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Professional vs. Non-Professional Hair Products
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I'd be interested to know what forum members think about whether there is really any difference between professional and over the counter hair products? My hair always LOOKS better after a visit to the salon but I suspect that is NOT because of the products my stylist uses.
I went to ULTA yesterday and was overwhelmed by how many professional products there were BESIDES Redken, Biolage, etc. and some were ridiculously expensive. I use Suave when money is tight and it seems fine but I have also used John Frieda and liked his line.
Please discuss. -
You're right. It's the stylist effect that's responsible for the fact your hair looks better when you leave the salon. They get much better angles to work on your hair then you can do yourself. They are also professionals and work on thousands of heads a year. We are mere amateurs compared to these ladies but it's not because of the products.
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my stylist laughs at me when i want to buy more goop from her and calls me a 'product whore'. then i write out a fat triple digit check for a cut and color job and gladly hand it to her. **grimace**
i adore her and her work. i'd rather skimp on product and have a top quality cut any (and every) day. -
I stop at the semi-pro brands (Redken, Biolage, etc - the stuff you can get at Target), because the "higher end" stuff is way toooo expensive. My stylist pushes 2 brands, Prive and SP (Salon Preferred/Perfected??? I forget). While it does feel great and all, it's just way too expensive.
My sister has a disposable income so she gets it. Me, being her "baby" sister, goes over to her house to use it. :P It feels just more dense than regular products, so you don't need as much to completely condition your hair. My hair did feel nice the rest of the day, almost like before I permed it.
But it's way too expensive. Maybe when I have an income (any income), then I'll splurge. -
Thanks for the input...this confirms my suspicion that just as there is a huge price differential in wrinkle creams paying more is often just lame!
Here is a question for one of the Beauty Brains...is ANOTHER reason why my hair feels and looks better after a salon visit is that salons use SOFT WATER instead of the stuff hat comes out of my shower head at home? -
Soft water has almost no impact on how your hair turns out. Unless you are washing your hair with bar soap, it really won't matter. Besides, despite what they say, the salon uses the same city tap water that you use.
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I have a customer who is a chemist and he says that there is ALMOST no shampoo or conditioner product that costs more than $2.50 a GALLON to make. He knew of one made with gold dust, and that cost a bit more.
Price is mostly in the packaging and hype.
What I tell my customers (I am a hairdresser) Is that the problem is that if you use a $20.00 shampoo, there may be a 1.99 one that is EXACTLY the same, but you just do not know which one it is!
Of course, trying a bunch of 1.99 shampoos and throwing them out is alot better than trying one 20.00 one and having flat creepy looking hair after thinking you might have found the new god of hair products!
Let me tell you, it's mostly a bunch of crap. If something works well, it's good for you.
On another note, if you are having trouble with any acne, stop using Pantene pro v or those herbal essence things that are the same. My daughters face broke out, the derm said it was that and it went away. A few months later we started using herbal essence, and she broke out again. HA! -
by the way, my customer started working for Avon anti aging stuff, and now suddenly those products are "pretty good!"
HA again!
(But god, if they are, will someone let me know RIGHT AWAY!!!!!) -
Thanks SkepticalHairdresser...for helping dispel all illusions about ANY shampoo over $1.99. It is amazing what marketting can do!
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I once got in this huge debate about Salon products vs drugstore products (mainly Pantene). I started the debate cuz I knew a lot of ppl think that Pantene is like floor wax and will kill your hair or something...but it morphed into something like all D/S products suck and only the higher end stuff is good for your hair and then I pointed out that my Paul Mitchell conditioner had almost the same ingredients as my Pantene conditioner...
then someone started insulting me personally because they couldnt come up with real arguments...haha..
I believe in finding a shampoo and conditioner combo that works for you...in your price range...I use John Freida stuff now and I love what it does, but I also use Pantene when money is lower than usual...I stay away from Herbal Essences though cuz it makes my scalp itch and maybe sometime when I can blow 20+ bucks on shampoo and conditioner I will buy higher end products to try them out...but only cuz it sometimes feels nice to buy something really outlandishly expensive :) -
Interestingly, Herbal Essences and Pantene use exactly the same conditioner base formula (look at the ingredients). The only difference is the fragrance and maybe color. Really. They are both produced by Procter and Gamble.
It's typical of people who haven't examined their own beliefs thoroughly to insult others who don't agree with them. It's a standard "logical fallacy" called an ad hominid attack. Completely useless in a debate. -
Judy - I'm lovin' your avatar icon!
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If you love a hair product but it causes you to break out, try washing your face or body after you've rinsed your hair. My dermatologist told me to do this when I was having problems with acne on my back and it made a huge difference.
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Can someone please find me a $1.99 alternative to Sebastian Sheen?
Pretty please? -
Oh, I know there must be one. I will ask my chemist friend to get on the case, but now that he works for avon, I wouldn't be surprised if it was an avon product!
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An Avon product for under $2? I don't think so.
