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I have dyed my hair every color under the sun, so I know a good shampoo for color-treated hair has a lot to get right. I want one that preserves my new color and undoes some of the damage that coloring may have done but that also is a good all-around shampoo (cleansing and adding hydration or body, depending on your hair type). Luckily, my many bleach and dye escapades mean I’ve tried plenty of color-safe formulas. By now, I know the stripping ingredients to avoid and the nourishing ingredients to keep an eye out for. I also know a great color-safe shampoo doesn’t have to be marketed as such (in fact, one of my favorites is our best shampoo overall).
And while I’ve tested several of these shampoos, there are some hair colors even I haven’t gotten to yet, so I have included recommendations and advice from 13 hair experts, including salon owners and celebrity stylists.
Update on October 16, 2024: Updated prices; checked stock for all products.
Sulfates are essentially detergents that give a shampoo that satisfying lather. Unless you have an easily irritated scalp, they’re completely safe to use — but they’re strong and can be stripping. That’s why I would advise most people with treated hair to avoid them as they can cause color to fade faster. It’s worth noting that I’ve included a few shampoos that do use them, though, and they’re for hair that gets oily at the root, which does benefit from the extra cleaning power they provide — but more on that below.
Instead of sulfates, I have been hunting for ingredients that will prolong color, repair damage, reinstate some shine, and, of course, keep your hair clean. Different hair has different needs, and that’s as true here as everywhere. So for blondes, I’ve found shampoos with purple-depositing formulas to fight brassiness. As the sun can fade color, I’ve also looked for ingredients that provide UV protection (like vitamin C, avocado oil, and green tea) as well as moisturizing ingredients (like glycerin).
I’ve made sure to note the total ounces of shampoo you’re getting per dollar if you’re shopping on a budget.
Sulfate free | Color-protecting ingredients: Bis-aminopropyl diglycol dimaleate (bond rebuilder) | Scent: Citrus | Size: 8.5 ounces
As a beauty writer, I have a rotating cast of shampoos — but for the past three years, Olaplex No. 4 has been a constant on my shelf. Although this product was originally intended for bleached hair, both colorist Patty O’Gara and stylist Fred Connors agree that Olaplex No. 4 is suitable for all hair types. That’s why it has worked wonders for me, both when my home-bleached hair was on the brink of snapping off and now with my (albeit healthier) color-treated red hair. Olaplex is a bond builder — that means it doesn’t just make the hair appear healthier, it actually works to repair the bonds that make up the hair from within (for more on that, we have an explainer on bond builders).
Olaplex is available as an in-salon treatment, and its at-home shampoo uses the same science to repair your hair (though the at-home formulation is not as strong). It contains patented bis-aminopropyl diglycol dimaleate, a molecule that repairs broken covalent bonds within the hair (they’re the bonds found in your strands’ cuticles.) All these benefits are aided by other hydrating ingredients like coconut oil, sunflower-seed oil, and glycerin.
For an additional boost, O’Gara recommends pairing this with Olaplex No. 5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner. Jacome agrees: “Olaplex No. 4 is intended to go hand in hand with the rest of the Olaplex bonding system.” (Olaplex is also a favorite of Strategist beauty columnist Rio Viera-Newton, who relies on the No. 3 treatment to keep her double-processed hair healthy and happy.) It’s not cheap — it sits in the midrange of shampoo prices — but you need only a coin-size amount.
Sulfate free | Color-protecting ingredients: Soybean oil | Scent: Rosy fresh | Size: 8 ounces
Olaplex was the first bond builder, but two new brands have emerged: K18 and Bondbar. While K18 and Bondbar are both featured in this story, Bondbar is the only budget option. “It’s cheap yet sort of a holy grail for what your hair needs: moisture balanced with protein,” says celebrity stylist Gregory Patterson. Unlike Olaplex (and K18), which targets the covalent bonds of your hair, Bondbar penetrates hydrogen and ionic bonds. Another difference is that it’s not really suited to everyday use: It can weigh hair down and be a bit too heavy on finer hair types. If you want to give bond building a go, though, this is a great budget option.
