My scalp can be pretty hostile. I’m dandruff-prone. It’s itchy. I occasionally get seborrheic dermatitis (a fancy way of saying scaly patches). Now, rather than buy an unsexy drugstore shampoo with salicylic acid, I’ve historically treated it, well, pretty crappy. I throw in dry shampoo—and lots of it—use about five different products per wash to create lift and volume, and have long neglected giving it a good, deep clean. Well, until Nécessaire’s The Detox Shampoo came along.
While it’s officially available today, Tuesday, April 21, I’ve been testing the shampoo for about a month now—using it once a week to get rid of all the gunk, buildup, and hard-water minerals that mess with my hair color. I’ll get into the nitty-gritty of how it works, but the short of the long: just one wash gives my hair lift at the root and volume that I rarely experience. Plus, it looks luxe in my shower and smells delicious. To get the full recap and shop my new favorite shampoo for fine hair, keep reading.
The Formula
The effectiveness of this shampoo boils down to its five-star ingredient profile. The big star of the show is apple cider vinegar (yes, the same thing you buy at the grocery store). “Apple cider vinegar is a natural astringent, which is great to remove buildup,” celebrity hairstylist Justin Anderson previously told MC. That being said, it’s too harsh and irritating to be used solo, which is precisely why Nécessaire paired it with pine oil, pine extract, and pine water, all of which are effective at giving the scalp some TLC. Think of the apple cider vinegar as your exfoliant, and the pine ingredients (plus ceramides and amino acids) as your barrier balm.
There’s also a pretty strong fragrance in the shampoo, although I will say it’s much stronger in the shower than in the lingering effect on my hair. The earthiness of the pine comes through the strongest, but there’s an aquatic, uber-crisp vibe too, courtesy of geranium and juniper.
The Application
The Detox Shampoo is designed to be a once-a-week cleanse. I tend to save it for my Sunday night Everything Shower. I have a bad habit of using so much more product than I actually need, but you really don’t need to overdo it. It builds up into a decent foam with just a little water. I do my best to really get every inch of my scalp covered in product, especially at the crown, where I experience most of my itchiness. It smells incredible, but you have to like a woodsy scent—it’s on the strong side. Then, I rinse it out, follow up with my conditioner, and get to styling.
The Takeaway
As soon as I got out of the shower and my hair started to air dry, I knew I liked this product. If you’ve ever gotten your hair colored, you know the extra lift at the root you get after a fresh bleach? Where the roots stand up a bit straighter, and the blowout feels airier? That’s the same kind of bounce I feel after using The Detox Shampoo.
It left my scalp feeling squeaky clean without dryness, and my color, which can get a little funky with NYC water, looked less brassy after just a wash. By around the third wash, I noticed that my scalp was generally less itchy (a huge win) and that I was able to swing an extra day out of my blowout. Most notably, though, I had major volume without any additional styling products. It’s cut my fine hair styling routine in half, and frankly, my blowouts have never looked better. That's enough for me to make this new launch a permanent part of my shower routine.
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