If you’re looking to find the best shampoo for your hair type, or the best shampoo to solve a specific hair need (how many of us have searched ‘best shampoo for flat hair’?), to be overwhelmed with ads and results… it’s a lot.
However, shampoos that promise life-changing results, cures for all hair ills are often stocked full of ingredients (i.e silicones, thickening agents, etc) that do not easily rinse out of the hair, leaving behind residue. Therein lies the problem: leaving behind this residue means that your hair and scalp aren’t totally clean. And they’re not the only culprits that interfere with a healthy shampoo experience – even more confusing are the labels that promise ‘healthy and organic’ but are packed full of essences and oils that also cling to the hair and scalp.
To help you on your quest for shampoo greatness, below, we bust some common shampoo myths to get to the root of what’s in the bottle.
How can I tell if a shampoo is right for me?
The short answer is that shampoo should do exactly what it needs to do: Cleanse the hair and scalp. Remove dirt, oil and impurities, without stripping your colour.
You may want to target a hair concern: tame frizz, thicken hair, hydrate, etc – but this isn’t the role of shampoo. Ingredients that can achieve those benefits cannot do so without sticking to your hair, which means they also stick to your scalp.
Since a shampoo is the only product that gets massaged into your scalp, you need to make sure that it rinses off well, or it can lead to clogged follicles and inflammation, which can eventually lead to hair loss.
Which ingredients should I look for in my shampoo?
Steering clear of anything that causes build up, next, we need to identify which ingredients are right for your hair health. Regardless of your hair type, you should look for ingredients that gently cleanse and rinse off – that’s it. And, to make your life easier, we’ll highlight a few ingredients that you’ll want to avoid.
For the best wash results, our Color Wow Color Security Shampoo has been vetted, tested and put under the microscope to rule out any ingredient that has been formulated to stick to the hair, such as silicones, thickening and volumising resins, conditioning agents, oils, waxes and de-frizzing ingredients.
For the overall health and integrity of the hair, we recommend staying away from sulfates. Our shampoo uses a proprietary blend of sulfate-free cleansing agents (like glycinates, taurates, and isethionates) which cleanse gently and thoroughly without drying or stripping your hair. There are many shampoos on the market that do use sulfates (ingredients like sodium lauryl sulfate) to cleanse the hair but these are basically detergents that can be harsh and can cause color-stripping, and have an irritating, drying effect on hair and scalp.
Are ”natural” and organic shampoos better?
One last thing to be mindful of on your shampoo label: Is it better to opt for something “natural” or “organic”? Many of these formulas promise a better experience, making them sound like the better option on the surface.
If you dig a little deeper though, you’ll find that “natural” isn’t a government or industry-regulated term, which means that it doesn’t have bearing on what you’re buying. Ingredients can be “certified organic”, but that doesn’t mean that they’re the most effective cleansing agents.
Let’s take a quick look at some of the most popular “natural and organic” shampoo ingredients:
Apple Cider Vinegar: Yes, it has antibacterial properties, but it’s not going to cleanse your hair and scalp correctly.
Coconut oil: Often included to help with softness, shine and preventing frizz, coconut oil is hard to rinse out, and clogs follicles, which can lead to thinning hair. We do love coconut properties, but we recommend using in post-cleansing mask on mid-lengths and ends.
Our Color Wow Dream Cocktail Coconut-Infused is a high-powered heat-protectant applied to wet hair before blow-drying, where it can restore silk and shine to the hair – after it’s been cleansed.
Essential Oils: with their alleged anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, essential oils are often found in products, also for their ‘sensory experience’.
However, like most oils, they can cause buildup, but the main reason we steer clear of essential oils? They can also impact your hair colour. And at Color Wow, we take every measure to protect your colour from being compromised and from ingredients that can dull, darken or distort your shade.
So, with all of that in mind, what’s our advice for the best shampoo for your hair? Choose a sulfate-free, residue free formula like our Color Wow shampoo.
Your shampoo should clean your hair and nothing else – leave the de-frizz, volumise or condition to your conditioners and styling products – they’re not being massaged into your scalp!
