Every time I go to buy shampoo I have to deal with not just 300 different brands, but three to five varieties of each brand that do different thing - add body, deep clean, strengthen hair, improve managability, shampoos for fine hair, oily hair, gray hair, permed hair, colored hair, heat seeking shampoos, etc.
Isn’t this all b.s.? Should I pay any attention whatsoever to these labels? Shouldn’t I just buy the cheapest?
Also, one of my shampoos says something like - it preserves 33 percent more color - or something like that. I assume this number is b.s. - but is there any law requiring them to back statements like that up with evidence?
(I assumed somebody would have asked this question before, but I did a search and didn’t see anything - so if this is a repeat, sorry).
There are differences between shampoos but it’s not always more expensive=better. Consumer Reports hs done several reports over the years and the general consensus is that you are usually better off buying a well known, discount name brand like Suave or something similar because cleaning power is similar to the premium brands and they are pennies per use.
Having said this my 14 year old daughter has been well programmed by the media and her mother and lets me know exactly what she thinks of “generic” shampoos like Suave (her opinion is not positive) when she is at my house. When I ask what the difference is she tells me that the more expensive ones “are just better and they smell nicer”.
My son and I could care less but I get the expensive stuff for her anyway as this is not the hill I want to die on with her. I’ll save that for boyfriend choices.
Where’s the secret decoder ring? Should I buy the “Balsam and Protein” or the “For Normal Hair” or the “Extra Shine/Extra Body” or “with botanicals” or “rehydrating”?
I have much nicer, easier to style, shinier, healthier hair if I buy salon shampoo and conditioner such as Nexxus or Paul Mitchel vs. the “Suave-type” drug store kind. It particularly makes a difference in the winter because the nicer stuff tends to kill static electricity. I need my hair cut less if I use the more expensive stuff, because it doesn’t dry out as quickly and stays sleek with no fuzzy ends.
I tend to think the expensive conditioner makes a bigger difference than the expensive shampoo.
This is not because I’ve been brainwashed or because of some placebo thing. It’s simply true…my hair looks better and is more healthy when I use good products on it.
Cecil has a column about this in The Straight Dope, pages 178-179. I couldn’t find a link to it in the archives. Perhaps someone else knows where to find it?
You could go check out Paula Begoun’s book… she has one called “don’t go to the cosmetics counter without me” which has been invaluable… and a corresponding one on hair stuff which I haven’t grabbed yet… a flip through seems that she does seem pretty harsh on expensive products vs. cheap and says in several cases there’s no difference… but, there does seem to be a difference so that’s a YMMV type thing. However, the book IS jam packed with useful information on what is good and what is not good and debunks several myths -so it might help you narrow out a few different products and head towards something all around better.
Oh, the one myth is that baby products are better for skin/hair. Not so… some of them may be tearless, but most if not all are not any “gentler” than your standard shampoo/bath stuff, etc. (courtesy of Begoun herself) I tried using one of them once and my hair felt like straw later… so much for that idea.
I’ve also heard there are shampoos that don’t suds up - I’d kind of like to try that. I switched to using a non-soap product called cetaphil on my face and it’s helped a lot as far as dryness, etc. so I wonder if it’s the same concept.
I second the recommendation to check Paula Begoun’s book. She tests products and recommends them based on quality vs price, etc. The Straight Dope column on whether protein shampoos work is not in the archives online, but you should go buy the book, anyway.
I guess I could have added a link to her page, but it seems the hot sauce endorphin rush from dinner has addled my brain.
it’s http://www.cosmeticscop.com (or http://www.cosmeticcop.com - I think either one will take you there). You can check out some of her information there to get an idea. My first opinion was she was trying to sell her own products, but given the size of the book on cosmetics and the amount of good commen sense information along with favorable reviews she does give, it didn’t make sense.
I was looking at my bottle of Suave the other day and began wondering what the advantages of protein extract from sunflower and wheat could possibly be. While hair is protein, it is dead and I just can’t see how any other protein could possibly be incorporated into the hair in any meaningful way. Is this part of the Madison Avenue b.s. also? I suspect that it is.
I third that you read Paula’s book. In my personal experience with shampoo, I have found that the body building works very well. I like ThermaSilk and Physique. However, every few days I’ll use their clarifying shampoo or else my hair gets weighed down.
IIRC, Consumer Reports did one several years ago, where they gave people samples of lots of different varieties of shampoo, everything from pricey salon brands to cheap generic store brands, and everything in between, and sample of regular dishwashing liquid!
The results were sort of all over the board; people liked the smell of one, but liked how another lathered up…I think they decided it wasn’t really worth it to buy the really expensive stuff because some people rated the dish soap equally with the salon brands.
I have heard you shouldn’t use a “clarifying” shampoo if you have colored or permed hair, because the clarifying action strips the chemicals out.
