Affordable shampoos approved by our Beauty Lab, including the best formulas for curly hair, oily hair and more.
Reviewed by Danusia Wnek
Senior Chemist
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Searching for a great deal on great shampoo? Look no further than a store like Walmart, where you can find options for every hair type, with many costing less than $10 for a whole bottle. From shampoos for oily hair to shampoos for blonde hair, you can find it all — at a bargain.
But that doesn't mean you have to skimp on quality. Over the decades, our Good Housekeeping Institute Beauty, Health & Sustainability Lab scientists have tested countless shampoo formulas, including volumizing shampoos, color-protecting shampoos and moisturizing shampoos. In their testing, they evaluate aspects like cleansing ability, scent and more. Here's the good news: Many of our top-tested shampoos are available at Walmart. Ahead, our 11 picks for the best shampoos at Walmart for fine hair, curly hair and more, all either tested in our Lab or a personal editor favorite.
Infused with protein, this Nexxus shampoo (along with its matching conditioner) is a GH Beauty Award winner. It tames unruly hair and fends off frizz starting in the shower, with one tester sharing that "the amount of smoothness and shine was noticeable from the first use." If you want to minimize frizz, this is the shampoo for you: In a study on hair samples in 98% humidity, strands had significantly less frizz up to 72 hours after system application.
RELATED: Best Anti-Frizz Hair Products
2
Best Value
Garnier Whole Blends Repairing Honey Treasures Shampoo
With this Garnier formula setting you back just under $5, this is proof that finding a shampoo infused with natural ingredients at an affordable price is possible. The GH Beauty Award winner is blended with honey and plant oils and proven to nourish dehydrated, breakage-prone hair. The shampoo and its matching conditioner significantly reduced breakage of very dry, damaged strands, Lab data showed.
Pick up the latest generation of anti-dandruff shampoo from Head & Shoulders at Walmart. The GH Beauty Award winner features a more pared-down formula with fewer ingredients. But the one ingredient it still includes, of course, is zinc pyrithione, which "is clinically proven to combat dandruff by working deep into the scalp to protect against flakes and oil," says GH Beauty Lab Director Sabina Wizemann, making it great for oily hair. Extra bonus: The bottle is made with 45% less plastic, making it "lightweight and easy to squeeze."
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4
Best for Colored Hair
Tresemmé Revitalized Color Vibrance & Shine Shampoo
Now 32% Off
Maintain your color for as long as you can with this color-protecting shampoo from Tresemmé. In Beauty Lab testing, it performed well across several categories: Testers found it easy to use, it left hair feeling clean and most enjoyed the floral scent. "My hair looked healthier and the color seemed to stay vibrant as I used it," a tester raved.
If you have fine hair that you want to volumize, try turning to this Herbal Essences shampoo. The GH Beauty Award winner contains botanical extracts like aloe and grapeseed and gives full, bouncy hair at a bargain. In testing, this shampoo and its paired conditioner performed well at cleansing fully and boosting volume.
Inspired by skincare, L'Oréal Paris infuses hydrating hyaluronic acid (an ingredient that draws in moisture) into this formula. The GH Beauty Award winner "works wonders," one tester said. "Strands feel super soft and bouncy and look shiny." In Lab testing, the shampoo and its conditioner earned top marks for fully cleansing strands, making hair look less damaged, and their lasting, "sophisticated" scent.
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7
Best Shampoo and Conditioner Set
Dove Intensive Repair Nourishing Shampoo and Conditioner Set
For less than $8 for both (!), you can get strong smoothing effects in the shower with this protein- and coconut oil-laced Dove shampoo and matching conditioner. The duo was a GH Beauty Award winner, impressing testers with its conditioning effects. Two said hair wasn't frizzy after use, and another shared that their hair "was easier to style, and my blowout lasted."
