There are a lot of good shampoos on the market, available either online or in high street shops, and many of them will do a responsible job of cleaning your hair. But why buy a good shampoo when you can get a great shampoo for similar money?
The quality and ingredients within the shampoo formulation can affect your hair in so many ways. Both negatively - increasing damage and positively - you’re missing out on some health and beauty and management advantages, i.e. increased shine, colour and manageability.
Regardless of your hair type, condition or hair styling goals, there is a shampoo for you. Many shampoos aim to help a specific hair styling challenge and medical concern. If you are still deciding which shampoo will suit you, read our guide below or try one of our bespoke hair analyses, and we can make personal recommendations tailored to your hair.
HairKnowHow has been busy experimenting with and testing many different shampoos, from luxury to budget brands, so that you can learn from our experience.
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Best shampoos at a glance
Best shampoo for dry hair - OGX Argan Oil of Morocco Sulfate-Free Shampoo for Dry Hair
Best sulfate-free shampoo for damaged hair - Olaplex No.4 Bond Maintenance Shampoo
Best hair loss shampoo for men - Alpecin Caffeine Shampoo C1
Best sulfate-free shampoo for frizzy hair - OGX Kukui Oil Shampoo for Frizzy Hair
Best shampoo for dandruff - Head & Shoulders Clinical Strength Anti-Dandruff Shampoo
Best silicone-free shampoo - Faith In Nature Natural Coconut Shampoo
Best shampoo for curly hair - Bouclème - Hydrating Hair Cleanser
What makes a good shampoo a great shampoo?
Good shampoos offer efficient hair and scalp cleaning, removing dirt and grease that has built up since the last wash whilst causing minimal damage to our hair and irritation to the scalp. There are a lot of good shampoos on the market, from both new and old and big and small hair brands.
What makes a great shampoo is a shampoo that is formulated to include appropriate essential hair oils, is paraben free, of appropriate pH and, depending on the desired outcome, is sulfate-free and silicone-free. Not every great shampoo needs to be sulfate-free. Sulfates are a group of chemical ingredients that offer great deep cleansing and cause minimal disruption to hair when used sparingly or when required. The main problems with sulfate chemistries arise when sulfate-containing shampoos are used too frequently, stripping your hair of vital nutrients, especially when used on finer hair types.
Silicones are not all harmful. Silicones are great at protecting the cuticle from everyday physical abrasive and chemical damage and help moderate water damage - called hygral fatigue. From a beauty perspective, silicones also help increase lustre and make hair easier to handle. Silicones create a transparent coating or film on the cuticle surface. However, when silicones are used excessively or on fine hair types, silicones can cause mischief by weighing down hair. Heavy silicone deposits create a flatter, low-volume texture and prevent essential hair oil penetration into the cortex - weakening hair and making it hard to balance hydration.
There are excellent all-around shampoos that meet the above criteria, which we will get into in a bit. Still, some shampoos specialise in solving specific hair challenges, e.g. dry hair, anti-dandruff, greasy hair, damaged hair, best volumising, shampoo for coloured hair and many others.
So often, the “best shampoo” will depend on if you are trying to solve a specific hair and beauty styling or health challenge or are trying for a particular look.
Here are the best shampoos, in our opinion, just for you and your particular hair needs.
See below the best brands and their shampoos to help solve your hair woes and provide your hair with what it needs.
Best shampoo for hair loss for men
The most common type of hair loss, Androgenetic alopecia, can inflict severe psychological and social harm to both women and men. Luckily some shampoos contain ingredients like caffeine (yes, regular caffeine found in your tea and coffee) that can reduce hair loss or even promote growth. Users have reported mixed results; however, the scientific evidence is growing, and brands like Alpecin are leading the charge. Alpecin shampoo - is explicitly formulated to improve hair loss in men. It’s worth a go. Let us know how you get on and whether it works for you.
Best shampoo for hair loss for women
Hair loss is unfortunately terribly common in women and has a devastating effect on your well-being leading to depression and anxiety. Fortunately, much research has gone into developing products that can help prevent or even reverse Androgenetic alopecia (hair loss). Grow Me is one such product from the Waterman's brand and has been in development for ten years. Watermans have formulated their Grow Me shampoos and conditioners to contain caffeine and Niacinamide, which help reduce hair loss. Please let us know how you get on.
Best shampoo for dry hair
Dry hair can result for many reasons. We find that dry hair commonly results from excessive sulfate-containing shampoo use in conjunction with a lack of suitable hair oils in the client's haircare routine. Luckily, several brands have created sulfate-free shampoo formulations containing the necessary proven oils, but which is the best? We believe it's OGX Argan Oil of Morocco Sulfate Free Shampoo for Dry Hair. It's beautifully formulated, ticks all the boxes and possesses a slightly exotic floral scent that, in our opinion, is gorgeous.
Best sulfate-free shampoo for greasy hair
Some hair types are highly prone to greasiness, but this can also depend on the type of work, how much exercise you do, your environment, etc. If your hair is prone to grease and dirt buildup, you may benefit from cleansing and clarifying shampoo. The stronger-acting types of cleansing shampoos possess sulfates -the active cleaning agent that makes lots of bubbles, but sulfate-free cleansing shampoos are now on the market. Sulfate-free cleansing shampoos have a more mild formulation but still possess excellent cleansing and clarifying performance. In our opinion, the OGX Charcoal Clarifying Shampoo for Oily and Greasy Hair is the best sulfate-free shampoo for greasy hair.
