Monday is a hair care brand with beautifully designed products. The brand sells shampoo and conditioner, has won several beauty awards including Glamour’s award for “Best Drugstore Shampoo and Conditioner for Frizz.”
But does Monday’s shampoo and conditioner actually contain research-backed ingredients for improving hair quality or does it just have great branding? Are there any unhealthy additive ingredients in either product? Where’s the cheapest place to buy Monday products? And do Monday hair care products cause hair shedding?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more as we review every ingredient in Monday shampoo and conditioner based on clinical studies to give our take on whether the products are actually likely to improve hair quality or if they’re a waste of money.
We’ll also give a price breakdown and share the cheapest place to buy Monday products, as well as share real, unsponsored user reviews of Monday hair care products.
Monday Shampoo Review
The ingredients for Monday Smooth Shampoo are shown above. This formulation does include ingredients that are shown in clinical studies to improve hair quality.
Coconut oil is one of the best botanical ingredients for shampoo, as it was shown in a medical review published in the Journal of Cosmetic Science to prevent hair damage and reduce hair protein loss “remarkably” in both damaged and undamaged hair.
Glycerin can improve skin barrier function and reduce dandruff according to results from a 2014 clinical trial.
There are also a number of ingredients we recommend avoiding.
Fragrance is included, and a medical review of fragranced consumer products published in the Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health journal concluded the following: “Results of this study provide compelling evidence that everyday fragranced products can impose serious risks to human health, environmental quality, businesses, and society.”
Benzyl alcohol, phenoxyethanol and ethylhexylglycerin are synthetic preservatives, and at least one of them was shown to be toxic to human cells in a clinical trial.
BHT is another preservative ingredient, and as we documented in our review of Redken Shampoo, this preservative has a metabolite that was shown to promote tumors in animal studies.
Cocamidopropyl betaine is a synthetic detergent ingredient that won an award called Allergen of the Year in 2004 according to a medical review of the ingredient, due to how frequently it caused skin sensitivity reactions.
Overall we consider Monday Smooth Shampoo likely to improve hair quality due to the inclusion of coconut oil and glycerin, but we do not recommend the product overall due to all of the questionable additive ingredients.
A YouTube creator with self-described hair damage and dry hair tried Monday Shampoo for two weeks in an unsponsored review and shared her thoughts about whether or not it’s effective:
Do Monday Hair Products Cause Hair Loss?
A TikTok user named Lexi Freeman made a video including before-and-after images of her hair as she used Monday for seven months. The video suggests that Monday products caused hair loss:
@lexifreemannn ever since I started using #mondayshampoo my hair has been doing this. 👀 anyone else??? #fyp #LikeAMonarch #greenscreen ♬ Oh No - Kreepa
A TikTok beauty influencer tried Monday products once and claims to have experienced hair shedding:
@baallondon Most likely will NOT use again 🥲 #hairtok #shampooreview #hairfall #hairtutorial #mondayshampoo #hairtransformation ♬ Yoncé - Atsuko Okatsuka
Monday Conditioner Review
Monday Smooth Conditioner has a similar formulation to Monday Smooth Shampoo. It contains coconut oil, fragrance, phenoxyethanol, ethylhexylglycerin, benzyl alcohol which we already reviewed in the previous section.
Panthenol is an effective ingredient unique to the conditioner that was shown in a medical review published in the Journal of Cosmetic Science to hydrate the skin, which suggests it can improve scalp and hair health.
Cetrimonium chloride is another synthetic preservative ingredient that we recommend avoiding, as we referenced in our review of Odele Shampoo, another product containing this ingredient.
Behentrimonium chloride and sodium benzoate are also synthetic preservatives, making six different preservatives in this conditioner which seems like overkill in our opinion.
Overall we consider Monday Smooth Conditioner likely to improve hair quality because of the coconut oil and panthenol, but we do not recommend the product due to the inclusion of a number of questionable additive ingredients such as six distinct preservatives.
A YouTube creator named “SummerNicole” reviewed Monday Smooth Conditioner in an unsponsored video and explained why it didn’t work for her:
Monday Shampoo and Conditioner Real Customer Reviews
Monday Shampoo and Conditioner is sold in a set on Amazon, which is a more objective resource for customer reviews than a brand’s website in our opinion. This set has an impressive average user review rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.
This is a good sign about the legitimacy of the product and brand.
The top positive review from a verified purchaser comes from a user named “Holly” who claims that the product improved the texture and smell of hair:
“my hair smells AMAZING still 24 hours after washing and conditioning. It also made my hair super soft and manageable which is a big deal for me because I have really long hair that’s not usually easy to brush through. I love that this shampoo/conditioner is very lightweight but still leaves your hair nice and soft”
The top negative review from a verified purchaser is written by a user named “Seaira Rose” who claims the product(s) caused hair loss:
“I never write reviews because most of the things I buy are great products. However, this is the WORST shampoo and conditioner I’ve ever used. Suave would be better than this. I starting using this late July and stopped around end of August. Between then and now I had chunks of hair falling out and my hair was so dry.”
Where’s the Cheapest Place to Buy Monday Shampoo and Conditioner?
Monday’s shampoo and conditioner are sold at a variety of retailers, including Ulta, Target and Amazon. Here’s the price breakdown (per ounce):
Ulta: $0.59
Target: $0.56
Amazon: $0.52 (link to Amazon product page)
At the time of writing this article, the most cost-effective way to buy Monday Shampoo and Conditioner is to buy the set of both, 30 ounce (oz) sizes of each on Amazon. The product is also sold at Walmart, but the Walmart listing appears to be from a third-party seller rather than an official brand account so we recommend avoiding it.
Our Clean Hair Care Picks
Acure Vivacious Volume Shampoo is our top shampoo pick, and only costs $7.49 at the time of updating this article.
This shampoo is formulated with effective and non-toxic plant-based compounds like aloe vera juice and argan oil. It also contains rosemary leaf oil which was shown in a clinical trial published in the Phytotherapy Research journal to promote hair growth.
Happy Head Topical is our top hair growth solution.
This formulation uses FDA-approved hair loss ingredients like minoxidil which is clinically shown to increase hair count by 11%.
The brand also publishes the percentage concentration of each active ingredient, which is a sign of quality and transparency.
