43 Best Hair Products of 2022

Herbal Essences’ products, made with coconut extract and aloe, boasted the highest level of conditioning in the GH Beauty Lab’s test of hydrating shampoos and conditioners for dry hair, with this pair performing best in a test with the Lab’s Instron machine which gauges combing force through wet hair, proving strong conditioning benefits. Consumer testers loved these infusions, too: “My dry hair was much more moisturized,” one tester marveled.

A sulfate-free 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner with a higher ratio of conditioning ingredients, Joico’s cleansing conditioner was a winner of the GH Beauty Lab’s cleansing conditioners and co-washes test for giving parched, damaged hair a nourishing cleanse. “My hair is noticeably softer and healthier-looking than with my regular formulas,” a tester said. In Lab testing, it rated highest for making hair feel stronger and look smoother and less frizzy.

Get bigger, bouncier hair with this Garnier pair, which tied for best in the Beauty Lab’s volumizing shampoo and conditioner test. “My hair felt fuller after just one use,” a tester raved. In Lab evaluations, these came in highest for noticeably upping hair’s volume.

It may be “blended” with olive oil and argan oil, but Garnier’s Legendary Olive shampoo — along with its conditioner — was a GH Beauty Lab test winner for its nourishing cleansing with no heaviness. The pair tied for second in the combing test for conditioning, yet more than 90% of users said it didn’t weigh hair down. The pair made hair “manageable,” “supersoft” and “bouncy,” testers said. Almost all gave the “fresh” scent a perfect score.

Perfect for the conditioner-averse, Pantene’s first-ever foam version feels as airy as a cloud, making strands supple and bouncy. The formula conditioned well in GH Beauty Lab testing and 95% of users reported that the formula didn’t weigh hair down. “It worked wonders for my fine, limp hair — it had more body,” a tester said.

The Tresemmé duo tops the Beauty Lab’s test of hair color-preserving shampoos and conditioners. Post-use, hair sample color faded least after 20 washes and 10 hours of UV exposure in Lab testing. One tester marveled that they were “like expensive salon products.”

A salon splurge that’s worth it, Kérastase’s indulgent duo tied for best in the GH Beauty Lab’s volumizing shampoos and conditioners test for thickening strands using ingredients like peptides and hyaluronic acid. Testers “loved” this fine-hair “Holy Grail” that “truly worked” for “all-day body.” These won for thickening strands and making styles fuller compared with other shampoos and conditioners, data revealed, and also earned top points for weightlessness.

To keep your shade vibrant, suds up with OGX’s sulfate-free shampoo, a GH Beauty Lab test winner for preserving hair color along with the matching conditioner. In tests on hair samples, these ranked near the top for preventing color fading after 20 washes and 10 hours of UV exposure, and for conditioning ability. “I didn’t notice any fading while using these,” a tester marveled.

This light, refreshing Dove shampoo (used with the matching conditioner) was by far the tester favorite in the GH Beauty Lab’s test of hydrating shampoos and conditioners, with 100% stating that they would continue using it. “The effects were wondrous,” a fan raved. “My hair was fantastic — brushable, silky and flowing.” In Lab evaluations, the formulas rated best for leaving hair clean and easy to style.

A GH Beauty Award winner for its breakthrough technology, this KeepItAnchored shampoo and scalp serum set helps maintain hair’s fullness by improving the scalp’s condition with ingredients like niacinamide, zinc and caffeine. In a clinical study on the technology, users of it had about 2,400 more hairs on their scalp after six months than those who used a placebo, according to GH Beauty Lab data analysis.

Get an instant lift and noticeable volume with ColorProof’s featherweight, fast-acting mist, the winner of the GH Beauty Lab’s hair volumizing sprays test. Hair was “immediately bigger, fuller and thicker” and “looked the best it ever has,” two testers said. 100% of users agreed that the spray didn’t weigh down hair or make it feel crunchy, and it scored on top for ease of styling.

Inject lasting body and fullness into fine or flat hair by misting this GH Beauty Lab thickening spray test winner from hairstylist Kristin Ess. 91% of users agreed that it made hair look instantly voluminous, and it was tops for thickening. “Fantastic volume that lasted two days!” a tester raved.

Goldwell’s dry hair oil was a strong smoother and the top shine booster in the GH Beauty Lab’s anti-frizz styler test. “It actually works — and wasn’t greasy!” a tester raved. Hair was “very shiny” and “never frizzy over many uses,” others said. The oil blocked frizz on hair samples in the Lab’s test and tied for #1 at keeping users’ hair frizz-free all day.

