16 Best Shampoos for Thinning Hair for Men

This list can act as a starting point to find some well-established, effective shampoos.

Author:
SI Showcase + Grooming Playbook
Publish date:
Jun 6, 2023

This list can act as a starting point to find some well-established, effective shampoos.

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Hair thinning might be an issue most men are self-conscious about. But they shouldn’t be because it’s actually a common occurrence. By the age of 50, a majority of men have significant thinning of the hair.

However, no matter how normal a condition hair thinning is, some men still have body image issues as a result of their naturally thinning hair. So naturally, an incredible number of products have been designed to help men to restore their hair.

The most obvious intervention is to create a shampoo that has anti-thinning elements as shampoo is nearly universally used. A product that’s used daily or at least a few times a week like shampoo is also accessible for most people. Also, because of the frequency of use, shampoo can have a strong effect on thinning hair.

Unfortunately, some of these shampoos are less effective than others, yet the marketing of these products can be very convincing even when results may not be as reliable as you may wish for.

Thus, we’ve created this comprehensive list of 16 of the best shampoos for thinning hair for men. This list can act as a starting point to find some well-established, effective shampoos. You can also examine the ingredients mentioned within the list to have some ideas about which shampoos are likely to be effective for your needs.

1. Blu Atlas Shampoo

Blu Atlas is a male skincare brand that also has some fantastic products for the hair. In particular, their shampoo is full of incredible ingredients to nourish your hair. It also has one uncommon ingredient that was specifically added to reduce hair thinning in men.

One ingredient in this shampoo is jojoba oil. This oil has the closest chemical properties to the sebum naturally secreted from the skin and scalp. By having similar properties to a person’s natural oil, jojoba oil is able to pass through the skin barriers more effectively and penetrate more deeply into the skin than other oils.

Jojoba oil also contains amazing vitamins and minerals, like vitamins A, E, and D, as well as plenty of antioxidants and fatty acids. This means that this oil is fantastic at helping to nourish and strengthen the hair, which further helps to prevent premature hair loss.

This shampoo is also full of aloe vera, which is a moisturizing and soothing product. This is great for the scalp, which is prone to irritation. A scalp that’s constantly irritated can even be susceptible to small cuts or scars, which can inhibit hair follicles. Aloe is also full of vitamins and antioxidants, and is great for nourishing the scalp and reducing the drying effects of shampoos.

The absolute star ingredient in this shampoo, though, is saw palmetto. This is an unusual ingredient, to be sure. But its anti-inflammatory properties make it great for the skin and hair. In addition, it’s known to counter DHT, which is a hormone that controls the rate of hair loss. This means that this shampoo can help improve hair thickness and volume actively.

With these fantastic ingredients, Blu Atlas Shampoo definitely deserves top spot on our list of the best shampoos for thinning hair for men.

2. American Crew Fortifying Shampoo

American Crew is a fortifying shampoo that’s specifically designed to help reduce thinning hair in men. It’s also great for cleaning the hair gently to remove buildup without also removing essential moisture and oils.

This product is great for thickening and strengthening hair because of the ingredients. These ingredients are known for helping to soften and cleanse the hair while increasing hair volume.

One of these ingredients is keratin amino acid. Keratin is a key protein involved in keeping your hair strong from the inside out. It’s included in this product to increase the amount of keratin available around the hair to increase the chance that the product will incorporate into the hair.

3. Actiiv Recover Hair Loss Shampoo Treatment

This naturally formulated product is vegan and cruelty-free, which is great for men looking for an alternative to the more processed options available. It’s safe for all hair types, including colored hair. However, it’s not suitable as an everyday shampoo; it should only be used every other day.

This shampoo also has some unique ingredients that help reduce thinning in men. One ingredient is brahmi, a natural product that interacts with DHT. In addition to reducing thinning, brahmi is also good for fighting inflammation and strengthening the hair follicle and roots.

Seaberry is another ingredient included in this shampoo. This naturally derived ingredient is a nourishing agent that helps refresh and repair the scalp. Since the scalp is the base of the hair, it’s important to make sure the scalp has everything it needs.

This product also contains red clover extract, which interacts with DHT and acts as an antioxidant. Actiiv Recover Hair Loss Shampoo Treatment also uses saw palmetto to further stop the build up of DHT. All these ingredients combine to make this a great product for preventing premature hair loss.

