27 Best shampoos for dry hair

Finding the proper shampoo for your hair can be the difference between luscious locks and limp, dry strands. However, figuring out what shampoo is best for your hair health can be extremely stressful and overwhelming. There are hundreds upon hundreds of different shampoos on the market, all claiming to be the magic elixir that solves all of your hair woes. Unfortunately, some of their ingredient lists contain elements that are more harmful than the harshest environments.

There are a plethora of reasons your hair is dry; it could be that you have bleached it for years, or you may use heat tools on the regular. If you swim in chlorine a lot, or spend most of your days in the sun, that can cause damage as well. What about living in a dry climate? Yep, that will do it too. Whatever the reason, you’ve made your way here because you want a solution to bring life back to your hair.

When treating your hair, it is important to make sure you’re treating the correct issue. There are a few tell tale signs that your hair is dry. If your hair is straw-like or crunchy in texture, or if your hair is constantly breaking off and you experience split ends, then you are suffering from dry hair.

The other way to tell is by examining your scalp. It may sound counterintuitive, but, if your scalp errs on the very dry or very oily side, then you may have dry hair. Your scalp may become itchy, and start producing extra oils to make up for the lack of moisture, which can become a vicious cycle. But don’t fret; we’re here to solve that.

You may have already found a treatment, oil, or conditioning mask that you love, and that’s great. However, the success of your hair routine starts from the shampoo base. If you’re using an ineffective shampoo, it is likely the rest of the routine will fall short. Luckily enough, for all of the shampoos on the market that fall short, there are equally as many that will exceed your expectations.

Before you stress about how to decipher which are the good and which are the bad, take a deep breath because we’ve done the dirty work for you. In this article, you’ll find the 27 best shampoos for dry hair and what makes them the top of the line. By the end of today, you’ll be running out the door to pick up one of the shampoos below, and your hair will be thanking you for it.

1. Blu Atlas - Shampoo

Blu Atlas creates products that are in a league of their own, and that’s why their shampoo nabbed the top spot. If you haven’t heard of Blu Atlas, they are certainly worth checking out. They are a premium grooming brand that produces everything from skincare and hair care, to body care, fragrances and more. Blu Atlas prides itself on making luxury grooming products out of the highest quality, natural, and 100%-safe ingredients without adding any unsafe or unnecessary additives.

Blu Atlas shampoo gets right to work strengthening your hair and preventing oil buildup with natural ingredients like jojoba protein and aloe vera. Jojoba oil is rich in vitamins A, E, and D as well as antioxidants and fatty acids, all of which work to deeply penetrate your hair and provide maximum nourishment. The addition of aloe vera ensures your hair gets all of the moisture that it needs. For best results, use this shampoo everyday and you will surely notice the benefits in no time.

If you want to make sure you never run out of your favorite Blu Atlas products, they make it easy for you to sign up for their subscription service. Not only will you receive a discount, but the products will show up on your doorstep without any additional work from you. Purchase the Blu Atlas Shampoo, along with the rest of their awesome grooming line, directly from Blu Atlas.

2. Pureology - Hydrate Shampoo

Pureology delivers hydration “as intense as the Pacific” through their moisturizing formulas that quench even the driest of strands. The first key ingredient is jojoba which provides superior moisture to your hair. The green tea is included to promote a healthy scalp, and sage stimulates your hair follicles. Pureology’s Hydrate Shampoo is a creamy and sulfate-free shampoo that is intended to deeply hydrate all hair types, whether natural or color treated. The lavender, patchouli, and bergamot fragrances will make every shower a relaxing and spa-like experience.

For best results, massage a dime-sized portion of Pureology Hydrate Shampoo into your wet hair, starting at your scalp and working down to the ends. Rinse and follow up with a Pureology conditioner.

3. Shu Uemura - Urban Moisture Hydro-Nourishing Shampoo for Dry Hair

Shu Uemura’s Urban Moisture Hydro-Nourishing Shampoo for Dry Hair works to nourish your hair and rebalance its moisture levels, leaving you with a healthy glow. It continues to work hard long after you use it, protecting your hair from pollutants and future dryness.

The main ingredient is moringa oil extract, which is also known as the “miracle tree.” It has been used for centuries in traditional medicines due to its high concentration of nutrients, antioxidants, and vitamins. Your hair will reap the benefits of the purifying properties of the moringa oil and will be cleaner, more hydrated, and protected every time you use this shampoo.