Great for anyone averse to heavier styling products, Kérastase, a winner of the GH Beauty Lab’s anti-frizz styling products test, provides potent frizz-fighting power in a lightweight liquid spray. The mist stopped frizz on testers for a full day and on hair swatches in the Lab humidity chamber, and it didn’t feel tacky on hair. “This single bottle worked better than the three-product combination I was using,” a tester said. “It smoothed out my frizz and broken ends without leaving any film or crunch behind.” More than half of users raved about its “pretty” floral scent.

A GH Beauty Award winner, this innovative L’Oréal Paris liquid treatment with wheat protein imparts weightless silkiness and shine to even damaged hair in seconds. 83% of GH Beauty Lab testers found that it made strands feel silkier; 88% reported that it didn’t weigh hair down.“I couldn’t believe how incredibly shiny and smooth my hair was,” one said.

These innovative, handy hair wipes from Nexxus, a GH Beauty Award winner, are infused with argan oil for instant frizz taming anytime. Testers loved that they were “so small, they could be tucked in a pocket” and “discreetly tamed fly-aways during the day.”

This argan oil-infused Garnier Fructis cream, a winner of the Beauty Lab’s test of smoothing styling products, effectively fends off frizz and makes strands sleek. The formula earned high marks with testers for daylong frizz defense and for immediately smoothing hair with no oily or sticky effects. “It rained for almost a solid week, and I didn’t have a problem with frizz,” a user revealed. “I love the texture it left my hair with — smooth and bouncy,” another said.

A few spritzes of this L’Oréal Paris blow dry spray can save you precious hair drying minutes, GH Beauty Lab testing discovered. The mist reduced drying time by 15%, or 20 seconds per one-inch-thick hair sample, and 71% of testers said it sped up their drying time.

A GH Beauty Award winner, this inventive 2-in-1 Drybar hair styling tool combines a hair dryer and a hair brush in one wand that dries strands as you brush through. The top-ranked hair dryer brush was “comfortable to hold” and glided smoothly through hair, testers reported, and it didn’t overheat the hair or scalp. “I loved it!” one raved.

This state-of-the-art speed hair straightener from CHI earned a rare 100 out of 100 from GH Beauty Lab expert evaluators in flat iron testing. It heated up to 96% of its maximum temperature in 60 seconds, and it scored best for fully straightening hair and keeping it frizz-free all day.

The BaBylissPro tool dried hair fastest of all the hair dryers in the GH Beauty Lab’s test. In calculations of drying time of standardized prewashed hair samples, it earned a perfect score, outperforming every other hair dryer tested. It also got high marks for strong airflow and easy-to-use buttons and attachments. “It is elegant-looking, not too loud yet powerful, and it works wonderfully!” an evaluator marveled.

The winner of the GH Beauty Lab’s travel hair dryer test, Drybar’s top-of-the-line model delivers fast-drying power in a portable package. It scored perfectly in Lab evaluations for having easy-to-use controls, dried hair samples quickly, had strong airflow, and was easiest to maneuver and comfortable to hold. This “light” tool “is the right size and could do double duty for home or away,” users noted.

This inventive hair tool, a GH Beauty Breakthrough Award winner, has a bendy head that hugs head contours for less tugging. It earned rare near-perfect score in Beauty Lab testing for gently detangling wet or dry hair of all textures. “By far the best brush I’ve ever used on myself or my clients,” a pro stylist tester raved.

Double up on hydration by applying this GH Beauty Lab test-winning Biolage protein-infused spray moisturizer on damp hair. In Lab testing, it came out on top for its conditioning ability and for making damaged hair samples feel smooth.

A GH Beauty Breakthrough Award winner, L’Oréal Professionnel spray is misted onto your brush first to minimize damage, and it’s great for long hair. “The unique application prevents too much product from going on hair, which can make it greasy or weigh it down,” says GH Beauty Lab Director Birnur Aral, Ph.D. “It’s the best detangler I’ve ever used — it took only one stroke,” a tester said.

This milky Garnier mist, a GH Beauty Award winner, melts through knots and nourishes hair with botanicals like oat and rice extracts and aloe juice. The spray leaves hair feeling soft and keeps it from looking dry, yet doesn’t weigh it down, 90% of testers in a study reported. “It was feather-light, and I could comb damp hair with almost no effort,” a tester said.

Formulated specially for textured hair, this GH Beauty Award-winning Pantene lightweight hair moisture cream with amino acids effortlessly untangles knots to protect fragile strands from breakage. “No yanking as I brushed, and I could even use it on dry hair without residue or heaviness,” a tester said.

Give parched strands a “drink” of moisture without the weight thanks to Joico’s top-performing hair mask which comes in an innovative gel form. Enriched with keratin and glycerin, it gave users with fine to medium hair strong conditioning, smoothness, manageability and movement yet no heavy look or feel. Even mask-wary fans raved that it was “magic” and “a miracle.”

