract | botanical extract | A plant extract, there as much for marketing as for function | Neutral |
| Glycerin | humectant | Pulls water into the hair | Moisturizes |
| Sodium Lauroyl Glutamate | mild anionic cleanser | — | Cleanses |
| Lauramidopropyl Hydroxysultaine | amphoteric cleanser | — | Cleanses |
| Glycol Distearate | opacifier | Makes the product look creamy | Softens |
| Cocamidopropyl Betaine | amphoteric cleanser | — | Cleanses |
| Sodium Chloride | salt | Thickens the formula | Stabilizes |
| Hydrolyzed Quinoa | film former | A supporting film former | Protein |
| Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate | preservative | Keeps the product from spoiling | Stabilizes |
| Benzoic Acid | preservative | Keeps the product from spoiling | Stabilizes |
| FragranceFragrance (Parfum) | fragrance | The scent | Fragrance |
In the US, ingredients above 1% are listed from most to least. Below 1% they can appear in any order. Each note keeps three things apart: what the ingredient generally does, its role in this type of product, and what its position can tell you.
The base of almost every rinse-off and cream hair product. It carries everything else and is normally the first ingredient on the label.
Listed in the first three ingredients, it is likely a structural part of this formula.
An extract of Cocoa (Theobroma Cacao). Plant extracts are used across a wide range of levels, and label order is the best guide to how much is here.
Listed in the first three ingredients, it is likely a structural part of this formula.
Glycerin, also called glycerol, attracts moisture and mixes completely with water.
Listed in the first three ingredients, it is likely a structural part of this formula.
High-porosity hair loses water fast; a humectant holds some of it in place for longer than the wash itself would.
Binds water into the outer layers of the strand, and water is what makes dry hair flexible again rather than brittle.
Water moves both ways. Measured across concentrations, glycerin solutions give water up in some conditions and take it from the air in others. What it does for you depends on how much of it is there and on the air around it.
An amino-acid-derived cleanser, among the mildest in common use.
Listed in positions 4–8, it likely makes a meaningful contribution alongside the formula's main ingredients.
The detergent class most curl routines are built around: it lathers and cleanses without stripping the strand back to bare.
A gentler detergent leaves more of the surface oil that slows water loss from coarse or porous hair.
Cleanses with less sebum removal than a sulfate detergent, so hair that is short of moisture keeps more of it through the wash.
A mild secondary cleanser. It boosts foam and softens the effect of the stronger detergent it is paired with.
Listed in positions 4–8, it likely makes a meaningful contribution alongside the formula's main ingredients.
Mild cleansing leaves more surface lubrication in place on hair that dries out quickly.
One of the mildest detergent classes. It is usually there to let a formula lather without a harsher detergent doing the work.
The mildest detergents are also the least complete: a routine that deposits films needs something stronger periodically.
A wax that gives shampoo its pearly look and a slightly richer feel.
Listed in positions 4–8, it likely makes a meaningful contribution alongside the formula's main ingredients.
Emollients fill and smooth the surface of the strand, which lowers the friction that lifts the cuticle and reads as roughness.
A mild coconut-derived co-cleanser that boosts foam and softens the effect of stronger detergents. It appears in most shampoos, gentle or not.
Listed in positions 4–8, it likely makes a meaningful contribution alongside the formula's main ingredients.
Mild cleansing leaves more surface lubrication in place on hair that dries out quickly.
The mildest detergents are also the least complete: a routine that deposits films needs something stronger periodically.
Among the mildest detergents in use — it is what baby shampoos are built on — but it is almost always the second detergent in a formula. How much a wash strips is still decided by the primary detergent listed above it.
Table salt. In shampoo it is used to thicken the liquid, not to treat the hair.
Listed in positions 4–8, it likely makes a meaningful contribution alongside the formula's main ingredients.
A cross-linked acrylate that thickens a gel and dries to a holding film. Cross-linking makes it build viscosity as well as set.
Lower in the ordered portion of the list, it is more likely playing a supporting role than defining the formula.
