Which Redken Shampoo Is Best for Me?

The banger. Redken Extreme is a shampoo for damaged hair. The shampoo cleanses, strengthens, restores damaged hair, and prevents future hair breakage. Extreme is one of those classic shampoos that's been around and really popular forever.

This is kind of in its own category because it's a protein shampoo, meaning that it's supposed to repair your hair. For a really long time, protein was all we had, and those were really dark days because protein doesn't have a very strong repair effect. It takes forever to make just a slight difference. So if you're using Extreme thinking that this is going to repair your hair and stop breakage—not so much. But this is still a really good shampoo.

Let’s go over a couple things.

Cleansing power—basically how long does your hair stay clean when you use the shampoo? This is better than average. I would give it like an 8 out of 10. It does a good job of getting your hair clean if you use the right technique. It's made a ton of people happy over the years and it's pretty good for fine and medium hair. I wish that it was a little bit lighter, but like I said, it's still really good.

The only cons are that it doesn't repair hair like it says it does, but that's actually totally fine because that's not something that shampoo does. It's a totally unrealistic expectation to think shampoo is going to repair your hair.

Another small thing is that it's not hydrating enough for coarse hair, so if that's you, I would stay away from this and look for something a little bit heavier. But overall, Extreme is a very good shampoo. Not the absolute best, but if you've only used drugstore brands before, this will absolutely blow your mind. I give Extreme 8 out of 10.

Redken Frizz Dismiss, formulated with Redken Smoothing Complex featuring sustainably sourced babassu oil—and to that I say: BL hair commandment number eight, never trust the labels. You need to completely ignore anything on this that says secret complex or proprietary blend.

Let me ask you something. Do you know what a smoothing complex is? Of course not, because they just made it up to get you to buy this. All the fancy words on labels—forget all that. Let me just give you the actual translation on what this does.

This shampoo was good enough for us to actually use it in my salon back in the day when we first opened. But it was a slightly different formula back then. It's still pretty solid today, but—and this is a really big but—this is only for coarse hair. 

You do not want to use this if you have fine or medium hair. It has the babassu oil in it, which is way too heavy for you. But if you do have coarse hair, you're in good hands here. It's a good shampoo for coarse hair.

Cleansing power for Frizz Dismiss is a solid 8 out of 10. It’s very good.

The pros are that it does actually reduce frizz with people who have naturally frizzy hair. And that's great because very few shampoos actually do what they say they're going to do on the label.

There really aren't any major cons to this shampoo, honestly. It'll treat you well. The worst thing I can say about it is that it's not the absolute best on the market. But it's an 8 out of 10.

Next up is Extreme Length. Extreme Length is a strengthening shampoo for damaged hair that gently cleanses hair and helps it grow longer and stronger over time.

I get a ton of questions about this shampoo and it's gotten really popular lately. The theory goes like this: you want long hair, Extreme Length makes your hair stronger, and the stronger your hair is, the longer it's able to grow. And that is 100% true. There's no way you're ever going to be able to grow your hair out when it's weak and brittle and breaking off.

Extreme Length also has biotin, which plays a key part in making keratin, which is the stuff that your hair is actually made of. So all of this combined is supposed to add up to longer hair for you.

The only problem with that theory is that it's complete and utter garbage. If you're deficient in biotin, you should absolutely get biotin—but you need the pills to get it inside your body because that's where you actually make hair. Rubbing biotin on the length of your hair is not what you do to get longer hair.

And I want to tell you something really important, so please don’t ever forget this: there is no such thing as a hair growth shampoo. Shampoos do not give you long hair. Long hair comes from having a good hair routine. That’s how you get strong hair.

So when you see this, you need to know that they just put “hair growth” on the label. It's not like all the other shampoos give weak hair that won’t grow out, and this - this is finally the good stuff. It doesn’t work like that. They're just putting it on a label and hoping that you'll fall for it. Don’t be fooled.

Really quickly, the cleansing power of Extreme Length is still pretty good. It's like a 7 out of 10. It does get your hair clean for a couple of days.

The pros of Extreme Length are basically the same as the regular Extreme: great ingredients, a brand you can trust, performs well on fine and medium hair—not on coarse hair.

The cons are that it doesn't do what it says it does. It doesn’t really grow your hair out. But at the end of the day, it's still a pretty decent shampoo. Not as good as the regular Extreme, but this is like a 7 out of 10.

Next shampoo we have is All Soft. All Soft is a hair-softening shampoo with Argan Oil for dry hair that gently cleanses and softens dry, brittle hair.

Classic shampoo here. This has been super popular for a really long time. If this were an ice cream, this would be your vanilla. This is very middle of the road and works for almost everyone. Because of that, you’ll see a ton of stylists recommending this to their clients.

A lot of people use it, and people always ask me, “Josh, why don’t you recommend All Soft?”

Now before I tell you why, I want to say this is a good shampoo. Redken are no dummies—they know how to make a good shampoo. But the reason I don’t recommend this is because it has oil in it. And you do not want oil in your shampoo.

Shampoo has one job: cleanse the oil from your hair. That’s what gets it clean. Using a shampoo with oil is almost like using a vacuum that sucks up stuff in the front and just throws it out behind it. It’s reversing the job it was supposed to be doing in the first place. It makes no sense.

So the question is—why do so many people use this if that's the case? And the reason is, most people and most stylists don’t realize that there’s a massive downside to this. They just use it and feel their hair and think, “Oh my gosh, my hair is so soft. This must be really healthy for my hair.” But no—your hair isn’t actually softer, it’s just got oil in it.

The oil does make your hair feel amazing. But there’s a huge trade-off in doing it. The oil that makes your hair feel so soft right away has a huge dark side, because later on it’s going to weigh your hair down and make it get dirty and oily more quickly. So you can’t go as long between washes, and that is not healthy for your hair.

