Biolage shampoo comes from a salon brand built on botanicals since 1990, and Hydra Source is its answer for dry hair. Here it is with hydrating, scalp-first and repair shampoos, sorted by what your hair needs.
Biolage Shampoo, the Salon Classic, and What to Try Next
Biolage was created in 1990 by Arnie Miller, a hairdresser for more than 20 years who had already founded the salon company Matrix with his wife, Sydell, in 1980. Matrix was based in Solon, Ohio, and sold only to salon professionals, which is why Biolage still feels like a salon shelf product. The brand has leaned on botanicals from the start, and its 1993 moisturizing shampoo used pure botanical extracts. Biolage shampoo in the Hydra Source version is the one for dry hair, and it is now easy to find at beauty chains. Carmen Tal discovered argan oil at a Tel Aviv salon after a bad color job, and Moroccanoil's hydrating shampoo is built on the same oil. Kérastase began in Paris salons in 1964 and is credited with the first care shampoo; Nutritive is for fine to medium dry hair. Davines started as a research lab in Parma in 1983, named for the founders' children, and OI is its rich, shiny all-rounder. If your ends feel straw-like, a hydrating shampoo plus conditioner is the first fix.
Scalp-first shampoos
Healthy hair starts at the scalp. Moroccanoil's scalp balancing shampoo targets flakes, oiliness and itch. Melisse Shaban founded Virtue Labs in 2017 around Alpha Keratin 60ku, a protein that came out of wound and burn research, and Scalp Remedy refreshes while it hydrates. Mizani, founded in Chicago in 1991 by Terri Gardner for textured hair, makes a gentle clarifying shampoo that removes buildup without stripping. Helen Reavey, the trichologist behind Act+Acre, cold-processes her formulas with ice-cold water, and the balancing shampoo suits every scalp type. If your roots get greasy by day two but your ends stay dry, a scalp shampoo with a hydrating conditioner on the lengths usually sorts it out.
Repair, and the skip
Oribe, co-founded in 2008 by the Cuban-born stylist Oribe Canales, makes Gold Lust for damaged hair. Shu Uemura, the Japanese makeup artist who worked in Hollywood before opening a makeup atelier in Japan in 1965, gave his name to a line whose Ultimate Reset shampoo treats very damaged hair. Kérastase's Resistance strengthens hair worn down by heat styling, and K18's Damage Shield is a pH-optimized, color-safe shampoo. What I would skip is using a repair shampoo alone and expecting it to fix breakage. Pair it with a mask, turn the heat down and trim split ends.
Washing well
Massage shampoo into the scalp for a full minute and let the suds rinse the lengths. Wash as often as your scalp needs, daily for oily hair, twice a week for dry curls. Condition every time. Rotate in a clarifying wash every week or two. If flakes or itching persist, see a dermatologist. Finish with a cool rinse for shine.
