What is Nizoral A-D Anti-Dandruff Shampoo (1% Ketoconazole)?

An over-the-counter antifungal shampoo containing 1% ketoconazole, designed to treat dandruff, scalp inflammation, and fungal-related scalp conditions.

Is Nizoral A-D Anti-Dandruff Shampoo (1% Ketoconazole) worth it?

Mostly yes. 14 of the 16 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 81%.

What is Nizoral A-D Anti-Dandruff Shampoo (1% Ketoconazole)'s Guru Score?

Nizoral A-D Anti-Dandruff Shampoo (1% Ketoconazole) holds a Guru Score of 81%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 16 expert reviewers we have collected. At least one expert has named it a Top Pick in its category.

Nizoral A-D Anti-Dandruff Shampoo (1% Ketoconazole)

What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

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208SkinDoc

2.10M subs

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"First up is Nizoral shampoo, which contains ketoconazole, a common antifungal agent. This is my go-to recommendation over-the-counter. It's a true antifungal and directly targets the malassezia. You can get the one percent version over the counter at pretty much any pharmacy or off Amazon, and if your case is more stubborn there's a two percent ketoconazole version available by prescription."

Top Pick: over-the-counter antifungal shampoo

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"You can also do Nizoral shampoo available over the counter or by prescription. And then leave-in salicylic acid treatments will help to prevent this."

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"Staying with over the counter options for dandruff, I almost always recommend a Nizoral shampoo, the ketoconazole 1% shampoo. The key to it is you really need to let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes to really get the full effect."

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"There's a lot you can get over the counter, and the first one I'll recommend is Nizoral shampoo. It's a 1% ketoconazole, an antifungal medication that directly treats the Malassezia yeast living on the skin. You want to scrub it onto the scalp and let it sit for five to ten minutes before you rinse it out, so it has time to work on the yeast."

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"Ketoconazole is an antifungal shampoo you can buy over the counter under the brand name Nizoral at 1%, though in the dermatology clinic we'll prescribe a 2% shampoo. It has anti-androgenic activity, meaning it can lessen the effect of testosterone and DHT on the hair follicle, though you have to rub it into the scalp and let it sit for a few minutes to get some of that activity. It's another avenue to try to accomplish that, and ketoconazole shampoo is something I have used myself."

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"My most common recommendation is Nizoral shampoo, which you can get as a one percent ketoconazole shampoo over the counter, and I recommend using it as a face wash if you have significant fungal acne. You can start by using it daily, but once you're in a maintenance phase you can go down to two or three times a week and still maintain clearance."

Dr. Aleksandra Brown

151k subs

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"Nizoral anti-dandruff shampoo sits in my shower permanently. [...] Most people buy it for dandruff and slowly realize it's quietly treating three other things at the same time. The active ingredient [...] is ketoconazole 1%, an antifungal that targets yeast overgrowth on the scalp and skin, which [...] can trigger [...] dandruff, seborrheic dermatitis, tinea versicolor, and even fungal acne [...] along the hairline that doesn't respond to regular acne treatment."

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"My recommendation for this is the Nizoral A-D Anti-Dandruff Shampoo. This is the antifungal formula that helps reduce the malassezia overgrowth. It targets the dandruff, scalp flaking, itchy, inflamed skin. It's really helpful for seborrheic dermatitis for the scalp and the face. And if you use it consistently, which is like two to three times a week, it can really help reduce inflammation, redness, and flaking. The key ingredient is ketoconazole. Also, a small tip."

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"This has the most potent over-the-counter antifungal that reduces the malassezia overgrowth. It targets fungal dandruff and itchy inflamed scalp. It's really good for that seborrheic dermatitis and stubborn dandruff. It can also help with scalp redness and irritation. And the active ingredient here is the ketoconazole, which is also a mild DHT or dihydrotestosterone blocker."

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"The most well-known over-the-counter option is Nizoral A-D. This is 1% ketoconazole and you can use it as a short contact wash in the areas like forehead, hairline, chest or back and it can help significantly at reducing the yeast levels. What you want to do is apply to the skin, let it sit anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes, and then rinse it thoroughly. This is typically done two to three times per week until you start seeing results."

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"Another shampoo recommendation is ketoconazole. The brand name for this over the counter that you'll see is Nizoral. This also comes in a prescription version of 2%, but over the counter comes in a much bigger bottle. Smells better and it's not as drying. So, I would stick with over the counter. Use it the same way you would use your selenium sulfide. Wash the areas, let it sit a few seconds, and rinse it off."

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"The over-the-counter ketoconazole is all brand named Nizoral and it's perfect. It does have a strong fragrance, which I don't mind at all. It comes out blue and it smells very clean. It does leave my scalp feeling really, really clean, and it doesn't irritate my hair itself. I will use the anti-dandruff shampoo probably two nights a week."

