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Neutrogena

T/Gel Therapeutic Shampoo Original Formula

Shampoo / Clarifying, deep-cleaning

  • Shampoo
  • Silicone-free
  • Protein-free
  • Lightweight
  • Not cruelty-free · PETA-listed
Size16 fl oz
Price$21.27seen at one store · 16 oz
Where to buy1 store

Scent:

The ingredient list declares fragrance. What it smells of is not stated, and we do not guess.

Manufacturer page: otcsuperstore.com

Personal fit

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Not enough priced shampoos to place it

We have not priced enough shampoos to place this one.

Price and stores

Great for

Flaking scalpsthis carries an over-the-counter active
Protein-sensitive hairthat stiffens when protein is added
Fast-oiling scalpsthat need a real reset wash
Hard waterand swimmers dealing with mineral deposit
Fine hairthat flattens under most products
Silicone-free routinesno silicones appear in the list

Maybe skip if

this product carries a scent
Sulfate-free routinesit uses a sulfate detergent
Dry or damaged haira strong detergent system strips as it cleans
Hair that needs proteinthere is none in this list
Hair that tangles wetnothing here reduces combing force
Non-medicated routinesthis is an over-the-counter drug as well as a cosmetic

Whether this much cleansing is right for you depends on how fast your scalp oils, how much product you layer, and your water — that is what the consultation works out.

What the formula actually does

Read from the label, not the marketing

Each row says where it comes from: F means we derived it from this product’s own ingredient list, S means it is a claim the brand makes that the formula neither confirms nor contradicts.

Cleansing strength Strong

Removes oil, buildup, and most residue — a reset wash.

Expected lather High

Thick foam that spreads quickly through the hair.

Slip and detangling Little

Nothing here is built to reduce combing force.

Water-binding (humectants) None found

No humectants found — nothing here pulls water into the hair.

Scalp active coal tar, 0.5%

Carries an over-the-counter scalp active, listed under Drug Facts.

Hard-water defence Chelators present

Chelators are present — they bind hard-water and pool minerals.

Needs detergent to remove No

Nothing here needs a detergent wash to remove.

Protein None

No protein or amino acids in the list.

Fragrance Prominent

Fragrance sits in the first eight ingredients — a larger share of the formula.

from the formula stated by the brand reported by reviewers Scale: 1 dot low · 5 dots high, within this product type.

Ingredients that matter

The ingredients that change a decision

The workhorse ingredients plus anything lower down that changes a decision. These chips name what an ingredient does — they are not safety scores, and no ingredient here is rated good or bad on its own.

IngredientWhat it doesWhy it mattersChip
Water solvent The base everything else is dissolved in Neutral
Sodium Laureth Sulfate sulfate cleanser — Cleanses
Cocamide MEA secondary cleanser Softens the main detergent Cleanses
Laureth-4 emulsifier Keeps oil and water mixed Stabilizes
Fragrance fragrance The scent Fragrance
Sodium Chloride salt Adjusts the texture Stabilizes
Polysorbate 20 solubilizer Helps dissolve the oils Stabilizes
Cocamidopropyl Betaine amphoteric cleanser — Cleanses
What the list leaves out, and what it carriesThe list carries no silicones or drying alcohols. No protein — a moisture formula, not a repair one. Fragrance is on the label. Carries an over-the-counter scalp active (coal tar 0.5%).
Full ingredient list (12)

US labelling rules put ingredients above 1% in descending order of amount; below 1% they may be listed in any order. Annotations keep three readings separate: the ingredient's general function, its role in this product type, and what its position can support.

  • 1 Water
    General function

    The base of almost every rinse-off and cream hair product. It carries everything else and is normally the first ingredient on the label.

    Leading ingredient

    Listed in the first three ingredients, it is likely a structural part of this formula.

    • solvent
  • 2 Sodium Laureth Sulfate
    General function

    A strong, high-foaming cleanser and the most common shampoo detergent. It removes oil and product efficiently, which can be more than dry or colour-treated hair wants.

    Leading ingredient

    Listed in the first three ingredients, it is likely a structural part of this formula.

    May suitBuild-up-sensitive routines

    A sulfate detergent removes deposited silicone, wax and styling films in one wash, which is what resets a routine before build-up is visible.

