15 of the best budget-friendly shampoos for your next hair wash day

From $23.21 at iHerb

Curly-haired friends, rejoice! No more missing out on budget beauty buys! Shea Moisture is the cruelty-free, nasties-free shampoo that your tremendous tresses have so long desired! Enriched with moisturising shea butter and nourishing, curl-enhancing silk proteins, plus neem oil, your curls will have never looked (or smelled) better!

Key features:

• Organic shea butter rich formula 
• Curly hair-friendly 
• Made from sustainably sourced ingredients

Available at:

• $23.21 from iHerb
• $23.50 from Priceline
• $18.80 (usually $23.50) from Oz Hair and Beauty

From $30 at Priceline

You know how you’re totally on top of moisturising your body and face? Yep, turns out your dry strands have been calling out for attention this whole time (sorry hair!). So, it’s time to incorporate some seriously hydrating ingredients into your shampoo. With the likes of moisture-boosting hyaluronic acid, your tresses will be left feeling a thousand times more hydrated and looking seriously shiny. 

Key features:

• Enriched with hyaluronic acid and vitamin B5
• Made with a ‘clean beauty promise’ 
• Scalp-nourishing formula 

Available at:

• $30 from Priceline
• $17.99 (usually $29.99) from Chemist Warehouse

From $34.99 at Adore Beauty

Calling all blondes. While you’ve been out ‘having more fun’ you’ve forgotten all about looking after the mane that gave you the moniker. Thankfully, Georgiemane is here to nourish your tresses back to totally-toned, fresh blonde. The toning purple shampoo is even enriched with seriously hydrating avocado and coconut oils to nourish and repair your strands. Basically, it’s your new shower bestie.

Key features:

• Tone-correcting purple shampoo
• Infused with avocado and coconut oil
• ‘Curly-girl method’ approved

Available at:

• $34.99 from Adore Beauty
• $34.99 from Priceline
• $26.24 (usually $34.99) from Look Fantastic 

From $20 at Amazon Australia

Get ready to enter your most hydrated luscious locks era! This multifunctional powerhouse could be just the shampoo to replace all shampoos. Okay not to be dramatic but when you hear the ingredients in this bottle you’ll understand.

Glow Lab set out on a mission to create natural, effective, no-nasties products that really work, and won’t break the bank. Their hydrating shampoo epitomises this mission, packed with incredible active ingredients, such as shea butter for hydration, and functional keratin which helps to protect and prevent from breakage. They’ve even thought of an antistatic ingredient (betaine) to help with those pesky fly aways!

Your hair is already calling out to be quenched, protected, enriched and de-frizzed with this wonderful shampoo.

Key features:

• Hyaluronic acid-rich formula locks in moisture
• Tropical scent 
• Formulated for dry and dehydrated hair

Available at:

• $20 from Amazon Australia
• $20 from Woolworths

From $11.50 at ASOS

Alright girlies, we know that sometimes the best financial decisions don’t always come in the most aesthetic bottles.

Monday is here to bust that thought. The stunning pale pink bottles will fit in with your shower “shelfie”, and not only is it beautiful to look at, but its active ingredients pack a punch. Made to balance your hair pH, it’s dermatologically tested, cruelty free and SLS/paraben free, so we don’t doubt you’ll be completely sold before you even see the incredible results. 

This shampoo is made with ginger root to help stimulate and volumise your hair from the scalp, coconut oil to maintain that luscious shine and vitamin E to support hair and scalp health. Not to paraphrase Mean Girls but that’s why your hair will be so big… It's full of Monday's secrets. Need we say more?

Key features:

• Enriched with hydrolyzed collagen 
• pH balanced formula
• Leaping Bunny certified 

Available at:

• $11.50 from ASOS
• $7 (usually $10) from Coles

From $23 at Priceline

Considering we’re all self-proclaimed caffeine addicts (no we’re not ashamed) the thought of caffeine surrounding us everywhere we go is an absolute dream that OGX Anti-hair Fall is bringing to life. 

This wonderful concoction that smells absolutely good enough to drink (obvs please don’t), is here to save your strands. 

Formulated with caffeine, and coconut oil this shampoo will help to strengthen those locks, and wake up lifeless locks. Using it will help to prevent future breakage, by reinforcing your hair’s natural strength. 

Key features:

• Formulated to reinforce hair strength 
• Infused with caffeine, white tea extract and coconut oil
• Works to reduce hair fall

Available at:

• $13.80 (usually $23) from Priceline
• $11.50 (usually $23) from Woolworths
• $12 (usually $23) from Chemist Warehouse

From $18 at Priceline

If your curls could use a frizz-fighting helping hand, we’ve gone and found you the perfect accomplice. We recommend drenching your bouncy spirals in a hit of silicone and sulphate-free hydration (thank you hyaluronic acid). With the power to help define your curls, while hydrating them, you’ll want to stock up on this curl-friendly shampoo. 

Key features:

• Helps to reduce frizz
• Works to define curls
• Drenches strands with moisture

Available at:

• $12.60 (usually $18) from Priceline
• $16.50 from Beauty Bay

From $16.80 at Woolworths

TRESemmé is a name that we all know and trust; it’s been giving us salon- quality hair for years. And now that we’re reaching for that hair dye a bit more, we’ve got to make sure that we’re maintaining our colour and hair health. 