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The Budget Dermatologist

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"My argument is that ketoconazole shampoo will actually give you better long-term results that do not wash away. So, if you are more budget conscious and results driven, opt for Nizoral, your ketoconazole shampoo. I personally love to use it."

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"Technically, this is an anti-dandruff shampoo, but I recommend it because it has anti-androgen and anti-inflammatory properties that may help with hair loss. Studies actually show that it can reduce shedding and improve hair thickness. While 2%, which is a prescription, has the most evidence, even the 1% over-the-counter Nizoral has shown benefits in these studies. So, I recommend using it two to three times per week. It's a low-risk addition that may boost your current hair loss routine."

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"You need antifungals. This typically can be cleared up with a topical antifungal cream or even a shampoo that you are using as a face wash or a body wash such as Nizoral 1% shampoo that contains ketoconazole which is the active ingredient in it. That's the antifungal. This is available over the counter, but you can get it in prescription form in a higher concentration and that may be needed for more stubborn cases."

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"My number one go-to over-the-counter treatment for fungal acne is 1% [ketoconazole] shampoo called Nizoral. Yes, a shampoo, but hear me out. This has a 1% anti-fungal in it and the key here is that this is going to need contact time with your skin for at least 5 to 10 minutes before you rinse it off so it can be fully effective."

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"It is available in a one percent strength over the counter, and oftentimes the one percent will be plenty strong to do the trick. I like Nizoral shampoo in this category. [...] The key to getting results here is to use this exactly as directed. I even like to let this sit on the scalp for five to ten minutes and then rinse, which can help get improved results, and try to use this at least two to three times a week."

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"[Ketoconazole] is an antifungal that kills the organisms causing those little monomorphic red and white bumps on your skin. [...] You will lather it up on the scalp, let it sit there for a good ten minutes and then rinse it out in the shower. You can also apply this to the body like the chest and back, also let it sit there a few minutes and then rinse. This will be extremely effective in controlling your condition. [...] You can use this on your face too as your face cleanser for fungal acne."

Dr. Daniel Sugai

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"There's ketoconazole 1% shampoo by Nizoral. I prescribe 2% ketoconazole shampoo to my patients but they have it available over the counter as 1%. So that's another option you can consider for scalp itch and the flaking. [...] You can do it every other day to every day to stay on top of the yeast."

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"If you want another anti-dandruff option, there's Nizoral with 1% ketoconazole that goes directly after that yeast like zinc pyrithione."

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Tea with MD

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"It's not sexy but it works guys. It's a powerful antifungal treatment that targets the root cause of dandruff. This helps to reduce inflammation, scaling, and flaking. And it is clinically proven to help treat dandruff and even the medical form of dandruff, which we call seborrheic dermatitis. Nizoral or anti-dandruff shampoos can also help with hair loss that's tied to inflammation and really bad seborrheic dermatitis."

Darnell Cox | 50+ Healthy Aging Expert

55k subs

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"It decreases dandruff, it actually reinforces the role of sebum and it disrupts some of the fungal growth, but the side effect is dry brittle hair. I would say my hair turned to straw and that broke my hair off and has had me start all over again. [...] I will never use it again because it broke my hair off. If you've got fine fragile dry hair in addition to hair loss, don't do it. Use more of a caffeine solution or [...] rosemary instead."

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"When I tried ketoconazole, it's an antifungal shampoo, the main brand is [...] Nizoral. [...] It decreases dandruff, it actually reinforces the role of sebum and it disrupts some of the fungal growth, but the side effect is dry brittle hair. [...] My hair turned to straw and that broke my hair off and has had me start all over again."

Dr. Jenny Liu

323k subs

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"With anti-dandruff shampoos, if you have dandruff you definitely want to use it more often, maybe two to three times a week, but if you don't have dandruff you can just use it once a week to keep your scalp healthy. I prescribe prescription ketoconazole 2% to my patients but 1% Nizoral is great, though it can be drying on hair."

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"I'm specifically speaking to two anti-gender formulations number one is Ketoconazole so you can find one percent Ketoconazole over the counter as Nizoral and we think Ketoconazole helps to reduce hair thinning and helps in particular with androgenetic hair loss is that Ketoconazole itself has anti dihydro testosterone properties so that hormone that really is the driver of male pattern and female pattern hair loss."

Dr. Mamina

282k subs

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"I am a big fan of ketoconazole shampoo which you can get over the counter there's a Nizoral 1% shampoo there's a prescription 2% and that could be used as a face wash or body wash. If you are concerned that you're having fungal acne like your acne is not going away with traditional over-the-counter products consider using like a ketoconazole shampoo."

