Striking the balance between clean hair and hair that’s easy to style and looks healthy, is not always as easy as you’d think. For the most part, for styles to stay put they’ll need a little helping hand with things like styling creams or texture spray but these will often contain waxes and silicones to lock out humidity. The thing is, while that’s great for hold, these ingredients will also build up on your hair and scalp as they aren’t absorbed. Product build-up will leave strands looking and feeling lank and scalps flaky—not cute. To remedy this, you need an excellent hair and scalp cleanser. Clarifying shampoos are important for all hair types for multiple reasons. "Using a clarifying shampoo is especially effective BEFORE you put on a deep conditioning treatment,” says Samantha Cusick, Founder of Samantha Cusick London. "This is because the shampoo removes all the nasty build-up that gets caught up in the hair and means hair treatments can get into the hair more effectively.”
A good clarifying shampoo will do more for your hair and scalp than any other shampoo type but should be used in tandem with other less potent formulas to keep hair healthy. If you have dry hair, using a moisture-boosting shampoo for your regular wash and then a clarifying shampoo every couple of weeks will stop hair from feeling stringy and tangled. For oily scalps or fine hair, hair can be refreshed in between washes with dry shampoo but if you can’t help washing your hair daily, then make your clarifying wash once or twice a week to avoid affecting the quality of your hair. If your hair is damaged or chemically-treated then opt for a strengthening shampoo for your regular wash and limit clarifying shampoos to a couple of times a month for the healthiest hair.
In the past, finding the best clarifying shampoo has been tricky. Formulas would often contain such a high concentration of detergent that while it was effectively cleaning your hair and scalp, they would also strip colour and all natural oils from the hair, leaving it literally squeaky clean and often very dry. Now, clarifying shampoos formulas have evolved that still leave hair feeling soft and easy to manage post-wash. Here are the ones that give all the good hair days.
Best Clarifying Shampoos
Redken Amino-Mint Scalp Shampoo
The peppermint extract in this is so soothing and cooling it's perfect for oily, irritable scalps. The formula is also pH balanced too to helps reset hair and scalp if you have drier ends but greasier roots.
Bumble and Bumble Sunday Shampoo
For many, this is the ultimate clarifying shampoo. The name comes from detoxing on a Sunday before a new week and this is exactly what that this shampoo does for your hair, removing the build-up from the week prior.
Olaplex No. 4c Bond Maintenance Clarifying Shampoo
This new launch from Olaplex is designed to be used once a week to remove impurities, build-up and pollutants from your hair. It’s also one of the only clarifying shampoos that doesn’t use SLS in the formula (a super-effective but often drying detergent) so it's great for naturally dry or chemically-treated hair.
Keracare Hydrating Detangling Shampoo
If you’ve ever had your hair done at an Afro hair salon, chances are you’ve had this shampoo use on your hair at the backwash it thoroughly cleanses but leaves hair easy to detangle.
Aussie Shampoo Mega for Everyday Cleaning
If you’re a daily washer (no judgement) with an oily scalp you’ll love this from Aussie. It’s gentle enough to use as often as you need but does effectively wash off build-up.
Pattern Cleansing Shampoo
This deep cleaning shampoo is full of antioxidant-rich ingredients like matcha green tea, aloe vera and panthenol to keep curls hydrated as it cleanses all build-up and excess oiliness.
Garnier Ultimate Blends Honey Treasures Strengthening Shampoo Bar
As eco-friendly as it is cleansing, this bar is perfect for finer hair types and thanks to the bar formula it lasts ages too.
Davines Solu Clarifying Shampoo
I love pretty much all Davines products and the Solu shampoo is no exception. It rids the hair or any build-up and if you feel like your hair is falling flat thanks to oil and product, this lightens things up so you get volume too.
The Ordinary Sulphate 4% Cleanser for Body and Hair
If you’re a fan of The Ordinary’s simple approach to skin, you’ll like their hair offering too. This formula includes enough sulphates to clarify hair but gentle enough to use a couple of times a week if necessary.
Ouai Detox Shampoo
Apple cider vinegar is a known detoxing ingredient and this shampoo has it in boatloads plus hydrolysed keratin to smooth down your hair cuticle.
For finer hair types this lightweight shampoo is a cooling, soothing cleanser which also includes glycerin and olive oil to moisturise the scalp and hair.
Briogeo Scalp Revival™ Megastrength+ Dandruff Control Shampoo
When we have congested pores on our skin what’s the first thing we reach for? A charcoal mask, right? This shampoo is essentially that for your hair and scalp. It also includes a powerful blend of AHAs and BHAs to effectively exfoliate the scalp too.
Next up, the best volumising shampoos for thin hair
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