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I’ve always had trouble finding a good shampoo. I’ve had a nice run with conditioners, but good shampoos have always eluded me. No matter which shampoo I use, my scalp is always an itchy, oily mess by the end of the day.
For two months I tried washing my hair every second day, on the advice of many people on hair forums who swore that it cured their shampoo woes, by letting the scalp “naturally” balance its oil production – my hair just got more and more gross (dull, oily, dust collecting, and itchy itchy itchy). It was a relief to go back to daily hair washing. While it’s terrible for the longevity of hair dye or treatments, it’s preferable to the uncomfortable alternative.
So I’m always up for trying any new shampoo that might work for me. Here are my latest road tests:
Moroccanoil Hydrating Shampoo and Conditioner*
This is a really nice, dense shampoo, and you don’t need much of it to get a good lather – lucky, since it’s on the pricey side for a pretty small bottle! It’s one of the best shampoos I’ve tried scalp-wise, but my head still gets itchy at around the 20 hour mark.
The conditioner on the other hand – stunning. I’ve tried a lot of in-shower oil treatments, and while this doesn’t make that claim, it blows those out of the water. It makes my hair feel like it’s just had a keratin treatment.
Yuko Cleansing Shampoo and kokoro G Treatment*
This shampoo and conditioner set is designed as aftercare for Yuko’s anti-frizz treatment (similar to a keratin treatment). For an aftercare shampoo, I found that it was surprisingly good – sulfate-free shampoos usually leave my hair feeling dirty, but this worked well. The shampoo is as runny as juice though, which I suspect is a cultural thing, since I used some really runny ‘poos (heh) in Japan (thick doesnt necessarily mean denser, since thickening agents dilute your shampoo if anything, but it just feels right, psychologically). Oh, and it smells deliciously like apple juice. The conditioner/treatment is pretty good – I would’ve loved it had I not also used the Moroccanoil one quite recently. It’s really ruined all other conditioners for me.
Dove Colour Radiance Shampoo and Conditioner*
My standard shampoo and conditioner are Dove’s Intensive Repair, which are both affordable and effective – the conditioner is my drugstore HG. Since I don’t have coloured hair, I can’t comment on its effectiveness, but this lower sulfate formula is indistinguishable from the regular stuff, to me anyway.
Aldi Five Stars Shampoo
I HATE THIS SHAMPOO. I hate it with every fibre of my being. It somehow makes my hair feel squeaky, AND greasy, AND staticky. But I hate excessive waste, so I’ve been trying to finish this by mixing it with other less horrible shampoos (and it only comes in a huge bloody bottle too, by the way). Maybe I can offload this onto my parents. No stars for you, Aldi.
Products marked * were provided for review, which did not affect my opinion. For more information, see Disclosure Policy.
Why is your scalp so itchy?
Do you get dandruff? Have you tried using a shampoo and conditioner that have a cooling effect? I know Redken and Matrix Biolage do one.. here’s a link I found! 🙂
http://www.beautybay.com/haircare/matrix/biolagescalptherapiecoolingmintshampoo/?mkwid=WkVlix8l_dc&pcrid=22539417617&gclid=CLqA6eGCtbgCFWdJpgodXQcAng
Thanks for the rec! I don’t get much dandruff – I have mainly oily skin and it’s particularly oily on the scalp. Plus I don’t think doing exercise at the end of the day helps either!
Ohhh right! Well maybe the cooling effect will help! Otherwise maybe dry shampoo once you start feeling an itch will help to soak up the oil and you won’t have to wash your hair as regularly!?
The main issue is my fringe, and when I use dry shampoo on that it goes a bit weird. Dry shampoo also makes me look like I’m going grey… the curse of black hair!
I really really love your blog SO MUCH!!! keep up the great work<3 xx Peach
http://momomoworld.blogspot.com
Thanks Peach! 🙂
keep the Aldi one for washing your makeup brushes maybe?
I can’t offer any suggestions sorry, as my hair is fairly normal/dry. I have heard of some people using an Alchemy Lemongrass one, but cannot attest to it’s effectiveness.
Good luck on your search 🙂
Good idea! Cheers for that 🙂
Oh my god, you wash your hair every day? That’s… a lot of effort. I use up shitty shampoos by using them as a body wash with my loofah thingy.
I don’t blow dry it though! And I have an in-shower radio which makes things a bit more interesting (and embarrassing if anyone ever walks in… naked dancing to dubstep oh yeah).
I’m too scared to use this on my body. What if my body becomes squeaky and staticky? 🙁
Many many years ago Aldi made a fantastic shampoo – it was pink. Then they stopped making it. No stars.
Damn German efficiency!
I have the same problem you do, except minus the itchiness! (Gah I can’t imagine how annoying that would be on top of oiliness!) I’ve been on the lookout for shampoos for a long time but sadly have not found many that really help!