4. Redkin - All Soft Argan-Oil Enriched Shampoo for Dry Hair

This shampoo is Redkin’s professional solution to moisturize dry hair. Their All Soft Argan-Oil Enriched Shampoo cleanses, restores, and softens your dry strands. This shampoo really packs a punch, providing 15x more conditioning. Your hair will become much more manageable, while being silky, shiny, and supple. The argan oil deeply nourishes and moisturizes your hair from the inside out.

Follow the shampoo up with the remaining products in the line: conditioner, deep conditioning treatments, and their moisture complex. Using these products on a regular basis will produce healthy, moisturized locks.

5. Matrix - Total Results Moisture Me Rich Shampoo

Matrix prides themselves on being a hairdresser’s best friend. This is because they know that if you use their products, hairdressers will have an easier job because they will be working on healthy, nourished hair. This lightweight shampoo works to restore moisture, leaving your hair replenished, soft, and as radiant as ever. It also has volumizing properties, so while it is conditioning your dry hair, it won’t leave it weighted down.

Matrix included glycerin in the Total Results Moisture Me Rich formula that adds conditioning properties to provide long lasting moisture all through the day. Complete the system by using Moisture Me Rich Conditioner and Moisture Cure.

6. L’oreal Professionnel - Vitamino Resveratrol Color Radiance Moisturizing Shampoo

The L’Oreal Professionnel Vitamino Resveratrol Color Radiance Moisturizing Shampoo is specifically made for colored hair.

The inclusion of resveratrol, a strong polyphenol, prevents your colored hair from fading and also protects your hair from UV rays. This preventative measure will help your dry hair, but beyond that, protect against breakage, give added shine, and pack a ton of moisture. Make your color last longer and hair look healthier with L’Oreal Vitamino Resveratrol Color Radiance Moisturizing Shampoo.

7. Dizziak - Hydration Wash

Dizziak really delivers with their Hydration Wash. It has a pH-balanced formula that will keep your scalp happy and healthy while blending together natural ingredients that clean and infuse your hair. This shampoo cleanses and lifts grease from your roots and build-up from your hair without stripping any of the natural oils or moisture.

Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate is a derivative from coconut that will invigorate your scalp by helping the shampoo to lather and cleanse. The Babassu oil revitalizes your hair’s elasticity while promoting healthy follicles, ultimately leading you to thicker and fuller hair. Shea and aloe vera smooth and soften your hair, ward off dandruff, and replenish moisture.

8. Living Proof - Restore Shampoo

Living Proof has skyrocketed to be one of the most trusted and popular professional hair care brands on the market. This revitalizing shampoo will restore your hair to its healthiest state by cleaning, strengthening, and softening your strands. Intended for dry and damaged hair types, Living Proof Restore Shampoo protects your hair from future damage, restores damaged cuticles, repels dirt and oil, and keeps your hair cleaner and longer.

The slip modifier ingredients are hugely beneficial, allowing your comb to slide through your hair easily without causing unnecessary damage. The Living Proof fragrance is reason enough to try out this shampoo, but the benefits it brings will keep you purchasing it again and again.

9. Rahua - Hydration Shampoo

Rahua created this shampoo with those that have the driest, thirstiest hair in mind. The fragrance of Rahua Hydration Shampoo combines the tropical scents of passion fruit and mango that will have you feeling like you are transported to the rainforest every time you use it. This formula is intended to replenish your hair, providing maximum hydration, smoothing broken cuticles, preventing frizz, and adding shine.

The natural protein-bonding sugars in this shampoo make sure each individual strand of hair is hit with deep hydration. You will find that your hair looks much stronger and well balanced after using Rahua Hydration Shampoo. There is a reason it has been named an Allure Best of Beauty Award Winner. Has it won you over as well?

10. Ayumi - Argan & Sandalwood Hair Shampoo

If you have thin and weak hair, look no further. This is the shampoo designed specifically with you in mind. It has Amala and Bhringraj extract that will stimulate hair growth, and Ylang Ylang combined with lavender will calm any brittle or thinning hair. Sandalwood will soften hair while smelling amazing, and argan oil will bring a big punch of moisture and shine.

Since this shampoo was made for thin hair, none of the ingredients will weigh it down. You will be left with soft, hydrated, voluminous hair.

11. Briogeo - Don’t Despair, Repair!  Super Moisture Shampoo for Damaged Hair

This clean and naturally derived formula gets right to work nourishing and protecting your dry and damaged hair. Its sulfate-free blend cleanses your hair but doesn’t strip it of its natural oils. The B vitamins work together to improve your hair’s texture while adding body and shine.

Algae extract is included due to it being abundantly rich in minerals, antioxidants, amino acids, and vitamins. And the addition of panthenol helps to repair your hair’s elasticity, moisture retention, and flexibility.

