Shampoo Reviews

To find out what the best shampoos are, we turned to the excellent book "Don't Go Shopping For Hair-Care Products Without Me," by Paula Begoun. We also read excellent articles at the websites Choice.com.au (Australia) and Good Housekeeping magazine, as well as consumer contributions to opinion sites like Amazon.com and Drugstore.com. Consumer Reports magazine has a brief article on shampoo ingredients from January 2004, but editors don't evaluate or rate any actual products in that article. An earlier Consumer Reports article from 2000 is much more comprehensive and well done, but this article is too old to include more recent shampoos. Beauty magazines love to recommend personal-care products, and we found editor's picks for shampoo in Marie Claire, Redbook, Allure and other magazines. But there's no evidence that the shampoo recommended in these reviews was tested, so we discounted these articles.

Rumors have been circulating on the Internet that the shampoo ingredients sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and sodium laureth sulfate (SLES) cause cancer. These ingredients help the cleaning agents in shampoo lather, and are found in nearly every shampoo brand. While some websites issue harsh warnings about these ingredients, just as many claim the rumors are untrue. The controversy appears to have started with a study from the Medical College of Georgia; the doctor who conducted the research says his results were "completely misquoted." Choice magazine editors write, "There seems to be some evidence that SLS and SLES can cause irritation to the skin and eyes, but this depends on a number of factors such as concentration, pH and contact time." So while there's scant evidence tying SLS and SLES to cancer, those with sensitive skin and scalps might want to avoid those ingredients.

In the course of researching this report, we were intrigued to find that there are many untruths about shampoo commonly accepted by users. For example, analysts say that contrary to what it says on the bottle, there's no need to lather twice when washing your hair unless it has been awhile since you last shampooed. Also, claims that some shampoos can repair split ends have little basis in fact.

Pantene Pro-V (*est. $6 for 25 ounces) is a favorite of some reviewers. This line is also heavily advertised, and focuses its marketing claims around the conditioning agent panthenol. Paula Begoun, in her book "Don't Go Shopping For Hair-Care Products Without Me," says that there's actually very little panthenol in most of Pantene's products, and that it's the silicone present in the conditioners that makes this line worth considering. However, Begoun says most of Pantene's shampoos contain the irritating and drying ingredient ammonium xylenesulfonate, and despite the varying bottle descriptions, almost all of Pantene's products are repetitions of the same formula.  ... Continued

Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
All The Reviews Reviewed chart.

As you can see from this chart, there are a huge number of shampoo brands (and these are just the ones that were favorably mentioned by reviewers). Reviewers choose Redken and Dove shampoos most often, but some experts note that most shampoo brands contain similar ingredients, and there often isn't much difference between the variously labeled bottles. Kerastase by L'Oreal is a top pick among higher-priced salon shampoos. Head & Shoulders is still one of the highest rated and least expensive brands for dandruff. Johnson & Johnson's "no tears" formula is best for babies and children, although reviewers say it's too mild for adult hair, especially if you use styling products. L'Oreal Professionnel Colorist Collection Shampoo is highly rated in a Good Housekeeping test if you want to use a color depositing shampoo between hair coloring appointments.