There’s a question I always get asked as a beauty blogger, but often don’t quite know how to answer: “Should I be buying salon shampoos to get salon quality hair, or is it the same thing you buy from Clicks with a bigger price tag?”
It’s such a tricky question: often, I get sent through shampoos for review, and don’t mind if it’s salon quality or drugstore kind; I’m just here to tell you if it’s worth forking out your hard earned cash on it, regardless.
Over the past few months, I’ve been doing an extensive review on different shampoos to see if there is a difference, and what makes salon shampoo pricier.
The shampoos/conditioners/masks in question were the following:
Kerastase Nutritive (purchased at my salon) versus L’Oreal Extraordinary Oil (sent to me for review)
and
Mythic Oil (sent to me for review) versus Dove Oil care (purchased at Clicks)
My hairdresser was the one who recommended the Kerastase Nutritive Shampoo and mask. It’s extremely hydrating, and at that point, my hair really needed help. I was a bit sceptical as to whether it really is worth the price so I asked my stylist for an honest opinion as to whether salon shampoo is merely hyped up for hairdressers to make commission/money and if our drugstore products are fine to use.
His response: “Professional shampoo costs you exactly the same amount of money as buying shampoo from a pharmacy, if not less. When you’re using professional shampoo, you’re using a lot less product than a normal shampoo, therefore the bottle lasts you much longer. Pharmacy shampoos are loaded with Aqua, thus giving you inferior results, so you feel like you need more product to get the results promised”.
I loved the Kerastase shampoo. It truly made my hair feel butter soft, and hydrated. My hair hadn’t been in a very good state in ages, no matter what shampoos I used, and I feel like this gave it that boost that it needed. True to what my hairstylist said, I definitely used less product than usual, however I credit this to just being psychologically sparing, because at the back of my mind, I knew that this was worth a lot more than my usual shampoo.
It also lasted for about 4 months, but my hair got tired of it, and that buttery soft feeling diminished, much to my dismay.
That’s when I was sent the L’Oreal Extraordinary Oil. My hair felt amazing again: buttery soft and hydrated. I used the full range: shampoo, conditioner, mask. The problem, I found, was that my hair would get too used to a product and eventually stop providing amazing results. I didn’t get to finish the bottles and I was sent another shampoo for review, so decided to switch up after 3 weeks of use.
The Mythic Oil range is a professional, salon quality shampoo, also made by L’Oreal. Initially when I used the product, I found that it made my roots extremely oily, like the product would not wash out. However, when I used the full range (shampoo, mask, oil), this somehow worked a lot better. I found that my hair dried the best with this (it could’ve been because of the oil) and looked a lot shinier than it had in months. It’s quite a rich shampoo, so I found it a bit much to use every day.
That’s when I purchased the Dove Oil Care range. I think from all the masks, this by far left my hair feeling in its best condition. It’s still an oil shampoo, but wasn’t as heavy as the Mythic Oil. My hair dried a lot better, and I felt like a wash definitely lasted until at least the next day, which wasn’t always the case with the Mythic Oil.
Conclusion ?
Cost: Same
Result: Professional was better initially, and every shampoo used after that worked well
Final word: Invest in a salon shampoo, and alternate it with a drugstore one. It’s definitely worth the investment for something professional, especially if your hair seriously needs a pick me up, but it doesn’t need to be used all the time. Also, use a hair mask, especially now in winter! Your hair really will thank you for it.
