When I need advice about Showgirls or any other shitty movies, I’ll ask you. As far as shampoos and/or hair products, I’m sticking with the advice of my hairdresser, mmmkay?
:rolleyes:
You DO realize that there are different types of hair? Why do some people have their hair frizz up when it’s humid out, while some, like me, have it go limp? Why is my hair so hard to hold a curl, while my sister’s is thicker, and has more body? Why do I have to deal with so much static in the winter?
Just like some people get more acne than others. Yeesh.
Have at. But hairdressers are taught by other hairdressers and as nice as they are, they generally aren’t scientists. That’s who I turned to for advice on my hair.
It was years ago and I don’t even remember the problem I was having. Maybe it was hair loss. I do know that I travelled all the way to Atlanta and back (about 400 miles round trip) to consult with a doctor who was a hair and skin specialist. During the exam, I asked him what the best shampoo to use was. Without hesitating, he said, “White Rain or Suave.” That’s what I’ve used ever since. I’m sure that’s been a dozen years or so.
He also caught a skin cancer that my other dermotologist had examined but dismissed as “nothing.”
I also remember reading a study in which people used several different kinds of shampoos without knowing what brand they were. White Rain was the favorite over the long haul.
But I think everyone should use what they think serves their purposes. Just thought I would share my specialist’s opinion.
In my earlier post I mentioned alkyline and oil, this is the crux of all washing products. A strong enough alkyline will react to an oil to produce the surfacants mentioned in WarmNPrickly’s post. Depending on what type of high pH base you use and what type of oil you use is what type of soap you end up with. Ammonia, sodium hydrochlorite or sodium carbonate boiled and concentrated and mixed with petrolium wax, animal fat, vegetable oils or glycerine will produce a wide variety of soaps. Some act slightly differently to human oils and other debris but all basically break down in water and bond to stuff, making it sticky and clumpy and making it rinse out.
In the sense of the mechanism of action, all shampoos, detergents and soaps are the same. In the sense of exactly how this mechanism is performed they are different. A specialized soap that is less likely to bind to hair, or less likely to strip all of the oils out of hair makes shampoo. Dish detergent is designed to latch on to every bit of oil available so it sucks hair dry, shampoos and some bar soap products are a lot milder and leave some of the oil on the hair so it does not dry it out. Some strip away the debris without removing the oils so they build body.
Although all shampoos work the same mechanically, different ingredients (essential and aestetic) combined with different marketing approaches lead to different personal preferences.
So no, people who pay $2 per ounce of salon shampoo are not automatically being ripped off. It is possible that a similar combination of ingredients is found in a cheaper product but that particular combination may also be exclusive to that brand name.
The same with all such products (dish soap, laundry soap, bar soap). Yes, a bar of Ivory may do just fine if a cup of it is grated into the washing machine and Dial Antibacterial Hand Wash may do an acceptable job on greasy pots and pans.
Personally I find the cost of specialized soaps to be similar enough to warrent using the detergent as designed (that and I really like the way Dawn cleans dishes). Where soaps are concerned, they all do the same thing but when it comes to brand names YMMV.
Go read WarmNPrickly’s link from post 56. If all I wanted was something to strip oils and dirt off my hair, then you are correct. I could use any shampoo, dish soap, Lava soap or the stuff I put in a carpet cleaner. But I’ve seen my hair when I wash it with hand soap. It gets dry and brittle and frizzy. So what I want is something that cleans my hair and then keeps it from turning into finely spun straw. THAT’S where shampoos differ.
FWIW, I’m not saying you have to use a fancy, expensive shampoo necessarily. Just that the same TYPE of shampoo might not work for everyone, that’s all. Besides, there are plenty of cheap brands that have different varieties (for fine hair, for dry hair, for curly, colored, etc.) That’s all. But I like my Pantene, and my Mint Julep shampoos-they both smell heavenly.
And I was under the impression that the OP seemed to be reccomending that we all use just regular dish detergent on our hair. shudders
(BTW, what did anyone else think of the cite the OP linked to?)
Bear in mind that all it would take for you to be wrong is three things. Firstly that hair can carry different amounts of sebum (oil) or other substances. Secondly that different amounts of oil or other substances in your hair are notable and people have preferences in that respect. Thirdly that by varying the additives and strength of detergent in a shampoo the amount of sebum and other substances on your hair can be varied.
None of these things sound in the slightest bit implausible to me, and there are a number of posters posting to this thread who sound knowledgeable and are telling you that these three things are true.
You might want to think about this before hitting yourself in the head any more.
You admitted that the reason you prefer your shampoo is due to it’s scent. “I like my Pantene, and my Mint Julep shampoos-they both smell heavenly.” Hence proving my OP.
If your point is that all shampoos are just scented detergent it’s right, but not particularly observant. If your point is that all shampoos are the same detergent with different scents it is wrong.
On the shampoo makes a difference side:
My hair is EXTREMELY fine. Those slight additives can make the difference between normal hair and poof head. I also know that with some shampoos (usually the cheaper ones) my hair will be oily by 3:00pm. Others it may take over a day.
So back in 1972 ish I was working as a auto mechanic. My hair got dirty and oily. There was a product on the market then called Bright Sides Shampoo. The claim was it had “Optical brighteners” whatever those were.
Anyway this stuff made my hair look great! No matter how dirty it got at work, after a quick shampoo my hair looked like a million bucks. Not greasy at all.
Then I noticed that there were clumps of hair in the drain after every shower. Hey it was the early 1970s and I did not want to be a bald 21 year old.
So I switched shampoos to Head and Shoulders. Now my hair only looks like about $250,000, but it does not fall out in clumps any longer.
So if it is all the same to you Broken Hoe I will stick to what works on my head.