Best Shampoo for Oily Hair in South Africa in 2025

best shampoo for oily hair

Nothing puts a dampener on a good hair day like oily, greasy locks. Fortunately, using a shampoo for oily hair makes all the difference.

Shampoo that’s formulated for oily hair removes grease, grime and build-up. It gently cleanses and refreshes your hair and scalp without drying them out.

There are several reasons why your hair may be oily. For the causes of oily hair, see our Q&A below.

Use one of our favourite shampoos for oily hair, and every day will be a good hair day.

Overall best shampoo for oily hair

If you’re looking for the best shampoo for oily hair in South Africa, you’ve found it.

This clarifying shampoo isn’t drying. It gently removes product, debris and oil build-up without stripping the hair of essential oils and moisture.

Rosemary and tea-tree oil cleanse and purify the scalp and hair leaving them super clean. Jojoba and wheatgerm condition and soften the strands, avoiding the dryness often caused by clarifying shampoos.

Perfect for sensitive and oily scalps, it can be used as often as is needed.

Best daily shampoo for oily hair

You’ll love the zesty fragrance of tangerine, orange and grapefruit in this daily shampoo. It’s a lightweight, clarifying formula that gently cleanses grease and stubborn build-up without stripping natural oils from the hair and scalp.

Quinoa protein – a gluten-free, protein-rich additive full of amino acids – repairs the cuticle layer and imparts shine and moisture without being heavy.

It contains certified organic ingredients, and is paraben and sulphate free. Use it on all hair types every day, including colour-treated hair.

Best shampoo for oily thin hair

Anyone with oily thin or fine hair knows how quickly it can look lank, dull and lifeless. You need a formula that provides volume without creating build-up and that cuts through grease without drying out your hair.

The shampoo in the OSMO Extreme Volume collection adds body and bounce to fine or thin hair without weighing it down with heavy oils. Lightweight ingredients such as soybean oil and rice protein correct oily roots and moisturise ends for full body and volume with a glossy – not oily – shine.

Sandalwood and bergamot prevent excess sebum production to stop excess weigh-down that causes limp hair. 

Best shampoo for very oily hair

If you suffer from a very oily scalp and hair, try this sebum-control treatment shampoo.

It has a soothing, astringent action that deeply cleanses to remove oil and build-up.

Birch and limnanthes alba seed extracts calm and rebalance the scalp while regulating and stabilising the production of sebum.

Best dry shampoo for oily hair

Dry shampoo doesn’t actually cleanse hair. It refreshes it and works really well if you don’t want – or have time – to wash it.

Rice and tapioca starch in Loma Dry Shampoo absorb oil, sweat and impurities to make your hair look, feel and smell clean.

Simply spray the dry shampoo into lifted sections of hair and massage onto your scalp. Brush or comb out to remove the oils and impurities. Your hair is left revitalised and smelling of fresh pears.

Best shampoo for oily, colour-treated hair

This unique formula is ideal for anyone with oily roots and long, dry, chemically-treated hair – especially swimmers. It provides extra nourishment to long lengths that dry out easily and helps regulate oil control on the scalp.

The gentle formula removes build-up and oil on the scalp and roots, while replacing lost moisture and restoring the protein balance to combat dry, frizzy locks. Use daily if necessary.

Best shampoo for oily greasy hair

If your hair’s oily from root to tip, try this treatment shampoo. Micelles and prebiotics gently cleanse the scalp and hair strands to remove grease and grime.

Ingredients such as panthenol, cider vinegar, polysaccharides, dittany, sage extracts, yeast protein, vitamin B complex and amino acids create a healthy moisture balance along the entire length, leaving hair refreshed and revitalised.

Best clarifying shampoo for oily hair

This clarifying shampoo is also the best natural shampoo for oily hair. Exceptionally mild, natural and gentle ingredients cleanse away oily build-up on delicate hair and sensitive scalps.

Clarifying kiwi and apple fruit extracts cleanse and protect the hair against environmental damage. Moisturising macadamia oil and chia seed protein work together to create soft, smooth and strong hair.

