Allure Best of Beauty 2026: Hair Winners Put Scalp Health First
Allure's Best of Beauty 2026 hair awards went to Maria Nila, Olaplex, Dr. Groot and Head & Shoulders, with three of four winning duos built around scalp care.
Updated
The takeaway
- Allure editors spent close to a year blow-drying, diffusing and air-drying products to select the 2026 hair winners.
- Olaplex No. 4Curl Bond Shaper Hydrating Curl Shampoo and No. 5Curl Bond Shaper Hydrating Curl Conditioner won Best Curly Hair Shampoo & Conditioner.
- Head & Shoulders won the dandruff category with a sulfate-free shea butter formulation.
Allure's Best of Beauty Awards 2026 has crowned its hair winners, and the shampoo and conditioner categories went to Maria Nila, Olaplex, Dr. Groot and Head & Shoulders.
The magazine's editors said they "spent the better part of a year blow-drying, diffusing, and air-drying to find the hair products that deliver consistent (and consistently gorgeous) results."
The Winners
Best Dry Hair Shampoo & Conditioner: Maria Nila Head & Hair Heal Soothing Shampoo and Conditioner. The Swedish color-care brand took the top spot for dry strands with a duo positioned around scalp and hair health.
Best Curly Hair Shampoo & Conditioner: Olaplex No. 4Curl Bond Shaper Hydrating Curl Shampoo and No. 5Curl Bond Shaper Hydrating Curl Conditioner. The bond-building brand extended its numbered system into curl-specific cleansing and conditioning, and Allure's testers rated the pair the best for textured hair this year.
Best Fine Hair Shampoo & Conditioner: Dr. Groot Scalp Revitalizing Solution Hair Thickening Shampoo and Conditioner. The scalp-focused label won for fine hair, a category where volume claims often outnumber results.
Best Dandruff Shampoo & Conditioner: Head & Shoulders Sulfate-Free Shea Butter Shampoo and Conditioner. Procter & Gamble's mass-market flagship won the medicated-adjacent category with a sulfate-free formulation — a notable shift for a brand long associated with sulfates.
What the List Signals
Three of the four winning duos are built around scalp care: Maria Nila's Head & Hair Heal line, Dr. Groot's Scalp Revitalizing Solution, and Head & Shoulders' dandruff franchise. That alignment tracks with the broader trade direction, where suppliers and retailers report scalp skinification as a dominant growth driver in hair care.
The sulfate-free Head & Shoulders win also shows mass brands competing directly with prestige formulations on ingredient positioning. Retail buyers weighing 2026 hair care assortments can read the list as confirmation that scalp-health and bond-care claims now anchor both mass and premium shelves.
For beauty professionals, the full hair winners list — spanning styling tools, treatments and color care beyond these four cleansing categories — offers a tested shortlist ahead of the holiday retail push.
Source: Allure
Rebecca Stone
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Market editor covering media and advertising at Eurasian Beauty Journal.
