What is the best shampoo for oily hair?

April 1, 2015 7:46 PM

I have the oiliest scalp. If I wash in the morning, it's oily by 5 and I look like a greasy wreck. Is there a shampoo that will help with this?

I'm really quite ill-informed when it comes to the world of shampoos and hair products. I do know that I should wash my hair everyday and so I wash it every second day and use dry shampoo in-between. The problem is, dry shampoo helps in the morning, but by later in the day my hair feels pasty and looks like an old shag carpet.

Is there a shampoo that works especially well for oily hair? I'd love something that dries out my scalp for a few days so I can continue washing every second day without having to suffer through a day and a half of looking like I just came in off a weekend bender.

posted by figaro to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (35 answers total)

I do know that I should wash my hair everyday and so I wash it every second day

I think maybe you meant to say you think you shouldn't wash your hair every day.

Try washing every day and see if that helps. I have a very oily scalp, and washing every day is how I avoid that greasy look. Just about any shampoo is fine, but I would avoid the 2-in-1 shampoo+conditioner stuff - if you already have an oily scalp, try shampooing with just about anything labeled or normal/oily hair, and then condition just the ends.
posted by bunderful at 7:59 PM on April 1, 2015 [3 favorites]

This is what dermatologists are literally for, if you have the means to see one. You may have one of several kinds of dermatitis or eczema or psoriasis (some forms of which are also indicative of potential cardiac or rheumatic diseases and need to be checked out).

Dry shampoo does not ever make a scalp condition better. Less washing might actually be better, but you should get a diagnosis first.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:02 PM on April 1, 2015

bunderful is exactly right. Shampoo every day with a clarifying shampoo and little to no conditioner. I've tried many things for dealing with my oily hair, and that's the best option.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:12 PM on April 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Bunderful - Yes! I meant 'shouldn't'. I proofread right over that! And I used to wash my hair everyday but then a few different hair stylists told me it would actually make my hair greasier. I'll give it another whirl.

Lyn Never - Interesting you mention that because I actually suffer from eczema!
posted by figaro at 8:13 PM on April 1, 2015

"Shouldn't wash hair every day" is not a hard and fast rule, and might not work for everyone. You might just be one of the people who needs to wash their hair every day.
And I wouldn't skip the conditioner. If your hair is long-ish, just apply it to the ends only.
posted by Brittanie at 8:21 PM on April 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

I have really fine and really oily hair, so I either have to wash it every day or use dry shampoo on the off days. The only one I've ever loved is this one, but wow does it work wonders.
posted by you're a kitty! at 8:29 PM on April 1, 2015

Have you ever tried not using shampoo for longer than two days? There is a school of thought that hair is super oily because you keep taking all the oil out when you shampoo and so the scalp over produces oil.

"No Poo Method

Also check out the "no poo" forum over at reddit
posted by GregorWill at 8:30 PM on April 1, 2015 [4 favorites]

For a specific product recommendation, Suave Daily Clarifying literally could not be any cheaper or more effective.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:37 PM on April 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

I realize that this makes no sense and there's no reason at all it should be the case, but I find that for some reason my hair looks and feels extra greasy if I A) Go to bed with my hair wet or B) Wet my hair (i.e. shower) but don't wash it. I do wash my hair every day, because I like to shower every day and not washing my hair when I do makes it greasy and gross. If you were washing your hair every day, problem free, before your stylist suggested otherwise, ignore your stylist and do what works.

Do not use anything "moisturizing" or "for sleek hair" and no 2 in 1s.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:46 PM on April 1, 2015 [3 favorites]

I've heard the "not wash every day" thing, but as a fellow greasy-haired gal, I have to say I think that is for only certain types of hair. I actually wash my hair twice a day (in AM and PM) and it helps *a lot* with the greasiness. If I don't, it's ok but I become a grease-ball and get horrible breakouts anywhere my hair touches my skin. As for shampoo? Since I wash it so often, a delicate shampoo works well - something for thin or greasy hair.
posted by Toddles at 8:51 PM on April 1, 2015

I should add that washing my hair so often has never seemed to negatively impact it at all - I don't have split ends and it doesn't look all stringy or breaking or whatever negative things are supposed to happen when you wash "too often".
posted by Toddles at 8:53 PM on April 1, 2015

I have the same problem, and psoriasis to boot.

Do not do the no-poo method. That is disgusting. Your hair will look like string cheese and reek no matter what people tell you. They're just being polite.

