Best Shampoo for Curly Hair

Choose your usual wash or a clarifying wash

For a usual wash, choose one regular shampoo. The differences below are how you lather, whether to repeat and the available bottle sizes.

If you want to remove buildup after swimming or hard-water exposure, first decide whether you need a clarifier. It replaces your regular shampoo for that wash.

PATTERN or Curlsmith: one lather or two?

PATTERN Hydration Shampoo is massaged through wet scalp and hair, adding water as needed, then rinsed thoroughly. A second wash is optional. The Original scent comes in 3, 9.8 and 25 fl oz sizes.

Curlsmith Essential Moisture Shampoo goes on wet hair and scalp. Its directions say to rinse and repeat before conditioner. Choose it if you want a two-lather wash. US sizes are 3 and 12 oz; packaging may differ during the brand’s transition.

tgin or OLAPLEX: repeat as needed or measure your amount

tgin Moisture Rich Sulfate Free Shampoo goes through thoroughly wet hair and scalp, then rinses out. Repeat if there is excess buildup. This comparison covers the 13 fl oz bottle.

OLAPLEX No.4 is emulsified in your hands, applied to wet hair, lathered and rinsed. Its directions do not call for a second lather. OLAPLEX gives 2.5 mL as an average application and says it can be used daily or as often as you wash; your own amount may differ.

Compare ingredients and the bottle you will buy

All four ingredient lists include fragrance. PATTERN Original and OLAPLEX also list silicones and protein-related ingredients; the Curlsmith and tgin lists do not. These differences can help you avoid an ingredient, but they do not rank cleansing or moisturizing performance.

Check the bottle you receive if an ingredient matters to you. PATTERN Palo Santo is a separate scent, and Curlsmith warns that packaging and formulas may differ during its transition.

Work out how much each wash costs

Measure the amount you use. For OLAPLEX, you can start the calculator with its 2.5 mL average and replace it with your own amount. For the other three, enter your own measurement.

Count both lathers if you shampoo twice. Keep grams and milliliters separate: weight and volume are not interchangeable.

Eleven more cleansers, including three co-washes

Mielle Rosemary Mint is the only new one with an amount: a dime-sized squeeze, repeated if needed. Mielle’s Pomegranate & Honey asks you to finger-comb while it lathers, and Not Your Mother’s Clean Slate is described for daily use.

As I Am Coconut CoWash is a cleansing conditioner: it takes the shampoo’s place on that wash, massaged into the scalp, then rinsed out completely. On the labels, Aussie Miracle Curls lists Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Dimethicone, and Mielle Pomegranate & Honey and Ouidad Curl Quencher list hydrolyzed wheat protein.

Bouclème’s Curl Cleanser and its fragrance-free version are co-washes too: massage some into your scalp with your fingertips, work more along the lengths, detangle loosely, rinse and follow with conditioner. Bouclème says one to three times a week for the scented one. SheaMoisture’s Coconut & Hibiscus Curl & Shine and Jamaican Black Castor Oil shampoos say to lather and repeat if necessary; SheaMoisture also calls the castor oil one a clarifying shampoo but gives it no schedule, and its label lists hydrolyzed rice, wheat and keratin proteins. Curlsmith’s Fragrance-Free Shampoo asks for two lathers, like its Essential Moisture Shampoo.

Add one shampoo to your routine

Follow your shampoo with one conditioning step. If you repeated tgin because of excess buildup, decide again on the next wash instead of automatically shampooing twice every time.

For a post-swim or hard-water wash, the guide below explains clarifier options and waiting periods after color or smoothing treatments.

Questions before your next wash