A set polymer film is a physical barrier to humidity, so a style keeps its shape longer in damp conditions.
Synthetic film formers dry into a continuous film, which is what holds a shape against movement and against humid air.
Some acrylate copolymers rinse with water and some need a detergent; the label alone does not say which one a formula used.
A firm plant butter used for sealing and hold in heavier styling creams.
Lower in the ordered portion of the list, it is more likely playing a supporting role than defining the formula.
Coarse, porous hair loses water quickly and can carry the weight; a butter slows that loss more than a thin oil does.
Emollients fill and smooth the surface of the strand, which lowers the friction that lifts the cuticle and reads as roughness.
A solid fat melts onto the strand at body temperature and stays there, which is the heaviest surface moisture-holding a formula can offer.
A quinoa-derived protein used for light strengthening and colour retention claims.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
Filling surface gaps evens out the cuticle, which is part of what makes damaged hair comb and reflect light more like undamaged hair.
Film formers are what hold a style: they dry into a connected film across the strands so the shape resists movement.
Hydrolysed fragments are small enough to sit in the gaps of a worn cuticle for a wash or two, temporarily restoring stiffness and cutting breakage in combing.
A fatty ester. Esters give slip and a smooth after-feel; lighter ones read dry and silky, heavier ones read rich.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
A light emollient: it softens the surface with noticeably less weight than an oil or a butter.
Spreads thin and lowers friction between strands without the heaviness of a fixed oil.
An associative thickener that builds viscosity in a water-based formula and gives it a cushioned flow.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
A styling polymer dries into a film across the strands, which is what makes a shape hold instead of relax.
A fatty ester. Esters give slip and a smooth after-feel; lighter ones read dry and silky, heavier ones read rich.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
A light emollient: it softens the surface with noticeably less weight than an oil or a butter.
Spreads thin and lowers friction between strands without the heaviness of a fixed oil.
A gentle conditioning agent activated by the acid in the formula. It smooths the cuticle without much build-up.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
A cationic conditioning agent: it binds to the damaged, negatively charged parts of the cuticle and lowers combing friction there.
The class that does the detangling in a conditioner. It deposits lubrication where the cuticle is worn.
Substantive by design. A routine with no detergent wash gives it nothing to leave with.
A small humectant and solvent that keeps formulas stable and helps active ingredients spread.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
Light and water-binding rather than oily, so it adds less weight than oils or butters do.
A small water-binding solvent. It holds moisture and helps the rest of the formula spread evenly over the strand.
A humectant follows the air: it holds water in humid conditions and can give it up in very dry ones. Climate decides what it does more than the label does.
A conditioning polymer made from guar bean gum. It deposits during rinsing, which is why sulfate shampoos can still leave hair soft.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
Gums thicken and set soft, which gives definition that bends rather than a rigid cast.
Cationic conditioners bind to the negatively charged damaged cuticle, laying it flat and cutting the friction that causes combing breakage.
A styling polymer dries into a film across the strands, which is what makes a shape hold instead of relax.
A corn-derived humectant and solvent, often chosen as a lighter-feeling alternative to propylene glycol.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
Light and water-binding rather than oily, so it adds less weight than oils or butters do.
A small water-binding solvent. It holds moisture and helps the rest of the formula spread evenly over the strand.
A humectant follows the air: it holds water in humid conditions and can give it up in very dry ones. Climate decides what it does more than the label does.
Used to bring the product to a slightly acidic pH, which helps the cuticle lie flat. It is almost always near the end of the list.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
Holds hard-water minerals in solution so they rinse away instead of depositing on the hair.
The acid side of pH adjustment, and the reason it matters is measured: alkaline formulas raise the fibre's surface negative charge, increase friction between strands and lift the scales, while lower-pH ones do the reverse.
Where a warm cast comes from water minerals rather than from the hair itself, holding those metals in solution is what removes it.
A biodegradable hard-water chelator used in place of EDTA.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
Binds the calcium and magnesium in hard water, which is what stops mineral deposits accumulating on the strand wash after wash.