A suggestion to you would be to try Lush’s Big! This has really helped out my oil problem and although I’m still washing every second day (seriously, who could go longer than that?!) it’s made a hell of a lot of difference! Then I just use my favourite conditioner (again, I don’t have problems with conditioners!) and it’s fine!
xx
Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll try to get a sample to try next time I’m in Lush! I already have the perfume and love it, how great would it be to smell like that everywhere?? 😀
You might like the John Freida Root Awakening Shampoo, it’s awesome for oily scalp!!!
*writes it down* Thanks Mishelle 🙂
I wash my hair every day too – otherwise it is an oily mess. I tried washing every other day too – it just doesn’t work for some people! But washing daily works for me and I never blow dry so it’s wash and go.
I second the recommendation for Lush big, but I only use that when I blow dry (so, about 3x a year? haha). I Love Juicy has been my daily shampoo from Lush for a couple years now and it is awesome. BUT, recently I tried their solid shampoo, and I must say the Jumping Juniper bar is my holy grail shampoo. It keeps me hair free of oil the longest out of anything I have ever tried, and leaves my hair super shiny and soft. I can wash the night before and in the morning my hair looks freakin’ fabulous.
I shower at night, so I sleep on my damp hair and let it dry overnight (my mum keeps telling me it’ll give me migraines… doing ok so far!).
I’ll have to look into that! I’m a bit wary of Lush’s solid shampoos, they have this weird herbal smell I’m not very fond of.
For some reason I can’t smell any smell whatsoever with the Jumping Juniper. Maybe it is just the batch I got? Well, good luck!
I also wash daily with no blow drying and I had very itchy scalp. I searched the beauty blogs and found a nice person who had ranked her favorite shampoos for itchy scalp, so I tried her number one choice: Theraneem Moisture Therape available from theraneem.com. It was so amazing–itching was gone on the first day. My hair is soft and shiny and no itching. I really love this shampoo!
Thanks for the recommendation Vera, I’ve put it on the list!
I have a very similar problem to you! My hair becomes exceptionally oily throughout the day so I feel the need to wash it everyday; I’ve tried washing my hair once every two days but it’s just not the same! My ends become really dry as well, so it’s hard to find a shampoo that caters for both. I’m still on the hunt for my perfect shampoo! x
Glad I’m not alone – my ends used to be very dry too, but then I stopped dyeing it, and I started conditioning with oil-based stuff (olive oil, Moroccanoil), which made it feel a lot less “crunchy”. Hacking off a few inches helped too!
My favourite supermarket shampoo was the Clear Range (you know the Miranda Kerr endorsed brand). I enjoyed it. Plus its a fairly small bottle so if you hate it there’s not too much waste 😉 Keep the Aldi one for makeup brush cleaner that’s what I do with shampoo or cleansers I hate.
Definitely going to wash makeup brushes with it now, it’s just too annoying to keep using 🙂
Very helpful post. My family members have different kind of hair so that, it’s difficult to choose the right shampoo and Conditioner*. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for such an awesome article dear and from my side I want to say that i am using shampoo for shiny hair > for my hair Because this gentle, sulfate-free cleanser is loaded with natural ingredients to deliver intense moisturization to dry, over-processed hair.
I used to suffer from itchy, greasy scalp as well but eversince I used Loreal Elvive extraordinary clay re-balancing shampoo/conditioner, my scalp feels healthy again. But one product I’ve tried that gave me really itchy & scabby scalp after first use is Batiste dry shampoo. I think my scalp is sensitive/allergic to some hair products to be honest.
I think that’s me as well – I’ve been using a lot of dry shampoo recently and my poor scalp is suffering!
Cela fait des mois que je lis, étudie et teste les produits car ma coiffeuse a grillé mes cheveux lors d’un balayage et beaucoup de cheveux ont cassé et tombés. Mon cuir chevelu était irrité et me démangeait aussi.
J’ai réussi à stabiliser en combinant plusieurs choses:
– shampoing sans sulfates, ni alcool: le + bio possible
-rincer avec eau distillée ( pas de minéraux) car l’eau distillée a un ph proche de la peau.
-un soin argan sur longueurs
– Ne pas frictionner les cheveux mouillés: enrouler la serviette délicatement
– attention à la chaleur!!!!
– vais essayer de dormir sur taie d’oreiller en soie de mûrier: évite la casse et le désèchement.
Maintenant, ils ont repoussés de 3 cm.
1) Im in med school in the US and ALWAYS would do so much research on beauty products. My family always makes fun of me. Then I found your site and it saves me hours of research!!! THANK YOU!
2) I cannot believe your go-to drug store brand is the dove intensive repair too! I don’t know what is wrong with my hair but I have tried so many brands (from salon name brands to even other dove variations) trying to figure out the ingredient in it that my hair loves so much!! Any ideas?? I have pretty thick hair that looks/feels dry and dove intensive repair is the only dang conditioner that de-tangles and “tames” it. I’ve been on the search of other conditioners or products that will help “nourish” my dry hair but to no avail. Let me know if you have any ideas and keep up the great work on product-research!!