When overhauling your haircare routine, begin at the beginning.
No matter your hair concern, achieving your dream locks starts with the right shampoo - especially when it comes to frizz-fighting. If you’re looking to tame your mane, the foundation is an optimised washing routine. You need to douse your hair with hydration from the outset.
Frizz and dryness go hand in hand. When your strands are stressed and lacking moisture, you’ll notice it to be more prevalent. It’s not just part and parcel of your tropical island adventure, but poofiness is just as common right here in rainy Britain and on sweaty commutes.
Anabel Kingsley, Brand President and Trichologist at Philip Kingsley explains, “Frizz can be caused by a number of reasons, often due to dryness and damage to the hair shaft or moisture in the air. However, how frizz-prone your hair is dependent on its natural structure (either straight, wavy or curly) and how porous it is (how easily moisture enters and exits your hair shaft)”.
She continues, “Dry hair absorbs moisture in the atmosphere, causing each hair’s cuticle, or outer layer, to swell up instead of lying flat”. The healthiest, most hydrated hair will absorb less from the air, yet, as Kingsley explains, “If hair is damaged (from factors such as chemical processing and heat styling), it will be more porous, allowing more ambient moisture in through the cuticle.
“Damaged hair is almost always dry too, and dry hair is more brittle and likely to break. When hairs snap off in various places around your head, they can stick out and make your style look frizzy, so maximum condition is key”.
Curly hair types will find it’s more prone to frizz as it’s naturally drier so it’s even more important to find a formula that is brimming with hydrating ingredients, all without weighing it down.
Kingsley recommends products that “will coat the cuticle with a hydrophobic (water-repelling) layer”. This works two-fold. “It will not only keep moisture out, preventing hair from becoming frizz, but it helps to lock moisture into your strands so they remain hydrated”.
What should you look for in a shampoo for frizzy hair?
A shampoo can make all the difference in creating a sleeker style, but the one you choose will depend on your hair type and concerns. Kingsley breaks it down. “A shampoo formulated for coarse or coiled hair textures is often going to be far too nourishing and not cleansing enough for someone that has fine textured hair as they require much lighter weight products”.
She adds, “Your conditioner is even more important as this is what provides moisture (hydration) and nourishment to your strands. It also smooths and seals the hair cuticle reducing frizz”.
If you’re concerned about frizz, keep scrolling for hydrating shampoos to achieve your perfect hair day.
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Living Proof No Frizz shampoo
The Living Proof dry shampoo may already play a crucial role in your haircare routine, but for wash days, its No Frizz formula showcases the brand’s hi-tech prowess even further. Firstly, let us tell you what it’s not got. It has no silicone, paraben, sulfates or formaldehyde. It’s cruelty-free and can be used on colour or chemically-treated hair.
Now let us tell you what is it. It’s a hero humidity-fighting formula that has a gentle lather to remove dirt, sweat, oil and the likes in one effective swoop so it’s just silky smooth shine that remains. If this doesn’t win you over, then the delightful aroma and more manageable condition of your locks post-use certainly will.
Buy now £29.00, Selfridges
Davines Love/ Smoothing Shampoo
Don’t be alarmed by the purple colourways of the LOVE shampoo. This can be used by all hair types, and not just blondes to control frizz and smooth out your strands. Using a combination of 60 per cent natural and organically certified ingredients, it lathers up to a creamy texture that you use to coat your hair from root to tip to infuse your tresses with fatty acids and vitamins.
These are highly nourishing and leave your locks feeling silky smooth and looking flyaway-free. There are no parabens or sulphates included, instead, it harnesses the power of Minuta olive, derived from Sicily for mirror-like shine and tamed tresses.
Buy now £20.50, Cult Beauty
Aveda Smooth Infusion Anti-Frizz shampoo
Tame unruly tresses with the smoothing benefits of Aveda’s anti-frizz shampoo. The brand is known and loved for its use of natural ingredients which harness the power of nature to put your hair’s condition in your hands.
The vegan composition of this product includes a plant polymer shield and botanical smoothing oils that act as a shield against humidity. It’s able to leave your locks smoothed out without the need for sulfates or the like. Ideal for natural curls.
Buy now £26.00, Selfridges
Bumble and bumble Hairdresser's Invisible Oil Shampoo
Breathe new life into fried holiday hair with the help of Bumble and bumble. The brand brings professional-level care to parched strands with its oil-enriched cocktail of ingredients.
The shampoo demonstrates this with the combination of grape seed oil, sweet almond oil and macadamia oil that makes hair soft to the touch after washing, yet remains lightweight enough so as not to weigh down your mane. And to protect when you’re soaking up the sun, there’s UV protection too. This is a vegan formulation with high-powered taming control.
Buy now £26.82, Sephora
Briogeo Farewell Frizz smoothing shampoo
We all want a healthy head of hair so filling your beauty cabinet with reparative products is essential - and that’s Briogeo’s bread and butter. Free from any nasties aka sulphates, parabens, phthalates and silicones, the cleansing but crucially, non-stripping Farewell Frizz shampoo coats your mane in some much-welcomed moisture.
The beauty of this product is not only its ability to repair but also protect against external aggressors that could cause future dryness, brittleness and thus, frizz. It does this through an antioxidant-rich formula that includes rosehip oil as well as nourishing argan oil.
Buy now £24.00, Selfridges
Kérastase Discipline Bain Fluidealiste
For those who take a minimal approach to the frequency of hair wash days, Kérastase’s Discipline Bain Fluidealiste has got our backs. This innovative formula is designed to not just protect your hair on the day that you shampoo but beyond and for up to 72 hours post-rinse.
