Gray hair requires specific attention due to its unique characteristics, including texture changes and potential yellowing over time.
Here’s a great place to start.
Great hair for every budget.
We looked for products that covered a wide range of prices, as well as places to purchase.
This way, everyone has access to high-quality products that can care for their strands.
While gray hair has unique qualities unto itself, not everyone who embraces silver has the same overall goals.
Some need extra help with frizz, while others may be looking to encourage growth.
We tried to cover several bases here.
Best overall:Olaplex No.
And the formulas are sophisticatedly designed to nurture those very specific needs.
Take the purple shampoo, for example.
Finally, it’s spiked with a light violet shade to address yellowing of gray strands.
To add back that megawatt shine, reach for a glossing shampoo like this sulfate-free option.
This paraben-free, vegan, and pH-balanced formula can help fibers appear more vibrant with the help ofargan oil.
This deeply cleans the scalp without stripping the skin or hair fiber.
Then it infuses it with thickening ingredients like vegetarian proteins and kelp extract.
What does this mean in practice?
Frizz is due to raised cuticles on the outermost layer of the hair fiber.
And because of the texture changes that happen with graying hair, frizz is often more common.
you’re able to minimize it by using products that encourage the cuticle to lie flat.
Comparing the best shampoos for gray hair:
Does gray hair need special shampoo?
In short, yes gray hair often requires appropriate productsshampoo included.
Or if you went from long to short, you’d probably rethink your go-to formulas.
All hair has unique needs and products to suit them.
To correct these subtle hue changes, professionals often recommend toning productssuch aspurple or blue shampoos.
The second is that the fiber’s texture often changes, becoming more coarse and dry.
As Brown explains to us, the pigment loss of the hair causes it to become more wiry.
What happens if you use purple shampoo on gray hair?
You’ll notice that many of the products that made the list are purple shampoos.
Toning shampoos have been longtime colorist favorites, which have now entered the at-home beauty zeitgeist.
“We use toners to enhance dull tones or cancel unwanted tones,” says hairstylistNatasha Speth.
We would use complementary colors to cancel out unwanted tones."
The basics ofat-home toningare using violet for yellow, green for red, or blue for orange.
If you want more advice on using purple shampoo, check outour guide to the product.
If you go overboard, you could stain your hair purple.
(Don’t worry; it doesn’t last.)
How to transition to gray hair.
But know up front: It’s going to be a process.
mbg review process
At mbg, high standards are earnedand there are no shortcuts.
Our beauty editors stay up to date on the latest ingredient research and innovation.
Our high standards also come from testing productsmany, many products.
We endorse products we’ve tried and loved.
Learn more about our testing process and clean beauty standardshere.
The takeaway
All hair is unique and requires its own special arsenal of care productsgray hair included.
Shampoos are an excellent place to start.