Caroline Hirons

250k subs

✓Yay

"If you've got fungal acne, which is nothing but my son Max had it, so it is a thing, but we have a name for it and we use an antifungal shampoo that you can buy in any CVS, wash your forehead with it, gone. It's Nizoral, and then there's hormonal breakouts which are generally under the skin and red and don't come to a head."

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"So there's a shampoo called Nizoral A-D in the UK, I think you can get it everywhere else. It's more of an antifungal. There is a condition called fungal acne, which is especially on teenagers, a lot of teenage boys get tiny small red raised dots across their forehead and on their back and shoulders. You can use Nizoral A-D for that. It's recommended to massage the shampoo into your face to reduce yeast buildup twice a week, and that actually works."

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"So it needs to be like a Nizoral, so it's antifungal. It's recommended to massage the shampoo into your face to reduce yeast build up twice a week, and that actually works. [...] There is this term called fungal acne, which especially teenagers get, a lot of teenage boys when they have these tiny small red raised dots across their forehead and on their back and shoulders. You can use Nizoral for that. [...] I have that in the bathroom just in case."

No BS Beauty

89k subs

✓Mixed

"Some people that have fungal acne are still using the Nizoral shampoo, which is a dandruff shampoo made to treat fungus. Some companies believe that the fungus is the root of dandruff, and if we treat that fungus, that gets rid of the dandruff. Using these medicated shampoos that attack fungus help the skin. A lot of people use this medicated shampoo and they use it like as a face mask and leave it on for a couple minutes then rinse it off and it seems to help."

Dr. Somji Skin

360k subs

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"If you're diagnosed with fungal acne, definitely using things like Nizoral A-D Anti-Dandruff Shampoo are great. I normally tell patients to put that on the face, wash with these shampoos, put that on the face, let it sink in for about 5 to 10 minutes, and then wash off the medication."

Dr Dray

2.69M subs

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"I would say ketoconazole shampoo is pretty low risk and potentially very high reward. If anything, it helps reduce the burden of malassezia on the scalp, which is very inflammatory and thought to play a supporting role in driving the miniaturization process even further. So it's definitely worth pursuing, especially if you have dandruff, you get a two for one there, so I say why not."

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"In my experience, the 1% can be helpful. A lot of people observe improvement with the 1% that they buy over the counter. If ketoconazole is going to be your ticket item for hair growth and hair density for improving your androgenetic alopecia, I would set very realistic expectations with this. You're probably not going to see a huge difference, to be frank. It's definitely not going to be as effective as if you stick to using minoxidil."

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"There's an over-the-counter anti-fungal shampoo called Nizoral shampoo, it has Ketoconazole in it that is another option. Lather it to the affected area, leave it on the skin for a few minutes and then rinse it off. Do that every night for a couple of weeks and then do it weekly as maintenance. That will help control things."

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"[Ketoconazole] shampoo is a prescription at 2% strength but you can actually buy it over the counter without a prescription at 1% strength sold under the brand name Nizoral. That antifungal may help reduce the burden of the yeast on the scalp that can create some inflammation but more specific to androgenetic alopecia, [ketoconazole] has anti-androgen properties, specifically it can inhibit an enzyme called five alpha reductase."

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"This is, as far as I'm aware, the only over-the-counter ketoconazole shampoo. Ketoconazole actually shows promise for helping with androgenetic alopecia, may work somehow at the level of DHT interference, dihydrotestosterone which is responsible for follicle miniaturization, plus it targets malassezia yeast, ultimately it cuts down inflammation, reducing the burden of malassezia yeast really does help out with androgenetic alopecia."

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"I don't even have dandruff, but the active ingredient, [...] ketoconazole, is an anti- [...] fungal that helps address the yeast that contributes to dandruff [...] and it's also an anti-inflammatory ingredient. I just like using it because I find that it really helps with scalp health, my hair responds well to this, [...] it really does almost impart quite a bit of volume to the hairs. Love that, it was one of my 2022 hair care favorites."

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"I finished my Nizoral A-D shampoo, I love this ketoconazole one percent anti-dandruff shampoo, it was featured in my hair care favorites of 2022. It's great for dandruff and great for scalp health because it helps control the burden of the little yeast that lives on everyone's skin and can cause redness and itching. I will point out that for some hair types it can be a bit on the drying side, like if you have a more textured hair type, but if you have an oilier scalp, give it a try."

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"I discovered that this shampoo not only leaves my hair soft and manageable, it seems to inject more volume into my hair, and somehow it doesn't weigh down the strands at all. I don't know why I was sleeping on using this, because I fell in love with it."

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"I've really been loving the Nizoral shampoo. [...] It's been getting my hair clean, leaving it really nice, manageable, and shiny."