    May suitFine or easily flattened hair

    Fine hair that goes limp under conditioning films usually reads a full detergent wash as volume returning.

    May not suitDry, coarse, or high-porosity hair

    Coarse and high-porosity hair loses water quickly on its own; an efficient detergent removes the surface oils that were slowing that down.

    Indian Journal of Dermatology
    • sulfate cleanser
    • cleanser
  • 3 Cocamide MEA
    General function

    A coconut-derived thickener that stabilises foam and gives shampoo its body.

    Leading ingredient

    Listed in the first three ingredients, it is likely a structural part of this formula.

    May suitDry, coarse, or high-porosity hair

    Mild cleansing leaves more surface lubrication in place on hair that dries out quickly.

    May suitVery dry or highly damaged hair

    A sugar-derived non-ionic detergent, among the gentlest in use. It cleanses with little foam of its own and little sebum removal.

    May not suitBuild-up-sensitive routines

    Gentle cleansing leaves water-insoluble deposits largely in place; they come off with a stronger wash, not this one.

    • secondary cleanser
    • nonionic cleanser
    • thickener
  • 4 Laureth-4
    General function

    An oil-side emulsifier that helps a cream hold together.

    Supporting ingredient

    Listed in positions 4–8, it likely makes a meaningful contribution alongside the formula's main ingredients.

    • emulsifier
  • ▾Below about this point, order stops being meaningful — these are typically used at 1% or less.
  • 5 Fragrance
    General function

    An undisclosed blend of scent ingredients. Regulations let it stay unlisted, so a fragrance-free product is the only way to be certain what is not in it.

    Estimated lower-concentration zone

    It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.

    May not suitFragrance-sensitive routines

    Declared fragrance. On a fragrance-sensitive routine this is the line that decides it, wherever it sits on the label.

    • fragrance
    • declared fragrance
  • 6 Sodium Chloride
    General function

    Table salt. In shampoo it is used to thicken the liquid, not to treat the hair.

    Estimated lower-concentration zone

    It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.

    PubChem
    • salt
    • thickener
  • 7 Polysorbate 20
    General function

    Keeps fragrance and oils dissolved in a watery formula so it stays clear.

    Estimated lower-concentration zone

    It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.

    • solubilizer
    • emulsifier
  • 8 Cocamidopropyl Betaine
    General function

    A mild coconut-derived co-cleanser that boosts foam and softens the effect of stronger detergents. It appears in most shampoos, gentle or not.

    Estimated lower-concentration zone

    It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.

    May suitDry, coarse, or high-porosity hair

    Mild cleansing leaves more surface lubrication in place on hair that dries out quickly.

    May not suitBuild-up-sensitive routines

    The mildest detergents are also the least complete: a routine that deposits films needs something stronger periodically.

    DependsVery dry or highly damaged hair

    Among the mildest detergents in use — it is what baby shampoos are built on — but it is almost always the second detergent in a formula. How much a wash strips is still decided by the primary detergent listed above it.

    Indian Journal of Dermatology
    • amphoteric cleanser
    • secondary cleanser
    • cleanser
  • 9 DMDM Hydantoin
    • formaldehyde releaser
    • preservative
  • 10 Citric Acid
    General function

    Used to bring the product to a slightly acidic pH, which helps the cuticle lie flat. It is almost always near the end of the list.

    Estimated lower-concentration zone

    It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.

    May suitBuild-up-sensitive routines

    Holds hard-water minerals in solution so they rinse away instead of depositing on the hair.

    May suitFrizz-prone, damaged, or high-friction hair

    The acid side of pH adjustment, and the reason it matters is measured: alkaline formulas raise the fibre's surface negative charge, increase friction between strands and lift the scales, while lower-pH ones do the reverse.

    May suitGray, silver, or brass-prone hair

    Where a warm cast comes from water minerals rather than from the hair itself, holding those metals in solution is what removes it.

    International Journal of Trichology
    • pH adjuster
    • hard-water chelator
  • 11 Tetrasodium EDTA
    General function

    Binds the metal ions in hard water so they cannot dull hair or destabilise the formula.

    Estimated lower-concentration zone

    It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.

    May suitBuild-up-sensitive routines

    Binds the calcium and magnesium in hard water, which is what stops mineral deposits accumulating on the strand wash after wash.