12. Bumble and Bumble - Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil Shampoo

Bumble and Bumble is here to save your hair with their Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil Shampoo and product line. This collection is here to save the day against frizz, UV damage, and tangles. Its six-oil blend adds shine, softens, hydrates, detangles, eliminates frizz, protects against damage and leaves you with smooth, silky hair.

Don’t panic from the lack of suds. This creamy, smooth shampoo isn’t intended to lather, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t hard at work for your hair and scalp. For best results, follow this product up with the rest of the Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil collection.

13. Fekkai - Brilliant Gloss Shampoo

Fekkai believes that everyone deserves smooth, luminous, salon-level hair, so they created their Brilliant Gloss Shampoo to transform your dry, dull hair. This clean, vegan, and sustainable product delivers extra moisture and shine through its main ingredient, organic french cold-pressed olive oil. Prickly pear extract creates extra strength moisture retention by strengthening your hair’s moisture barrier.

The fragrance combines creamy woods with florals and green tea, smelling so unbelievable you may just ditch your cologne or perfume. This salon-level, nutrient-rich, gloss-boosting shampoo should be used daily for best results.

14. TRESemme - Keratin Smooth Color Shampoo

TRESemme created their Keratin Smooth Color Shampoo because they believe you can have it all, and, in their world, that means silky smooth hair with a bountiful body. It has sulfate-free, anti-fade advanced technology that will make sure your color stays vibrant and glossy while gently cleaning your hair from root to tip.

TRESemme feels so confident in their formula that they stand by their claim that your hair will look luminously vibrant and glossy for up to 60 days if you use their entire Keratin Smooth Color system. That’s enough to convince us to purchase this shampoo. Another positive to Tresemme products is that they bring all of the benefits of professional salon products, without the high price tag.

15. OGX - Deeply Restoring Pracaxi Recovery Oil AntiFrizz Shampoo

OGX knows that dry hair goes hand and hand with frizz, so they created a shampoo that can solve multiple issues at the same time. The blend of pracaxi oil and murumuru butter work to keep frizz and dryness to a minimum. Pracaxi oil and murumuru butter both come from trees found in Brazil and have properties that actively work to help your dry hair hold onto moisture.

This restorative shampoo is safe on colored hair and suitable for all types. When using OGX Deeply Restoring Pracaxi Recovery Oil AntiFrizz Shampoo, you will be left with nourished hair that is ultra soft and silky. OGX is committed to giving back, so a portion of the proceeds from this shampoo are donated to the Brazilian Public Fund which invests in planting Pracaxi trees in Brazil and the conservation of Pracaxi Seed Oil.

16. Shu Uemura - Cleansing Oil Shampoo for Dry Hair

Hair oils have tons of benefits, especially for dry hair, because they help to maintain moisture balance and calm itchy or dry scalps. Shu Uemura took the benefits from hair oils and created their Cleansing Oil Shampoo for Dry Hair. This shampoo will rejuvenate your dry hair and scalp with the perfect amount of moisture. It deeply cleanses impurities and buildup, but won’t strip your hair or affect your color.

If your scalp is causing you discomfort, we highly suggest Shu Uemura’s Cleansing Oil Shampoo for Dry Hair.

17. Redken - All Soft Mega Moisturizing Shampoo for Severely Dry Hair

We couldn’t compile a list of the 27 best shampoos for dry hair without including a product for those of you with severely dry hair. Don’t despair; there is still hope for you to get soft, moisture-rich hair, and that hope lies in Redken’s All Soft Mega Moisturizing Shampoo.

This product includes Redken’s Nourish Complex infused with aloe vera to ensure your hair receives the highest level of hydration to strengthen, soften, and improve the manageability of your hair. If you aren’t convinced that this shampoo can help your hair, take Redken’s Hair Diagnostics Quiz to find the perfect product line for you.

18. Aussie Miracle - Moist Shampoo

Looking for a miracle? Aussie has the product for you. The macadamia nut oil in this shampoo doesn’t just make your hair smell amazing; it naturally hydrates and softens your hair. Your hair will transform the second you massage this shampoo in, and your days of having parched hair will be no more.

Keeping up with their goal to make the world a better place, Aussie allows you to purchase this shampoo in refillable bottles made of aluminum to reduce your plastic usage.

19. Green People - Moisturizing Shampoo

Green People Moisturizing Shampoo detangles while hydrating, making sure that your brush isn’t causing any breakage or damage. This product uses natural oils to cleans, condition, and detangle your hair leaving your locks looking and feeling healthy and nourished. The fragrance is sweet and floral, leaving you smelling fresh all day long.

