How to Choose the Right MONAT Shampoo

Choose by your main concern

• ,Dry hair → RENEW Shampoo.
• ,Damaged or colour-treated hair → MONAT BOND IQ™ Shampoo.
• ,Thinning-looking hair → IR CLINICAL™ Intense Repair Treatment Shampoo.
• ,Fine or flat hair → Volumizing REVIVE Shampoo.
• ,Oily scalp → the BE BALANCED™ routine.
• ,Sensitive scalp → the BE GENTLE™ routine.
• ,Men's daily wash → MONAT BLACK™ Shampoo & Conditioner.

Can you mix lines?

Yes and most people should. A very common combination is a bond-care or clinical shampoo for the scalp with a hydrating conditioner and masque for the lengths, because the scalp and the ends rarely have the same problem.

How to wash well

1. 01Wet hair thoroughly, a full minute under water.
2. 02Use a coin-sized amount, emulsified in your palms with water first.
3. 03Massage the scalp, not the lengths, for 60 seconds.
4. 04Rinse completely, then repeat with half the amount if needed.

A decision framework that takes two minutes

Answer three questions in order and the shortlist collapses to one or two products. Question one: is your hair chemically processed or heat-damaged? If yes, structure comes first and the answer is a bond-care cleanse. Question two: is your main complaint dryness, roughness or dullness? If yes, hydration leads. Question three: is your main complaint at the scalp, whether that is oiliness, flakiness or the look of thinning? If yes, choose the scalp-focused route.

Only after those three do you consider secondary factors such as volume, colour longevity or scent preference, because they are refinements rather than decisions. People who shop the other way round, starting with volume or scent, are the ones who end up with a bathroom full of half-used bottles.

One more principle worth internalising: your shampoo is a scalp product and your conditioner is a hair product. Choose the shampoo for the skin under your hair, and choose the conditioner and treatments for the fibre. Almost every mismatched routine breaks that rule.

The shortlist, and who each cleanse is genuinely for

RENEW Shampoo is the hydration cleanse. Choose it for dry, dull, rough or coarse hair, for curls and coils, and as the default for anyone who is not sure. It is the most broadly useful shampoo in the range.

BOND IQ Shampoo is the bond-care cleanse. Choose it for bleached, highlighted, repeatedly coloured, relaxed or heavily heat-styled hair, and for anyone whose hair stretches like elastic when wet.

IR CLINICAL Intense Repair Treatment Shampoo is the scalp-focused cleanse for hair that looks thinner or less dense than it used to, and it is designed to be used with the serum rather than alone.

Volumizing REVIVE Shampoo is the lighter everyday cleanse for fine, limp hair that flattens quickly.

BE BALANCED is the option for oily or congested scalps, and BE GENTLE for sensitive or easily irritated ones.

MONAT BLACK Shampoo and Conditioner is formulated with men's hair, scalp and scent preferences in mind, though anyone can use it.

Referenced hereRENEW ShampooMONAT BOND IQ™ ShampooIR CLINICAL™ Intense Repair Treatment ShampooVolumizing REVIVE ShampooBE BALANCED™ RoutineBE GENTLE™ RoutineMONAT BLACK™ Shampoo & Conditioner

Matching the conditioner and the weekly treatment

The conditioner does not have to match the shampoo brandline exactly, but the logic should be consistent. Hydration cleanse pairs with RENEW Conditioner and REPLENISH Masque weekly. Bond cleanse pairs with BOND IQ Conditioner plus the Leave-In Crème, and a hydrating masque every second week so the hair does not become protein-heavy.

Scalp-focused cleansing pairs with a light conditioner on the lengths only, and a masque weekly if the ends feel neglected, which they often do when the routine is scalp-led.

Fine hair should treat conditioner as an ends-only product and consider a leave-in mist instead of a rinse-out on some wash days. Coarse and coily hair should do the opposite, using generous conditioner every wash and a leave-in on top.

The Smoothing Deep Conditioner is the swap-in when frizz rather than dryness is the dominant complaint, and RESTORE Leave-In Conditioner is the between-wash workhorse for almost every hair type.

Referenced hereRENEW ConditionerREPLENISH MasqueMONAT BOND IQ™ ConditionerSmoothing Deep ConditionerRESTORE Leave-In Conditioner

How much to use and how often to wash

Most people use two to three times more shampoo than they need, which is expensive and, on fine hair, counterproductive. A coin-sized amount for short hair and two for long hair, emulsified in wet palms before it touches the head, is the correct starting point.

Two short washes beat one long one. The first pass lifts sebum and product, the second actually cleans the skin. This is especially true if you use dry shampoo, styling products or oils.

Frequency depends on scalp type, not hair type. Oily scalps and frequent exercisers can wash daily or every other day with a gentle cleanse. Dry, coarse, curly or colour-treated hair usually does best on two washes a week. Nobody should be stretching to ten days with a congested, itchy scalp because they read that washing less is universally better.

Rinse for longer than feels necessary. Under-rinsing is the most common cause of both flat roots and scalp itch, and it is free to correct.

Switching brands: what to expect in the first month

Moving from a silicone-heavy, sulfate-heavy routine to a gentler one changes how the hair behaves, and the change is not always immediately flattering. Hair can feel fluffier, less slippery and harder to comb for the first three or four washes as the old coating is removed and the hair's real condition becomes visible.

Support the transition rather than abandoning it. Use a leave-in for slip, a masque weekly, and a drop of oil on the ends. If the hair still feels rough after four washes, the problem is usually product choice rather than transition, and the answer is more moisture or, if the hair is damaged, bond care.

Give any new shampoo six weeks before deciding. Judge it on scalp comfort, how long the hair stays clean, how much breakage collects in your comb, and how the hair behaves on day two, rather than on the way it looked in the first blow-dry.

Referenced hereRESTORE Leave-In ConditionerREPLENISH MasqueREJUVENIQE® Oil Intensive

Buying sensibly: bundles, VIP pricing and shelf life

Systems are usually better value than single bottles, and they are also more likely to work, because most MONAT ranges are designed as sets where the leave-on products do the majority of the visible work.

The VIP customer programme gives discounted pricing with a flexible recurring order you control, which suits anyone who has settled on a routine and expects to reorder. It carries no requirement to sell anything.

Shelf life matters if you buy in bulk. Cosmetic products generally carry a period-after-opening symbol on the packaging, and botanical oils in particular prefer a cupboard to a sunny bathroom windowsill.

Every product referenced across this site is bought on the official MONAT storefront, where the current pricing, promotions, ingredient lists and satisfaction guarantee terms are always accurate.