The best-smelling shampoos often are the ones that claim to work… and then dry out your strands. Or leave residue. Or weigh down your hair. You get where this is going: those scented shampoos are rarely the best.
If you’re like me, you love smelling your hair after the shower. I protect my hair by washing once a week, so the smell? HEAVENLY. I feel fresh. So clean. And yet I smell… mediocre, when I don’t use my standard shampoo.
If this sounds like you, you’re in luck today! I’m bringing you the best-smelling shampoos for every hair type and need, from thin hair to locs to dandruff-ridden to no-smells (because sometimes the best smell is no smell, you know?). Get your scent on (your hair).
Best Smelling for Thin Hair: DELICATE VOLUMIZING SHAMPOO WITH ROSE EXTRACTS
Best Smelling for Thick Hair: Moisturize – Shampoo Bar
Best Smelling for Straight Hair: Volumizing Shampoo
Best Smelling for Wavy Hair: NURTURE HYDRATING SHAMPOO
Best Smelling for Curly Hair: Curl Quench + Coconut Oil Shampoo
Best Smelling for Coily Hair: TEXTURE CURL SHAMPOO
Best Smelling for Protective Styles: ROOT REFRESH Micellar Rinse
Best Smelling for Oily Hair: OGX Extra Strength Refreshing Scalp + Teatree Mint Shampoo
Best Smelling for Dry Hair: Gisou Honey Infused Hair Wash
Best Smelling for Color-Treated Hair: Rose Sulfate-Free Shampoo for Color-Treated Hair
Best Smelling for Dandruff: Balancing Shampoo
Best Smelling for Sensitive Scalps: Baby Shampoo + Wash
Best Unisex Smell: Public Goods Shampoo
Best No-Smell: Moondust Hair Wash Unscented
Best Dry Shampoo: Detox Dry Shampoo
Best Shampoo Bar: the earthling co. Shampoo Bars
For Thin Hair: DELICATE VOLUMIZING SHAMPOO WITH ROSE EXTRACTS
Thin hair gets a boost in the form of baobab leaf extract, but the emollient gives this shampoo its smell: a musky, sweet rose scent.
For Thick Hair: Moisturize – Shampoo Bar
Thick hair can be a bitch to wash; save the planet and your luscious strands with a shampoo bar that smells like citrus.
For Straight Hair: Volumizing Shampoo
Choose a shampoo that won’t weigh straight strands down. This one volumizes with fresh hints of ylang ylang, cucumber, and oakmoss.
For Wavy Hair: NURTURE HYDRATING SHAMPOO
Fight the frizz! JVN’s shampoo smoothes down wily strands, while its smell is composed of lemon, black currant, and a blend of white orchid, sandalwood, and vanilla.
For Curly Hair: Curl Quench + Coconut Oil Shampoo
I wish I had curly hair, because I love smelling like coconut. This shampoo’s ingredients are nourishing to your curls, with aloe vera being the first ingredient.
For Coily Hair: TEXTURE CURL SHAMPOO
Don’t choose a shampoo that ruins those perfect, textured coils. Nature Lab’s ingredients include blue algae and grape extract, with matcha mint to smell.
For Locs: Rosemary Peppermint Liquid Shampoo
Dollylocks is for your locs, with rosemary peppermint tingling the senses. Why use a shampoo that doesn’t cater to your exact desires and needs?
For Protective Styles: ROOT REFRESH Micellar Rinse
You don’t have to ruin your protective style. Instead, use this micellar rinse in between big shampoo washes – and smell like a sweet crisp apple while you’re at it.
For Oily Hair: OGX Extra Strength Refreshing Scalp + Teatree Mint Shampoo
Get rid of excess buildup and revitalize your strands, replacing oil with the awakening scent of teatree and mint.
For Dry Hair: Gisou Honey Infused Hair Wash
Honey is filled with the goods, adding moisture and shine to every strand it touches… and the honey-infused shampoo smells as sweet as it sounds.
For Color-Treated Hair: Rose Sulfate-Free Shampoo for Color-Treated Hair
Amazonian murumuru butter moisturizes without stripping color, dousing your hair in the scent of Bulgarian rose petal.
For Dandruff: Balancing Shampoo
So many dandruff shampoos smell like medication; Jupiter’s Balancing Shampoo has Zinc Pyrithione 1% to treat flakes, but has a scent of mint, vanilla, sage, and lavender.
For Sensitive Scalps: Baby Shampoo + Wash
Sensitive scalp? Treat it like a baby’s. Sugar-derived glycolipids and plant-derived glycerin are super gentle, and you can choose a rose & geranium scent, or vanilla & ylang-ylang.
Best Unisex: Public Goods Shampoo
Public Goods never references gender, and their shampoo doesn’t smell feminine or masculine – it simply smells amazing, with notes including cinnamon, rosewood, and vetiver.
Best No-Smell: Moondust Hair Wash Unscented
This may be a best-smelling shampoo list, but sometimes the best smell is… no smell. And that’s why we love Moondust – so much, in fact, that we included it in our fragrance-free shampoo article!
Best Dry Shampoo: Detox Dry Shampoo
Drybar’s dry shampoo soaks up oil and leaves behind a scent of ​​jasmine, sandalwood, and madagascar vanilla.
Best Shampoo Bar: the earthling co. Shampoo Bars
With seven scents available, including vanilla coconut and citrus sun, you’ll smell as amazing as your hair looks – and save the planet by switching out shampoo bottles for bars at the same time.
A Note re: Hair Growth Shampoos
I wanted to include a product that helps with hair loss. Unfortunately, all products were based around the companies’ patented proprietary technologies.
While proprietary technology does not discourage QUILL from writing about a product, we require these products to have other ingredients that are proven to work scientifically. Had these products contained ingredients that were proven to help promote hair growth for alopecia, I would have included them.
However, QUILL cannot promote a product that may not work, no matter how amazing its reviews are – the science behind hair growth matters! And in keeping with QUILL’s ethics, we refuse to include a product with no reviews – even if it seems promising.
What do you think is the best-smelling shampoo out there? Tell us in the comments!