Copper and iron carried in tap water deposit on the strand and read as a dull, warm cast on gray or light hair. A chelator holds those metals in solution so the wash carries them off.
A strong base used in trace amounts to raise pH; fully neutralised in the finished product.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
The alkali half of a pH-adjusting pair, used in small amounts to bring a formula up to its target rather than to make it alkaline. Alkaline conditions raise the fibre's surface charge and lift the scales — but the finished pH is not on the label.
An undisclosed blend of scent ingredients. Regulations let it stay unlisted, so a fragrance-free product is the only way to be certain what is not in it.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
Declared fragrance. On a fragrance-sensitive routine this is the line that decides it, wherever it sits on the label.
A fragrance component with a faint balsamic scent, named separately on the label because it is a recognised contact allergen.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
One of the 26 scent components the EU requires to be named individually above a threshold. It is named because it is a known contact allergen, not because it is unusual.
Ingredient list captured 2026-09-08. Formulas change, so check the package in your hand when an ingredient matters to you.
Price · 13.5 oz
Usually a good value. Most stores sell it under the $8 line, and products that do this job typically go for about $13 at this size.
Sorted by price per ounce. Dated observations from our research, not live prices. Direct store pages, no affiliate links. We don’t sell this product.
Formula
It carries the working systems a shampoo needs and still sits in the lower part of the price range for shampoos per ounce.
The formula score measures completeness for the job: a weighted share of the systems this product type is usually built around that we find in this list. It does not rate how well the product works or its quality, and it never compares across product types.
Does the same job
Formulas that do the same things (cleanse, condition, coat or hold) for less per ounce. Scent, texture and where you buy them can still differ.
See more alternatives in the product library
These products do a similar job. We haven’t matched them to you. Find the one that fits your hair, routine and budget
Final decision
Colour-treated hair, for washing without sulfates and moisture that stays in
Worth skipping for anyone sensitive to fragrance or very dry or very humid climates
Nothing in our library matches it closely at a lower price.
We do not sell products or take placement fees. This page states what the formula and the prices show; the consultation is what matches it to a person.
Claims check
Claims are quoted from the brand. We mark a claim supported, partly supported or conflicting only when the ingredient list speaks to it. Everything else stays "stated by the brand". That isn’t a criticism: most claims can’t be checked from a label.
Fully strengthens hair with powerhouse protectants
Protein or ceramides are present, but low enough that this reads as support, not treatment.
Supports the surface, not a treatment.
Help block fragileness, brittleness, breakage and split ends
Protein or ceramides are present, but low enough that this reads as support, not treatment.
Supports the surface, not a treatment.
Creamy, silicone free, non-stripping, color safe shampoo
No silicones appear in the ingredient list.
—
Nothing that needs a strong wash.
Gently lifts away oil, dirt and build up
A mid-weight formula: it will not flatten fine hair, but lift is not its main job.
Neutral on lift.
Leaves strands perfectly prepared for conditioning
This is a marketing claim; an ingredient list cannot speak to it.
—
Can’t be confirmed from label.
No parabens, phthalates, mineral oil, gluten or dyes
No parabens appear in the ingredient list.
—
Preserved without parabens.
We look at the first 10–15 ingredients and what they do in a formula, not at the marketing. If the list doesn't speak to a claim, we don't assume.
Reviewers
Themes that come up again and again in sourced reviews, written by our researchers in their own words. We don’t store or scrape star ratings.
Several reviewers praise the cocoa butter scent as pleasant and long-lasting without being an overpowering perfume.
general reviewersMultiple reviewers note it detangles soaking-wet hair well, easing brushing before any conditioner is applied.
reviewers with thick or wavy hairReviewers describe the lather as rich and thorough while still leaving hair feeling nourished rather than stripped or squeaky.
general reviewers, several with dry or hard-water-affected hairA recurring complaint from longtime users is that a reformulated version feels heavier and greasier, weighing hair down compared to the original formula they remembered.
returning customers comparing to an earlier formula