Aloe vera, neroli, orang, and chamomile are just a few of the certified organic ingredients that will be gentle if you have sensitive skin. Green People Moisturizing Shampoo is highly concentrated, so a tiny bit goes a long way, and a bottle will last you about 3 months.

20. L’Oreal Elvive Fibrology Shampoo

Do you long for thicker hair every time you look in the mirror at your fine, damaged strands?  L’Oreal Laboratories created this shampoo just for you to make your hair look thicker after every wash.

Developed with Filloxane and their fibrology technology, this shampoo provides deep hydration and cleansing, leaving you with thick and voluminous hair. Best results are obtained when you follow it up with their Elvive Fibrology Conditioner.

21. Olaplex - No. 4 Bond Maintenance Shampoo

Olaplex has patented their bonding technology, making it a one-of-a-kind product. They know that everyday stresses can cause split ends, frizzles, and damaged hair, so they created their No. 4 Bond Maintenance Shampoo to repair and protect your hair. You will find that your hair becomes much more manageable, shiner, and healthier with every use, and, day by day, your hair will become stronger.

It has been voted the number one shampoo in prestige hair care and has hundreds of five-star reviews to back up its popularity. It is formulated for all hair types but is most beneficial for those who need oil control or clarifying.

22. John Frieda - Frizz Ease Beyond Smooth Frizz-Immunity Shampoo

John Frieda has done an unbelievable job creating product lines that focus on specific concerns and types like their blond hair line, brunette hair line, and curly/wavy hair line. Formulated with their unique Frizz Immunity Complex, this product penetrates your hair and works from the inside out to create an internal barrier.

Pure coconut oil conditions and improves texture. Pair with their Beyond Smooth conditioner for noticeably softer and frizz-free hair.

23. Philip Kingsley - Moisture Extreme Shampoo

Philip Kingsley’s Moisture Extreme Shampoo was created for natural, tightly coiled hair since it can be highly susceptible to breakage. The title of this product says it all; it packs extreme hydration through its combination of nourishing oils. The inclusion of Oligoquat M works to repair damaged cuticles, and Guar has anti-static properties that provide control to your curls.

24. Virtue - Recovery Shampoo

The hydrolyzed quinoa in this Recovery Shampoo works to add shine and aid in moisture retention. The vitamin C and antioxidants from grapefruit extract will have your scalp revitalized in no time, allowing your hairs natural vibrance and shine to show through. Virtue created the perfect product that gently dissolves build up and fills in the cracks of damaged strands, giving you healthy, supple hair.

25. Kerastase - Nutritive Bain Satin 2 Shampoo

Nutrition is important in the food we consume, so it makes sense that it’s also important in the products we use on our hair and bodies. Kerastase packs their Nutritive Bain Satin 2 Shampoo with all of the best ingredients to restore and nourish your damaged and dry hair. The lipids included in the formula keep your hair healthy, encourage shine, and give you manageable, strong locks.

26. Mizani - Moisture Fusion Moisture Rich Shampoo

Another great shampoo for curly hair, using this product will bring back the healthy, bouncy curls that you’re longing for. This highly moisturizing and conditioning shampoo is fit for all curl types and quenches your thirsty strands, making it easier for you to style and detangle.

Ingredients such as cupuacu butter, argan oil, and honey make this shampoo suitable for everyday use. If you’re in need of an extra punch of moisture, follow it up with Mizani’s Moisture Fusion Intense Moisturizing Mask.

27. Biolage - Hydrasource Shampoo

Balance is so important when it comes to healthy hair, so Biolage created their Hydrasource Shampoo to optimize moisture balance in your strands. This gentle cleanser increases softness and adds shine to even the driest of hair. Biolage’s Blowdry Glotion shapes your hair and provides 450-degree heat protection that will keep your hair healthy when blow drying and styling. Biolage products provide professional results, meaning your hair will look like you just stepped out of the salon.

As you can see, there truly are some amazing products on the market that can be the solution for your dry hair woes. The trick to getting luscious, healthy hair doesn’t end with picking the perfect shampoo. As much as we’d love to invent a shampoo that could transform your hair in one use, that’s just not realistic.

Consistency is key—use the shampoo as instructed for a few weeks and follow it up with a routine of quality conditioner, heat protectant, and other hair health products. If one of the shampoos in this list doesn’t seem to make a difference after about a month of use, switch to one of the other options to see if that’s a better fit for you.

Regardless of the reasoning behind your dry hair, you don’t have to live with it forever. Pick the shampoo that sticks out to you the most and get on your road to the perfect head of hair.