4. Botanic Hearth Peppermint Shampoo

Peppermint isn’t just a lovely scent, but it also has beneficial properties as a topical agent on the skin. Peppermint has been added to this shampoo to help invigorate the scalp and stimulate blood flow. Greater blood flow can increase the health of the skin and hair as well as remove fluid and buildup.

Peppermint isn’t the only great ingredient in this shampoo in this Botanic Hearth product. They’ve also included tea tree oil, which is well known in the health and wellness industry for its strong scent and antiseptic properties. Tea tree oil helps invigorate your hair through its cooling and soothing properties.

This shampoo is also full of hydrating ingredients. The most important of these are the argan oil and coconut oils. Argan oil is probably the most common ingredient in hair care products with coconut oil a close second. The inclusion of both in this shampoo makes it intensely hydrating, which is great for dry, frizzy, or damaged hair.

This shampoo probably shouldn’t be used on very fine or very oily hair as it’s likely too heavy. However, it’s a great option for thinning hair because of the hair blooming formula.

5. Brickell Daily Strengthening Shampoo

Brickell has a great line of products, including another peppermint based shampoo. This shampoo is designed to be used daily, which means it’s gentle enough for men with sensitive or colored hair.

Being able to use the shampoo daily also means that you have plenty of opportunities for the peppermint and tea tree oil to invigorate the hair. This shampoo also contains aloe vera, several vitamins, and silk amino acids.

Together, these ingredients help make the hair stronger as well as encouraging hair growth from dormant follicles on the head. Because we know most people with hair loss are trying multiple products at once, this shampoo is also able to prevent dandruff, which may help resolve an issue if your skin reacts when you suddenly introduce new products.

6. WOW Coconut Milk Shampoo

Hydrating shampoos like this one help slow hair loss by replenishing moisture in the hair and preventing damage or frizz. They can also soothe the scalp, which helps prevent hair from falling out in the shower.

This shampoo is also the first on our list that’s made specifically for curly hair. Men with curly hair are much more limited in their hair-restoring product options than those with straight hair due to the extra requirements of curly hair.

This shampoo’s main ingredient is coconut milk. Coconut milk is full of vitamins and amino acids, which absorb into your scalp and help increase the health of the skin and the strength of the hair from the follicle.

This product is also sulfate-, paraben-, and cruelty-free, and hypoallergenic. This makes it a great curly hair shampoo that’s also suitable for men with sensitive skin.

7. Billy Jealousy Fuzzy Logic Hair Strengthening Shampoo

This is another shampoo that uses DHT inhibition to prevent premature hair loss. It also contains natural ingredients that are designed to add volume as well as unclog and promote blood circulation in the follicles.

The shampoo uses an advanced formula, which the manufacturers are keeping close to their chest. However, they have let on that the product contains peppermint, which is presumably where the clarifying and stimulating scalp effects come in.

Billy Jealousy prides itself on using scientific research to create their products, so they’re at the forefront of the research on hair loss. Overall, the brand is designed to have effective products, which is great for people looking for the best treatment in a sea of potentially less effective ones.

8. STMNT Grooming Goods Shampoo

This shampoo is produced by barber-designed brand STMN (Statement). This brand provides quality hair care products designed by people who know hair best. Another curly friendly formula, this product guarantees no sulfates in its formulation.

Two of the hair loss treating ingredients in this shampoo are menthol and activated charcoal. Menthol is the active ingredient of peppermint, the part that makes it cooling and stimulating. Menthol itself is added to this shampoo, so it produces a stimulating effect on the scalp.

Activated charcoal is a great ingredient for helping to remove dirt and daily buildup in the hair and scalp. This helps reduce damage from product buildup as well as helping to keep your scalp oils balanced.

This shampoo contains no silicone oils, which can coat the strands of hair and weigh them down. When you have thinning hair, volume is a great way to disguise the sections that are a little more sparse than others, so avoiding silicone is usually a good choice.

9. DS Laboratories Stimulating Shampoo

This revitalizing shampoo from DS Laboratories is specially formulated to help reduce the incidence of thinning hair by strengthening and repairing the existing hair. This is done while preventing premature hair loss through the most common causes.

