Shampoos are a common need, but they may be perplexing. First, decide if you want anything that moisturizes, detangles, or strengthens your hair. Then there’s the (enjoyable) process of sifting through an infinite list of buzzwords and sophisticated technical language to discover curly human hair extensions that will bring out the best in your hair. And we thought shopping was supposed to be enjoyable.
Rather than exacerbating the situation by bragging about our massive assortment of salon-quality shampoos (at last count), we’ve chosen to make shampoo wonderful again by showing you how to choose a product that’ll fit your hair type.
Oily hair
Oily hair may be a nightmare to manage. Have faith in us. We’re all too acquainted with the never-ending procession of new shampoos, weird pre-wash procedures, and interminable disputes about how many times a week you should *actually* wash your hair.
We also understand how tempting it might be to grab the strongest shampoo you can find and begin scrubbing away in a (mostly useless) attempt to remove all that excess oil. Unfortunately, effective shampoos might really do more damage than help when it comes to greasy hair. They remove all of the natural sebum oils that protect your scalp, causing your skin’s sebaceous glands to go into overdrive.
Fine hair
If you’re struggling with fine or thin hair, you’ve probably honed in on any shampoo that promises to volumize your strands or breathe “new life” into your hair. And that’s great. After all, fine hair can look limp AF, and there’s no getting around the fact that a bit of extra volume would be nice…
Sadly, things are a bit more complicated than that IRL. You’d think ‘volumizing’ would mean the same thing wherever you go, but different brands actually use a (huge) variety of different ingredients to plump up your strands, and some of them are much, much more effective than others.
More to the point, some “volumizing” shampoos actually use ingredients that leave a bit of a residue in your hair, which can weigh down your strands and make them look super-flat. Suppose your top priority is the extra volume. In that case, you’ll want to avoid these low-energy imposters and focus on the products that use advanced polymer technology to give your hair extra structure and push your strands apart.
Dry hair
Dry hair frequently indicates a dry scalp, and a dry scalp needs *a lot* of TLC. Not to mention a plethora of moisturizing substances.
This means you should avoid anything meant to volumize, strengthen, or fortify your hair as much as possible because these products tend to take oil (and moisture) from your hair. You should also avoid shampoos that include sulfates, like SLS or SLES, because these harsh detergents are known to be extremely drying in their own right.
Instead, you’ll probably want to seek out the best ref weightless shampoo with phrases like “hydrating” or “moisturizing” on the label. These wonder products are normally formulated with a combination of natural ingredients like aloe Vera, avocado, or coconut oil, which help keep your scalp nice and moist. Some moisturizing shampoos also contain complexes designed to regulate moisture levels in your hair and fight frizz carefully.
Colored hair
Colored hair needs a careful touch. If you use harsh surfactants, you will damage the cuticle layer, which holds hair color cream loreal inside individual strands of hair and prevents color from fading. Worse, powerful shampoos may amplify any damage done during the coloring process, leaving your hair thin, dry, and unmanageable.
So, in a nutshell, yuck. Fortunately, most major brands have color-protect shampoos that are designed to gently cleanse your hair without harming its delicate, protective layer. The finest color guard shampoos also include sophisticated vitamins (or botanical components) that are meant to give an extra layer of protection to lock in your color and keep it looking fresh for longer.
Bleached/blonde hair
Bleached (or blonde) hair is more sensitive to strong detergents, so if you’re rocking a platinum haircut, a blonde lob, or some beach-ready blonde waves, you’ll want to be extra cautious with your shampoo.
In general, we recommend avoiding anything containing parabens, sulfates, or other harsh chemicals. Sulfates, in particular, are considered to be quite drying, and you don’t want them near your fragile locks.
We’d also avoid anything marketed to strengthen or volumize hair because, once again, these treatments tend to suck the moisture right out of your hair, which can compound any damage done during the coloring process and leave your hair appearing limp/dry.