Wash your hair every day, in the morning. The best shampoos I have found for this are Clear Complete or the Lush Squeaky Green bar.

Assuming you shampoo ~7am, these should keep you good until mid-late afternoon. After that, dry shampoo. Klorane is THE BEST followed closely by Got2B rockin it and Not Your Mothers Clean Freak

I've also found that a. dying your hair (even if it's the same shade of your natural color) helps with drying it out and extending the time before office ick or greasiness sets in or b. using Rusk Texture Spray after you blow dry.
posted by asockpuppet at 9:04 PM on April 1, 2015 [12 favorites]

Before investing in a clarifying shampoo, try washing your hair with your regular shampoo mixed with a teaspoon of baking soda. It works really well at stripping your hair of oil and product buildup.
posted by phunniemee at 9:04 PM on April 1, 2015

The idea of not washing every day is that shampooing strips the oil and your hair starts producing more oil to compensate, but when I've tried to cut back to shampooing every other day (and I gave it a good three months to let things "even out"), my hair was just a constant greasy mess. I get the impression that the finer your hair, and the straighter your hair, the less applicable the every-other-day suggestion is.

Try using your existing shampoo daily and see what happens. You can further correct from there.
posted by jaguar at 9:24 PM on April 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

If you really want to degrease your hair, Dr Bronners Soap will do the job. Basically just use it like / in place of shampoo. You may want to use conditioner afterwards to make it easier to style.

Personally I've never felt like the "don't wash in order to trick your skin into being less oily" techniques ever did anything for me. My skin is apparently not fooled by this shenanigans and keeps on producing oil regardless.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:39 PM on April 1, 2015

Want to 2nd Dr Bronners. Dilute it a bit if you find it too drying. The unscented version is available at Trader Joes but I prefer the almond or lavender scents (the others tend towards being too strong for me). I generally follow up with a conditioner on just my ends.
posted by AnneShirley at 12:25 AM on April 2, 2015

With the "old shag carpet" comment, i'm assuming you have curly/wavy hair?

There's plenty of obstinate "you WILL be gross" people out there, but i actually cut back to only washing my hair once a week and it's worlds less greasy looking, feeling, or just being than it ever was before. Hell, it's actually dry occasionally now after i shower! It only gets gross in any way if i push it way past a week.

My partner is deeply committed to the no-poo, but that never really worked for me. I do sometimes only "wash" with cleansing conditioner like Wen though.

When i used to wash it way more often, my hair was always either fried and dry or SUPER greasy. Now it's at a happy, normal medium.

It seems completely counter productive, but i really found that "your body is producing too much oil because you're washing it too much" thing to be true.

Oh, and this also got even better when i started working out... without any other change in routine. It just gets less greasy now.
posted by emptythought at 1:15 AM on April 2, 2015 [4 favorites]

Try getting your hair coloured. The texture of mine totally changed after I had it dyed, and I was suddenly able to get away with washing it every ~3 days instead of every day, with a bit of dry shampoo in-between. Worth a try.

Also, if you are, stop conditioning your scalp. Use conditioner on the ends if you need it, but keep it away from any skin.
posted by citands at 2:21 AM on April 2, 2015

Yeah, I've tried so many solutions to this. I still can't figure out whether my scalp is just naturally oily, or dry and angry and overproducing oils. I will say this: washing my hair less has never made a difference for me (unless you count looking like I've emerged from a week-long bender as "making a difference"). I tried a "low-poo" shampoo for a few weeks and oh my god that was a disaster! I have had some success with the Body Shop's ginger shampoo. I find it's a good balance between getting my hair clean without angering my scalp. I can usually stretch to washing every other day with this stuff. And for dry shampoo, the Batiste stuff is my favourite.
posted by Mrs. Rattery at 4:59 AM on April 2, 2015

Kadin2048: "If you really want to degrease your hair, Dr Bronners Soap will do the job."

That is very true. I used Dr B as shampoo for a while when I got a couple free bottles, and it really was great.
posted by Rock Steady at 5:20 AM on April 2, 2015

In general you will get a lot of different responses to this and I definitely agree that while the whole "no shampoo" thing may work for some people, for others it just makes their heads a sticky, smelly, filthy, hopeless mess (me for example). My point is that if you've tried a new suggestion here for 2-3 weeks with no improvement then you are totally in the clear to abandon it as worthless. In the past I have stuck with terrible things for longer because hair care evangelists insisted I just wasn't doing it right, or enough, or whatever, rather than admitting it might not right be for me after all, and it was immensely frustrating.