Best sulfate-containing shampoo for greasy hair
As many of us know, excessive grease on hair suppresses and weighs hair down, affecting our texture, curls, or waves. Increased greasiness also adds to difficulty styling and brushing and is not always the desired look. Greasy hair is also very sticky and attracts dirt and dust from the environment, which further affects texture. For decades P&G’s head and shoulders range has been formulating and perfecting shampoos and making, in our opinion, the best sulfate-containing cleansing shampoo - Head & Shoulders Deep Cleanse Scalp Detox Shampoo. It is a powerful and effective cleansing and clarifying shampoo. We recommend you use it no more than once or twice a week to help prevent drying your hair too much. Let us know how you get on.
Best shampoo for coloured hair
When you invest the time and money into achieving the perfect colour, tone and shine, giving you that perfect look, you want to keep it lasting for as long as possible - using the best and most appropriate shampoos is the key to this. Changes in your hair colour happen due to a combination of both your choice of shampoo and UV (sun) damage that reduces colour intensity. To help maintain the colour intensity and tone, your hair needs a mild shampoo to protect your colour and nourish your fibres. We believe the best shampoo for coloured hair is Elvive Haircare L'Oreal Elvive Colour Protect Shampoo. This shampoo has all the essential ingredients your hair needs, including coconut oil, that helps to protect your cuticle and cortex from everyday UV damage from the sun. This shampoo is highly rated and just works. Give it a go, and feel free to let us know how you get on this shampoo.
Best natural shampoo
Boucleme is a premium brand that makes the full range of naturally derived haircare products, including excellent shampoos that our clients love. Boucleme’s entire product range is packed with hair oils and other luxury nutrients for your hair. The majority of their product range is sulfate-free and silicone-free. Boucleme’s brand is very focused on curly hair. However, their products suit all hair types. Bouclème’s - Hydrating Hair Cleanser is “98% naturally derived”, comes fully loaded with hair oils and is sulfate-free, silicone-free and paraben-free. This shampoo leaves your hair with a delicate, refreshing citrusy scent that we love, and we highly recommend it to you. Let us know how you get on.
Best shampoo for itchy scalp
An Itchy scalp can be very annoying and is often accompanied by a flaky scalp. These symptoms can affect how we feel about ourselves and how others view us. Repeated scratching can harm the scalp and cause damage to your hair fibres. The brand Head and Shoulders have been around for many decades and specialise in treating flaky scalps and the accompanying itchy head. Their Head & Shoulders Itch Relief Shampoo works; it relieves the itchiness very quickly (usually, one wash will give relief) and helps thoroughly clean your hair and scalp. Regular use will also help keep the itchiness away. Feel free to give this Itch Relief Shampoo a go, and let us know how you get on.
Best shampoo for curly hair
Getting the most out of your curls is a balancing act requiring the proper nutrients and oils without weighing them down and reducing their volume, texture and bounce. Ogx is a brand that specialises in sulfate-free formulations have created an outstanding product to help you get the most from your curls - Quenching+ Coconut Curls Shampoo. We have been using the Coconut Curls Shampoo shampoo for many months and adore the light sweet coconut smell. Our curls have become more defined and increased in volume, love it!
OGX Sulfate Free Coconut Shampoo for Curly Hair
Best shampoo for frizzy hair
Frizzy hair is significantly damaged hair, so much so that it has lost its original shape. Frizz will do more than disrupt your chosen look and hairstyle; it will decrease your hair's lustre and texture. Frizz also increases knots, requiring additional pulling forces when styling that increase damage and discomfort when brushing. Frizz, therefore, is best avoided or minimised. To help solve these challenges, Kérastase developed Discipline, Smoothing Anti-Frizz Shampoo. It's sulfate-free and does a fantastic job of softening your hair and significantly reducing frizz, making those hairstyles you desire possible without the hair pulling. Our clients love it, and we think you will too.
Best shampoo for damaged hair
If you have damaged hair and are looking for the best shampoo to help your hair recover, then look no further than Moroccan oil's Moisture Repair Shampoo. This shampoo is rich in argan oil, which is proven to enter and protect your hair from many day-to-day of our haircare and beauty regimes, including chemical colouring, straightening or heat treatments. Your hair will be left feeling super soft and weightless, and we highly recommend it.
Best shampoo for dandruff
Dandruff affects more than your skin and hair; it also often affects your confidence. When I was younger, I had dandruff, which occasionally got quite bad. Being young and wearing a dark blazer, the flakes settled on my shoulders which stood out, resulting in people being rather unkind. Even in the workplace, dandruff can affect colleagues’ attitudes towards you. It shouldn’t be the case, but there are easy solutions to dandruff. I have been using head and shoulders shampoos for years, and they really work. Head and Shoulder’s entire range is designed to deal with dandruff and its causes, and their clinical-strength anti-dandruff shampoo is, in our opinion, the best for dealing with it. This shampoo, combined with the Head and Shoulders coconut conditioner, will give you even better results.
Best volumising shampoo
Want to breathe life back into those beautiful curls and boost your hair texture, volume and bounce? Then, the highly-rated Lightweight Volume Life Shampoo from John Frieda is the answer! We love this lightweight shampoo, and so do our clients. This shampoo is especially suitable for those with thinner or finer hair types, quickly weighed down by products. Get a notable increase in bounce and volume and lasts for days. Try it, and let us know how you get on.
Get Expert Hair Analysis and Help
If you would like to discover how well you are looking after your hair, your hair type, or hair porosity, or the best shampoos and conditioners for your hair, then check out one of HairKnowHow's hair analyses below.
Contact the HairKnowHow Team if you have any hair-related questions or suggestions or if we missed out your favourite and best shampoo.