Whether your hair is stressed from chemical, thermal or colour damage, it uses a keratin-infused ingredient line-up to restore and replenish. This includes amino acids, a wheat protein derivative and a ceramide that form a hydrophobic seal to keep humidity out but lock moisture in. Frizz, be gone.
Buy now £25.43, lookfantastic
VIRTUE Smooth Shampoo
Whenever you invest in a haircare essential from VIRTUE, you know you are treating your locks with science-backed technology. The brand was founded with a specialised and trademarked ingredient that forms the basis of each of the products in the collection. It’s known as Alpha Keratin 60ku and mimics the strengthening protein that is found naturally in hair to shield against damage, rebuild and protect.
It works on a granular level, targeting the individual strands to seal them one by one. The Smooth shampoo is designed for medium to thick manes, so may be a touch too heavy for those with fine locks with a beautiful and invigorating lavender, sweet pear and fresh mint scent.
Buy now £38.00, Cult Beauty
Oribe Gold Lust Repair Restore Shampoo
Make each hair wash day a luxury experience by adding the Oribe Gold Lust Repair Restore Shampoo to your shower shelf. You only need to look at the packaging to know that this is a premium product, a feeling that solidifies as soon as you apply it to your wet strands.
The brand calls upon oils that have been included in reparative products for centuries - we’re talking cypress, argan and maracuja - and sets them alongside a state-of-the-art bio-restorative complex to boost hydrating and hair strength from the inside out. It even provides a gentle exfoliation for the scalp to improve health and encourage growth.
Buy now £54.00, Cult Beauty
Christophe Robin Regenerating Shampoo with Prickly Pear Oil
You’ll be feeling best tressed with every hair wash once you’ve incorporated the goodness of French powerhouse Christophe Robin. The Regenerating Shampoo stars an ingredient that is becoming increasingly popular in skincare too, prickly pear oil which is renowned for being a potent antioxidant that improves moisture levels. Alongside guar bean, castor oil and tucuma butter (as it is in this formula), it works to lavish locks and counteracts frizz-causing dryness.
Buy now £31.00, Cult Beauty
Redken Frizz Dismiss Shampoo
When your lengths are lacking lustre - be it on account of its natural state, heat or chemicals - you’ll want a high-powered product like hairstylist favourite Redken. The brand’s Frizz Dismiss does what it says on the tin, but it’s not just a case of ultra hydration here.
The smoothing complex, cleansing system and pH-balancing concoction of ingredients work to strengthen strands as well as leave a glossy sheen. There’s also heat protection too but that doesn’t mean you still shouldn’t incorporate a heat protection spray just to play it safe. The formula is ideal for thick, coarse and frizz locks to increase manageability.
Buy now £21.75, lookfantastic
Pacifica Pineapple Curls
There has never been a better array of haircare targeted specifically for curly locks - and Pacifica is taking that one step further with the Pineapple collection.
The Curl Defining Shampoo and Conditioner, Hydrate Curl Nourishing Mask, Pineapple Swirl Curl Defining Cream and Refresher Mist are designed to preserve the definition of your ringlets with a winning cocktail of pineapple, argan oil, and hyaluronic acid to inject moisture into each and every strand without weighing them down.
As with the rest of the brand’s products, the range is entirely vegan and cruelty-free and is formulated without sulfates, parabens, phthalates, SLS or mineral oil.
Buy now £13.00, Cult Beauty
Olaplex No. 4C Bond Maintenance Clarifying Shampoo
When your tresses are in distress, Olaplex is likely your first port of call. Helpfully numbered in accordance with the steps applied, the brand has recently extended its collection of No.4 products aka the shampoo. You’ll find the classic, toning blonde enhancer and this Clarifying Shampoo.
Still offering the trademarked Bond Building Technology that the brand is known for, in this product, it is paired with a Broad-Spectrum Clarifying System that challenges oil, product build-up, chlorine, hard water, metals and pollutant heads on to clean and cleanse. Hair is fabulous with little to no fuss required.
Buy now £28.00, lookfantastic
JVN Undamage Strengthening Shampoo
For a gentle cleanse that delivers much-needed nourishment to stressed-out scalps, look no further than JVN's cult-favourite Undamage Strengthening Shampoo. Wave goodbye to untamable frizz by treating the problem at its source: years of heat damage and environmental stress. You'll have luscious, frizz-free locks in no time at all.
Buy now £18.00, Cult Beauty
Color WOW Curl Wow
Suitable for all curl types, this nourishing shampoo helps to protect against excessive shedding and breakage while taming those ever-frizzy curls thanks to the innovative Procapil technology. A breakthrough formula which helps to fight the follicle ageing process to slow down hair loss and strengthen locks, Procapil technology puts this frizz-free shampoo on the pricier side - but for good reason.
Buy now £26.00, lookfantastic
Act+Acre Cold Processed Curl Cleanse
Founded by celebrity hairstylist Helen Reavey in 2017, Act+Acre is on a mission to restore confidence in your curls by delivering a range of high-quality, easy to use products which require little to no extra steps.
The first modern haircare brand to introduce Cold Processed products, Act+Acre prioritises scalp care above all else. This is because nourishing the scalp has proven to produce healthier, hydrated and more balanced curls without any of the frizz.
Part of a four-product-strong 'Cold Processed Curl System', Act + Acre's Cold Processed Curl Cleanse Shampoo serves as a crucible for dirt and grime, which can leave hair dry and counter-intuitively frizzy without the help of a nourishing conditioner. Use with caution, curly-haired girls.
Buy now £30.00, Free People
