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Side by side

Moroccanoil Clarifying Shampoo vs Moroccanoil Color Care Shampoo

72% function match · 8 of the 13 functions we compared match Formula overlap 4%. Moroccanoil Clarifying Shampoo and Moroccanoil Color Care Shampoo share 4 ingredients among each other's most prominent.

Based on your consultation

Which of these fits your hair?

We check your pattern, moisture need, scalp, fragrance tolerance, weight sensitivity and more against each formula — and say which one lines up.

Your profile at a glance

  • Your answers appear here
  • Your answers appear here
  • Your answers appear here
  • Your answers appear here

When each one is the right call

What each formula is built for, from its own ingredient list.

  • Clarifying Shampoo — colour-treated hair
  • Color Care Shampoo — colour-treated hair

Side by side

Every trait, aligned

One row per trait, read from each product’s own ingredient list and record. A dash means we have not researched that field for that product — it is not a “no”.

Trait
Moroccanoil Clarifying Shampoo — container, alternate view Moroccanoil

Clarifying Shampoo

  • Shampoo
  • Prestige
  • Sulfate-free
  • Silicone-free
Moroccanoil Color Care Shampoo — container, alternate view Moroccanoil

Color Care Shampoo

  • Shampoo
  • Prestige
  • Sulfate-free
  • Protein-free
Price, size & price per ounce
$30 8.5 oz · $3.53/oz
$84 8.5 oz · $9.94/oz
Value / price positioning
Same job for less elsewhere $$$$$ Prestige tier · costs more than 81% of the 817 shampoos we’ve priced
Same job for less elsewhere $$$$$ Prestige tier · costs more than 100% of the 817 shampoos we’ve priced
Best for hair types
All types Nothing in the formula or the claims narrows this to one pattern. Your hair
All types Nothing in the formula or the claims narrows this to one pattern. Your hair
Moisture level Same
Moderate Humectants in the working part of the formula. Your hair
Low Humectants appear, but low enough to be a minor part. Your hair
Cleansing strength Same
Strong Removes oil, buildup, and most residue — a reset wash. Your hair
Strong Removes oil, buildup, and most residue — a reset wash. Your hair
Slip / detangling Same
Moderate Conditioning agents are present, lower in the list. Your hair
Moderate Conditioning agents are present, lower in the list. Your hair
Weight on hair
Medium Middle of the range — noticeable on fine hair, light on coarse hair. Your hair
Medium Middle of the range — noticeable on fine hair, light on coarse hair. Your hair
Fragrance
Present Fragrance is listed; it sits below the working ingredients. Your hair
Present Fragrance is listed; it sits below the working ingredients. Your hair
Protein Differs
Minor Protein appears, low enough to be a supporting ingredient. Your hair
None No protein or amino acids in the list. Your hair
Silicone / wax buildup Differs
None Nothing here needs a detergent wash to remove. Your hair
High Water-insoluble silicones or waxes: a detergent wash is what removes them. Your hair
Clarifying wash needed
Low Your hair
Moderate Your hair
Expected lather Same
Moderate An ordinary shampoo lather. Your hair
Moderate An ordinary shampoo lather. Your hair
Scalp active Same
None No over-the-counter scalp active. Your hair
None No over-the-counter scalp active. Your hair
Hard-water defence Same
Chelators present Chelators are present — they bind hard-water and pool minerals. Your hair
Chelators present Chelators are present — they bind hard-water and pool minerals. Your hair
Formula completeness
out of 10
Complete for its job
out of 10
Complete for its job
Who should choose this
  • Colour-treated hairthat fades faster in a sulfate wash
  • Fast-oiling scalpsthat need a real reset wash
  • Curly-method routinesno sulfates and no water-insoluble silicones
  • Hard waterand swimmers dealing with mineral deposit
  • Colour-treated hairthat fades faster in a sulfate wash
  • Protein-sensitive hairthat stiffens when protein is added
  • Fast-oiling scalpsthat need a real reset wash
  • Hard waterand swimmers dealing with mineral deposit
Why you might skip it
  • Scents bother youthis product carries a scent
  • Dry or damaged haira strong detergent system strips as it cleans
  • Vegan and cruelty-freeour record does not support both claims here
  • Scents bother youthis product carries a scent
  • Curly-method routinesthese silicones need a detergent to remove
  • Dry or damaged haira strong detergent system strips as it cleans
from the formula stated by the brand reported by reviewers Scale: 1 dot low · 5 dots high, within this product type.
More facts about each one
Type
Shampoo
Shampoo
Line
Color Care
Where to buy
Brand website
Salons · Brand website · Ulta
Free of
  • sulfate-free
  • silicone-free
  • curly-method compatible
  • sulfate-free
  • protein-free
Vegan
Not vegan · ingredient list
Cruelty-free
Cruelty-free · PETA-listed
Cruelty-free · PETA-listed
Scent
Fresh & airy
Scented, not described

Facts as we recorded them. A dash means we have not researched that field for that product — it is not a "no".

The bottom line

The bottom line depends on your hair

Which of these two suits you is a question about your hair, not about them. The consultation answers it — and tells you what your routine needs around it.

Take the consultation

$49.00 once, for your consultation and hair profile. No subscription, no required purchases.

The detail behind the table

Where the readings above come from: the ingredient lists themselves, each brand’s claims checked against them, what owners report, and cost per ounce in context.

