Among Acure's four shampoo variants this is the richest, with seven oils and shea butter in the list and a second cationic polymer, cocoglucosides hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, alongside the usual guar. That pairing is what smooths the cuticle in a rinse-off; the coconut water and marula on the front of the bottle are the story, and the clove-orange scent is the trade-off.
The richest of Acure's sulfate-free shampoos, with seven oils in the list and two cationic polymers that do the real smoothing, and a good wash for coarse, wavy and frizz-prone hair at ten dollars. Fine hair will feel it as weight, the marula and coconut water are mostly rinsed away, and the clove-and-citrus essential-oil scent makes it the wrong choice for a reactive scalp.
Twenty-eight reviews on Acure's own site for the current formula, with a larger but uncounted history at Amazon and Target spanning earlier versions of the shampoo, leave the picture of how it feels reasonably clear and the long-term picture blurry. The assessment rests on the published ingredient list and on the well-understood behaviour of isethionate surfactants and cationic conditioning polymers; how the essential-oil scent is tolerated across many scalps in practice is drawn from reviewer reports rather than any testing we could see.
A verdict is DermApproved’s assessment of how well a product’s ingredients fit a concern — never a claim about what the product treats. Evidence dots and collected reviews sit beside it and are never blended in. Rules 0.5.1 · evidence table ev-2026.09-r228 · how we decide
Count the oils. Marula, coconut, avocado, sweet almond, coffee, kukui, cumaru and shea butter: eight fats between the sixth and twenty-fourth positions of a shampoo's ingredient list, which is a lot of lipid for a product whose surfactants exist to emulsify lipid and carry it down the drain. Most of them go. What Acure's Simply Smoothing Shampoo leaves behind is decided further down the list by two ingredients nobody buys it for: guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride and cocoglucosides hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, cationic polymers that deposit on the hair as the lather dilutes and lay the cuticle down. That is the smoothing, and having two of them rather than one is the real difference between this and the brand's hydrating shampoo. The oils make the lather richer and the wash feel less stripping, which matters too, and is a different thing from what the front of the bottle suggests.
The cleaning base is Acure's current standard and a good one: cocamidopropyl betaine and sodium lauroyl methyl isethionate, backed by glutamate and taurate surfactants, a mild blend that foams properly and does not roughen the cuticle the way sulfates do. For a shampoo whose promise is smoothness, not creating frizz in the first place is most of the work, and this base does it. Aloe juice fourth and glycerin fifth keep the scalp from tightening, and the lather that results is denser and creamier than a sulfate-free shampoo usually manages, which the couple of dozen reviewers on Acure's site notice first.
On the hair the result depends on the hair. Coarse, wavy and frizz-prone lengths come out of the shower slick and sealed, dry with less halo, and take a serum well; that is the audience, and the shampoo serves it. Fine hair tells a different story: the trace of oil that does deposit, along with the polymers, produces a softness that reads as weight by the second day, and the sensible fixes are a smaller amount, a thorough rinse and a clarifying wash every week or two. Tightly coiled hair gets a gentle wash and nothing like enough conditioning, which no shampoo provides.
Two habits improve it. Rinse for longer than feels natural, because the polymers deposit as the lather dilutes and a quick rinse leaves them in the drain along with the surfactant; and wash the scalp rather than the lengths, letting the foam run down the hair on its way out, which cleans where the oil is and leaves the dry ends the slick coating they came for. Used that way the shampoo's richness stops being a liability on all but the finest hair, and on coarse hair it becomes the reason to keep buying it.
The pairing matters too. The matching Simply Smoothing Conditioner is built on the same scent and the same oils, and the two are clearly meant to be used together; a smoothing shampoo followed by a hydrating conditioner from another line will smell like two products and behave like one, which is fine, but the set is where Acure's frizz claim comes closest to holding.
The named heroes deserve a plain word. Coconut liquid endosperm is coconut water, which in a rinse-off is a flavoured share of the water phase and hydrates hair no more than the tap does; marula oil at seventh is a pleasant light oleic oil that enriches the lather and is then mostly emulsified away. The seven certified-organic fruit and flower extracts between them, blackberry through pomegranate, are Acure's house signature and contribute nothing that survives a rinse. None of this makes the shampoo worse than it is; it makes the label a poor guide to why it works.
