BioSilk is a popular haircare brand that sells everything from shampoo to styling gel to conditioner and more. Some of the brand's formulations do contain silk protein, and the brand describes its offerings as "some of the most powerful and effective" haircare products, containing "botanical extracts and herbs."
But does BioSilk actually good for your hair? Does the brand use ingredients proven to enhance hair quality and appearance? What was our Product Tester's honest experience trying it? And why was BioSilk sued?
In this article we'll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in two of BioSilk's most popular products (Silk Therapy Shampoo and Silk Therapy Oil) to give our take on whether or not these products are good for your hair.
We'll also explain why the brand was sued, and feature our Product Tester's honest experience trying the shampoo for a month.
Key takeaways:
- Contains research-backed active ingredients
- Contains inactive ingredients we consider unhealthy
- We consider BioSilk to be good for hair but do not recommend it
Ingredient Analysis — Silk Therapy Shampoo
The ingredients in BioSilk Silk Therapy Shampoo are shown below:
image source: https://biosilkbrand.com/
There are some ingredients in this formulation that have been shown in clinical studies to be good for hair.
Lavender extract may promote hair growth, because lavender oil (a less concentrated form of the same botanical compound) was shown to do so in a 2016 clinical trial.
Peppermint is also clinically shown to cause hair growth, as we documented in our Allurium Hair Growth Serum reviews article, on another hair product containing this ingedient.
Hydrolyzed silk, from which BioSilk presumably gets its name, was shown to have natural hair conditioning properties in a medical review published in the Indian Journal of Dermatology.
Panthenol is likely effective for moisturizing the scalp, as documented in a medical review published in the Journal of Cosmetic Science.
While BioSilk Silk Therapy Shampoo clearly contains some research-backed active ingredients, it also contains some inactive ingredients that may be questionable from a health perspective.
Linalool, hexyl cinnamal and citronellol are fragrance compounds, one of which can cause contact dermatitis in some individuals, according to a 2022 clinical trial.
Fragrance is even less healthy than these individual fragrance compounds in our opinion, because it can trigger "adverse health effects" as we documented in our article on is Aussie good for your hair.
Overall, we consider BioSilk shampoo to be good for your hair, because it contains a number of effective active ingredients.
However, we don't currently recommend this brand or consider it a healthy option due to the inclusion of the fragrance compounds highlighted above.
We Tested BioSilk Shampoo
One of our Product Testers named Amy Lau tried BioSilk shampoo for a month.
Here's her experience:
It comes in a bottle with a nice hourglass shape; narrow in the middle, easy to grip and dispense in a wet shower without fumbling it. I had no issues with it at all.
The shampoo smells crisp and clean, with a hint of floral accents.
I liked it. It didn’t smell like there were any weird chemicals in it, just fresh and clean.
I washed my hair every 2–3 days for a full month and I couldn't detect that silk amino acids were doing anything special to my hair shafts.
Here's my before image:
As for the claims of improving elasticity, locked-in moisture, heat and UV protection, none of it was something I could feel or see.
To be fair, these are microscopic claims and it could well be providing these benefits. But for me, nothing moved the needle.
Here's an image of my hair after using BioSilk shampoo for a month:
I didn’t see a noticeable difference between this shampoo and others I’ve used.
In general, my impression is that shampoos are fundamentally a cleanser: it opens the cuticle, strips away buildup, and then conditioner steps in to add the moisture and protection back in.
It cleaned my hair, but maybe a little too much. I noticed my scalp getting dry while using it, to the point where I started applying conditioner directly to my scalp just to get some relief. That's not something I typically need to do.
If you're going to try this, seriously, get the matching conditioner.
I think testing these two together is the only way to really know what this line can do. Using just the shampoo alone, or pairing it with conditioners from other brands, might be setting yourself up for an incomplete experience, same as I had.
Overall, I would rate BioSilk shampoo 5/10, and I don't plan on purchasing it again.
Why Was BioSilk Sued?
In June of 2025, BioSilk was sued in a class-action lawsuit, according to Top Class Actions.
Among other things, the plaintiffs alleged that BioSilk falsely advertised some of their products as "natural," while they contained synthetic ingredients.
While this may or may not be true, we don't believe it should be a concern for health-conscious consumers.
There are no allegations in the lawsuit that the ingredient lists are inaccurate, and since we know what's in the product, we can make an educated health decision regardless of the company's claims.
Ingredient Analysis — Silk Therapy Oil
The ingredients in BioSilk Silk Therapy Oil, which is used to smooth hair and aid shine, are shown below:
image source: https://biosilkbrand.com/
Hydrolyzed silk and panthenol are effective ingredients for supporting hair quality, as we documented in the previous Ingredient Analysis section.
Dimethiconol is a compound derived from silicone that's clinically shown to protect hair color, and to protect hair from UV damage.
Like the previous BioSilk formulation that we analyzed, this product also contains a number of fragrance ingredients that may be questionable from a health perspective.
Fragrance, citronellol, eugenol, geraniol, hexyl cinnamal, hydroxycitronellal and linalool are all fragrance ingredients, making 47% of the ingredients in this hair oil fragrance-based.
Hydroxycitronellal was described as a "dermatologic irritant and allergen" in a PubChem resource page, as we documented in our review of Glossier You Perfume.
Overall, we consider BioSilk Silk Therapy Oil to be good for hair, because of the three active ingredients highlighted above.
We don't currently recommend this product due to the fragrance ingredients, and we consider this to be a less healthy formulation than BioSilk Silk Therapy Shampoo, which had one more active ingredient that we considered likely to be effective, and four fewer fragrance ingredients.
Our Clean Hair Care Picks
Ritual HyaCera is our top hair growth supplement.
This supplement contains wheat oil extract, and a 2024 clinical trial reported that a wheat lipid complex had "a reducing effect on hair shedding and a stimulating effect on hair reappearance and growth."
MBG Omega-3 Potency+ is our top hair thickness pick.
Supplementation with omega-3 fats and antioxidants is clinically shown to improve hair density, and MBG's supplement contains both.
Both of the products recommended in this section are free of ingredients we consider to be unhealthy.