Shared and distinct ingredients

Shared and distinct ingredients

Computed from the ingredient lists as printed. "Shared" means both lists carry it; where it sits on each label is stated, because position is what tells you how much.

What both formulas carry

IngredientClarifying ShampooColor Care Shampoo
Water
Neutral
#1Leading
#1Leading
Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil
Softens
#7Supporting
#11Below the 1% line
Fragrance
Fragrance
#13Below the 1% line
#9Below the 1% line
Ethylhexylglycerin
Softens
#28Below the 1% line
#8Below the 1% line
Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone
Fragrance
#43Below the 1% line
#45Below the 1% line
Linalool
Fragrance
#44Below the 1% line
#46Below the 1% line

What only one of them carries

Full ingredient list — Clarifying Shampoo (44)
Full ingredient list — Color Care Shampoo (46)

Claims check

What each brand says, against what each formula shows

Claims are quoted from each brand. We only mark one supported, partly supported, or conflicting when that product’s ingredient list actually speaks to it.

VerdictsClarifying ShampooColor Care Shampoo
Supported
1
0
Partly supported
0
0
Stated by brand
2
2
Potential conflict
0
0

Clarifying Shampoo

  • Removes 88% of oil*Stated by brandOnly the brand’s testing shows this.
  • Removes 88% of copper pollutants*Stated by brandOnly the brand’s testing shows this.
  • Color-safe. Sulfate-free, phosphate-free and paraben-free.SupportedGentler on colour and coils.

Color Care Shampoo

  • 90% of users noticed healthy-looking shine in just one useStated by brandOnly the brand’s testing shows this.
  • Optimizes color retention for 10+ washesStated by brandCan’t be confirmed from label.

What owners say

What people report

Recurring themes our researchers wrote in their own words from sourced reviews. We do not store or scrape star ratings, and we never balance one product’s themes against another’s by inventing them.

Moroccanoil Color Care Shampoo draws complaints about the packaging.

Clarifying Shampoo

Reviewers commonly describe using it on a periodic basis (e.g., weekly or biweekly) rather than as a daily shampoo, consistent with manufacturer directions

general reviewers

Reviewers report it removes product buildup effectively without stripping hair, useful after heavy styling-product use, swimming, or travel

general reviewers

Reviewers with curly (3c/4a-type) hair who use heavy amounts of styling product describe it as an effective periodic reset

curly-hair, heavy-product-user reviewers

Some reviewers note the fragrance is lighter/subtler than other Moroccanoil products, viewed as a positive by fragrance-sensitive users

fragrance-sensitive reviewers

Color Care Shampoo

Reviewers with sensitive scalp/skin report this shampoo was gentler than their prior shampoo and did not irritate their neck or scalp.

sensitive scalp/skin

Color-treated-hair users report the shampoo helps color last noticeably longer between salon visits, with less color rinsing out on later washes.

color-treated hair

Reviewers describe the fragrance as pleasant but not overpowering.

Reviewers frequently pair it with Color Care Conditioner and describe the combination as leaving color-treated hair soft and moisturized.

color-treated hair, uses with Color Care Conditioner

One long-time repurchaser found a recently bought bottle unusually thin/watery compared to the formula they remembered, suspecting a change in consistency.

repeat customer

Price check

Cost per ounce, in context

Cost per ounce against every product of this type we have priced, each at the size it is most often sold in. Value labels are computed from that percentile and from how many products that do the same job cost less; they are comparisons, not judgements about a brand.

$3.53/oz vs $9.94/oz — Moroccanoil Color Care Shampoo costs about 2.8× more per ounce than Moroccanoil Clarifying Shampoo.

$0.00/oz median $1.47/oz $17.29/oz $3.53/oz Clarifying Shampoo $9.94/oz Color Care Shampoo

Every mark sits on one distribution because these are compared against the same set: 817 shampoos with a computable unit price.

Value readClarifying ShampooColor Care Shampoo
Label
Same job for less elsewhereYou are paying above the range for a formula close to several lower-priced options.
Same job for less elsewhereYou are paying above the range for a formula close to several lower-priced options.

Computed from cost per ounce against every product of this type we have priced, and from how many products that do the same job cost less. It is a comparison, not a judgement about the brand.

Compare with something else

Close formulas to each of these, as their own comparison pages.

Clarifying Shampoo · Color Care Shampoo · All shampoos in the library

How this page was made

  • This page is assembled from the same researched records the individual product pages render: identity, each ingredient list as printed, each brand's own claims, dated price observations, and review themes written in our researchers' own words. Nothing on it is written per comparison.
  • We do not rank these against each other. Which of them suits you depends on your hair, and that is what the consultation works out.
  • The formula similarity percentage is a stored, precomputed number: position-weighted overlap of the two ingredient lists blended with agreement on the attributes we derive. It measures how alike two formulas are, not how well either works.
  • The value band is a fixed label over two stored numbers: this product’s cost per ounce as a percentile of every product of this type we have priced, each at the size it is most often sold in, and how many products we score as doing the same job cost at least a quarter less per ounce.
  • The "Is this right for you?" panel reads only your own consultation answers, and it applies exactly the filters our recommendation engine applies. It is computed when you load the page and is never stored on it.
  • 9 sources were consulted across the products on this page.
  • Ingredient order tells you relative amount only above roughly 1%. Prices are observations on the dates shown and change without notice. We do not sell these products and take no placement fees.
  • This is cosmetic information, not medical advice, and nothing here diagnoses or treats a health condition.

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