Anyway when my hair is being stubbornly greasy I do a once a week special wash with something like a tea tree oil shampoo, or B&B's sunday wash, and a very light spray-in conditioner afterwards, plus a tiny dab of regular conditioner on the ends just before it all goes into the towel hat.
posted by poffin boffin at 6:15 AM on April 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

Garnier Fructis, for oily hair. Available everywhere, average price.

It really really really really strips your hair. It's like detergent. I only use once a month because it is so strong.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 6:45 AM on April 2, 2015

Seconding the rec to see a dermatologist. They can look at your scalp and see what's going on.

I have a super oily scalp...I'm not sure what my official diagnosis is but I think it's something similar to dandruff except greasier and crustier. I treat it in like this (based on doctor's recs and years of experimentation):

In the shower:
1. Use regular shampoo to wash my actual hair because dandruff "shampoo" isn't so great for cleaning your actual hair
2. Then use a dandruff shampoo to just cleanse the scalp (obviously you'll get some on the hair but the idea is to focus on your scalp). Leave on the shampoo for a few minutes so it can really do its thing.
3. Condition the ends

- I rotate each day through several dandruff shampoos, both drugstore-purchased and prescription. It'll take you some time to figure out which shampoos you like. There are 5 or so different main ingredients in OTC dandruff shampoos.
- I have some topical prescription stuff that I can put on my scalp at night

I'm never going to be a "wash my hair twice a week" type of gal but I can usually do 5x/week. I occasionally use "dry shampoo" but the one I use is basically cornstarch.
posted by radioamy at 6:58 AM on April 2, 2015

Lush's "I love Juicy" is incredibly good at cleaning oily hair/scalp and, weirdly, doesn't seem to dry things out in a negative way. I have funky dyed hair and it doesn't strip the colour, either. I can get away with every-other-day shampooing!
posted by VioletU at 7:13 AM on April 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

If you do wash your hair with Dr Bonner's, you need to rinse your hair with vinegar diluted with water afterwards.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 7:42 AM on April 2, 2015

I use Pureology Purify shampoo. I've had oily hair since puberty (I'm in my 40's now) and this is the only one I can currently find* that really takes all of the oil out of my hair. I have long, thick, straight hair, and I wash it 2 or maybe 3 times a week, but not more than that. If you decide to go with this shampoo, be sure you're not ordering the version for colored hair. The bottles look nearly identical.

* Seems like everytime I find a favorite clarifying shampoo it gets taken off the market or the formula gets changed. I've been using this one for about 5 years.
posted by vignettist at 7:54 AM on April 2, 2015

I love the Lush shampoo bars for this, especially Jumping Juniper but all the ones I've tried (new, the green one etc). have been really good. You will want to use a deep conditioner every once in a while (I like doing this pre-shampoo so it doesn't make it greasy afterwards) but I can actually go 2-3 days without washing with the Lush bars as opposed to really wanting to wash every day with a liquid shampoo, even clear and clarifying ones.
posted by hejrat at 8:36 AM on April 2, 2015

Nthing the suggestion to go back to washing everyday....if I skip a day my hair looks terrible. I've noticed that while some shampoos dry my hair out more, they also make my hair look worse in the long run, and don't help me skip a day of shampooing. Right now I like a cheap drugstore option- Herbal Essences Naked Volume, though I have fine straight hair, so ymmv.
posted by three_red_balloons at 8:57 AM on April 2, 2015

Just because no-shampoo doesn't work for you (didn't work for me either) doesn't mean that the underlying idea of not stripping all the natural oil out of your hair isn't sound. Try showering and washing your hair as often as you want, but use the gentlest shampoo you can find (one without sulfates if you can). I've had great luck with SheaMoisture shampoo for the same issues - it cleans my hair well but isn't stripping at all, and it really makes all the difference. When I use regular sulfate shampoo, my hair is oily before the end of the day, but I can often stretch to every other day with the SheaMoisture shampoos.

Another thing I'd recommend is washing your hair with a salicylic acid & sulfur shampoo like Sebex once a week or so, especially if you get any crusty spots or anything like that. It does wonders for my itchy oily scalp.

