20 Clarifying Shampoos Gentle Enough for Curly Hair

By Cristina Cleveland · Published December 13, 2023

If your hair feels like it’s stopped responding to all of the moisturizers, stylers, and products that used to work so well, it might be time to use a clarifying shampoo. For your curly hair products to work, your hair needs to be able to absorb them, and if your hair has a layer of built-up product residue or silicones sitting on the surface, then your curls won’t look or act their best. The first step in many curly girls’ journeys to healthier hair is to distance themselves from their shampoo bottles. However, occasionally, using a clarifying shampoo that’s gentle enough for curly hair can do your hair and scalp a lot of good.

Clarifying shampoos & sulfates

Clarifying shampoos can contain sulfates like sodium laureth/lauryl sulfate to remove the buildup of ingredients like silicones from the hair, but they don’t have to. There are sulfate-free shampoos that use gentler, non-sulfate surfactant ingredients such as Cocamidopropyl betaine, which, according to cosmetic chemist Tonya McKay, “can effectively remove most dirt, oils, and silicones from the surface of the hair.”

What about natural sulfates?

While sodium laureth/lauryl sulfate is known to be the harshest, most drying sulfates, sulfates that are derived from oils or natural sources aren’t necessarily going to be good for your hair. According to cosmetic chemist Erica Douglas, better known as Sister Scientist, “it ultimately does not matter whether the source of the alcohol is from a natural source or not, it is the sulfation process that makes the surfactant potentially harmful.”

Using a clarifying treatment too often can be drying, so be sure to use yours sparingly. How often you need to clarify will depend largely on how dry your hair is and lifestyle factors such as how often you exercise or swim, how hot the climate is where you live, and whether you have hard water in your area.

Whether you choose to use sulfates when you clarify is up to you; we have both options listed below!

1. 4U By Tia Clarifying Shampoo

4U By Tia brings a purifying shampoo that cleans curls using a patented silicone alternative while removing dirt and grease. Whether you have waves, curls, or coils, this can easily remove build-up and revive the scalp without stripping essential moisture. Your hair will love the warm amber and vanilla scents while getting more shine and less breakage.

Sulfate free? Yes

2. EDEN BodyWorks Papaya Castor Scalp Cleanser

Healthy curls start at the scalp. This scalp cleanser by EDEN Bodyworks helps your curls keep their moisture while balancing the pH level of your hair and removing buildup and dead skin cells that prevent your curls from growing. If you struggle with scalp conditions, give this cleanser a try.

Sulfate free? Yes

3. Bounce Curl Gentle Clarifying Shampoo

Curlies love this Best of the Best award winner cleanses curls gently with pomegranate and pumpkin enzymes. If you love volume then this is the cleanser for you, botanical extracts in this cleanser create volume and texture for fine or thin hair.

Sulfate free? Yes

4. Kinky-Curly Come Clean Moisturizing Shampoo

Another Editors’ Choice award-winning shampoo, Come Clean is a sulfate-free cleanser that’s gentle enough for everyday use. Mandarin orange extract, white willow bark, and sea kelp remove dulling buildup from your scalp while keeping your moisture balanced.

Sulfate free? Yes

5. Baking soda

Baking soda is a popular DIY clarifier due to its high pH of 9, which works to open your hair cuticle. It is typically paired with an acidic rinse like apple cider vinegar to re-close the cuticle afterward. Some curlies have a lot of success with this natural cleanser, however some find that the highly acidic nature of ACV strips their hair of its natural oils.

Sulfate free? Yes

6. Alikay Naturals Moisturizing Black Soap Shampoo

This shampoo is 100% organic and natural. Ingredients like aloe vera juice, cocoa seed butter, tea tree oil, and coconut oil clean and moisturize hair simultaneously. This has won several Editor’s Choice awards, and we have editors with several different hair types who love it.

Sulfate free? Yes

7. TRESemme Clean & Replenish Deep Cleansing Shampoo

Tresemme has long been known to give you a bang for your buck, and this clarifier, at $0.22 per ounce, is no exception. This shampoo does contain Sodium Laureth Sulfate, but some curlies find it beneficial to use a sulfate shampoo occasionally, for example, once a month.

Sulfate free? No

8. EDEN BodyWorks Peppermint Tea Tree Shampoo

If you’re addicted to the cool, tingly feeling of cleansing with peppermint or tea tree oil, this shampoo is for you. The botanical ingredients in this cleanser make your shower an exhilarating treat, and your hair is left feeling soft and clean.

Sulfate free? Yes

9. Morrocanoil Clarifying Shampoo

More hair brands are now incorporating ingredients into their products that focus on the scalp and the hair. This popular haircare brand infuses argan and avocado oils to create a shampoo that cleanses without stripping your hair. We love it when shampoo comes in these pointed applicators because it allows you to apply it only where you need it: the scalp.

Sulfate free? Yes

10. Olaplex No.4C Bond Maintenance Clarifying Shampoo

We love this fan-favorite brand because it delivers two sought-after results: a clean, exfoliated scalp and voluminous hair. Bond-building technology helps repair brittleness and breakage and penetrate your damaged bonds. If you want to improve the shine, malleability, and strength of your curls, coils, and waves, look no further.

Sulfate free? No

11. Creme of Nature Argan Oil Apple Cider Vinegar Clarifying Rinse

Even though this shampoo comes at a lower price point, you still won’t find sulfates, silicones, mineral oil, or petrolatum here. This formula will protect your hair’s pH balance while working to seal the cuticle and prevent breakage.

Sulfate free? Yes

12. Ouidad Water Works Clarifying Shampoo

Let’s hear it for Ouidad, bringing the heat with this fantastic product. These ingredients remove dulling residues, hard water deposits, and chlorine and remove build-up without depleting curls’ essential moisture. This can be used with all curl types and textures and can serve as a reboot for a curl pattern for a fresh start.

Sulfate free? Yes

13. Adwoa Beauty Blue Tansy Clarifying Gel Shampoo

Say hello to a gel shampoo that brings the suds while removing oils, buildup, and impurities that can affect your hair’s health. We love hydrating ingredients like jojoba oil and glycerin that work to detangle and moisturize your curls, coils, and waves.

Sulfate free? No

14. SheaMoisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Strengthen & Restore Shampoo

This shampoo was formulated to help natural, chemically processed, color-treated, and heat-styled hair grow and flourish. It contains Jamaican black castor oil to aid in growth and apple cider vinegar to regulate and balance the pH level of your scalp.

Sulfate free? Yes

15. Bentonite Clay

When combined with water, this naturally occurring clay produces a negative electric charge that removes positive-charged buildup from the hair. Curlies combine bentonite clay powder with water or apple cider vinegar to create a highly absorbent DIY bentonite clay mask.

Sulfate free? Yes

16. Giovanni Eco Chic 50:50 Balanced Hydrating & Clarifying Shampoo

This shampoo is gentle enough for dry, overworked, environmentally stressed, and color-treated hair. It leaves the hair feeling clean, pH-balanced and reawakened. It’s also vegan friendly as it’s cruelty-free and contains no animal by-products.

Sulfate free? Yes

17. Lorraine Massey’s Lemon Aid

Lorraine Massey, the author of The Curly Girl Handbook, uses this moisturizing and neutralizing DIY recipe to remove buildup from her curls, add shine, and protect it from hard water. She says it’s “more clarifying and cleansing than any shampoo.” Combine the juice of a large lemon with the amount of conditioner you typically use, apply it to your hair, and then rinse it out. You can learn more about this recipe and Lorraine’s other go-to DIYs in her book.

Sulfate free? Yes (if your conditioner is sulfate-free)