Lucy in the sky wants to know…I’m curious to know what shampoo isn’t conditioning these days. Most of them have some kind of ingredient that does something. I’d be more impressed if, say, Pantene said that their smoothing shampoo smoothed better than *the leading national smoothing shampoo* or something like that. Its like they’re comparing apples to bananas and saying bananas are better because they don’t have seeds. Well no kidding, your shampoo moisturizes better than a non-conditioning shampoo…. It’s by definition non-conditioning. Oh well. 
The Right Brain responds:
It warms the bottom of our hearts to see that the Beauty Brains community is paying such close attention to the commercials for hair and skin care products. That kind of scrutiny helps keep the cosmetic industry on its collective toes. But before we talk more about advertising honesty, let’s address your question about the conditioning qualities of shampoo.
Conditioning act
It gets confusing with so many brands selling so many products, but there are really only about 4 basic types of shampoos. Although shampoos are primarily intended to clean, over the years formulators have evolved the products to include ingredients that remain on the hair after rinsing to give a conditioning effect. In the early days of this technology this kind of shampoo was called a “2-in-1″ because it combined two functions (cleaning and conditioning) in one product. Pert Plus was the first successful conditioning shampoo in the late ’70s/ early ’80s.
Since then companies have found out that providing some level of conditioning is helpful for a variety of hair issues, not just for people who want to skip using a conditioner. So, 2-in-1 type formulas began showing up in moisturizing, dry damaged, and color treated shampoos. (Pantene was one of the early pioneers of this approach.) Today many shampoos do provide conditioning even if the label doesn’t tell you that.
However, that doesn’t mean that ALL shampoos are conditioning. Low cost formulas like VO5 and Suave typically can’t afford to include significant levels of conditioners – they’re just good cleansers. And shampoos designed for clarifying or deep cleansing are also usually conditioner-free. Here are a few examples of non-conditioning shampoos:
Pantene Pro-V Clarifying Shampoo
AG Hair – Renew Clarifying Shampoo
Suave Shampoo, Daily Clarifying
Nature’s Gate Rainwater Clarifying Shampoo
BTW, if you’re not sure what kind of shampoo you have just do this simple test: pour the entire bottle into the toilet and flush. If the foam looks like today’s picture, then it’s a non-conditioning shampoo.
Advertising angst
As you pointed out, advertisements for conditioning shampoos frequently contain a disclaimer that looks something like this: “*compared to non-conditioning shampoo.” If all the company claims is that their product provides conditioning, then it’s perfectly honest and legal to compare against a shampoo that doesn’t have any conditioning. However, when you stop to think about it, that kind of claim isn’t really very compelling. As you suggest, it would be much more impactful to test against the “leading national brand.” But it’s also much harder to prove that and it opens the company up to potential legal challenges from whoever makes the the leading brand. So that’s why you see the “non-conditioning” claim used to often.
The Beauty Brains bottom line
Most shampoos contain some level of conditioning agents, but if you look carefully you can still find the old school non-conditioning kind. And if you want your hair to be soft but you don’t want to use conditioning agents you can always use meat tenderizer shampoo.
What do YOU think? Have you ever used a 2-in-1? Do you use conditioning shampoos in general? Or are you a squeaky clean kinda gal? Leave a comment and share your shampoo savvy with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.
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I am constantly searching for a volumizing yet color-protective shampoo. I have super fine dyed blond locks that need the best of both worlds. The closest thing i’ve found is L’Oreal’s Glossy Volume. argghhh
Interesting site, but much advertisments on him. Shall read as subscription, rss.
With regard to the shampoo question, conditioning or squeaky clean, I find my hair does so much better if I continually switch it up. I use both but am constantly changing. I have blonde, fine hair and it helps a bunch!
I use the Suave 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner – LOVE it! It works great, avoids a step, and doesn’t seem to leave a residue. About once a week, I do a first wash with the Suave Daily Clarifying shampoo, then do a second wash with the 2-in-1, just to ensure no residue, and to make the 2-in-1 work even better for the rest of the week. I would love to know if others like this product!
RSS would be great so we could follow you easier. I like your writing
I’m going to have to argue the claim about that the 4 shampoos you listed do not contain conditioners.
Suave’s contains Dimethicone Copolyol, which is a silicone and will coat the heck out of your hair.
AG’s contains hydrolyzed Silk, Keratin and Oat protein, which will coat and condition the heck out of your hair.
Nature’s Gate contains Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, which will coat and condition your hair.
Pantene is the only one that does NOT contain conditioners.
You guys have to be careful, I’m totally into science and figuring out which haircare product to use based on ingredients and not language or claims on the bottle. I like finding fellow science-minded people so that I don’t have to be skeptical of THEIR claims, and usually I am not skeptical of you guys, but this time you got it very wrong and that worries me. 75% of the shampoos you listed as not have conditioners, DO have conditioners.
I have very fine hair that I flat iron and then push up, so I’m very, very particular about using shampoos that have absolutely no conditioning agents (or at least very,very minimal ones) otherwise my hair will fall flat.
The two clarifying shampoos that I can recommend that have absolutely no conditioning agents are Brocato Peppermint Scrub Shampoo and American Crew Peppermint Cleanse. Obviously a lot of people won’t like them since they CAN leave your hair tangled if you’re not careful and they strip off all the smoothing products. But they take your hair to it’s pure, basic (sometimes “roughed up”) state. At least with my fine, naturally silky hair, that roughed up cuticle helps me get volume and makes it so that my hair can be forced to stick up or do whatever else I want with hairspray, without it collapsing because the hairspray can’t even form a layer over all the silicones and proteins that are coating my hair.
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