Finally, I have no idea how physically active you are, but I find that I exude a much grosser, oilier sweat when I'm being sedentary than when I'm exercising regularly. Increasing my exercise has reduced my face and scalp oiliness way more than I ever would have expected.
posted by dialetheia at 10:17 AM on April 2, 2015

I feel I have to comment again, because of the comment saying:

"Do not do the no-poo method. That is disgusting. Your hair will look like string cheese and reek no matter what people tell you. They're just being polite. "

This comment is wrong. I haven't used shampoo in about four years and not even my barber has said anything. I no longer have almost any dandruff, and much less than when I used head and shoulders. My hair looks the best it's ever looked. I have a couple friends who are hairdressers and they would tell me if my hair smelled, because they do tell me when my BO smells. I do wash my hair almost every day with water and sometimes more often when I go to the gym. I used baking soda and vinegar occasionally in the beginning but haven't in years.

Here are a few blogs of women with pictures of their hair who have found success without shampoo:


http://thecrunchymoose.com/one-year-without-shampoo/


http://fulfilledhomemaking.com/no-poo-shampoo/


http://thehairpin.com/2014/01/three-years-without-shampoo

I do not think that any of them have hair that looks like string cheese.
posted by GregorWill at 11:08 AM on April 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

Yes, you should wash your hair every day.

Some people even need to wash their hair twice a day. That's the unacknowledged reality of being greasy.

The "don't wash your hair every day" rule was literally used to blame me for having the problem and then blame me for the solution.

Using dry shampoo requires brushing and a light amount of scalp massage, and those things will both stimulate oil production and spread oil from the roots further down the hair shaft.

If you try the no-poo method, it's highly likely that you will experience gross results that never improve. Grease will help ambient dirt to stick to your hair, too, which is always delightful.

Put conditioner only on the ends. Apply it first, then let it do its work while you wash the rest of you. Leave scalp-washing for last. Massage the shampoo into your scalp and let it run down the length of your hair as you rinse.

Take a small spray bottle and into it pour about 1/3 baby shampoo, 1/3 rubbing alcohol, and 1/3 water. You may want to adjust the proportions to be mostly water. Shake it up, spray your brush and comb with it, and rub them against each other to spot clean after each use.

There is no one particular shampoo that will make your scalp produce less oil. If you have scalp problems, as opposed to just hair problems, that's one thing. But, at one point I couldn't tolerate any kind of commercial shampoo because they all had ingredients that aggravated the acne I have on my scalp, so I used raw dishwashing liquid. Horrifying, right? But it did the job until I found something better.

If you are female, certain kinds of hormonal birth control will reduce the amount of sebum you produce, and that's your only real option as far as making your scalp truly less oily. When I was off BCP I had to wash my hair twice daily; once I went back on it it was like turning off a tap; I was still greasy, but within hours my greasiness had reduced to socially acceptable levels. You may not want to do this and may prefer to focus on managing the oil rather than reducing the oiliness.
posted by tel3path at 11:17 AM on April 2, 2015

OH, AND. If you have a perm, that can temporarily dry out your scalp so that you might be able to go a few days between washes. Temporarily.
posted by tel3path at 11:21 AM on April 2, 2015

My best scalp oil regulation was when I was on Accutane, but that is not a good option in this case.
Recently, I have found that moisturizing my scalp is much much better than using clarifying shampoos. I have seborrheic dermatitis, and oily, fine hair. Usually, it gets oily within a day. My regime, that seems to work best is:
1) Not using shampoos with SLS. I have found my hair likes not using SLS better, but their isn't real evidence that it is bad for you. So your mileage may vary.
2) Using a good conditioner. Leaving it in.
3) Using an oil or moisture styling creme. Even applying to any part of my scalp that feels dry.
4) Wearing my hair in braids and other hair styles which make oil less apparent so that I can delay washing. I usually wear my hair up anyway.
4) DRY SHAMPOO. Don't spray directly on your scalp, but on your hair. I like Batiste. Klorane costs to much for what it delivers, but it is very nice.
posted by troytroy at 4:15 PM on April 2, 2015

Spironolactone was prescribed to me for acne and it made my skin so much less oily! I've been on it for years and had no weird side effects as had happened to me with hormonal birth control. Cheap and life changing, what more could you ask for?!?
posted by The Noble Goofy Elk at 7:19 PM on April 3, 2015

Add me to the people who wash their hair everyday due to grease. I have great hair.
posted by kjs4 at 1:28 AM on May 1, 2015