In addition to amino acids and antioxidants, this shampoo contains caffeine, which can not only promote blood flow to the scalp and help revitalize the hair, but also functions to block DHT and prevent hair loss.

DS Laboratories Stimulating Shampoo also contains biotin, which is commonly added to fortify and strengthen existing hair strands, which helps reduce hair fall from damage throughout the day. This shampoo is also hydrating to help maintain your existing hair.

DS Laboratories designed this product to be used more often than most shampoos, so it’s suitable for use five times per week. The manufacturer states that most users can expect to see visible differences within 90 days, although they do note that due to the new hair poking through you may actually experience some hair fall in this period. However, it’s just your old dead hair making room for new, healthy hair to come through.

The final key aspect of this shampoo is truly exciting, and proves just how much science can still do for hair care. This shampoo uses nanosome technology. This means that the ingredients are delivered to the hair in tiny capsules, which gradually burst to aid in continuous release of key ingredients. This makes the shampoo more effective as the ingredients are available on the hair for longer.

10. Moroccan Gold Series My Nudo Rejuvenating Shampoo

Moroccan is a renowned brand within the hair care industry. They often use argan oil in their products, and this is one of them. Argan oil is one of the holy grails of hair care for a reason, so this shampoo has a lot to offer.

This shampoo is a hypoallergenic formula that uses caffeine, ginseng, avocado and argan oils, fig and cypress extracts, as well as the amino acid arginine as key ingredients to produce visible results in as little as two to three weeks.

These ingredients also contain minerals such as calcium, iron, and zinc, which help strengthen the scalp to allow the hair to grow longer and stronger. When you have longer hair, it can sometimes be easier to disguise that it’s thinning, particularly if you simply have a patch of alopecia.

11. Aroma Dead Sea Black Mud Shampoo

This shampoo from Aroma contains a very interesting ingredient, which is black mud from the Dead Sea. This mud contains plenty of minerals, which have been established as useful for the hair and skin through the number of products in the health and wellness space that include it as an ingredient.

In addition to nutritious black mud, this shampoo also contains plenty of vitamin C and plant extracts, which help thicken the hair and support volume for the existing hair strands while helping to reduce premature thinning.

This shampoo has also been designed to help treat skin issues on the scalp, in particular dandruff. Bad cases of dandruff can not only be embarrassing, but also cause cuts and wounds on the scalp that then heal over into scars, which can’t produce hair. This means that you can get small patches of hair loss, which isn’t great for already thinning hair.

In addition to being suitable for sensitive, dandruffy heads of hair, this shampoo is also suitable for thin, dry, colored, or curly hair. This makes it a great choice for people who often find other shampoos too heavy on the head or overly drying and irritating.

12. Moraz Herbal Shampoo for Thinning Hair

This shampoo from Moraz is marketed as a chemical-free shampoo, so it’s a great option for people who have had reactions to strong chemicals and are worried about aggravating their scalp while searching for a solution to their thinning issues.

This shampoo is great as a cure for itchy heads as it’s incredibly soothing. It’s also great for stimulating hair growth because of the way it soothes irritation. The natural products rosemary and bay laurel are added because they’re stimulating to the blood under the skin and help promote circulation. This can reduce the buildup of hormones like DHT under the skin.

This shampoo is also paraben- and sulfate-free, so it’s an optimal sensitive skin shampoo. Between the soothing ingredients and the lack of potentially irritating ingredients, you’d have to be seriously unlucky to have a reaction to this shampoo.

This shampoo is gentle enough for daily use, and can be used to help prevent the beginning of hair loss if you have a strong genetic propensity for it.

13. Sphagnum Botanicals GrowActive Shampoo

This shampoo is a natural-product-derived shampoo that uses ingredients such as biotin, aloe vera, argan oil, and peat mud to help nourish and hydrate the hair. The mud is particularly suited for this shampoo because, as well as carrying lots of great nutrients for the hair, peat mud contains several fulvic and humic acids. These help fight hair loss because they contain natural DHT blockers.

This shampoo is also made from entirely natural organic ingredients, so it’s a great choice for someone conscious of their every purchase. It’s free from parabens, sulfates, synthetic fragrances or dyes, as well as drying alcohols.

This shampoo can not only block DHT accumulation, and thus reduce premature hair loss, but it can also help rescue your existing hair with its aloe vera, argan oil, and biotin. All of these ingredients are great for rejuvenating broken or dry hair as well as protecting and nourishing the scalp.