It's tough to recommend any specific shampoo for someone as everyone's hair behaves differently. But if you want a good Sebastian alternative you can find hints by looking at their main detergent system. They use SLES and Cocamidopropyl Betaine. For conditioning they use Polyquaternium 7. You can find these same kinds of ingredients in the following cheaper products.
1. Suave
2. VO5
3. Charles Worthington
4. Sunsilk
5. Aussie
The ingredients don't have to be exactly the same (for example SLES could also be suitably replaced by ALES or ALS or SLS) but you'll want to see some Polyquat in there
You've just got to try different shampoos. Spend your money on conditioners. Cheap shampoos are fine. -
I go to Sally Beauty Supply for generic versions of supposed 'high-end' hair care products (and so do many stylists without telling their clients, tsk tsk)
I also use cheap hair treatments like the tub o' coconut oil/olive oil that you can find in the ethnic hair section.
I will admit, however, that I spent a pretty penny (triple digits here too!) for my cut and color from a professional.
Getting you hair done in Hollywood is not cheap! -
As far as shampoo and conditioner, I am not too picky, but when it comes to styling products, I usually find that salon products work better for me. I have fine, curly hair that needs taming without being weighed down. I've tried a whole bunch of drugstore products, but most of them either don't give my hair enough hold or just weigh it down and make it look greasy. I finally settled on a salon product that is actually made my L'Oreal. It's their Artec Texture line gel and isn't super expensive... around $12 for a bottle. I can usually find it on sale for about $8. So I don't know, maybe I just never found the right product for me in the drugstore, but I think I'll stick with salon styling products.
As for color... I just recently went back to my natural brunette and was paying waaaaaaaay too much for a single process neutral color at the salon that always started lifting after 4 weeks. I started doing it myself with just regular drugstore hair dyes and found that my hair looks exactly the same. It still starts to lift in about 4 weeks (my hair was really light before), but now I am spending $12 every 5 weeks to dye my hair instead of $80. I also do not think that my hair is any more damaged for doing it myself. -
Do you do all your hair, as opposed to just doing the roots, every time? If your hair is long, would you eventually wind up with hair like straw?
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My hair is just past my shoulders. I do all of my hair because my hair was a really light, warm blonde before and now I'm a neutral, if not slightly cool, brunette, so when the color lifts, I have brassy highlights. I use color-preserving shampoo and conditioner, but it still lifts. So, yes, I have to do all of it.
It's in pretty good shape, actually. I try not to shampoo every day if I can help it and I only heat-style 2-3 times a week. I also very rarely blow-dry my hair. I usually let it air dry and then use hot rollers. I'm good about getting my hair trimmed, too, which keeps split ends in check.
Probably not the best routine for my hair, but for now it seems to work well. -
wow, this is a great discussion! My stylist Joshua *sigh* is absolutely amazing and most likely gay, but all the same super! He owns an Aveda concepts salon and I use to buy all the aveda shampoos from him and my credit card would be charged close to $300 when it was all said and done. I usually get just a trim and color with highlights. I really am not impressed with my natural color. I always wanted to be a redhead because I have the perfect skin/eye coloring for it...so I get some form of red thats not tooo dramatic.
I stopped buying all the Aveda products because I didn't like the way my hair felt after I used them. It wasn't soft and silky. Now my bill is just over $100 and I stopped having the highlights. My hair is pretty long now, down to the middle of my back (I'm donating it in October....although it looks so pretty right now).
I use Pantene 2-3 times a week and a TON of conditioner, let my hair dry naturally, brush it and MAYBE use the flat iron just to make it all straight. I like the way my hair looks the day after washing much better. -
There are quite a few redhead wannabes here; welcome to the club!
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I am slowly replacing many of my commercial skin and hair care items with those that are less expensive or that I blend myself. I just can't see papying a higher price for the hype and packaging.
I always say, if you can follow a recipe, you can at least enhance even the cheapest shampoo by adding more ingredients. -
Wow. Paul Mitchell products made my hair fall out. And I had to use them while I attended their cosmetology school. Needless to say, I dropped out, switched back to suave and while what I lost never came back, I stopped losing it. Keeping my hair was more important than becoming a stylist.
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I don't know where the notion that Paul Mitchell products make your hair fall out but there is no scientific evidence to support this. You lose about 50-100 hairs everyday whether you're using Paul Mitchell or not.
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my grandmother has been using Paul Mitchell since it came out, she's still got lots of hair.
Maybe Lauri is just allergic to something in it.... -
I think that the importance of the product depends on what you do with your hair. I spend a lot to have my hair color done at a salon. Everyday shampoos have alcohol in them that strip the hair of it's color. So, I use Kestase because I want to preserve the color as long as possible. It doesn't make sense to spend that much money on hair color and then not purchase the right products to preserve it.
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Oops, the product is Kerastase not kestase.... I just started using it recently, so I Keep pronouncing it wrong.... my bad.