That’s where TRESemmé Colour Revitalise Shampoo steps in! Nutri-oil, rosemary oil and green tea extract help to protect your salon perfect colour, while UV fibres work to replenish your hair's moisture. 

Key features:

• Maintains colour vibrancy 
• Enriched with vitamin E, argan oil and green tea
• PETA approved

Available at:

• $11.20 (usually $16.80) from Woolworths
• $13.99 (usually $16) from Chemist Warehouse

From $15.49 at Priceline

It’s the topic no one really wants to talk about, but really we all get it from time to time. Let’s open up the convo on dandruff chat. 

This incredible ingredient-packed shampoo is here to fight the battles for everyone struggling with scalp health. From psoriasis all the way to eczema and dandruff, it will soothe those itchy scalp feelings that come with an irritated or unbalanced scalp.

Neutrogena’s T/Gel formula lathers up just the same as any other shampoo and gives your hair and scalp a good deep clean, leaving you thanking us for easing your itchy scalp. 

Key features:

• Helps with itchy scalp
• Works to reduce the appearance of dandruff 
• Infused with coal tar

Available at:

• $9.29 (usually $15.49) from Priceline
• $9.29 from Amazon Australia
• $14 from Woolworths

From $14.99 at Priceline

Dandruff needn’t be a taboo topic, because the white flakey stuff happens to the best of us. If your mane is suffering, and your scalp errs on the sensitive side then it’s best to opt for a nourishing pH-balanced shampoo that’s specially designed to care for your sensitive scalp. The dermatologically-tested formulation will not only cleanse away any additional buildup, but it’ll also soothe, all thanks to gentle aloe vera. 

Key features:

• Infused with aloe vera
• Works to soothe irritated scalp
• Antioxidant-rich formula

Available at:

• $14.99 from Priceline
• $15 from Woolworths
• $15 from Big W

From $9.99 at Priceline

If your hair has ended up on the straw-like side, it’s time to boost those moisture levels. The Pantene Pro-V Moisture Renewal Shampoo is specially formulated with a selection of strand-salvaging vitamins (leaving out the silicones) to give your hair the lightweight moisture-boost it needs. The carefully designed formula even goes one step further, working to strengthen your strands from the inside out.

Key features:

• Enriched with a pro-V nourishing formula
• Formulated to hydrate strands 
• Lightweight formula

Available at:

• $9.99 from Priceline
• $5 (usually $10) from Woolworths
• $4.99 (usually $9.99) from Chemist Warehouse

From $13.50 at Priceline

Who says buying budget beauty means you have to sacrifice anything? Not only does this Herbal Essences shampoo not compromise on quality (think incredible argan oil nourishment), but it also doesn’t compromise on ethics, with a completely vegan, cruelty-free formula that’s even jam-packed with plant-based antioxidant ingredients. All that for an affordable price;, we couldn’t ask for more. 

Key features:

• Creamy vanilla scent
• Aloe vera, sea kelp and argan oil rich formula
• Bottle made from 25 per cent recycled materials 

Available at:

• $13.50 from Priceline
• $13.50 from Woolworths
• $7.99 (usually $13.50) from Chemist Warehouse

From $29.92 at Amazon Australia

Have you ever wrapped yourself up in a cashmere jumper and just felt like the softest thing in the world? Well, now your strands can get to experience that feeling. Yep, Plantur 21 #longhair Shampoo is formulated with strand-softening cashmere (winner). Not to mention a heap of hair-boosting nutrients that, when paired with caffeine (also found in the formula), help make your locks lengthen. 

Key features:

• Encourages hair growth
• Reparative formula 
• Nutri-caffeine complex

Available at:

• $29.92 from Amazon Australia
• $17.99 from Catch
• $17.99 from Plantur39

From $20.99 from Priceline

If your once vibrant, cool-toned blonde has turned itself into a brassy, yellow tone, then we’ve got some good news for you. And it involves skipping paying the big bucks at the salon. Yep, this intense purple shampoo from John Frieda is set to revolutionise the haircare game for blondes. The crushed violet pigments work to strip away the brassiness, while also protecting your strands from colour-altering UV light.  

Key features:

Removes brassy, yellow tones
Brightens strands
Crushed violet pigments absorb UV light 

Available at:

$20.99 from Priceline
$21 from Woolworths
$17.99 (usually $20.99) from Chemist Warehouse

From $33 at Adore Beauty

There’s a few compliments to us that sit above the rest, and one of them is ‘your hair looks SO soft and shiny’. Yep, elite. But it’s not easy keeping your tresses hydrated and silky on the reg. Thankfully, that’s here to change, with the Matrix Food For Soft Shampoo offering the much-needed hydration for up to 72 hours. Yep, three whole days (perfectly in time for the next wash day)! Plus, the inclusions of hyaluronic acid and avocado oil mean your strands stay seriously silky (with not a hint of frizz in sight). 

Key features:

Provides moisture for 72 hours

Formulated with hyaluronic acid and avocado oil

Works to reduce frizz

Available at:

$33 from Adore Beauty

$28.05 (usually $33) from Oz Hair and Beauty

$24.99 (usually $33) from Chemist Warehouse