While no shampoo can actually create hair growth, using a formula labeled as "volumizing" or "thickening" can make hair appear fuller. This Beauty Lab-tested pick is made without sulfates but was still praised by testers for its "luxurious" cleansing lather. The formula rated highly at applying and rinsing easily, effortlessly providing sufficient lather and leaving hair feeling cleansed and easy to comb. "It helped give my hair more body," a tester commented.
Sulfate-free, toning and brass-reducing, this violet-tinted shampoo does it all. It's a go-to for some of our blonde GH editors to maintain those light strands, as the formula helps neutralize yellowing and brighten all shades of blonde. "This gives the perfect cool tone to my blonde and cuts out the brassiness," an online reviewer shares.
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From the brand famous for its frizz-fighting formula (say that three times fast!), this shampoo moisturized so effectively in Beauty Lab testing that testers said they were tempted to skip conditioner. One tester said they "could already tell a significant change in my hair texture for the better" after one use. A hydrating shampoo is a great pick for curly hair.
RELATED: Best Curly Hair Products
You'd be hard-pressed to find a better deal on your shampoo than this formula, which costs less than $2 — yes, you read that correctly. Plus, it really works: Clarifying shampoos are powerhouse cleansers, delivering high levels of purification and easily removing oil and dirt, so it's ideal for men who use styling products in their hair or have issues with oiliness.
It's so effective that it's become the GH Beauty Lab scientists' go-to for deeply cleaning strands in all their hair swatch studies. GH Textiles Lab Product Analyst Grace Wu says she uses this shampoo once a week: "The first time I used this shampoo, I was blown away by how squeaky clean my terribly oily hair could feel."
RELATED: Best Shampoos for Men
How we test shampoos
Over the years, our Good Housekeeping Institute Beauty Lab scientists have evaluated more than 500 shampoos with their corresponding conditioners, tallying thousands of surveys to find the best performers.
In the Lab, our team of scientists evaluates factors such as application, scent, cleansing ability, weight and feel on hair. For example, in a recent test evaluating thickening shampoos, our scientists used an Instron machine (shown below); this measures each product's conditioning ability on human hair samples. In total, more than 6,000 data points were tallied to find the best hair-thickening shampoos.
And that's just for one test: Our scientists analyze hundreds, if not thousands, of data points for each test, so they truly know what makes a good shampoo.
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Why trust Good Housekeeping?
As GH's Beauty Assistant, Catharine Malzahn works closely with the Good Housekeeping Institute Beauty Lab to help deliver fact-based, science-backed beauty coverage. Over the years, she has interviewed experts, written product reviews and tested hundreds of hair products, including professional hair treatments, hair tools, shampoos, conditioners, styling products and more.
GH Beauty Lab Senior Chemist Danusia Wnek has spent more than 10 years researching and developing testing protocols for haircare products for the Good Housekeeping Institute. These categories include cleansing conditioners, moisturizing and volumizing shampoo and conditioners, volumizing sprays, flat irons, hairdryer brushes and dry shampoos. Her favorite hair test so far has been evaluating blowdry accelerator sprays to see whether they actually work.
Catharine Malzahn
Beauty Assistant
Catharine (she/her) is the beauty assistant at Good Housekeeping, Woman’s Day and Prevention, working closely with the Good Housekeeping Institute Beauty Lab to write science-backed beauty content. She was previously an assistant beauty editor at Group Nine Media and returned to Hearst in 2022 after having held editorial internships at Harper’s Bazaar and CR Fashion Book. Catharine received a B.A. in journalism from the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
Reviewed byDanusia Wnek
Senior Chemist
Danusia (she/her) is a senior chemist in the Beauty, Health and Sustainability Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute where she evaluates haircare, skincare, cosmetics and beauty tools. She holds a B.S. in chemistry from St. John’s University and a M.S. in pharmaceutical sciences with concentration in cosmetic science from the University of Cincinnati. Danusia has over 10 years of experience in the personal care industry including formulation, product development, claim evaluation and efficacy testing.
