If the pH value is listed on the label, buy shampoo that is in the range of 4.5 to 5.5 pH. Ideally cream conditioner should not contain any of the following: Lanolin, polymers or heavy oils. These substances cause matting in human hair. Keep the cream conditioner off the knots if possible as it can eventually accelerate hair loss. Leave in conditioner is generally a good idea. Not conditioning at all will cause the hair to dry out and become tangled, as hairpiece hair does not receive essential scalp oil like your growing hair.

Many shampoos contain ingredients designed to help them sell. Common ingredients that make no difference at all include so-called proteins, botanical extracts, vitamins, provitamins, sunscreen, fruit acids, alpha hydroxy acids, humectants, antioxidants, and many other things that will be rinsed away with the lather.

Some things in shampoo do work.

Ammonium lauryl sulfate is another way of saying detergent or soap. Soap makes a lather and the millions of air filled bubbles remove grease and dirt from the hair and whatever else you wash with it. Soap on its own cannot clean anything. Its the lather that actually cleans you.

Guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride is an ingredient that can close the cuticles and make the hair feel smoother and "bigger".

Dimethicone adds a coating to the hair and it is therefore a "conditioner"

Most after-shampoo conditioners contain a lot of useless ingredients also, but the dimethicone works.

Leave in conditioners can also help the condition of your hair temporarily, but don't mix, for example, a silicone based conditioner with an oil based conditioner. You might end up with strange feeling hair and have to wash it all out and start over.

Skin moisturizer can also be used as a leave in, but many are too thick and heavy.