Best clarifying shampoo

Hana Hong is the beauty & fashion editor at RealSimple.com. She has been a writer and editor in the beauty and fashion industry for more than six years, sharing her expansive knowledge on skincare, hair care, makeup, fashion, and more. In addition to her broad network of beauty experts, she uses her family's background and training in skin science and cosmetic chemistry to differentiate between effective skincare formulations and marketing jargon. Ever wanted to pick the brain of a beauty editor? Or get beauty product recommendations from someone who has tried them all? You've come to the right place. In our weekly series, beauty editor Hana Hong answers your biggest skincare, hair care, and makeup questions, all submitted by Real Simple readers. Tune in every Tuesday and submit your own burning beauty questions Reader question: Can you recommend some good clarifying shampoos? —@shannon.albright Sorry to break it to you, but if you use dry shampoo and other styling products, go a few days between washes, or rinse your hair with tap water (i.e. all of us), you have a lot of buildup in your hair—even if you can't see it. And no, the solution isn't just to wash your hair more. In fact, your shampoo actually contributes to the problem. Product buildup from ingredients like silicones can weigh your hair down over time, getting in the way of your volume and shine goals. But no sweat; the secret to cleaner and overall better-looking hair lies in adding just one more product to yo...

If you have curly or coily hair, you know that shampoos are often mentioned in hushed tones amongst the natural community. We’re told to distance ourselves from its drying surfactants and embrace co-washing instead, but the truth is, occasionally using a clarifying shampoo can benefit both your curls and scalp in the long run. “Product build-up is the main cause of dull, limp, and lifeless hair as it hinders curl definition and manageability,” hairstylist and African Pride brand educator Of course, with any cleanser, it can come with its faults. As Groover explains, pros include improved body, health, and hair shine, and one con commonly associated with clarifying shampoos is that they can be drying on the hair. “However, all clarifying shampoos are not created equal,” she notes. “Good clarifying shampoos never strip the natural nutrients and sebum from the scalp and hair,” Groover says. The primary difference between an effective and ineffective clarifying shampoo is the ingredients. Groover says to look for cleansing agents like sodium lauryl sulfate, chlorides, or cetyl alcohol. If sulfates or alcohol are too harsh for your hair, there are also a slew of sulfate-free clarifying shampoos on the market now that also do a good job of providing a deep clean. Look for ingredients like cocobetaines, a surfactant derived from coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, and charcoal. When it comes to how often you should use a clarifying shampoo, that will depend largely on how frequentl...

Nina Bahadur is a writer and editor based in NYC who specializes in beauty, kitchen, and organizing content. Highlights: * Writing has appeared in SELF, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, The New York Times, Health, SHAPE, Food52, and more * Former Deputy Editor for HuffPost Women * Former Deputy Culture Editor for SELF.com Emily Estep is a plant biologist and journalist who has worked for a variety of online news and media outlets, writing about and editing topics that range from film and beauty to science and the automobile industry. Her plant biology degree has a focus on sustainable agriculture, and she’s an expert on growing your own food, environmental sciences, and all topics relating to houseplants. You don’t need to spend a lot of money to get incredible hair, but selecting the best drugstore shampoo from the overwhelming number of options can be daunting. There are plenty of affordable shampoos to give your hair a deep cleanse and solve every issue, from split ends and stubborn frizz to limp curls and a dry scalp. We did the hard work so that you don’t have to, researching dozens of drugstore shampoos and evaluating their key ingredients, scents, sizes, and the hair types they’re ideal for. We also sourced options without parabens or sulfates, which are types of chemicals potentially linked to scalp and hair damage. For expert insight, we spoke to five hair care experts, including cosmetologists and trichologists, to get their tips on choosing a shampoo for your co...

Is your hair 99 percent What exactly is a clarifying shampoo? It's a cleanser that's specifically formulated to remove product buildup, grease, and grime from your scalp. The deep cleanser is crucial to mane maintenance and basically acts like a reset button for strands, says Meet Our Experts: Looking for a bottle you can try? Before you pluck any old formula off the shelf, try one of these formulas. Stylist say they are some of the best clarifying shampoos available today. Squeaky clean strands, coming right up. How do you use a clarifying shampoo? The short answer: The way you'd use any other shampoo. Simply lather and rinse. How often should you use clarifying shampoo? Since these cleansers tend to be harsher than your standard shampoo, you need to pay attention to your hair type before using these formulas too often. “People with fine hair that gets greasy very quickly will love to use this more frequently, as they will experience more volume and more texture,” says Mistry. “People with a lot or hair or thicker hair that don’t need to wash their hair that often will only need to use a clarifying shampoo very infrequently.” For most people, using a shampoo that's meant to clarify once every week or two is 👌🏽.

Every great hair day starts with your good old friends shampoo and conditioner. Though building that foundation sounds easy enough—theoretically, you’ve been washing your hair your whole life—you might stumble into the drugstore and quickly become overwhelmed at the options that deck the shelves today: clarifying shampoos to attend to your If you’re wondering where to start—or if you’re simply an enthusiast searching for the best of the best—SELF has you covered. For our 2023 Healthy Beauty Awards, testers worked their way through dozens of shampoos and conditioners, determining which new products make strands shine and frizz disappear. Throughout our judging process, we kept ingredients top of mind, too, ensuring each item can actually do what it claims to. $7 at Target Wavy hair can be tricky to manage: Treating it like straight hair can result in flatness or frizz, while thick silicones and sulfates found in curly hair products can weigh you down. Our testers felt seen and heard with this gentle, sulfate-free, and wallet-friendly shampoo that gave hair just enough structure for a beachy, lived-in look. Bonus points, per the experts: The aloe vera in this product gently exfoliates your scalp, removing buildup that prevents wavy hair from doing its thing. One tester said: “I really love this product. You only need a little bit to get a good lather. It rinses out easily and made my hair feel nice and clean—it was soft, smooth, and shiny with minimal frizz.” Just so you kno...