How to Choose the Right Shampoo

The average hair care aisle has hundreds of shampoos and hair care products and they are not all for women. Men have just as many choices as women and it is important to find the right shampoo and conditioner for your hair type.

There are a few types of shampoo that are made by most manufacturers for the most common hair types. For men with short hair “normal” shampoos usually work fine if there are no problems with dryness, oil, dandruff, or other scalp problems. If you do have a problem with your scalp or hair choose a shampoo that specifically targets the problem you are having such as dryness, oiliness, dandruff, etc.

Most normal shampoos won’t strip natural oils from the hair and scalp because they are formulated to cleanse gently. They will remove dirt and excess oil without causing residue buildup or the loss of important and natural oils that give hair its shine.

Shampoos for oily hair have cleansers that are designed to remove excess oil. Men with oily hair can get healthy hair without excess grease with shampoo for oily hair but men without excess oil many find that this type of shampoo dries out their scalp.

Shampoos for dry hair, also called moisturizing shampoo, are designed to add moisture to the hair and scalp for men with dry hair and a dry scalp. If you don’t have dry hair moisturizing shampoos can add too much moisture that will weight down hair and even make it too oily.

Men with thin hair who want to add volume to their hair can use thickening or volumizing shampoos. These types of shampoos help hair retain water and lift each hair the cuticle creating more volume. Because volumizing shampoos open up hair cells and give them more volume the hair shaft is more vulnerable to damage so a good conditioner is important if you are using volumizing shampoos.

Dandruff is a common problem for men and there are many shampoos available that will help reduce the unsightly flakes. Most dandruff is caused by a dry scalp which causes irritation and flaky skin. Sometimes a moisturizing shampoo is enough to sooth the irritated scalp and other times dandruff shampoos with special ingredients are needed.