Non–sulfate free | Color-protecting ingredients: UV protectant | Scent: Fruity | Size: 8.4 ounces
As I mentioned, sulfates are powerful and stripping detergents that can cause color to fade fast. But if you’re someone with oilier hair, you really benefit from the thorough cleansing power they provide. That’s why I’ve included a sulfate option here. Brooke Jordan, co-owner of the Bird House, recommends it to her color-treated clients. To temper the harsher sulfates, Sachajuan uses what it calls “OceanSilk technology,” which, in layman’s terms, is a mixture of two mineral-rich algae that nourish and provide moisture to the hair. Strategist writer Dominique Pariso tried and loved this shampoo last year. “When I got my hair highlighted in the fall, this was the shampoo I began using (after Sachajuan was kind enough to send it to me), and I can say with certainty that Jordan did not overpromise,” she says. “My color lasted for months, and my hair looked great after each wash.”
Sulfate free | Color-safe ingredients: Coconut surfactant, glycerin | Scent: Fresh | Size: 8 ounces
I recently named this shampoo my favorite overall for the most hair types. It doesn’t take the top spot here as Olaplex’s bond-building formula is specifically designed for color-treated hair. But if you’re less concerned about breakage and more about dryness, or if you’re a double shampooer and looking to mix and match, Malin + Goetz is still a remarkable option. It cleanses gently with a coconut-derived surfactant and then quenches hair with its lovely lathering formula packed with glycerin. “I like the Malin + Goetz shampoo because it’s not 100 percent organic and it’s also not 100 percent chemical,” says Masami Hosono, founder and creative director of Vacancy Project. “It has both, and you really need both, especially if you have a color or anything chemical in your hair. It’s really for any hair type, and it’s not too heavy.”
Sulfate free | Color-protecting ingredients: Amino acids, glycerin | Scent: Clean | Size: 8.5 ounces
If you have received both treatments at the salon, you know K18 works far quicker than Olaplex (an Olplaex treatment takes over an hour, whereas with a K18 treatment, you’ll be done in ten minutes). That mimics what the at-home shampoo promises: K18 says that after just one four-minute treatment with its shampoo, your hair will look visibly less frizzy and frazzled. Viera-Newton says it’s a covalent-bond builder that is “incredibly expensive, but a tiny bit goes a long way — and my God, it works.” Tara Burke also recommends using K18 Maintenance shampoo; she says it gently cleanses even sensitive scalps and will quench hair without weighing it down or fading your color. The result, according to Burke, is frizz-prone hair that not only looks and feels better but is easier to style. She points out two more perks: “a nice, clean scent and a nice lather.”
Non–sulfate free | Color-protecting ingredients: Ten oils, shea butter | Scent: Jasmine, bergamot, and sandalwood | Size: 9.8 ounces
This is my favorite shampoo for curly hair in our larger shampoo piece, and it retains its crown here. As curly hair types can trap oil at the root, the strands and tips can become dry and brittle, which is only exacerbated with color treatment. That’s why you need a balance between sulfates and hydration: The sulfates will cleanse that oil buildup, then moisturizing ingredients will prevent any dryness. This shampoo from Tracee Ellis Ross’s hair-care line has precisely those — honey, aloe vera, and ten oils including coconut and avocado. “It’s really incredible,” says Stephanie Louis, the chief executive and operating officer of Stylebox Salon, who tells me it’s suitable for even very curly 3B to 4C hair.