An exfoliator for your scalp, this GH Beauty Award-winning sugar-based Nexxus scalp scrub sloughs away flakes and buildup to boost strands. “My scalp felt deep-cleaned, but not dry,” a tester found, thanks to ingredients like aloe and keratin.

K18’s science-backed peptide hair treatment effectively strengthens chemically damaged hair, earning it a GH Beauty Breakthrough Award. GH Beauty Lab pros were impressed by performance data showing that the leave-in formula restored 82% of the strength of overbleached hair samples with two uses.

Like lip gloss for strands, hair glosses like this GH Beauty Lab test winner from John Frieda impart a shade-boosting hint of color and shine. Tops with testers, this color gloss (in shades for blonde, brunette, red and black hair) was loved for its “easy” application and “super-shiny” results that “extend the life of hair color.”

Customized haircare for protective hairstyles, braids and more, this water-light lotion is massaged into the scalp before bed to soothe with peppermint extract and flake-flighting pyrithione zinc. “It relieved that itchy dry feeling I get on my scalp without residue that could ruin my style,” a tester commented.

Work a dollop of this rich Suave leave-in conditioner-curl styling cream hybrid through damp waves or spirals to enhance texture while nourishing with shea butter and coconut oil. “My curls felt soft and held their shape,” a fan reported. “I used it to touch up dry hair too.”

Nexxus turns hair treatments upside down with this curl-specific shea butter formula, a GH Beauty Award winner. It’s made to be applied before shampooing to make detangling and softening curls easier, minimizing breakage. “My curls soaked this up and combing was a breeze,” a tester reported.

Shake up this featherlight Herbal Essences dual-phase mist (a cocktail of nourishing aloe juice, vitamin B5 and argan oil), then spritz all over your strands — damp or dry. The GH Beauty Award winner detangles, softens, smooths and protects against damage at once. “My hair felt so silky, yet there was none of the greasiness or heaviness like I’ve experienced with other oils,” a tester noted.

The winner of a GH Beauty Breakthrough Award, Kenra’s novel powder-free dry shampoo comes in a light water-based foam formula. It absorbed oil and volumized strands for an average of three days without leaving the look or feel of residue on hair, our testing found.

Small package, big hair: This Bumble and bumble powder dry shampoo pumped up the volume of and prolonged the life of testers’ styles in GH Beauty Lab evaluations. It gave hair more volume than any other dry shampoo tested — without leaving a heavy, powdery residue, reports showed. “My hair felt thicker,” one revealed. “It looked newly shampooed,” another said.

Keep your style in place from morning to night by spritzing It’s A 10: It won the GH Beauty Lab’s test for having the best hold of all hairsprays tested. The spray ranked highest for ability to hold hairstyles in Lab evaluations. “Even with humid days, it kept my hair looking great,” and “It made my hair feel and look natural without any white, flaky dryness I’ve gotten using other hairsprays,” two testers said.

John Frieda’s hairspray was a winner of the GH Beauty Lab’s test for delivering serious staying power but zero helmet head. It earned top points for holding curls in place in the Lab’s humidity-chamber test and for not weighing down strands or flaking. “Not hard or sticky,” a tester said. “It didn’t feel like I was wearing hairspray,” yet “I’ve had no flyaway hairs at all,” another marveled.

No ’80s gel here: This Dove alcohol-free version with hydrators like glycerin, castor oil and aloe defines and smooths strands sans stickiness or crunch. Used on damp or dry hair, the GH Beauty Award-winning gel “feels featherlight, gave my hair bounce and tamed flyaways,” a tester noted.

A GH Beauty Breakthrough Award winner and Good Housekeeping Seal holder, Clairol’s game-changing hair color kit solves the biggest dye gripes with a gentler, less chemical-scented, conditioning formula. In Lab evaluation, testers found that the color gave a natural look and good gray coverage, 79% said it left hair soft and shiny and 90% said it didn’t cause irritation. “Easy to apply and left hair extremely soft, even without conditioner,” a tester said.

Extend the time between salon visits or DIY dye jobs with Clairol’s permanent color root fix kit, in a wide 28-hue range. With a brush included for easy application, it blended seamlessly with users’ current color and gave 100% gray coverage, testing showed.

Salon hair color goes “green” with first-of-its-kind, GH Beauty Award-winning Biolage dye, which uses plant-based pigments. It has a wide range of 20 ammonia-free shades, with 10 ingredients at most, making it gentle enough for even damaged hair. The color had an earthy scent and went on evenly in GH Beauty Lab testing on hair samples.