Know how to choose right shampoo for your type of hair

Shampoos - Types & Usage

Everybody who cares about his/her hair and has used hair cosmetics has heard of Shampoo. Shampoo is basically used to cleanse the hair of oils, dirt, skin particles, dandruff, environmental pollutants and other contaminant particles and to make hair look good and be more manageable. Some shampoo makers claim that their products prevent hair loss and spur hair growth. Hair tends to collect dirt, skin particles, dandruff, environmental pollutants etc. because of Sebum. Sebum is oil produced by hair follicles. Though this sebum oil protects the hair, it also makes hair receptive to all kinds of dirt and grime. Shampoo cleans the hair by clearing sebum from the hair with the help of surfactants. When Sebum is removed, the dirt attached to it also gets removed.

The working of the shampoo is quite akin to soaps. The difference lies in the amount of surfactants in soaps that bond to oils with such affinity that if used on hair a soap would remove more oil than required. That’s why shampoo uses a different class of surfactants which makes sure that too much oil (sebum) is not removed. Shampoos are of various kinds depending upon the kind of function they perform. Some of them are:


They remove and control dandruff and also cleanse and condition the hair resulting in soft and silky hair. With regular use they help to control the ph balance of the scalp and limit the risk of dandruff.


Apart from the normal function of cleaning hairs of dirt, gels, mousses, pomades and other products, these shampoos take care of harsh chemicals like chlorine and buildup from pools and showers.


These kinds of shampoos contain gentler cleansers as colored hair needs extra care because of their fragileness. Apart from cleaning these shampoos help hairs to preserve color and add moisture.


Curly hair are different from straight hair so far as the moisture content is concerned. Curly type of hairs are drier as oil produced in the scalp don't travel as easily down the hair shaft of curly hair, as it does in straight hair. This kind of shampoo coats the hair shaft, trapping water inside.


This kind of shampoos soothe hairs which are dry and have a rough feeling and split ends. This type of hair is difficult to comb or brush because of raised cuticles on the hair shaft, which make the hair more porous causing moisture to escape.


These types of shampoos contain a bodybuilding ingredient called panthenol which penetrates the hair cuticle making each strand thicker.


Gray hair being coarser and dryer than normal hair require specialized shampoo. These types of shampoos protect and moisturize hair restoring their silvery luster and stops them from yellowing besides hydrating them.


These types of shampoos just try to maintain normal hair which are not too dry or greasy, with a healthy scalp looking its healthiest at all times. This type of hair doesn’t require intensive care.


The focus of such shampoos is on cleansing. With excess sebum oil gone from hair dust and dirt which can make hair look dull, limp and lifeless is gone.


These types of shampoos are very gentle on hairs and scalp. They soothe and gently cleanse even the most irritated scalps while making dull and weakened hair shiny and healthy.


These types of shampoos have ingredients known to feed the scalp and nourish hair and stimulate hair growth.