Shampoo for dandruff

Briogeo Scalp Revival Scrub Shampoo has the best record on dandruff: 21 of 26 reviewers who brought it up said it cleared or reduced their flakes. Biolage Scalp Sync Anti-Dandruff Shampoo and Nioxin Hair Fall Defense Shampoo come next, both at 17 of 22. The weakest record here is Bondi Boost HG Shampoo for Thinning Hair at 18 of 41, and it is sold for thinning hair, not dandruff.

  • 315 store reviews counted
  • Ulta and Sephora shoppers
  • Jan 2018 to Sep 2026

Updated . How we count

Does it clear flakes? What buyers said
  1. Briogeo Scalp Revival Scrub Shampoo 26 said either way
  2. Biolage Scalp Sync Anti-Dandruff Shampoo 22 said either way
  3. Nioxin Hair Fall Defense Shampoo 22 said either way
  4. OUAI Detox Clarifying Shampoo 45 said either way
  5. Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Special Shampoo 19 said either way
  6. OUAI Anti-Dandruff Shampoo 15 said either way
  7. Bondi Boost HG Shampoo for Thinning Hair 41 said either way

Share of reviewers who stated an outcome for dandruff. Ranked by the lower bound of a 90% confidence interval, so a product needs both a good share and enough reports to rank high.

Briogeo Scalp Revival Scrub Shampoo Best record Briogeo Scalp Revival Scrub Shampoo 21 of 26 say it cleared or reduced their flakes See price & reviews on Amazon
What stands out

Two OUAI shampoos made the list, and the clarifying one has the better record: OUAI Detox Shampoo at 30 of 45 against OUAI Anti-Dandruff Shampoo at 8 of 15, though the second is the one sold as anti-dandruff.

The ranking, product by product

Praise and complaints are the points reviewers repeat most, shown as a share of each product's counted store reviews.

1 Briogeo Scalp Revival Scrub Shampoo

Briogeo

Scalp Revival Scrub Shampoo

21/26 say it cleared or reduced their flakes

62% of its reviews say flakes cleared up, and 17% say hair stays clean longer. Complaints are few: 7% saw no difference. All counted reviews are from Sephora.

What buyers praise

  • Hair stays clean longer 17%
  • Gentle on scalp 14%
  • Nice scent 14%

What buyers complain about

No repeated complaints yet.

Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 21 of 26
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination6 of 7
  • Dry4 of 4
2 Biolage Scalp Sync Anti-Dandruff Shampoo

Biolage

Scalp Sync Anti-Dandruff Shampoo

17/22 say it cleared or reduced their flakes

Reviewers like it for flakes (54%) and for leaving hair soft (11%). The complaints are scattered: 7% call it drying, 7% say their scalp got itchy and 7% saw no difference. All counted reviews are from Ulta.

What buyers praise

  • Hair stays clean longer 11%
  • Leaves hair soft 11%

What buyers complain about

  • Itchy or irritated scalp 7%
  • Drying or stripping 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 17 of 22
  • Brand site 1 of 1 shown, not counted
3 Nioxin Hair Fall Defense Shampoo

Nioxin

Hair Fall Defense Shampoo

17/22 say it cleared or reduced their flakes

Sold for hair fall, but 52% of its reviews say it cleared flakes. The trade-offs are dryness (13%) and an itchy scalp (13%), and 9% say it costs too much. All counted reviews are from Ulta.

What buyers praise

  • Less shedding 9%

What buyers complain about

  • Drying or stripping 13%
  • Itchy or irritated scalp 13%
  • Too expensive 9%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 17 of 22
4 OUAI Detox Clarifying Shampoo

OUAI

Detox Clarifying Shampoo

Best for a clarifying wash

30/45 say it cleared or reduced their flakes

The most reviewers weighed in on this one, 45 in all, and 44% of its reviews say flakes cleared. Some found it drying (15%) or itchy (11%), and 13% like the scent.

What buyers praise

  • Nice scent 13%
  • Good value 5%
  • Hair stays clean longer 4%

What buyers complain about

  • Drying or stripping 15%
  • Itchy or irritated scalp 11%
  • Too expensive 4%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 17 of 22
  • Sephora 13 of 23
  • Brand site 2 of 3 shown, not counted
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Dry5 of 8
  • Combination6 of 7
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light7 of 9
  • Light-medium to medium4 of 6
See price & reviews on Amazon

Share of 55 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

5

Paul Mitchell

Tea Tree Special Shampoo

12/19 say it cleared or reduced their flakes

23% of its reviews like the scent and 41% say flakes cleared. Dryness is the main complaint, at 23%. All counted reviews are from Ulta.

What buyers praise

  • Nice scent 23%

What buyers complain about

  • Drying or stripping 23%
  • Too expensive 9%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 12 of 19
  • Brand site 1 of 1 shown, not counted

Share of 22 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

6

OUAI

Anti-Dandruff Shampoo

8/15 say it cleared or reduced their flakes

Reviewers like the scent (28%) and call it gentle on the scalp (17%), but 7 of 15 who brought up dandruff said it didn't help. 22% of its reviews report no difference and 17% say it costs too much. All counted reviews are from Sephora.

