A Guide to Choosing the Right Shampoo for Every Hair Type (Part 1)

Healthy, soft and shiny hair, a clean, dandruff-free scalp, and hair that doesn’t tangle and falls over your shoulders like a waterfall when you move your head — these are the hallmarks of healthy hair, and choosing the right shampoo is how you get there.

Healthy Hair Starts with the Right Shampoo and Proper Care

Beyond good general health and freedom from illness, healthy hair depends on caring for it properly — and that begins with choosing the right shampoo.

For hair to feel soft and moisturised, friction between the hair strands and the scalp needs to be reduced. Shampoos and conditioners are the core products of any hair-care routine, and each uses a different combination of ingredients to target a specific improvement in the condition and health of the hair.

This article looks at the ingredients most commonly used in shampoos, so that you can make the best choice for your hair.

Where Does the Word “Shampoo” Come From?

The word “shampoo” entered the English language from India, where “champo” meant to press or massage, and was used to describe cleaning the hair and scalp through massage. Washing hair has always been a demanding task, especially for women, who usually have longer hair that needs more care.

The modern shampoo as we know it today was introduced in the 1930s by Procter & Gamble under the brand name Drene. Drene was the first shampoo to use synthetic surfactants instead of soap. With a new formula that left hair silky, it remained in production in the United States until the 1970s.

The Main Purpose of Shampoo

The main purpose of shampoo is to remove dirt and oil from the hair shaft and scalp. Thanks to certain ingredients, shampoos can also prevent static, enhance shine and add protection.

Natural hair is prone to frizz, breakage and even excessive dryness, and the right shampoo can help manage these problems. However, some shampoos contain ingredients that can damage the hair and scalp, leading to breakage, dryness and hair loss. That is why it is important to know what is in your hair-care products.

When you look at the ingredient list of a shampoo, the first ingredient is water, because water makes up the largest share of any shampoo. After water, however, you will see a number of other ingredients, which we describe in detail below.

Cleansing Agents (Detergents)

Shampoos usually contain synthetic detergents, or surfactants, as their main cleansers. Surfactants are amphiphilic molecules: one end attracts oil (lipophilic) and the other attracts water (hydrophilic). The lipophilic part binds to oil and oily dirt, while the hydrophilic part binds to water molecules — which is what allows oil to be rinsed away with water.

There are four main groups of shampoo detergents: anionic, cationic, non-ionic and amphoteric. Each group has different cleansing and conditioning properties.

A shampoo for oily hair uses detergents with strong degreasing properties, whereas for curly or colour-treated hair, milder detergents are chosen to remove oil.

Modern shampoos contain a blend of surfactants (usually two to four types) that deliver the optimal level of cleansing for each hair type and need — normal, oily, colour-treated or damaged. The first detergent on the ingredient list is the primary cleanser, present at the highest concentration; the second is a secondary cleanser, added to the formula to offset the weaknesses of the primary one.

Negatively Charged (Anionic) Detergents

These are the most popular surfactants for removing oil from the scalp and hair. However, hair that has been over-cleansed feels rough and dry and looks frizzy. This group includes several classes of detergents, each with its own specific properties.

Lauryl Sulfates

The most widely used cleansers. They work well in both hard and soft water and rinse off easily. They are excellent cleansers and are typically used in shampoos for oily hair. Because they dry the hair, careful selection of a secondary detergent — and possibly the addition of a conditioning agent — is always necessary as part of the formulation.

Examples include sodium lauryl sulfate, triethanolamine lauryl sulfate and ammonium lauryl sulfate.

Laureth Sulfates

Another class of excellent detergents, suitable for normal to dry hair. Examples include sodium laureth sulfate, triethanolamine laureth sulfate and ammonium laureth sulfate.

Sarcosines

These are secondary cleansers, because they do not remove enough oil from the hair on their own. They appear second or third on the ingredient list, but they are excellent conditioning agents in conditioning shampoos and shampoos for dry hair. Examples include lauroyl sarcosine and sodium lauroyl sarcosinate.

Sulfosuccinates

Strong detergents that are usually used as secondary surfactants in shampoos for oily hair. Examples include disodium oleamido sulfosuccinate and sodium dioctyl sulfosuccinate.

Positively Charged (Cationic) Detergents

Unlike anionic detergents, these have a positively charged polar group. They have the weakest cleansing ability and are incompatible with anionic detergents, which reduces their effectiveness. However, they are unmatched at softening hair and are used in daily shampoos for damaged hair.

Examples include long-chain amino esters, ammonioesters and cetyltrimethylammonium chloride.

Stay with us for Part 2 of this article , where we continue with conditioning agents, foaming agents, pH adjusters and special additives.