Cleansing power here in the All Soft is like a 6. It does get your hair clean, but it gets dirty more quickly because it has oil in it, and it's just too heavy.

The pros is that your hair does feel nice and soft right after. The cons is that your hair gets gross more quickly, so you have to wash it more often, which is inconvenient for you and unhealthy for your hair.

Even with all that said, All Soft is still a good shampoo. I just wish they'd take the oil out. I give this like a 7 out of 10.

Volume Injection adds lift and body to fine hair. This is one of those super rare, special occasions where this is a product that actually does what it says it does.

So yes, this does give you extra fullness and volume. But don’t get too excited—because remember, this is just a shampoo and not a miracle worker. There’s only so much your shampoo can do. It’s not like it’s going to grow legs and style your hair for volume for you. You still have to do that.

Even when you use this, 80% of your volume is still going to come from styling. So yes, this does give you a boost, but it’s not this insane difference. It’s just a nice bonus. And if you really, really need volume, this is really nice to have.

Cleansing power—Volume Injection is a really great cleanser. This is amazing for fine and medium hair that tends to get oily quickly. It’ll remove all that oil and leave your hair fresh and bouncy for days, so you can go longer between washes.

Just remember that even if you’re using the best shampoo on the planet, you still need to use proper washing technique.

This is a 10 out of 10 cleanser. Absolutely love it. It’s no joke.

Let’s talk about the pros and cons. Pros: like we said, it’s really great for oily hair, keeps your hair fresh for a really long time, it’s amazing for fine and medium hair, and it’s the best shampoo I’ve ever used for a volume blowout.

Like I said earlier, this doesn’t style your hair for you. If you want to get a lot of volume, you’re still going to have to style your hair. So I really recommend this for people who blow dry and style their hair for volume. If that’s you, you’re going to absolutely love this shampoo.

9 out of 10. This is the Redken shampoo that’s my fav product list.

Next up is Color Extend Magnetics. Color Extend Magnetics is a general shampoo for color-treated hair that helps to protect color from fading.

First, we need to define color. There are two types of color—color that lasts a long time (like going blonde or brunette), and then there’s color that rinses out really easily (like fantasy colors). Think bright blue, pink, red, orange, teal—temporary colors.

Those fun colors really need to be protected because they rinse out really easily. And if you have those fun colors, this shampoo is a good choice to protect your color.

But if you’re like the people out there asking me, “Hey, what’s the best shampoo for blonde hair? What’s the best shampoo for brunette hair?”—this is not the type of color protection we’re talking about when it says Color Extend.

Right now I know somebody at Redken is like, “Yes it is! That’s exactly what it does!” But no, a person from Redken, that is not really a thing.

All this color care stuff is marketing BS to just take your money. Unless you have the fantasy colors—those are the only people who should be using this.

Cleansing power on this is like a 4 out of 10. It’s really bad.

So if we’re talking pros—yes, it absolutely does preserve fantasy colors. What other pros are there? There’s none.

Let’s just do cons. Cons are that it doesn’t get your hair very clean. It’s not a good formula for shampoo. Redken makes some really amazing shampoos—this is just not one of them.

Avoid it at all costs. 5 out of 10.

Acidic Bonding Concentrate is Redken’s most concentrated all-in-one formula for strength, repair, and all types of damaged hair.

Translation on that: this is Redken’s version of Olaplex. Olaplex repairs hair, and they shortened this down to the ABC line.

Redken’s ABC line is amazing at repairing hair—except for the shampoo and conditioner. Don’t use this.

If you really want to use it, go for it. It’s just that there are so many other better options. I’ve started steering my clients away from repair shampoos because I’ve never found one that does a good job of both repairing hair and getting your hair clean, which is the entire point of shampoo.

The problem is, they’re like your dad’s two-in-one shampoo and conditioner. When you go home for Thanksgiving and see that in a shower, you're like, “Geez, that never works.” Why would you combine shampoo and conditioner? That’s stupid.

You should have that exact same reaction when you hear “repair shampoo” because shampoos and repair products are two opposite things. Repair ingredients are really heavy in your hair—they weigh it down and make it feel dirty and gross. While shampoos are supposed to make your hair feel light and fresh and bouncy so it stays clean for days.

If you really want to repair your hair, you should use this guy—Redken’s Intensive Treatment. It’ll blow you away. Use a different shampoo though.

Really, this isn’t Redken’s fault. They had to make this product to keep up with Olaplex because people were asking for it.

I give it a 6 out of 10.

Now this one—Redken’s Acidic Color Gloss—is for the people who were burned by how weak Color Extend Magnetics was. It’s the new kid on the block, and I’ll give credit where it’s due: Redken actually did a decent job here. The whole pitch is that it gives you up to 76% shinier hair and seals the cuticle with this glass-gloss finish. Sounds like a salon in a bottle. And for once, it kind of lives up to the hype.¹

The main difference? This one actually does something. It locks in color, boosts shine, and gives you that sleek, reflective look that most “color care” shampoos just talk about but never deliver. And unlike the Magnetics line, this doesn’t leave your hair feeling coated or limp. It cleans without stripping and works better when you follow the full system—shampoo, conditioner, treatment. Yeah, it's a routine. But it works.

Is it a 10/10? No. But I’d give it a solid 8 out of 10—it’s not life-changing, but it’s easily one of Redken’s better color-protection systems. Especially if you’re looking for shine, gloss, and actual color preservation beyond the fantasy dye crowd.

What are your thoughts after reading which Redken shampoo is best for me? Drop your insights in the comments below. For shopping your fave one visit this Redken page in Catwalk.

Source

[1] - Redken Shades EQ Gloss