Health Products Guru writes: I can tell you that without a doubt there is a huge difference in the quality of most and I say most shampoos that salon versus the drug store level. My own hair and scalp issues are the proof of this. The pH of grocery store shampoos is too high 99% of the time.
The Left Brain responds:
I respect your preference for salon shampoos, if you want to spend your money that way thats your choice. But your supposition that the pH of mass market brands is higher 99% of the time is simply false. But before I prove why, let me explain about the pH of shampoos.
What is a good pH?
Shampoos tend to be fairly neutral so they fall around the middle of the scale between 5 and 8. Shampoos that contain cationic conditioning agents are generally formulated a little lower and deep cleansing shampoos designed to get rid of styling residue are formulated at slightly higher pH to neutralize styling resins. But overall you should expect your shampoo to have a pH between 5 and 7.
Are salon shampoos different?
Salon shampoos do not employ any special technology that makes their pH different from mass market products This is not a matter of opinion, it is a fact that I easily verified. I took samples of ten different shampoos, some from salons and some from grocery stores and then I measured their pH using a standard laboratory pH meter. Here’s what I found:
Grocery Store Brands (Average pH = 5.95)
Dove Intense Moisture = 6.05
Fructis Moisture Works = 6.64
Herbal Essences Hello Hydration = 6.20
Tresemme Antibreakage = 5.40
White Rain Extra Body = 5.35
Yes To Carrots = 6.07
Salon Brands (Average pH = 6.14)
Matrix Amplify = 6.76
Redken All-Soft = 5.59
Samy Salon Systems Smooth and Shine = 6.08
The Beauty Brains bottom line
As you can see from this data the premise that 99% of all grocery store shampoos have a higher pH is simply not true. In fact in the samples I measured the salon products had the highest pH. The pH will vary by brand and doesn’t depend on where you buy it.
What do you think? Do you buy salon products because you like the way they feel on your hair or because of some sciencey sounding nonsense that you’ve been told? Leave a comment for the rest of the Beauty Brains community.