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Home » Best Shampoos For Oily Hair You’ll Wish You Discovered Sooner

Best Shampoos For Oily Hair You’ll Wish You Discovered Sooner

Hair cleaning is a daily job when you have greasy hair. You might be able to skip a day if you’re very lucky and stock up on dry shampoo. Maybe. While experts disagree on whether or not daily washing is a good idea, or if you should try to stretch out washes in order to “retrain” your scalp, one thing is certain: whenever you wash, use a shampoo designed specifically for oily hair.

These, which are often lighter and feature a lesser concentration of rich, moisturizing ingredients, aim on eliminating excess grease—and product residue from all that dry shampoo—to leave your hair looking and feeling fresh and clean. Similarly, according to Hannah Draeger, stylist at One10 Beauty in Nashville, they frequently contain additional or harsher detergents (yes, like sulfates) or exfoliating chemicals to help clear the scalp of excess oil.

To help you narrow down your options, we evaluated some of the most popular oil- and grease-fighting shampoos on the market. Our testers used these shampoos for weeks at a time, grading the texture and feel of each recipe, the ingredient list, and how well it really kept their scalps and roots clean. We then merged these findings with our own research into top-rated items to create this ranking.

Continue reading to learn about the best shampoos for oily hair.

1. L’Oréal Paris Elvive Extraordinary Clay Shampoo – Best Overall

  Get it now on Amazon.com

What We Like

  • Clay-formula
  • Doesn’t strip hair Cheap

What We Don’t Like

  • Aromatic scent

You’ve probably seen clay in oily skin face masks, and the substance might have comparable advantages in haircare. This shampoo, in particular, uses three distinct types of clay to absorb oil and detoxify the roots. That may sound like a recipe for dry, stripped hair, but it’s been particularly developed to maintain the lengths of your hair smooth and moisturized.

Grease-fighting while also supplying much-needed hydration to your strands? This drugstore choice got the distinction of Best Overall due to its remarkable performance.

Ashley Rubell, a Byrdie writer, tried this shampoo and was quite satisfied; she awarded it a perfect five-star rating. She noticed that it not only kept her greasy roots in control, enabling her to go longer between washes, but it also made her ends feel smoother and less frizzy.

2. Kérastase Specifique Divalent Balancing Shampoo for Oily Hair – Best Overall, Runner-Up

  Get it now on Amazon.com

What We Like

  • Volumizes and adds shine without stripping hair

What We Don’t Like

  • Pricey

Another one of our all-time favorites, this recipe achieves the optimum mix of degreasing your roots and scalp without completely stripping and drying out the rest of your hair; thank an amino acid for these attributes. The shampoo also provides the appropriate amount of lightweight volume to hair while still leaving it smooth and shining.

3. Neutrogena Anti-Residue Clarifying Shampoo – Best Budget

  Get it now on Amazon.com

What We Like

  • Exfoliates
  • Affordable
  • Paraben-free

What We Don’t Like

  • It might be drying.

The composition of this newcomer is clarifying and moderately exfoliating (always a good thing if you have a greasy scalp). But don’t worry, it’s still mild and free of parabens, which are commonly present in shampoos. We’d be remiss if we didn’t highlight the zesty, grapefruit aroma, which is a welcome pick-me-up on sluggish mornings.

4. WOW Apple Cider Vinegar Shampoo – Best Clarifying

  Get it now on Amazon.com

What We Like

  • Natural solution that balances pH and adds shine

What We Don’t Like

Aromatic scent

Is there anything that apple cider vinegar (ACV) cannot accomplish? When it comes to your scalp and hair, its strong acidity makes it an excellent choice for profoundly detoxifying and regulating pH levels in order to maintain both healthy. 1 It’s also an excellent astringent, which may help reduce excess oil. To accomplish all of the above, this method employs raw and natural apple cider vinegar.

5. Pantene Pro-V Blends Micellar Shampoo – Best for Fine Hair

  Get it now on Amazon.com

What We Like

  • Lightweight

What We Don’t Like

  • It might be drying.

“Fine hair and hair with less structure tends to exhibit the affects of oil more,” Ford explains. To make matters worse, fine hair is more prone to being weighted down by the heavy moisturizing elements included in many shampoos. If you have oily, limp hair, search for solutions that are lighter and clearer (rather than thicker and milkier seeming). This specific pick makes use of Micellar Technology to clean fine hair without stripping or weighing it down.

6. SheaMoisture African Black Soap Bamboo Charcoal Deep Cleansing Shampoo – Best for a Combination Scalp

  Get it now on Amazon.com

What We Like

  • Itching is reduced by hydrating.

What We Don’t Like

  • It might be drying.

You can have a mixture scalp just like you might have combination skin. (Indicators included both oily and dry areas, as well as having either at various periods of the year.) When that’s the case, you want a shampoo that will properly remove excess oil while without exacerbating any dryness—this one accomplishes just that. The recipe contains charcoal and willow bark extract, a natural predecessor to oil-dissolving salicylic acid, as well as balancing and skin-soothing tea tree oil for the dry areas.

7. GIRL+HAIR CLEAR+ Apple Cider Vinegar Clarifying Rinse – Best Shampoo Alternative

  Get it now on Amazon.com

What We Like

  • Natural formulation
  • pH is balanced
  • Strengthen and detangles

What We Don’t Like

  • Aromatic scent

If you’re attempting to go longer between washes but dry shampoo isn’t cutting it, try this rinse instead. It’s used similarly to a shampoo, but instead of using detergent, it depends on acidic apple cider vinegar to remove oil and balance the pH of your hair and scalp. The mixture also contains rice water with strengthening proteins and works well as a detangler.

Who Wins?

The L’Oréal Paris Elvive Extraordinary Clay Shampoo is a guaranteed option for anybody with oily hair, having three distinct varieties of clay that perform wonderfully when it comes to soaking up excess oil from the start. It’s just one of several low-cost solutions that work great for deep washing oily hair.

Neutrogena Anti-Residue Clarifying Shampoo, OGX Weightless Hydration Coconut Water Shampoo, and Pantene Pro-V Blends Micellar Shampoo are additional favorites. (The latter is particularly excellent for fine hair.) If you’re dealing with both excess oil and flakes, consider the tried-and-true First Aid Beauty Anti-Dandruff Shampoo, which is effective while being mild on both scalp and hair.

FAQ

What to Look for in an Oily Hair Shampoo Clarifying or Rebalancing Formulas?

“This phrase suggests that the shampoo has more washing and exfoliating elements, which will ultimately assist better clear your scalp of excess oil,” Draeger explains.

“While you may completely avoid sulfates if you choose, this is one occasion where a sulfate-containing shampoo may be a good choice, just because they’re better at offering a thorough clean,” adds Ford.

How much shampoo should you use if your hair is oily?

The appropriate amount of shampoo varies based on your hair length, but getting it properly is critical if you want clean hair with little product waste. Use this as a guide: Short hair should use a nickel-sized amount, medium hair a quarter-sized amount, and long or thick hair a half-dollar amount.

How frequently should greasy hair be washed?

Shampooing twice in a row, rather than cleaning your hair more regularly, is recommended by hairdresser Sal Salcedo. This delivers a deeper clean, enables you to go longer between washes, and reduces oil without stripping.