Most people arrive at a professional brand with a symptom, not a line name. This guide runs the other way round from Biolage Line by Line: pick the sentence that sounds like your hair, and it tells you what to buy and — just as usefully — what not to.
Prices and sizes below were correct on ProHair.ca in September 2026. Ranges change and packages are discontinued — always confirm the exact size and price on the product page before you buy.
First, the test that decides half of these
Dry hair and damaged hair are different problems and the wrong answer wastes money. Take a single strand and stretch it gently. Dry hair resists and springs back; damaged hair stretches further than it should and then snaps, or feels gummy when wet. Dry hair wants moisture (HydraSource). Damaged hair wants structure first (Strength Recovery), and moisture second.
Moisturising damaged hair is the most common mistake in this category. It feels better for a day and keeps breaking.
"My hair is dry and dull"
HydraSource, built on aloe. Shampoo at 400 ml $23.80, then either the Conditioning Balm (richer) or the Detangling Solution (lighter — this is the one for fine hair). Add the Deep Treatment Pack weekly at $16.88 for the 100 ml, and the Daily Leave-In Tonic ($21.70) for the days between washes.
If it is not enough: your hair is probably coarse rather than dry. Move up to Ultra HydraSource, which uses cupuaçu butter and is formulated for extremely dry, medium-to-coarse hair.
"My hair breaks and the ends split"
Strength Recovery. Shampoo ($25.50 / 400 ml), Conditioning Cream on every wash, the Deep Treatment Mask weekly, and the Repairing Spray before you put a brush anywhere near wet hair — detangling is where a lot of mechanical breakage actually happens.
Give it four to six weeks. Strength is cumulative and the first fortnight will tell you nothing useful.
"My hair frizzes the moment it is humid"
SmoothProof, on camellia oil. Shampoo and Conditioner, then the Leave-In Cream ($19.77) on damp hair before you dry it. Finish on dry hair with a very small amount of the Serum ($20.40) through the mid-lengths and ends — never at the root.
The step people skip: heat protection. The Thermal Active Setting Spray ($21.03) is what stops you re-roughening the cuticle you just spent a wash smoothing.
"My hair is flat by lunchtime"
Volume Boost, on micro-filtered soy protein. Shampoo, Conditioner kept strictly off the roots, then the Full Lift Volumizer Spray ($22.40) on damp roots before drying and the Bodifying Mousse ($24.00) to hold the shape.
What not to add: a mask or an oil. Either one undoes the routine. If your fine hair is also dry, the answer is the light HydraSource Detangling Solution, not a conditioning balm.
"My scalp is the problem, not my hair"
ScalpSync, and which of the four shampoos you need depends on whether the scalp is oily, flaking, tight or congested. That decision has its own guide: The Biolage ScalpSync Guide. The short version — clarifying for oil and build-up, anti-dandruff for visible flakes, calming for tightness and irritation, cool mint if you want the cooling version of the clarifying job.
"My hair looks thinner than it used to"
Look at what is coming out. Whole strands with a small white bulb are shed hairs and completely normal — about 50 to 100 a day. Short broken pieces without a bulb are breakage, and that is what Full Rescue is built for; Biolage claims a 74% increase in resistance to hair fall due to breakage from brushing for the shampoo, conditioner and serum used together. The Invigorating Scalp Serum is a step in that routine, not an optional extra.
When to stop shopping and see a doctor: sudden shedding, patches, a widening part or scalp pain. No cosmetic line addresses those.
Two concerns at once — how to layer two Biolage lines
This is where a lot of people get stuck, so here are the combinations that work.
- Oily scalp, dry ends. ScalpSync Clarifying Shampoo on the scalp, HydraSource Conditioning Balm on the mid-lengths and ends only. Never the reverse.
- Colour-treated and damaged. Strength Recovery for four to six weeks to stop the breakage, then move the wash-day pair to ColorLast and keep the Strength Recovery mask weekly.
- Colour-treated and frizzy. ColorLast Shampoo with SmoothProof Conditioner. The shampoo is where colour is lost, so that is the one to keep colour-safe.
- Fine and frizzy. SmoothProof Shampoo, Volume Boost Conditioner, and finish with the All-In-One Spray rather than the SmoothProof Serum, which will be too much weight.
- Dandruff and colour. ScalpSync Anti-Dandruff Shampoo twice a week, ColorLast Shampoo the rest of the time.
The rule underneath all of them: the shampoo treats the scalp, the conditioner treats the lengths. When two concerns disagree, split the routine at that line rather than compromising on one product that does neither job well.
The rest of the Biolage guides
- The Complete Biolage Buying Guide
- Biolage Line by Line
- Biolage for Colour-Treated & Blonde Hair
- The Biolage ScalpSync Guide
- Biolage 400 ml vs 1 L vs 3.8 L: the back-bar cost guide
Buying Biolage at ProHair
ProHair is a Canadian professional distributor and has been supplying salons since 1996. Biolage arrives through the authorised Canadian professional channel, which matters more than it sounds: a shampoo that has spent two years in a warehouse or been decanted into an unbranded bottle does not perform like a fresh one. Shipping is free over $99.99, and the back-bar sizes are stocked alongside the retail ones so a salon and its clients can buy the same formula.
Browse the full Biolage range →
Performance figures in this guide are Biolage's own published claims and carry the brand's own test conditions; they are quoted here so you can judge them, not repeated as our results.