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"I've been using the Nizoral anti-dandruff shampoo on my scalp, but you can also use this to wash behind the ears to cut down on little flares of seborrheic dermatitis there. Just put a little bit behind the ears, lather it, it's actually kind of pleasant to massage it behind the ears, let it sit on the skin for a few minutes and then rinse it off. It'll help cut down on any redness and irritation back there from seborrhea."

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"I find a lot of anti-dandruff shampoos can be very drying and leave the strands unmanageable, but this product seems to give my hair a lot of volume, so I've really been liking this a lot lately. [...] As far as an anti-dandruff shampoo it really seems to be working well for my hair, it has not made my hair brittle, and I've even [...] been able to use it without following up with a conditioning hair mask, which I typically recommend doing."

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"I've been using Nizoral shampoo and I've been sleeping on that shampoo. I know it's a great treatment for dandruff and it's useful for helping control tinea versicolor and seborrheic dermatitis on the face. [...] Lately I've just been shampooing my scalp with it and it gives volume to my hair. [...] My hair is loving it, [...] and with my hair being shorter now I'm not needing to use conditioner."

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"I've been using Nizoral shampoo a lot lately and I'm loving it. It has been great with my hair, it's been giving my hair a lot more volume and shine, I love it. I've been surprised by that because ketoconazole shampoo can be drying on the hair, but for my hair lately it has been working out really well."

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"This ketoconazole shampoo is anti-fungal, it's good for dandruff, seborrheic dermatitis on the face, or tinea versicolor on the body. Use it as a body wash, lather it on the affected areas, leave it on the skin for a few minutes, and then rinse it off."

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"You can buy Nizoral shampoo over the counter, which is ketoconazole one percent, but likely the two percent strength is more effective. However, we don't have any studies comparing the two side-by-side."

Dr. Sam Ellis

898k subs

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"The main downside of ketoconazole shampoos is that they tend to be kind of drying. So, I really try to focus it just on my scalp and avoid it really getting washed up in my mid-lengths and ends. Nizoral shampoo is great. It's super affordable. It can help with dandruff and hair thinning. And if you have dandruff and hair thinning, this is the single best thing I think you could have in your routine."

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"At the tippy top of my list is ketoconazole shampoo. You can get this in a 2% formulation via a prescription or you can buy it over the counter. It's usually branded under Nizoral. And this is best known as an antifungal shampoo. We use it to treat seborrheic dermatitis, also known as dandruff. But there is some evidence to show that it helps with female and male pattern alopecia by blocking DHT and reducing overall inflammation on the scalp."

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"My favorite over-the-counter shampoo for [...] treating dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis is Nizoral."

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"You can use regular baby shampoo, or you can also use Nizoral shampoo which has one percent Ketoconazole, which is a yeast-fighting ingredient and sometimes that is more effective in breaking down that adherent scale of cradle cap. But you have to keep in mind that Nizoral is sort of formulated for adults so it's not a tear free formula, so you just have to be more careful when you're using it on your baby."

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"Probably my favorite over-the-counter treatment for dandruff is Nizoral shampoo and the active ingredient in there is one percent ketoconazole. Ketoconazole works by reducing the yeast population on your scalp, so I typically will have patients use this a few times a week alternating with their regular shampoo."

Dr. Shereene Idriss

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"It is at 1% whereas the prescription is at 2%, and this one really does help to reduce inflammation and flakiness caused by the yeast itself. The added bonus of Nizoral is that it can also help if you're somebody struggling with hair loss or hair thinning because it can block your dihydrotestosterone, DHT, a hormone that contributes to hair loss, therefore allowing your hair to stay on your head longer."

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"Nizoral shampoo, which is known as Ketoconazole, is a great adjunct for you to be using if you are losing your hair and you do not know why."

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"Using an antifungal shampoo like Nizoral, which is available over the counter, will help with a fungal folliculitis, but it will do nothing for a bacterial folliculitis, which can then become full-blown acne if it goes untreated. This is why the treatment for folliculitis varies widely and seeing a dermatologist to understand whether yours is fungal or bacterial is important before reaching for it."

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"Nizoral has ketoconazole. If you have flaky skin, if you have greasy flakes on your skin that never go away and you're not necessarily dry, and you have dandruff in your hair and you have flakiness and redness in your groin or in the moist areas under your breasts, this guy might really help you out."

Doctorly

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"When it comes to dandruff, one of my favorite shampoos is the Nizoral shampoo because it has the 1% ketoconazole in it, and then you can also alternate with this one that has the 3% salicylic acid."

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Mixed Makeup

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"It is by far the best anti-dandruff shampoo that I have ever used. Sometimes I feel like I have to use it often and sometimes I feel like I can use it like once a month for just maintenance, but it's really easy to add into your hair care routine."

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