What to look for in a shampoo
If you want to fight hair loss and help your hair grow you want a shampoo that contains ingredients that improve circulation in the scalp, such as niacin. You also need a shampoo that cleanses your scalp well, otherwise pores may become blocked, leading to hair loss — ingredients like salicylic acid help with this. Finally, you should look for ingredients that reduce DHT in your scalp because DHT causes hair loss. These are the primary three concerns. After that you can start to look for shampoos containing nutrients that help feed your hair or energize cells in the scalp.
What to avoid in a shampoo
You need a shampoo that cleanses your scalp well, but you should avoid shampoos with harsh chemicals like “sodium lauryl sulfate” — this is like a bleach, which after years of use may cause hair follicle miniaturization and may also be toxic if absorbed through your skin (though in small doses is safe). See organic shampoos that don’t contain sodium lauryl sulfate for more information.
My review of hair loss shampoos — what is the best shampoo for hair loss prevention and hair growth promotion?
I’ve listed above some of the best hair loss shampoos available. Where I’ve listed the benefits and drawbacks for each shampoo I have listed ALL the benefits and ALL the drawbacks (as far as I can see). So if there’s only one benefit, there’s only one benefit — likewise with the drawbacks. If you want me to look at any other shampoos, let me know in the comments.
Conclusion: What is the ideal shampoo for hair loss sufferers?
The first and foremost requirement of a Best shampoo for hair growth is that it cleans your hair and scalp, helping to keep your pores clear. If you’ve read my hair loss eBook you’ll know how to keep your pores clear of embedded sebum — in this case your best bet is to use a gentle shampoo, as you have the most powerful method of keeping your pores clear.
The second most important requirement is that your shampoo contains no harsh chemicals that may cause your hairs to miniaturize or break with continued regular use (like bleaching does). Try to avoid shampoos containing sodium lauryl sulfate if possible.
Now, if you’re looking for a shampoo that helps promote hair growth the best way of achieving this is to increase circulation in the scalp. You should be getting the nutrients required for hair growth through diet. Improved circulation in the scalp will help get those nutrients to your hair.
If you want to try to boost direct nutrient intake in the scalp using your shampoo, choose a shampoo that contains biotin, cysteine and proteins. However, unless your scalp is free of embedded sebum these nutrients are unlikely to penetrate the scalp — some shampoos get around this by using ‘copper peptides’ (tiny particles) that are thought to help nutrients penetrate the skin. These are not likely to help people with permanently shiny scalps though — you will need to use my method to solve this problem.
DS Laboratories Revita High Performance Hair Growth Stimulating Shampoo
In my opinion the best two shampoos out there are DS Laboratories Revita Hair Growth Stimulating Shampoo and Perfect Hair Shampoo. DS Labs Revita shampoo ticks almost all the boxes. However, it’s very expensive. If $25 is a bit excessive (which it probably is for most people), you’re probably better off going for a natural or even organic shampoo that is isn’t specifically labelled as a hair loss shampoo. The problem with a lot of hair loss shampoos is they contain ingredients that may help promote hair growth, but to save money they’ve used cheap toxic base ingredients.
So if you’re not prepared to pay for the DS Labs Revita shampoo or Perfect Hair Shampoo, you’re probably better off looking for an organic shampoo. But be careful; just because it says it’s organic doesn’t mean it doesn’t contain toxic ingredients. Even the ‘mop organic shampoos’ contain sodium lauryl sulfate.