The scent is where a careful reader should slow down. Acure's rule is no synthetic fragrance, and this shampoo keeps it with clove, orange and Texas cedarwood essential oils plus vanillin, and the label declares limonene separately because it is a listed allergen. The blend is warm, spiced-orange and more assertive than the brand's almond washes, and it lingers on dry hair, which many people enjoy. It is also, in dermatological terms, a fragrance like any other: eugenol from clove and limonene from citrus are among the most frequently positive natural fragrance sensitisers in patch-test clinics, and cocamidopropyl betaine adds the small, well-known risk of betaine dermatitis. A healthy scalp will not notice. A reactive one has no reason to prefer this over a conventionally scented shampoo and good reason to prefer a fragrance-free one.
Price and provenance are the shampoo's friends. Nine ninety-nine for eight ounces, and often less through Acure's rolling promotions or at Target, is at the cheap end of sulfate-free smoothing shampoos, and a bottle lasts six to eight weeks for shoulder-length hair washed every other day. Acure has been on mass-retail shelves since 2010, the Simply Smoothing pair since about 2019, and the brand's vegan and Leaping Bunny certifications are real if not dermatological. The formula has been revised onto the isethionate base since launch, so older reviews describe an earlier version.
The recommendation, then, is a matched one. Coarse, wavy and frizz-prone hair without a sensitive scalp will find this a rich, gentle, nicely scented wash that makes the lengths easier to smooth afterward, at a price that invites trying it. Fine hair should use it sparingly or choose the brand's lighter variants. Anyone whose scalp reacts to essential oils should skip it, and anyone buying it for the marula and coconut water should know that the ingredients keeping their hair sleek are two polymers they have never heard of.
The hero actives that drive this product's performance.
| Ingredient | Function | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cocamidopropyl Betaine + Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate | The same mild amphoteric-and-isethionate base as the rest of Acure's current shampoos, backed by glutamate and taurate, which cleans without the cuticle-roughening that a sulfate causes; for a shampoo whose promise is smoothness, not stripping the hair in the first place is most of the job. | Not yet assessed |
| Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride + Cocoglucosides Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride | Two cationic conditioning polymers, one more than the Ultra Hydrating shampoo carries, that deposit on the hair as the lather rinses and lay the cuticle down; this pair is the actual smoothing mechanism in a wash-off, and the reason hair feels sleeker straight out of the shower than the oils could explain. | Not yet assessed |
| Sclerocarya Birrea (Marula) Seed Oil + Coconut Water | The two named heroes, coconut liquid endosperm at sixth and marula oil at seventh; the coconut water is a flavoured water phase and the marula a light oleic oil that enriches the lather, and both are largely rinsed away, so their contribution is to the wash experience rather than to what stays on the hair. | Not yet assessed |
| Shea Butter + Coconut, Avocado, Almond, Kukui and Coffee Oils | A run of seven fats and oils mid-list that make this the richest-feeling of Acure's shampoos, giving a creamy, slightly weighty lather that leaves coarse hair less rough; on fine hair the same oils, though mostly emulsified away, can leave a faint softness that reads as weight. | Not yet assessed |
| Aloe Leaf Juice + Glycerin + Betaine | Humectants in the top five and further down that keep the wash from tightening the scalp and lend the lather its slip; aloe juice at fourth is a Acure signature and functions here as flavoured water with a little soothing credit. | Not yet assessed |
| Clove, Orange and Cedarwood Oils + Vanillin + Limonene | The scent, a warm spiced-orange blend built from essential oils and a vanilla aroma chemical, with limonene declared separately because it is a listed allergen; clove's eugenol and citrus limonene are among the commonest natural fragrance sensitisers, and this is the shampoo's one real caution for reactive scalps. | Not yet assessed |
Ingredient standings describe the active at treatment-level doses and vehicles; this product's own condition grades weigh its actual formula.
Water / Aqua / Eau, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate, Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe) Leaf Juice, Glycerin, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Liquid Endosperm, Sclerocarya Birrea (Marula) Seed Oil, Rubus Fruticosus (Blackberry) Fruit Extract, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Euterpe Oleracea (Acai) Fruit Extract, Rosa Canina (Rosehip) Fruit Extract, Calendula Officinalis (Marigold) Flower Extract, Aspalathus Linearis (Rooibos) Leaf Extract, Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) Extract, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Eugenia Caryophyllus (Clove) Flower Oil, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Coffea Arabica (Coffee) Seed Oil, Juniperus Mexicana (Texas Cedarwood) Oil, Aleurites Moluccanus (Kukui) Seed Oil, Dipteryx Odorata (Cumaru) Seed Oil, Levulinic Acid, Sodium Levulinate, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Cocoglucosides Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate, Betaine, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Citric Acid, Sodium Hydroxide, Vanillin, Limonene
cleanser
AM & PM
Use as the wash-day shampoo for frizz-prone, coarse or wavy hair, followed by the matching conditioner and a serum or cream on the lengths; fine hair should use a smaller amount and rinse well, since the oils can leave a softness that reads as weight. Alternate with a clarifying shampoo every week or two if the hair starts to feel coated, and keep it off a scalp that reacts to essential oils.