    May suitGray, silver, or brass-prone hair

    Copper and iron carried in tap water deposit on the strand and read as a dull, warm cast on gray or light hair. A chelator holds those metals in solution so the wash carries them off.

    PubChem
    • hard-water chelator
  • 12 Sodium Hydroxide
    General function

    A strong base used in trace amounts to raise pH; fully neutralised in the finished product.

    Estimated lower-concentration zone

    It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.

    DependsFrizz-prone, damaged, or high-friction hair

    The alkali half of a pH-adjusting pair, used in small amounts to bring a formula up to its target rather than to make it alkaline. Alkaline conditions raise the fibre's surface charge and lift the scales — but the finished pH is not on the label.

    International Journal of Trichology
    • pH adjuster

What the whole list adds up to

  • 2 cleansers
  • 2 secondary cleansers
  • 2 thickeners
  • 2 emulsifiers
  • 2 pH adjusters
  • 2 hard-water chelators
  • 1 solvent
  • 1 sulfate cleanser
  • 1 nonionic cleanser
  • 1 fragrance
  • 1 declared fragrance
  • 1 salt
  • 1 solubilizer
  • 1 amphoteric cleanser

Drug facts actives

  • coal tar 0.5%

This product is an over-the-counter drug as well as a cosmetic. It treats a cosmetic scalp condition; it does not diagnose or treat disease.

Ingredient list captured 2026-08-21. Formulas change — check the package in your hand when an ingredient matters to you.

Price · 16 oz

Seen at $21.27 1 store · checked Aug 23
Good value under $7 Under $0.46/oz it costs less than three-quarters of the 8 products we score as doing the same job

Priced above the products that do the same job. Stores sell it above the $7 line; products that do this job typically go for about $30 at this size.

Show the price ladder
Where we’ve seen it1 listing · 1 store

Sorted by price per ounce. Dated observations from our research, not live prices. Direct store pages, no affiliate links. We don’t sell this product.

How we work this out
  1. 16 oz is the size stores list most often; every comparison on this page is made at it. Other sizes are shown in the Sizes row and the store list.
  2. Seen at $21.27 is the price we have observed for the 16 oz. We need three stores before we call a price commonly seen.
  3. Good value under $7 comes from the 8 products we score as doing the same job as this one. A quarter of them cost less than $0.46/oz; at 16 oz that is $7. Under that line you are paying less than most of them.
  4. About $30 is what those same products typically cost at this size — the midpoint of their prices per ounce, scaled to 16 oz.

Formula

Formula score
6 of 10

Too few comparable prices in our library to place this one; that is a gap in our data, not a fact about the product.

How the score is counted
  • No slip for detangling in the formula
  • Reviewers mention 3 things they like about how it performs
  • Reviewers mention 5 recurring complaints
  • Drugstore tier, sold at Grocery / mass and Pharmacy
  • A working detergent systemWhat actually removes oil and product.3 pts
  • Slip for detanglingReduces the force it takes to comb wet hair.2 pts
  • A humectantBinds water into the hair.1 pt
  • A hard-water chelatorBinds the minerals that dull hair in hard water.1 pt
  • A pH adjusterBrings the formula to the acidic pH hair prefers.1 pt
  • No detergent-dependent filmNothing that needs a clarifying wash to remove.1 pt
  • Fragrance kept out of the top eightScent as a finishing touch, not a major share.1 pt

The formula score is completeness for the job: the share of the systems this product type is normally built around that we can find in this list, weighted. It is not efficacy, not quality, and it never compares across product types.

Does the same job

Same derived functions — what it cleans, conditions, coats or holds — at a lower cost per ounce. Scent, texture and where you buy it can still differ.

