The best shampoo for softening and nourishing grey hair (2025)

Purple or silver pigmented shampoos are a great way to counter any brassiness and yellow tones, but they can sometimes be drying on the scalp. With grey hair already more susceptible to dryness, you don’t want to strip it further, so it’s important to look for a formula that nourishes as well as tones.

Thankfully, this shampoo is enriched with fortifying and restoring Rahua oils, which work to repair damaged strands and maintain follicle and scalp health. It also prolongs and brightens colour in both natural and processed hair by using super-fine molecules to push pigmentation deep into the hair shaft for long-lasting vibrancy. Plus, it’s formulated with Amazonian lilac clay, a natural solution known for reducing brassiness.

This purple shampoo from Olaplex is a great pick for those with grey or blonde hair, both natural and dyed. It’s formulated with the brand’s revolutionary bond-building technology, which works to repair broken and damaged hair bonds from the inside out, reducing breakage and taking hair from dry and brittle to smooth and shiny.

This one also contains highly concentrated purple pigments that help neutralise any yellow or brassy tones. The longer you leave it on, the brighter the finish.

As the runner-up in our best purple shampoo test, this one busts any brassiness without compromising hair health.

The nourishing plant butters, including shea, mango and borage oil, and quinoa protein will help keep your strands feeling soft, while the ultraviolet pigments will put the shine back into your grey.

Both a toner and a treatment in one, this shampoo brightens greys and leaves hair feeling soft and smooth. It dispenses colour-correcting dye to remove any unwanted yellow tones, as well as ultra-nourishing ceramides, which work to strengthen strands and restore hair fibres.

Application differs slightly from a standard shampoo, as you need to leave it on for 10-15 minutes for it to get to work. Once rinsed out, your grey will be gleaming.

Despite the name of this product, we're all about embracing greys. But we can understand if you want to ease your way into the grey, so this one is designed to gradually darken silver roots for a less dramatic switch. It’s ideal for dark or brown hair.

It’s also enriched with a Phyto-Caffeine Complex, which the brand claims will leave greys smoother and more manageable.

This deep purple shampoo is formulated with violet pigments and magnesium to help neutralise the yellow, brassy tones that can be common with grey hair.

The result? A more vibrant grey or white shade. The formula is also designed to protect and nourish the hair fibres for a shiny finish. Plus, the chic grey bottle will look lovely in your shower.

Many brightening and toning shampoos for grey hair use a purple pigment to counter yellow tones, but this one uses blue instead.

The formula contains sustainably sourced blue malva, a flower with blue pigment that works as a natural blue rinse for grey hair. Not only does it act as a natural colour preserver, but it can also help soften coarse hair and add shine, thanks to its soothing properties.

With grey hair prone to dryness and often coarser in texture, an ultra-hydrating shampoo can work wonders. This ‘Youth Revitalising’ blend from Kerastasé is infused with hyaluronic acid, a popular ingredient in skincare, which helps to draw in moisture, keeping the scalp and hair fibres hydrated and soft.

It also contains edelweiss flower and abyssine, which help to strengthen and repair, banishing breakage and dry ends.

Save your silver (in every sense) with this affordable and effective brightening shampoo from John Frieda.

It’s formulated with the brand’s SilverGloss technology, which claims to cleanse the scalp and neutralise brassiness, to leave hair with a “radiant shine”. At under £10, it’s an absolute steal.