Hair feels smoother and less rough immediately after washing, and frizz is a little reduced once dry; the effect resets with each wash. There is no cumulative smoothing, and the oils and extracts do not change the hair's structure over time.
Frizz is the visible result of a raised or damaged cuticle absorbing atmospheric moisture unevenly, and a shampoo can influence it in two ways: by not lifting the cuticle during washing, and by depositing something that holds it flat afterward. On the first count, the sulfate-free surfactant base here, sodium lauroyl methyl isethionate and cocamidopropyl betaine with glutamate and taurate co-surfactants, cleans with lower protein binding and less lipid extraction than sodium laureth sulfate, so it swells and roughens the cuticle less. On the second, the formula carries two cationic polymers, guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride and cocoglucosides hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, which come out of solution as the shampoo is diluted during rinsing and deposit on the negatively charged fibre surface in a process known as coacervation; the resulting film lowers friction and helps cuticle scales lie flat, and it is the principal mechanism of any 'smoothing' shampoo, as the 2015 overview of hair cosmetics in the International Journal of Trichology describes for conditioning shampoos generally.
The oils behave differently. Marula, coconut, avocado, almond, coffee, kukui and cumaru oils and shea butter are emulsified by the surfactant system and largely removed; a small fraction can co-deposit with the cationic coacervate, which accounts for the slight softness fine hair reports, but they are not a leave-behind conditioning layer. Coconut liquid endosperm is an aqueous ingredient with no hair-specific effect. Glycerin, betaine and aloe juice act as humectants in the wash.
The tolerability considerations are the fragrance materials and the betaine. Eugenol from clove oil and limonene from orange peel oil are components of the standard fragrance mix and among the more frequently positive natural fragrance allergens in patch-test series, which is why limonene is declared on the label; cocamidopropyl betaine's impurities amidoamine and dimethylaminopropylamine are a recognised cause of shampoo dermatitis. The seven fruit and flower extracts are present at cosmetic levels with no rinse-off evidence.
A smoothing shampoo comes up in clinic mostly when a patient with a sensitive scalp has chosen one for its natural positioning and developed an itch, and the ingredient that explains it is usually the essential-oil fragrance; clove and citrus oils are exactly the materials practitioners ask fragrance-allergic patients to avoid, and the declared limonene on this label is the tell. For patients without that history, the surfactant base is a reasonable one, mild enough for frequent washing and gentle on colour-treated and chemically relaxed hair, and the cationic polymers that make it smoothing are inert and well tolerated. The advice for frizz-prone hair remains that shampoo is the least important step: reducing heat and chemical damage, conditioning the lengths and using a leave-on product do far more than any wash, and no shampoo's oils change the fibre. The product has no antidandruff active and is not a treatment for a flaky or oily scalp, though it can be alternated with a medicated shampoo for the hair itself.
Start with fully wet hair, squeeze out a coin-sized amount for short hair or two for long, and work it into the scalp with the fingertips, letting the lather run down the lengths as you rinse rather than scrubbing them. Rinse thoroughly, longer than feels necessary, so the cationic polymers deposit as the foam dilutes. Follow with the matching conditioner on the mid-lengths and ends and a smoothing serum or cream once towel-dried. Wash as often as the scalp needs, usually every other day, and alternate with a clarifying shampoo every week or two if the hair starts to feel coated. Keep it out of the eyes and off a scalp that reacts to essential oils.
Nine ninety-nine for eight ounces is the low end of sulfate-free smoothing shampoos and, with Acure's near-constant promotions and Target's pricing, it often lands well under that; a bottle lasts six to eight weeks for shoulder-length hair washed every other day. The money buys a mild, well-lathering surfactant base and two cationic polymers that genuinely smooth, which is fair value for coarse and wavy hair, and it buys a rich oil content that fine hair pays for in weight. Against comparable natural smoothing shampoos it is inexpensive, and against a drugstore sulfate wash the premium is small for the gentleness gained. What the price does not buy is any lasting benefit from the marula, coconut water or extracts, which are the label rather than the mechanism.
People with coarse, wavy or frizz-prone hair who want a rich, sulfate-free wash that leaves the lengths sleeker and takes a serum well, and who enjoy a warm spiced-orange scent from a vegan, cruelty-free brand at drugstore prices.
