With Black Friday and Cyber Monday on the horizon, it’s time to prepare your shopping lists. Especially when it comes to restocking your favorite hair care products – like a bottle of shampoo that won’t strip your natural hair of moisture. During Black Friday and Cyber Monday all of your favorite products go on sale. More times than not, it’s the best deal you’ll be able to find all year round. That makes it a wallet-friendly time to make sure you get the hair care products you use often. 

What Is the Best Shampoo That Won’t Strip Natural Hair To Buy on Black Friday?

“Shampoos containing ingredients such as sulfates, alcohol, parabens, synthetic fragrances, and mineral oils are commonly found in shampoos and strip curls of their natural moisture,” celebrity hairstylist and co-founder of Flawless by Gabrielle Union, Larry Sims, told 21Ninety. That means, the best shampoos that won’t strip your natural hair of moisture are free of most, or all, of those harsh ingredients. 

While it’s difficult to find a shampoo that’s free of all five hair-stripping ingredients, Sims recommends grabbing a sulfate-free shampoo at the very least. “Additionally, you should incorporate a good conditioner and use a deep conditioning treatment regularly to help your hair maintain its natural moisture,” Sims noted. “Hair maintenance and moisture retention are about having a routine.”

On Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, several online retailers are kicking off the best discounts of the year. So, those shampoos that often feel like an investment, will be on sale for much less. 

Best Overall / Best for Least Amount of Harsh Ingredients

Act+Acre Cold Processed Curl Cleanse Shampoo

Act+Acre’s Cold Processed Curl Cleanse Shampoo cleans your curls, nourishes your scalp, and leaves your hair feeling moisturized before you even put conditioner on. It’s also color-safe and safe for chemically-treated hair. When browsing the ingredients list you won’t find any silicones, parabens, phthalates, petrolatum, synthetic fragrances, or gluten. Instead, you’ll find ingredients that you often notice in skin care. 

Moisturizing glycerin, curl-loving fulvic acid, and frizz-fighting carrot seed oil are all in this shampoo. For the best results with this shampoo, use less than you think you’ll need and go from there. A few drops of water will activate the silky suds that take care of your curls and coils.

Best for Protective Styles

Melanin Haircare African Black Soap Reviving Shampoo

Melanin Haircare’s African Black Soap Reviving Shampoo works well with natural hair and hair that’s in a protective style. Why? Because the top of the bottle has a twist-to-open nozzle that easily gets between natural curls and coils as well as between braids and locs to clean every inch of your hair and scalp. 

Plus, this shampoo nourishes your natural hair and scalp without stripping your curls. The formula highlights tea tree, peppermint, and black cumin seeds as its main anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal ingredients. Additionally, shea butter and argan oil add a moisturizing touch. This shampoo is also free of silicones, parabens, mineral oil, sulfates, petroleums, formaldehyde, and phthalates. That covers most of Sims’ ingredients-to-avoid list. 

Best for Psoriasis-Prone Scalps

Briogeo Scalp Revival MegaStrength+ Dandruff Relief Shampoo

Briogeo’s Scalp Revival MegaStrength+ Dandruff Relief Shampoo fights dandruff without stripping your curls. Its bottle labels it as an anti-dandruff, psoriasis, seborrheic dermatitis due to the combination of salicylic acid and lactic acid in the formula. 

While this Briogeo soothes the scalp it also keeps curls feeling nourished with the use of glycerin, caramel, and coconut oil. Plus, it’s free of silicones, harsh sulfates, parabens, and added synthetic fragrances. 

Best Frizz Control

Curlsmith Frizz Control Cleanser

Curlsmith’s Frizz Control Cleanser keeps your natural curl pattern without turning your hair into one large puffball. This formula is free of sulfates, silicones, and drying alcohols. Meanwhile, nourishing ingredients – like coconut seed butter, argan oil, sunflower seed oil – are mixed into this shampoo’s formula. Plus, this frizz-fighting shampoo is gentle on color-treated hair.

Best Moisturizing

TGIN Moisture Rich Sulfate Free Shampoo

TGIN’s Moisture Rich Sulfate Free Shampoo goes beyond not stripping your natural hair, to actually add moisture during your wash. This shampoo is rich in amla oil and coconut oil as well as vitamins B5 and E. The unique combination of oils and vitamins is what leaves your curls feeling touchably soft after a wash. Plus, this ingredient list is free of parabens, sulfates, petrolatum, lanolin, and artificial colors. 

 Best for Very Dry Hair

Carol’s Daughter Coco Crème Curl Quenching Shampoo

The Coco Crème Curl Quenching Shampoo from Carol’s Daughter prevents very dry hair from getting any more brittle. This creamy shampoo softens dry curls and coils without weighing your hair down. Its use of coconut oil, coconut milk, murumuru butter and mango butter helps your curls retain its natural moisture. Plus, this Carol’s Daughter shampoo is paraben-free, artificial color-free, sulfate-free to avoid making your very dry hair any more parched.  

Best Value-Size

Pattern Beauty by Tracee Ellis Ross Hydration Shampoo

$45
Photo Courtesy of Pattern Beauty By Tracee Ellis Ross

Pattern Beauty by Tracee Ellis Ross’ Hydration Shampoo is an award-winning nourishing shampoo. And, it comes in a large 25-ounce jug. Since a little goes a long way, you’ll be set on shampoo far past a month. 

Along with its large size – and nourishing connotation of oils, extracts, and vitamins – this color-safe shampoo is free of parabens, sulfates, cyclic silicones, and phthalates. With so much to offer your curls, might as well take advantage of Pattern’s Black Friday sale (from November 20 to 27) to grab your hair care essential for a fraction of the cost.