Pauline’s in peril: Do I really have to be careful about how I mix and match my shampoo and conditioner? Do matching products like Salon Selectives make a difference?

The Right Brain’s special selection:

We’ve blogged before about matching your shampoo and conditioner. The quick answer is that you don’t need to use the same brand but you do want to use products that give you the right balance of cleansing and conditioning. For example, if you want more body in your hair it doesn’t do much good to use a volumizing shampoo and a heavy moisturizing conditioner. But with a little common sense (and a little trial and error) you can a combination that works for you. There’s nothing magical about using pre-matched products like those offered by Salon Selectives. (Unless of course you insist on matching scents.)

Advertising age

Nonetheless, Salon Selectives is an interesting brand. It was all the rage in the 80s and early 90’s when it was owned by Helene Curtis/Unilever, but then it kind of fell of the map. Recently the brand has been relaunched by a new company, SSB LLC. It’s too early too tell if it will be successful, but their new ad campaign doesn’t seem to be making much of a splash. Here’s what our old friend Scatter Brain had to say about the resurrection of Salon Selectives:

Their TV ads claim very little at all. It is of interest that the brand was taken over by a company that specializes in resurrecting dead or dying brands. As crowded as the haircare market is already, it seems a poor business decision to try and reintroduce a brand that had already fallen by the wayside, but I’m a creative person, not a strategist, so I’m sure they had their reasons. My only critique of Salon Selectives is felonious creative. An escapee from prison touting hair care products. It wasn’t even funny and not that clever. I doubt it’s very effective either since they were really lacking any definable selling point that would set them apart from other shampoos/conditioners. There are plenty of mix and match products in the haircare category.

Salon Selectives Prison Escape

What do YOU think? Do you care about using matching products? Do you believe Salon Selectives’ hype? Leave a comment for the rest of the Beauty Brains community.