Herbal EssencesClosest function Herbal Essences Classic Clarifying Shampoo (Tea Tree) $0.46/oz
  • Protein-free
  • Deep clean
  • Hard water
Function
  • Scalp active
  • Oils and butters
Also
  • Mint scent
  • Cruelty-free
  • Value tier
Compare
AussieLowest cost per oz Aussie Paraben-Free Miracle Volume Shampoo with Plum & Bamboo For Fine Hair $0.32/oz
  • Protein-free
  • Deep clean
  • Hard water
· Close function
Function
  • Scalp active
  • Film formers
Also
  • Fresh scent
  • Cruelty-free
  • 30.4 oz bottle
Compare
MatrixClose function A Curl Can Dream Deep Cleansing Shampoo $2.18/oz
  • Protein-free
  • Deep clean
  • Hard water
Function
  • Scalp active
  • Water-binding (humectants)
Also
  • Sweet scent
  • Masstige tier
  • 10.1 oz bottle
Compare

See more alternatives in the product library

These are functional neighbours, not personal recommendations — they are close on formula, not chosen for anyone. Get the one that fits your hair, routine, and budget

Suits every hair pattern

Final decision

Should you buy it?

Depends on your hair — see who it suits
Best user

Flaking scalps — for an over-the-counter scalp active and a protein-free formula

Biggest tradeoff

Less suited to anyone sensitive to fragrance, sulfate-free routines and fresh keratin treatments, or dry or damaged hair

Best alternative if not

Nothing in our library matches it closely at a lower price.

We do not sell products or take placement fees. This page states what the formula and the prices show; the consultation is what matches it to a person.

Claims check

What the brand says, against what the formula shows

Claims are quoted from the brand. We only mark one supported, partly supported, or conflicting when the ingredient list actually speaks to it; everything else stays "stated by the brand", which is not a criticism — most claims simply cannot be read off a label.

1
SupportedBacked by ingredients
0
Partly supportedSome supporting logic
0
Stated by brandNo clear evidence
0
Potential conflictFormula works against claim
Controls the symptoms of dandruff, seborrheic dermatitis and psoriasis

It carries an over-the-counter anti-dandruff active.

—

Supported

A recognised active does the work.

How to read this

We look at the first 10–15 ingredients and what they do in a formula — not marketing. If the list doesn't speak to a claim, we don't assume.

Reviewers

What people report

Recurring themes our researchers wrote in their own words from sourced reviews. We do not store or scrape star ratings.

Reviewers with diagnosed psoriasis, seborrheic dermatitis, or long-standing severe dandruff report significant flake/itch relief within days to weeks of starting use.

long-term sufferers (some 15-25 years), several after other treatments failed

Long-time users describe it as a reliable mainstay that controls scalp psoriasis and seborrheic-dermatitis symptoms effectively

users with scalp psoriasis/seborrheic dermatitis

Relief from itching and flaking is reported to persist for hours after rinsing, consistent with labeled claims

Formula-conscious reviewers criticize the inclusion of sulfates, fragrance, and a formaldehyde-releasing preservative as dated/irritating despite efficacy

ingredient-sensitive users

A minority of users, particularly those with already-dry or sensitive scalps, report the shampoo strips too much oil, leaving hair and scalp drier and occasionally worsening flaking.

sensitive-scalp users; a moderator on one site estimated roughly 5-6 percent of commenters

Many reviewers describe a strong, medicinal/tar-like scent as unpleasant, comparing it to mothballs, petrol, or a tire shop.

general users

More from Neutrogena

How this page was made

  • Everything above is generated from our researched product record — identity, the ingredient list as printed, the brand's own claims, dated price observations, and review themes written in our researchers' own words. No part of this page is written per product.
  • 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.
  • Both scores out of ten are defined on this page. The formula score is completeness for the job, computed from a fixed per-format checklist shown beneath the gauge; the price score is cost per ounce against every product of this type we have priced.
  • 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.
  • 7 sources consulted for this product (3 manufacturer or regulatory, 0 retailer, 4 editorial), last checked 2026-08-25.
  • Ingredient references are linked for 5 of 7 product-aware annotations on this page. Fit notes are conditional formulation guidance, not a conclusion about the finished product or about you.
  • We have not tested this product in a lab and we do not physically test your hair. Formula readings come from the ingredient list; behaviour claims are labelled as the brand's.
  • Ingredient order tells you relative amount only above roughly 1%. Prices are observations on the dates shown and change without notice.
  • Ingredient names link to our ingredient library, where each entry shows what it does, which product types use it, and where it usually sits on a label across everything we have researched.
  • This is cosmetic information, not medical advice, and nothing here diagnoses or treats a health condition.
  • Formula readings: derivation v22. Record last updated 2026-08-25.

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