The most-reviewed anti-dandruff shampoo in this set has over 200,000 reviews. It skips a named active ingredient. It markets itself as sulphate-free instead.
The other four shampoos name specific actives. These include salicylic acid with piroctone, ketoconazole, and a three-active blend. This comparison looks at what each shampoo is built around. It uses public listing data only, not lab testing or personal use.
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All five shampoos are sold on Nykaa.
We don’t show a price here because it wasn’t checked in the last 24 hours — the listing may have changed.
Review counts below show how many people bought and rated each shampoo. They don’t show fit or quality for your scalp.
The five shampoos
- Nykaa Naturals Anti-Dandruff Sulphate-Free Shampoo With Apple leaves out sulfate surfactants like SLS and SLES. These are generally considered gentler scalp cleansers than sulfate-based ones. It also adds an apple extract. Apple extract works mainly as a fragrance ingredient, not an anti-dandruff active. It has 201,007 reviews, the highest count in this set.
- Bare Anatomy Anti-Dandruff Shampoo with Salicylic Acid, Piroctone names two actives on its label. Salicylic acid is a beta-hydroxy acid that works keratolytically, loosening flaky scalp cells. Piroctone olamine is an antifungal agent that targets Malassezia yeast on the scalp. It’s often used as an alternative to zinc pyrithione. It has 24,852 reviews.
- Be Bodywise 1% Ketoconazole Anti Dandruff Shampoo For Women states its active concentration on the label. Ketoconazole is an imidazole antifungal that acts against Malassezia yeast on the scalp. It’s positioned specifically for women. It has 8,880 reviews.
- Head & Shoulders Silky Black Anti-Dandruff Shampoo comes from a long-established global anti-dandruff brand. Its title doesn’t name a specific active ingredient. Instead, it brands this variant as “Silky Black.” It has 7,264 reviews.
- The Derma Co Triple Actives Anti-Dandruff Shampoo comes from a dermatology-positioned brand. Its “Triple Actives” branding implies three combined active ingredients. The label doesn’t list them individually. It has 585 reviews, the lowest count in this set.
Anti-dandruff shampoos generally work through two mechanisms. One type uses antifungal agents that reduce scalp yeast. The other uses keratolytic agents that remove flakes already on the scalp. For more on how these actives work, see how single-active and multi-active anti-dandruff shampoos compare.
Which one fits you
If you want a gentler, sulphate-free wash, pick Nykaa Naturals. If you want two combined actives, pick Bare Anatomy. If you want a stated active concentration, pick Be Bodywise. If you prefer an established brand without a named active, pick Head & Shoulders. If you want a multi-active formula from a dermatology-positioned brand, pick The Derma Co.