7 Best Cleansers For Damaged Locs

Whether you have loose natural hair or locs, damaged hair is a challenge.  Hair damage can be caused by a myriad of factors including but not limited to coloring, health conditions,  poor diet, and high-tension styling.

Changing your routine/regimen to address the factors that led to damage is key to starting your journey to healthier hair.  Whatever unhealthy practice you’ve engaged in to get your hair to this point must be stopped—no coloring, seeing a doctor/getting medication, no high-tension styles, eating a healthier diet, and staying hydrated.

Once you’ve identified the cause of your damaged or unhealthy locs and stopped engaging in that activity, you must integrate products into a regimen that will help support your new healthy loc journey. 

I recommend that you begin at the beginning—cleansing. Cleansing is the first step in any good haircare routine.  Choose a cleanser or shampoo that will help you to rebuild hair health. 

Here are seven [7] of the best cleansing products on the market that I know of to help you rehab your damaged locs. I have taken the liberty of categorizing the products based on common types of damage:

1. For Colored Treated Locs
2. For Thinning Locs (Due to Health and/or Styling Challenges)
3. For Breaking Locs

 

For Color-Treated Locs

As we all know, moisture retention is the biggest stumbling block for color-treated locs. Thus, a regimen for color-treated locs must include sulfate-free moisturizing shampoos/cleansers.

Often used in shampoo and cleansing products to create lather and remove dirt, sulfates are chemicals that can be very harmful to color-treated or damaged locs. They have been known to strip away color pigment and lead to an enhanced feeling of dryness and/or brittleness for already compromised hair. So whether you choose one of the cleansers in this section for your color-damaged locs or not, be sure that whatever you use is sulfate-free. 

Here are my favorite sulfate-free cleansers for color-damaged or treated locs:

1. Made For Locs Color Care Shampoo

This moisturizing shampoo is specially formulated for locs—traditional, sisterlocks, and microlocs— of all kinds. The product is  enhanced with:

• Rose water for shine and luster
• Hibiscus to safeguard your color investment. Rich in antioxidants and vitamins, it revives and maintains the color of your locs.
• And their advanced formula that protects against fading caused by environmental stressors.
  

2. Influance’s Sea Moss Fusion Shampoo

This moisturizing and repairing shampoo is sulfate-free and works with every hair type. It is a conditioning shampoo infused with sea moss, honey, and avocado oil. This product also contains DHT blockers to prevent and help with thinning hair.

3. Dr. Locs’ Rose Lavender Color-Protecting Shampoo

This color-balancing shampoo cleanses while both neutralizing and moisturizing locs.Its formulated to gently wash away dirt and buildup while preserving color-treated hair. 

For Thinning Locs

Loc thinning can be caused by many things from high-tension styling-induced traction alopecia to hormone imbalances, poor scalp health, a combination of these, and/or much more. 

When looking for a cleanser for your thinning locs, you want to prioritize ingredients like caffeine, rosemary, peppermint, and biotin. These ingredients are known to strengthen the hair follicles and promote a healthy scalp which can help your locs grow stronger.  

The cleansers I’ve outlined in this section are ripe with these scalp-healthy ingredients:

4. LOCssentials Clarifying Shampoo

Infused with a powerful blend of peppermint oil, tea tree oil, menthol, oat, and rice proteins, this loc shampoo nourishes and strengthens your locs while soothing scalp dryness and helping to prevent flakes. It is also specially formulated to promote healthy growth, leaving your hair fresh, clean, and flake-free.

5. Mielle Organics Rosemary Mint Shampoo

Enriched with biotin, this product provides intense moisture for all hair types with a gentle formula that nourishes, cleanses, and helps strengthen weak and brittle hair. The biotin and rosemary infusion make for the ultimate strengthening formula.

 

For Breaking Locs

Many people confuse breakage and thinning for the same thing. However, there are two distinctly different types of damage to the loc/ hair follicle. 

Breakage refers to the snapping or breaking off of the hair or locs down the shaft due to damage.

 Thinning refers to a noticeable decrease in the hair density or loc density in this case. Which means there would be bald or thin spots on the scalp.

When looking for products to address breakage we want to focus on fortifying products with strengthening ingredients to preserve the integrity of your locs. 

These are my top picks to cleanse your breaking locs: 

6. Pattern Beauty’s Cleansing Shampoo

This product provides deep cleaning without stripping away healthy oils. It is boosted by antioxidant-rich Matcha Green Tea, Aloe Vera & Panthenol which promote strong hair, remove buildup & revive scalps. The operative word here is strong which is the goal when bringing breaking locs back from the brink.

7. Carol’s Daughter’s Goddess Strength Fortifying Shampoo With Castor Oil

This fortifying shampoo cleanses while it moisturizes, for strands that are instantly stronger, less prone to breakage and healthy-looking. This shampoo is a part of the company’s Goddess Strength System, which delivers 15X stronger hair in one use, 94% less breakage it is supposed to support the strength of your hair as it gets longer.

 

Final Thoughts

Cleansing is the very first step in rebuilding a healthy and growth-oriented hair regimen for your damaged locs. I hope one of the cleansers on this list is helpful to you as you start on a healthier path for your hair. 

Pay close attention to reducing product build-up and maintaining your scalp’s health by incorporating my BLCK Lux Scalp Detox Hair Serum Cleanser for Braids, Locs, Curls and Kinks as a pre-poo and/or detox in your new routine. It is a great addition to healthy loc regimen, it :

• Removes buildup and dirt from the hair and scalp.
• Formulated, tested, and approved by a dermatologist.
• Ideal for locs, braids, and protective styles.
• Tingly, soothing serum comforts and cools, while addressing dryness, tight styles, and itchiness.
• Infused with a potent blend of apple cider vinegar, willow bark extract, and jojoba esters.

These best cleansers for damaged locs can keep your hair safe while it gets healthier and stronger.