Sulfate free | Color-protecting ingredients: Green-tea extract, oat protein | Scent: Fresh | Size: 8.4 ounces
If you’ve got fine, limp hair, I understand you want volume just as much as you want to preserve your color. Kevin Murphy’s Angel Wash toes that line nicely. Instead of sulfates, it contains sodium cocoyl isethionate, a surfactant known as one of the most gentle cleansing agents. It also contains another surfactant that comes from coconuts that has thickening properties. Vitamin C and green tea provide moisture and UV protection, which shields your color from the sun, while glycerin deeply moisturizes your hair. There’s also nourishing sunflower oil, rosehip oil, and wheat and oat proteins to form a thickening film around color-damaged hair. Overall, this a great formula that has been designed with both thickening and color-preserving properties in mind. Kevin Murphy shampoos also have some of the best scents (and bottles).
Non-sulfate free | Color-protecting ingredients: Purple-depositing pigment | Scent: Floral | Size: 16 ounces
Anyone with bleached-blonde hair knows you want to avoid brassy tones at all costs — and the solution is turning to the color wheel. Purple tones neutralize yellow and orange, and Clairol Shimmer Lights shampoo is my cheap and cheerful pick. It’s the one Mary Ann Hennings — hair-department head on Daisy Jones and the Six — used on Suki Waterhouse. She said it works fast, brightening hair with just a couple of uses. It also has plenty of the other stuff you want to clean your dyed hair, namely nourishing vegetable protein and deeply cleansing sulfate surfactants.
Sulfate free | Color-protecting ingredients: Blue depositing pigment | Scent: Citrus | Size: 3.38 ounces
To turn to the color wheel again, blue tones are best to neutralize the brassiness in brunette hair — this brassiness doesn’t need to be lightened as much as with bleached blonde hair. O’Gara typically tells her clients to wash once a week with a toning shampoo to “stay ahead of the brass that will naturally set in as the oxidation process unfolds in between color services.” She loves Fanola No Orange, a blue pigmented shampoo for brunettes struggling with unwanted orange tones. “One to two applications should subtly tone the hair, extending the life of those pricey highlights,” she adds. But it’s best to use such shampoos no more than once a week, as excessive use can not only dry the hair but cause an overload of purple or blue pigment that leaves the intended color looking drab.
RedKen Color Extend Magnetics
Sulfate free | Scent: Fruity | Size: 10.1 ounces | Color-protecting ingredients: Amino acids
My allegiances change often when it comes to the best shampoo for my cherry-red hair, but this is a new firm favorite. I’ve been using it alongside a mixture of Olaplex and other hydrating shampoos since my hair got particularly frazzled at a festival. For context, I usually do a semi-permanent color leave-in mask on my hair once a week or so, but this summer I’ve simply not had the time. So, I wanted a shampoo that didn’t just make my hair feel and look good, but one that could extend the lifetime of the color. Trawling through Reddit boards, this was the suggestion that came up most often — then, when I interviewed hairstylist Tara Sullivan, she endorsed the choice. She says she prefers it to depositing shampoos as, in her experience, those can actually dull hair over time, whereas this formula “removes impurities that darken or dull your color.” She also adds that it has “a nice floral scent.” Since finding this in June, I have gotten away with leaving a longer gap between hair masks, with my red staying vibrant for longer. Sullivan told me it’s also a great option for other brighter colors, like pinks, greens, and blues.
• Siobhan Benson, owner of CutLoose BK
• Tara Burke, hairstylist
• Rogerio Cavalcante, owner of the Second Floor Salon
• Fred Connors, owner and creative director of FRED Salon
• Anessa Daviero, hairstylist at Headdress Hair Salon
• Maria Elizabeth, founder of deZEN salon
• Mary Ann Hennings, hair department head on Daisy Jones & the Six
• Jenny Jacome, partner at Fox and Jane
• Brooke Jordan, co-owner of the Bird House
• Lili Keith, Vidal Sassoon-trained hairdresser
• Patti O’Gara, Blackstone NYC colorist
• Gregorio Ruggeri, owner of Salon Ruggeri
• Mark Ryan, hairstylist and co-founder of Mark Ryan Salon
• Tara Sullivan, hairstylist
• Christine Thompson, co-founder of Spoke & Weal
• Rio Viera-Newton, Strategist contributor
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