It’s perfect for children. The formulation is paraben, gluten and phthalate free, and the shampoo’s pH matches the pH of the eyes to reduce any stinging sensation or irritation.

Best salon shampoo for oily hair

The citrusy formula of the Truzone Tangerine Shampoo gently cleanses oily hair of grease and build-up, leaving it smelling fresh and squeaky clean. The natural extracts balance your hair’s pH and restore it to its natural, healthy condition.

This UK range of professional shampoos was created for salons that require quality products at exceptional prices. The shampoo comes in one litres bottles.

The range includes shampoos with natural extracts of coconut oil, lemon and lime, and tea-tree oil. They smell good enough to eat.

Best shampoo for dry scalp and oily hair

The name says it all. This vegan shampoo delivers a deep hair detox, drawing out all the goo – think oil, grease, minerals from hard water and gunk from styling products – that builds up on hair.

Fortunately, the sulphate-free, super-gentle formula contains soothing botanicals and moisture-boosting vitamins, so it’s gentle on a dry scalp and doesn’t dehydrate hair.

Instead, your locks are left feeling shiny, soft and manageable.

Q&A

There are many causes of oily hair. Your scalp produces a certain amount of natural oil, or sebum, to hydrate your scalp and protect your hair.

When sebum and sweat collect on your hair, especially at the roots, it can look greasy and shiny.

How much sebum is produced depends on hormones, hair type, personal habits and other lifestyle and environmental factors, such as intense exercise and excessive humidity and pollutants.

Constantly colouring and styling your hair with heat is also a big cause of oily hair. Damaged cuticles tend to trap dirt and grime, making hair look and feel lank and greasy. Regularly adding hair products also causes build-up and oily locks.

Of course, your hair may be oily because you aren’t washing it often enough or you’re using a shampoo that’s too heavy and causes build-up.

Any of the above reasons can cause greasy hair 24 hours after it’s been washed.

The most likely cause is the wrong shampoo and conditioner.

Switch to lightweight, cleansing products that don’t leave your hair coated in product.

Moisturising products are formulated to hydrate dry strands. They’ll add to the oil factor.

You certainly can. Wash your hair no more than once a day with a cleansing, lightweight daily shampoo like Loma Daily Shampoo.

If you want to refresh your hair without washing it, try a dry shampoo like Osmo Day Two Styler Dry Shampoo. It absorbs excess oil and adds volume while refreshing and revitalising.

Yes, you can. And you can have oily scalp and dry hair.

If you have oily hair and a dry scalp, you’re probably using a shampoo that’s too heavy and is leaving residue on your hair.

Also, your hair may be over-processed and damaged. This will cause it to trap dirt, grime and pollutants.

Look for a shampoo that removes build-up but doesn’t strip natural oil from your scalp, such as Malibu C Un-Do-Goo Shampoo.

It’s possible to wash your hair too often.

Each time you wash your hair, it signals the scalp to produce sebum. If you wash your hair too often – like twice a day – your scalp might go into oil production overdrive.

The best way to prevent oily hair is to use shampoo and conditioner formulated for oily hair.

Shampoos containing ingredients like salicylic acid dissolve sebum, leaving your hair clean, fresh and oil free for longer.

Clarifying shampoos effectively remove oil from the scalp and hair.

They usually – though not always – contain ingredients such as salicylic acid, acetic acid (found in vinegar) and sulphates.

If your hair is damaged, brittle and colour-treated, they may be too harsh. If you find a clarifying shampoo is too drying, use it once or twice a week to see how your hair reacts.

It might seem counterintuitive to use an oil-based shampoo on an oily head, but it does work.

Clean, natural oils help remove other oils, making them great cleansers for sebum.

They work best for people with an oily scalp but over-processed, damaged hair. The natural oils act to heal damaged hair, cleansing without causing further damage and fighting frizz.

People with oily hair also tend to develop dandruff more easily.

Shampoo that contains zinc pyrithione, such as Bosley Scalp Relief Anti-Dandruff Shampoo, can help. This ingredient helps lower levels of flake-inducing yeast on your scalp.

Alternatively, try the milder, gentler cleansing of Dalon Prebiotic Micellar Shampoo Dandruff Care.

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