14. HairAnew 2X Shampoo

This shampoo has been developed by small business brand HairAnew, and functions to help produce stronger, thicker hair for men with thinning hair. It includes the old favorite ingredients like biotin and argan oil, but also has a brand new patented ingredient.

This ingredient is capauxein, which helps produce thick and voluminous hair. Although the company hasn’t released the mechanism of action, the patented status of the ingredient means that it must have been novel and more effective than current treatments.

This shampoo is also full of nourishing and repairing ingredients, like antioxidants and other hair boosting ingredients. It also doesn’t contain any sulfates because, although they’re effective cleansers, they aren’t great for thin hair.

This shampoo has been independently tested, which is a great way to say that it’s effective!

15. Foligain Men’s Shampoo

Foligain Men’s Shampoo has been developed as a natural alternative to hair loss treatments that are expensive and full of side effects. This shampoo has a unique ingredient called trioxidil. Like the name suggests, trioxidil is a highly bioactive ingredient that has three separate actions:. it’s able to lock moisture into the hair, produce volume, and help maintain scalp health.

This shampoo is drug free, which means that it’s composed entirely of natural products. This is great for men who have had bad reactions to other chemical products along their hair loss treatment journey. This is especially great if you’ve tried a hair loss treatment that damaged your scalp health because this product is able to repair and restore the scalp to help produce healthier and thicker hair.

In addition to the novel trioxide, this shampoo has biotin as well as fruit stem cells. Stem cells have rejuvenating properties as their biological function. By adding them into this shampoo, they help nourish and treat the hair and scalp.

16. Alpecin Sport Caffeine Shampoo

We know that caffeine can be used to create great results in shampoos. This brand has leaned right into the stimulatory properties of caffeine to create a shampoo that’s bound to shock your hair straight into regrowth.

Caffeine has a variety of properties, among the most interesting of which is its ability to alter the blood flow under the skin. This makes caffeine a great topical treatment. It causes veins to constrict, which means that blood flows faster under the skin.

This helps to remove things like accumulated hormones, such as DHT. It also helps to get the nutrients from elsewhere in the circulatory system to the hair faster as well as promoting skin health.

This shampoo contains several other ingredients, including biotin for fortification. This helps create strong strands of hair, which can withstand the occasional bit of damage. This shampoo also contains castor oil, which is known for soothing and smoothing the hair to prevent damage and frizz.

The shampoo also contains some minerals like zinc and vitamins such as niacin to create thicker, stronger, fuller hair.

Frequently Asked Questions

What causes hair loss?

Hair loss can be caused by a variety of factors, the strongest of which is genetics. Most men have considerable hair loss by 50, so chances are that you’ll experience some amount of hair loss in your life. Hair loss is absolutely no reason for shame, but many men feel embarrassed by their hair styles when struggling with hair loss.

Hair loss can also be caused by repetitive stress (like repeatedly pulling out or scratching at your hair and head) or through chemical imbalances under the skin. A major cause of hair loss is stress, so it’s also important to think about ways to manage your lifestyle to reduce stress.

How do I strengthen my hair?

Hair is structured in three layers. The innermost layer we rarely have the ability to interact with simply because it’s so far buried into the hair itself. However, the second layer is the most important (called the cortex). This is the layer where the hair is the strongest.

The cortex can be weakened when it doesn’t have appropriate moisture, appropriate levels of proteins, or when it’s lacking in strengthening structures like keratin. All of these factors are influenced by lifestyle, diet, shampoos, and hair care routines, as well as the simple genetics that contribute to the porosity and thickness of your hair. Using a shampoo or hair care product that helps nourish and repair the cortex will help make your hair more resistant to damage.

In addition, the hair can be weakened as a result of damage to the outermost layer, the cuticle. This is a waxy protective covering that’s responsible for keeping moisture in the hair and damaging materials out of it. If you chemically treat your hair (for instance, by perming or dyeing it), you’ll likely cause some damage to the cuticle.

Damaged cuticles can also be caused by tangles which are more common in men with curly hair. When the hair is curly, it’s less able to prevent damage or maintain the right levels of protein and moisture. So, repairing the cuticle should be first on the list if you suddenly start having a lot of hair fall or breakage.