It’s a tall order, finding a shampoo that meets those requirements. Additionally, everyone has their own unique hair types and quirks—like if you highlight your hair, you’ll want something that can tend to the color as well. But you’ve come to the right place: Here, our favorite shampoos for hair growth, broken down by individualized categories. However, as part of that well-rounded routine, a shampoo that encourages hair growth is a wonderful addition. Shampoos play a very important role in hair growth as they are your primary scalp products, and having a clean scalp is high on the list of priorities. When you neglect washing the scalp, it can lead to oxidative stress. “This oxidative stress will affect the quality of your hair growth. It happens when you have product, dirt, and oil building up around your follicle opening—which is where your hair grows out of—and that buildup starts to slowly suffocate your hair root,” says trained trichologist and hairstylist Shab Reslan. So at the very least, shampoos can encourage a healthy environment for hair by making sure the follicles are free of debris. Many shampoos go a step further by adding ingredients that strengthen or hydrate the hair fiber, which won’t actively stimulate growth but will care for the strands you do have (and then limit breakage down the line). You can look for things like humectants, proteins, lipids (like from plant oils), castor oil, and antioxidants. Finally, shampoos can also infuse ingredients to stimulate growth itself: There’s growing research that some plant-based actives (like peppermint oil, rosemary oil, and peptides) may improve growth rate and thickness. In short: Shampoos can play a role in hair growth, among many other things. So if growth is your primary goal, absolutely look into one of these options below—but you should also address other factors like nutrition, stress, sleep, etc. Hair growth shampoos work in three ways. The first is by cleaning the scalp and therefore creating a healthy environment for hair. The second is by strengthening and fortifying the strands that you do have. The final step is by feeding the follicle-stimulating ingredients that can encourage growth. So if you find a shampoo that can address these three angles, yes, hair growth shampoos can work as part of a larger routine to improve length and fullness. Our high standards also come from testing products—many, many products. Our editors and writers rigorously test and research the products featured in our roundups to offer you the best, most informed recommendations. When we write reviews, you can trust we spend quality time with the formulas: We don’t simply rave about products we’ve slathered on the back of our hand. We endorse products we’ve tried and loved. Learn more about our testing process and clean beauty standards here.
