Strand&Suds

Hair Types & Porosity · Guide

A Beginner Hair Care Routine

Shampoo, conditioner, a leave-in and a weekly mask. That is the whole thing, and it will outperform an elaborate routine applied inconsistently. Add nothing else until this has had a month.

By Janet H.Updated How we pick
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The four products

  1. A shampoo suited to your scalp. Oily scalp: a light everyday cleanser. Dry or tight: a gentler, moisturizing one. Flaking: something with a named active. This is the decision that matters most, and it is about your scalp rather than your hair.
  2. A conditioner. Applied to the mid-lengths and ends, never the roots. Any decent one will do to start.
  3. A leave-in conditioner. The step beginners skip and the one that does most for length, because it gives the slip that prevents combing breakage. A spray is the safest format to start with.
  4. A weekly mask. Ten minutes, ears down. Skip this one if your hair is fine and untreated; otherwise it is the highest-value single addition.

That is a complete routine. Everything else in the aisle is either a styling product or a solution to a problem you may not have.

Four free techniques worth more than a fifth product

  • Shampoo the scalp, not the length. The runoff cleans the rest. The AAD recommends exactly this, and it prevents drying out the fragile part (AAD, everyday hair care).
  • Detangle wet, with a wide-tooth comb, from the ends upward. Hair is weakest when wet. This one change prevents more breakage than any product fixes.
  • Blot, do not rub. A t-shirt or microfiber towel instead of rubbing with terry cloth.
  • Lower the heat on your styling tools. Most people use tools far hotter than they need.

What to add later, one at a time

Give the four-product routine a month. Then, if a specific problem remains, add one thing and give it a fortnight before adding another. Adding three products at once guarantees you will not know which one caused a change.

  • A clarifying shampoo if hair has gone dull and unresponsive — this is the most commonly needed addition — shortlist here.
  • An oil or serum if your ends stay rough. Two drops, ends only, on damp hair.
  • A heat protectant if you style with heat regularly.
  • A styling product if you have a curl pattern to encourage — the curly beginner routine covers that.

From the picks

A starter kit that does not cost much

A sulfate-free everyday shampoo, a weekly mask, and a light leave-in. Add a conditioner from the same range as the shampoo and the routine is complete.

L'Oréal ParisNo product photograph available for the L'Oréal Paris EverPure Sulfate-Free Moisturizing Shampoo

Best drugstore color-safe

L'Oréal Paris EverPure Sulfate-Free Moisturizing Shampoo

The cheapest sulfate-free color-safe shampoo we would actually recommend. If you color your hair and wash it often, switching to this is the single highest-value change available.

Check price · Amazon
BriogeoNo product photograph available for the Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair! Deep Conditioning Mask

Best weekly mask

Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair! Deep Conditioning Mask

The straightforward weekly deep conditioner, built on oils and B-vitamins rather than a patented bond active. When hair is thirsty rather than structurally broken, this is the honest answer.

Check price · Amazon
L'Oréal ParisNo product photograph available for the L'Oréal Paris Elvive Total Repair 5 Ceramide Recharge Leave-In Conditioner

The drugstore leave-in

L'Oréal Paris Elvive Total Repair 5 Ceramide Recharge Leave-In Conditioner

A cheap, widely stocked leave-in built around ceramides. It does the everyday job of keeping dry ends manageable, which is most of what a leave-in is for.

Check price · Amazon

What to ignore, for now

Curl typing. Interesting, and less useful than strand thickness and porosity.

Ten-step routines. More products means more buildup and less clarity about what is working.

Ingredient panic. Sulfates, silicones and parabens are all well-characterized cosmetic ingredients. Sulfates matter if your hair is colored; silicones matter if you never clarify. Neither is a safety question.

Growth products. Hair grows at its own rate. If length is the goal, reducing breakage is what gets you there, and the leave-in in step three is doing that.

What to expect

The first couple of washes may be unremarkable, particularly if there is buildup or heat damage from before. Give it three or four.

Real change shows over one to two months, as damaged length grows out and the routine stops fighting your hair. If things get worse after a few weeks, clarify — buildup from a new routine is the most common cause, and one wash usually resolves it.

Once this is working and you want to refine it, the routine-by-hair-type guide is the next step.

We have not used these products ourselves. They are chosen from what is in the formula, what those ingredients are documented to do, and whether that matches the problem this page is about — and every product below links to the manufacturer's own page so you can check the formulation claims yourself. The full method is here.

Questions

Frequently asked

What is the minimum hair care routine?
Shampoo and conditioner, applied correctly — scalp and ends respectively. Everything else is an improvement on that baseline rather than a requirement.
Do I need a leave-in conditioner?
If you want to keep length, yes. It provides the slip that prevents breakage during wet detangling, which is where most people lose hair they never notice losing.
How do I know which shampoo to buy?
Start with your scalp, not your hair. Oily, dry or flaking are three different products, and getting that right matters more than brand.
How long should I stick with a routine before changing it?
A month, and change one thing at a time after that. Changing several at once means you will never know what worked.

Next

Receipts

Sources

  1. 1.American Academy of Dermatology — Everyday hair care
  2. 2.American Academy of Dermatology — Tips for healthy hair
  3. 3.American Academy of Dermatology — Dermatologists' top tips for using leave-in conditioner
  4. 4.American Academy of Dermatology — Teaching healthy hair care habits

Claims about what an ingredient does are cited to dermatology bodies or published research. Claims about what a product contains are cited to the manufacturer's own page and labeled as the manufacturer's claim. Where the evidence is thin, we say so on the page rather than rounding it up. Read the full method.