A clean, healthy head of hair is something everyone wants. But it can be hard to know how best to care for your locks. You may feel that not knowing which shampoo and conditioner work best will leave your hair looking dull and dry–or worse yet greasy. That’s why we’re here with some helpful buying tips on how to choose good products for your hair type!
1) Your Hair Type
Not all hair types are the same. Understanding your own head of hair will help you determine which shampoo and conditioner brands to look for, as well as how often they should be used. As a general rule of thumb, those with frizzy curls should stick with lightweight oils like coconut oil as their main moisturizer. You can also try a shampoo bar for curly hair if you are adopting your hair care range to a more green one. Those who have extra-maintenance curls should go for heavier, coney creams, but if you have straight hair, you should avoid heavy products altogether.
If you have fine, thin hair that’s oily at the roots but dry at the ends, buying a volumizing shampoo may work great for you–after all, another good way to make it appear fuller is to give it a bit more volume!
2) Your Hair’s Abilities
Another important factor in choosing the right shampoo and conditioner is how well your hair handles getting wet. You might feel frustrated if your hair always turns to a knotted mess following a shower or swim–but what you really need is a product that’s going to make it easy for you to comb out your hair. Heavy products are more likely to make your hair turn into a knotted mess, while lighter products are more likely to prevent tangles.
If you regularly swim in the ocean, it’s best to go for a specially formulated aquatic shampoo and conditioner–the sea salt won’t be good for your locks. Similarly, if your hair dries out very quickly after it’s exposed to the wind, you may want to go for a product with some kind of UV protection in it.
3) Eco-Friendly Alternatives
We briefly touched on this before, but more and more people are making this change. Some of us care about the environment enough that we’re willing to go green with our beauty and haircare routines. Luckily, today’s market is full of eco-friendly alternatives–and some of them actually work better!
If you’re not trying to make the switch, don’t worry–it’s still an excellent idea to at least go for organic hair products. Organic shampoo and conditioner aren’t tested on animals like normal ones are, so it gets extra points in our books!
4) Hair Type + Water Temperature
Did you know that the water temperature you use to wash your hair has a major impact on how clean it gets? If you live in an area with hard water (water that contains calcium and magnesium), the minerals will build upon your locks and make them feel gunky. Shampooing too often can exacerbate this problem, which is why we recommend buying a clarifying shampoo and using it once a week.
Your hair type will affect how much heat you can use on it without causing damage and dryness and whether or not you should wash your hair in hot water at all. But another factor is the temperature of the water that comes out of your faucet. If you have dry, brittle hair that’s already prone to damage, it’s possible washing in cold water will help keep the frizz away!
5) Shampoo + Conditioner
The shampoo helps remove dirt, oil, sweat, and product build-up from your hair–and many are designed to do double duty by also conditioning it! There are tons of different kinds of shampoo to choose from for all sorts of different hair types. When deciding what kind you need, it’s best to do your research–online reviews are a great place to start!
If you’re looking for hot oil treatments, deep conditioning clay masks, leave-in conditioners, or other styling products like pomades and gel, it’s best to buy these as your shampoo and conditioner run out and then replenish them.
Choosing the right shampoo and conditioner for your hair can be overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. You can look for products with certain ingredients like coconut oil and shea butter if you want something moisturizing; seaweed extract for extra volume; olive oil for shine; argan oil or jojoba oil (which is actually a liquid wax) if you need softness but don’t want any heaviness; or menthols and mint oils to relieve the scalp irritation.