Fine or limp hair that goes flat easily, anyone with a sensitive scalp, fragrance allergy or scalp dermatitis, given the clove and citrus oils, and those looking for real frizz correction rather than a gentler wash. Flaky or very oily scalps need a different product.
A creamy, slightly opaque gel that lathers into a dense, cushioned foam and rinses to hair that feels slick and sealed rather than squeaky.
A warm, spicy orange with clove and cedarwood over a vanilla note, more assertive than Acure's almond-scented washes and lingering on dry hair.
An 8 fl oz recycled-plastic squeeze bottle with a flip cap; identical to the rest of the range apart from the colour band.
The lather is the first surprise, richer and creamier than a sulfate-free shampoo usually manages, and the rinse leaves hair noticeably slicker before conditioner. Coarse and wavy hair likes it at once; fine hair may feel a faint softness that reads as weight by the second day. The scent is noticeable and warm. Reactive scalps should watch for tingling from the clove and citrus oils.
About six to eight weeks washing every other day with shoulder-length hair.
All Year
Acure introduced its Simply Smoothing pair around 2019, at the height of marula oil's run as a natural-beauty hero ingredient, as the frizz-control lane of a hair range that already had hydrating, clarifying and volumising options. The line has since moved onto the brand's isethionate surfactant base and adopted the spiced-orange essential-oil scent, keeping the coconut water and marula that name the product.
Acure has sold vegan, sulfate-free hair care through Target, Whole Foods and Ulta since 2010, building its reputation on ingredient marketing and retail longevity rather than clinical study. The Simply Smoothing line, built around coconut water and marula oil, has been in the range since around 2019 and has been reformulated onto the brand's current isethionate surfactant base.
The marula oil and seven other oils in the shampoo coat and smooth the hair.
Oils in a shampoo are emulsified by the surfactants and mostly rinsed away. The smoothing that survives the rinse comes from the two cationic polymers, guar and cocoglucosides hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, which deposit on the hair as the lather dilutes and lay the cuticle down. The oils make the lather feel richer and reduce stripping, which is worthwhile and different.
'No synthetic fragrance' means the shampoo is gentle on a sensitive scalp.
It is scented with clove, orange and cedarwood essential oils plus vanillin, and limonene is declared on the label because it is a recognised allergen. Clove's eugenol and citrus limonene are among the most frequently positive natural fragrance sensitisers in patch testing, so a reactive scalp has no reason to prefer this over a conventionally scented shampoo.
Coconut water hydrates the hair.
Coconut liquid endosperm is water with sugars and electrolytes, and in a rinse-off it behaves as a flavoured share of the water phase. It contributes nothing to hair hydration that plain water does not; the humectants that do something here are glycerin and betaine.
Modestly, and mostly through two cationic polymers that deposit on the hair during rinsing and flatten the cuticle, plus a mild surfactant base that does not roughen it in the first place. It is not a keratin or smoothing treatment; frizz-prone hair will still want a serum or cream on the lengths, and the shampoo's job is not to undo that work at the next wash.
It can be. Seven oils and shea butter make it the richest of Acure's shampoos, and although most of the oil rinses away, fine hair often feels a softness that reads as weight by the second day. Fine hair does better with a smaller amount, thorough rinsing and a clarifying wash every week or two, or with Acure's volumising variant instead.
Warm spiced orange with clove and cedarwood over vanilla, from essential oils and vanillin. It is stronger and more distinctive than the almond scent of Acure's hydrating shampoo and lingers on dry hair.
It carries clove and orange essential oils and declared limonene, all of which are common natural fragrance sensitisers, along with cocamidopropyl betaine. Scalps with dermatitis or a history of reacting to essential oils should choose a fragrance-free shampoo instead.
Yes to both. It cleans with cocamidopropyl betaine, sodium lauroyl methyl isethionate, glutamate and taurate surfactants, and its smoothing comes from cationic guar and cocoglucoside polymers rather than silicones.
Yes, and wavy to loosely curly hair is where it does best, since the mild cleansing and cationic deposit reduce the roughness that makes waves frizz. Tightly coiled hair will find it a gentle wash but will need far more conditioning on top than the shampoo provides.
Recurring themes our editors read across retailer reviews of this product — summaries in our words, not quotations, and not a substitute for your own patch test.
Hair feels smoother and less frizzy after washing
Creamy lather for a sulfate-free shampoo
Warm spiced-orange scent
Good value at drugstore pricing
Can weigh down fine hair
Scent is strong for some
Needs a clarifying wash now and then
Not much frizz control on very coarse hair