Picking the Best Shampoo for Blonde Hair: Our Tips & Tests

Let’s talk blondes and shampoo.

With the ever-expanding universe of shampoos for blondes, we narrowed down the field by asking our parent readers for their real-world experiences.

Then we talked with our panel of hair-care of experts, getting their insights and advice. This helped weed out more brands down to a dozen or so to test.

And test we did!

We tried out several brands with our staff to find what worked best. Along the way, we wanted to share a few tips:

• Finding the best bets for the lightest blonde hair can be a challenge—yes, blonde hair comes in various shades. And the lightest hair is perhaps the most challenging to find the best shampoo.

• Dry shampoo is a good bet for color-treated hair between washings. Yes, washing your hair can slowly fade the color treatment—dry shampoo is a good solution to remove dirt without water.

• Purple shampoo can help tamp down brassiness. Sure, purple shampoo is all the rage for blondes, but you don’t have to have use purple shampoo to get the best results, according to our hands-on trails. That said, we do agree purple shampoo does correct some issues with blonde hair (oils can turn the hair brassy) . . . and help return it to a more natural color.

After nine hours of testing, research and interviews, here are the best shampoos for blonde hair.

About the Authors

Denise & Alan Fields are consumer advocates and best-selling authors. The Fields have authored 12 books with three million copies in print, including the best-selling guide to baby gear, Baby Bargains.

The Fields have been featured and quoted in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times.

As consumer products experts, the Fields have been guests on the NBC Today Show, Good Morning America and ABC’s 20/20.

How We Pick Products To Recommend

We often turn to our readers (3 million strong!) to find products to recommend. We ask our parent readers for their favorites and consider their real-world experiences in our recommendations.

When we test a product, we always purchase it with our own monies. We do not take free samples, as we believe that compromises our independence.

We also fact check manufacturer information with our own measurements. If a maker claims a product weighs X pounds, we will weigh it to make sure. If the battery life is supposed to be six hours, we will see how it stands up in the real world.

In some cases, we will do interviews with experts in the field to get additional feedback on products.

To get hands-on time with products, we regularly meet one-on-one with gear companies and even tour manufacturing facilities. (When we do this, we pay our own travel expenses).

Why Trust Us

We’ve been rating and reviewing products for the home and families since 1994. We do extensive research, evaluating products with an eye toward quality, ease of use and affordability.

We make our living from affiliate commissions, but we always recommend what we think are the best bets for our readers (not the ones that are the most expensive). We are always looking for products that offer the best bang for the buck.

Our independence is a key reason why we have been doing this so long. As we mentioned above, when we purchase a product for hands-on testing, we do so with our own money.

Here’s another key point: we don’t take money from the brands we review. No free samples, no sponsors, no “partnerships.” Our work is 100% reader-supported!