Grease is not the word.

July 15, 2017 3:11 PM

My favorite shampoo, Pantene Weekly Deep Cleanse, has been discontinued. This shampoo let me get away with washing my grease-prone hair only once every 2-3 days, but now I'm down to my last bottle and I have to find something else that works. I think I've tried Neutrogena and didn't like it. Whole Foods store brand shampoo for oily hair is okay but not great. What's a good alternative clarifying shampoo, preferably at drugstore prices?
posted by Ralston McTodd to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (14 answers total)

Best answer: Avalon Organics clarifying lemon shampoo is worth a try to see if it works for you. I use a lot of argan oil and find that it works really well to remove it. It is sold at Whole Foods and Amazon, but you might also be able to find it at your local big box or grocery store.
posted by jazzbaby at 3:49 PM on July 15, 2017 [2 favorites]

It seems to be on sale on Amazon right now -- why not stock up and look for something else in the interim? You could try Acure Organics, though. They're about $6-$10 each but their clarifying shampoo is wonderful.
posted by Hermione Granger at 5:04 PM on July 15, 2017 [1 favorite]

It looks like citric acid might be the deep cleansing/clarifying ingredient--have you tried a vinegar rinse after another Pantene shampoo? Or you could go literal by buying some powdered citric acid and mixing it with water, but that might be overkill.
posted by 8603 at 5:07 PM on July 15, 2017

Lately I've been using Trader Joe's tea tree oil shampoo.
posted by vignettist at 6:00 PM on July 15, 2017

This stuff is crazy expensive, but you only need a very little bit so it'll last a long time. It's like a concentrated shampoo paste.
I got a sample in a beauty subscription box and it is -very- clarifying, to the point that it's too drying for my fine thin dry hair.
posted by Fig at 6:18 PM on July 15, 2017

Mastey Enove
posted by hortense at 7:40 PM on July 15, 2017

This shampoo is great for clarifying. I use it between uses of my normal shampoos and conditioners.
posted by Crystal Fox at 8:16 PM on July 15, 2017

There's an off-brand Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Oil and Mint Shamoo you can buy at Sally's for ~8 USD. Also, google dyi clarifying and you'll get instructions for using baking soda to strip your hair of oils in a way that I've found very effective, just once or twice a month.
posted by little_dog_laughing at 9:07 PM on July 15, 2017

My husband swears by Tresemme Deep Cleanse shampoo. I have tried it on occasion and found that I could go longer than usual without washing my hair again.
posted by cp311 at 1:18 AM on July 16, 2017

My oily hair loves this Hask Charcoal shampoo, and I only wash it every 2-3 days.
posted by ApathyGirl at 1:36 AM on July 16, 2017

I would suggest writing down the top 5-10 ingredients in the Pantene, and then going to a well-stocked drugstore and sifting through all the "deep cleaning" type shampoos for the one that has the closest list. Be picky. Sodium Laureth Sulfate and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate are not equal. You wouldn't think there'd be that much of a difference, but my hair is not fooled.
posted by gueneverey at 5:07 AM on July 16, 2017

Plain old Head and Shoulders is great for this!
posted by cakelite at 8:39 AM on July 16, 2017

If your scalp is unusually oily, you might have luck with "dandruff" shampoos. There are a zillion out there, but there are only 4 or 5 main ingredients. My dermatologist told me buy one with each ingredient and to rotate between shampoos weekly.

They're pretty pricey, but there's a trick to making them last longer: Think of them as "wash out scalp treatments," not shampoos. Use a small amount and just rub it in your scalp, and leave on for the prescribed minutes. Rinse, then use regular cheap shampoo on your hair.

I do also like the above-mentioned Tresseme deep cleansing shampoo, but mostly for getting out product buildup.
posted by radioamy at 11:09 AM on July 16, 2017

Response by poster: Update (because I know everyone is waiting): I tried another Pantene variety ("Micellar" or something) with more or less the same ingredients on the label as my old favorite -- awful, awful, awful. It was like being in the Michigan town I used to live in where you could try to rinse the shampoo out of your hair 10 times and the soft water still didn't get it clean. Next I tried the Avalon Organics lemon, and it seemed to work pretty well, so I'm marking that as best answer for now, but I may have to try some of these other ideas too. Thanks for all the suggestions! (I appreciate the DIY recipes but I just kind of rebel at that level of thought for replacing a $4 drugstore standby.)
posted by Ralston McTodd at 6:55 PM on July 18, 2017