What buyers praise

  • Nice scent 28%
  • Gentle on scalp 17%
  • Leaves hair soft 11%

What buyers complain about

  • Too expensive 17%
Where buyers said it
  • Sephora 8 of 15
By skin tone (Sephora reviewers)
  • Fair to light3 of 4
  • Light-medium to medium2 of 5

Share of 18 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

7

Bondi Boost

HG Shampoo for Thinning Hair

18/41 say it cleared or reduced their flakes

Sold for thinning hair rather than dandruff. 18 of 41 said it cleared or reduced their flakes, the weakest record here, and 21% of its reviews say hair gets greasy fast. It splits by store, with 12 of 21 at Ulta and 6 of 20 at Sephora.

What buyers praise

  • Nice scent 13%
  • Less shedding 11%
  • Leaves hair soft 9%
  • Hair looks fuller 6%
  • Hair stays clean longer 4%

What buyers complain about

  • Hair gets greasy fast 21%
  • Drying or stripping 15%
  • Itchy or irritated scalp 11%
  • Tangles hair 9%
  • Too expensive 4%
Where buyers said it
  • Ulta 12 of 21
  • Sephora 6 of 20
By skin type (Sephora reviewers)
  • Combination4 of 10
  • Dry1 of 3

Share of 47 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

Where these numbers come from

The 7 products ranked here carry 41,097 reviews at Ulta and Sephora. We searched them for dandruff and read the newest matching reviews, up to 30 per product and store, posted between Jan 2018 and Sep 2026.

A review counts only when the reviewer used the product themselves. We drop reviews written in exchange for a free product or a sweepstakes entry (0 on this page), and products that are no longer sold.

Ulta also shows reviews first posted on brands' own websites. They run much more positive than store reviews of the same products (across 19 products with both, 76% of brand-site reviewers said the product solved the problem, against 55% of Ulta shoppers), so we show them on product cards but never count them.

Because we searched for the problem, people who had it are overrepresented. Compare products with each other rather than reading a share as your own odds.

Skin type, skin tone and age splits use what reviewers chose on Sephora's review form (and age on Ulta's when given). We only show a split when enough reviewers fall on each side.

Amazon buttons appear only on products that most reviewers here say fix the problem (at least 60%, with enough reviews to trust it). Everything else gets no buy link.

An AI model labels each review against a fixed list of points, and we spot-check the labels before publishing. We publish counts, never the reviews themselves.

Read the full method

Product pages we read

  1. Briogeo Scalp Revival Scrub Shampoo Sephora (29 reviews counted)
  2. Biolage Scalp Sync Anti-Dandruff Shampoo Ulta (28 reviews counted)
  3. Nioxin Hair Fall Defense Shampoo Ulta (23 reviews counted)
  4. OUAI Detox Clarifying Shampoo Ulta and Sephora (55 reviews counted)
  5. Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Special Shampoo Ulta (22 reviews counted)
  6. OUAI Anti-Dandruff Shampoo Sephora (18 reviews counted)
  7. Bondi Boost HG Shampoo for Thinning Hair Ulta and Sephora (47 reviews counted)

People asking about it on Reddit

  1. What's the best shampoo or hair treatment for dandruff? r/Sephora, Feb 2025, 11 comments
  2. best shampoo for dry, flaky, ITCHY scalp? r/Sephora, Mar 2024, 20 comments

Questions buyers ask

Which shampoo works for dandruff?

By these reviews, Briogeo Scalp Revival Scrub Shampoo has the best record at 21 of 26, followed by Biolage Scalp Sync Anti-Dandruff Shampoo at 17 of 22 and Nioxin Hair Fall Defense Shampoo at 17 of 22. These are shoppers' own reports, so your results may differ.

Does OUAI Anti-Dandruff Shampoo work?

Reviews are mixed. 8 of 15 reviewers who brought up dandruff said it helped, and 22% of its reviews report no difference. The brand's clarifying shampoo, OUAI Detox Shampoo, has the better record at 30 of 45.

Does Bondi Boost shampoo work for dandruff?

Less often than the others here. 23 of 41 reviewers who mentioned dandruff said it didn't help, which is the weakest record on this page. 38% of its reviews do say flakes cleared, but 21% say hair gets greasy fast.

What if my dandruff doesn't go away?

Reviewers' results varied, even on the same shampoo. If the problem is severe, painful or came on suddenly, a doctor or dermatologist is the right call.

Related problems

Shampoo Shampoo for oily scalp Top pick: OUAI Detox Clarifying Shampoo 363 buyer reports Shampoo Shampoo for thinning hair Top pick: Bumble and bumble Thickening Volume Shampoo 270 buyer reports Shampoo Shampoo for color-treated hair Top pick: Pureology Nanoworks Gold Hydrating Shampoo 256 buyer reports

HiveTried earns a commission when you buy through the "See price & reviews on Amazon" buttons. It never changes the ranking: the order comes from buyer reports only, and a product gets an Amazon button only when buyers here say it works.