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Is Kerastase the brand name and is it a salon product or a drugstore product? Also, am I correct in assuming from your username that you color your hair red? Not that it really matters but there are lots of wannabe redheads here and we spend a lot of time discussing how to keep our hair from fading. But we're also kinda cheap.
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Yeah, I'm a red. You don't have to spend a lot of money on shampoo/conditioner but it is very important that you use a product that doesn't strip the color. Kerastase is expensive and it is a salon product. Suave and store brand knock offs have stripping alcohol in them. You want to stay away from that. You can read the ingredients on the back of a bottle of Suave and then look at the ingredients on the back of Paul Mitchell. (Not all alcohol is bad alcohol).
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ok.. this is probably sound ridiculous..
so earlier i wrote about this brand Prive that my stylist loves, but there was no way i could afford it..
i saw someone selling their shampoo on ebay, so i bought it for $8, plus $5 in shipping.. still cheaper than the retail price..
holy moly.. i LOVE their conditioner already, and now i love their shampoo.. it smells soo yummy and it's soo conditioning!! my hair feels soo soft, and that's saying something!!!!
i gotta scour the internet to see where i can buy more for a discounted price.. omfg!! i swear, all the money from my paychecks are going to go straight into beauty products.. HAHAHAHAHA.. but holy moly.. it was GOOD!
and I've used my share of products.. trust me.. pert's plus, pantene, wella (multiple lines), redken, joico, biolage, nexxus, paul mitchell, everything.. and this.. whoa.. -
You got my attention, Gloria! I have to find out more about his shampoo now, too! :tongue:
Be prepared to tell TailFeather whether you "saw Jesus" (My god, she sets the bar high!) but it sure sounds like it to me!...LOL -
ahahhaa.. since i'm agnostic, i don't know who i saw!
it's just that since i permed my hair, it's been sooo dried.. i would use thick treatment creams once or twice a week.. leave in conditioners every single day.. and it was just all dry and gross.. i mean, it's just completely damaged!!
with the shampoo and conditioner, my hair finally feel like before i ever colored it.. you guys know that silky black hair east asian girls have? yea, i had that before i colored my hair.. and the Prive products really help me get that feeling back..
their website is.. www.privesalon.com.. they don't let you order it, but when i find a website that you can order them, i'll definitely share..
edit: googled around and found one website: http://www.heidelhouse.com/store/category.asp?id=22. like i said, it is EXPENSIVE!! but if u have a disposable income, it's def. worth it...
or u can befriend an owner of a salon that carries this and see if she's willing to sell it to you at wholesale price.. =D -
Yeah, Gloria, you've got my attention too. Exactly WHICH products are you using?
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Gloria--definitely not cheap, but if it works I may be willing to try it. I too have used it all and have been coloring my hair for upwards of 15 years. I'll have to use a special paycheck or just blame my anniversary for the purchase! :wink:
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I'm curious how Prive stands up to Kerastase which is a product of L'Oreal. One use of any product probably doesn't have much impact on hair color but repetitive use does. I first saw the product, Kerastase, 2 years ago when I was visiting my sister. She is a natural redhead but since she is getting gray hair now, she has her hair colored at the roots. That's when she started using it. I never inquired about it.
When I got my hair done by my friend who is a colorist she told me that there was only one product she recommended for me to use to protect the color. I didn't even ask her what it was. I just said, add it to my tab. She said she would give it to me in person so she could pass me her discount. So, there it was, Kerastase.
I'm always open to the idea of trying something new but it has to be a product that protects the color that's been applied to my hair. I would guess that shampoo is probably the number one contribution to fading hair color.
One more thing: here is the site: www.kerastase-usa.com -
My stylist recommended anything without avocado oil.. she noticed that products with ao in it tend to strip hair more..
3 of my older sisters and i all have red hair too (but we're asians!).. like the brains say, water strips your color, and no products can really prevent hair from stripping.
there are ways around it.. for me, i just color my hair a deep red that fades into a lighter red (asian hairs naturally have red pigments in them so that helps)... and i also go in to see my stylist about once every 6 weeks (when i have the dough).. and i also do not wash my hair for the first 48-72 hours.. it's SMELLY but that's the sacrifice i'm willing to make.. MUAHAHAHAHHA.. huzzah~ -
Gloria: My stylist says you can wash your hair immediately after coloring but I still try to avoid it and wait as long as possible before I shampoo ....and try to go nowhere! If I must, I condition only for those first three to four days, rather than shampoo. It really helps if you rub the conditioner right into your scalp to get rid of the oil smell. I just really like how bright the color is at first!
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I usually like how my hair style looks after having it colored, so I don't wash it either until absolutely necessary. But my stylist uses Aveda products so they pretty much smell nice.
We sound so funny "my stylist this, my stylist that..." -
Karen, I can't remember where I told the BB that I too only conditioned my hair after coloring as a way to preserve color and they told me that ANY use of water was a no...no...even if it isn't shampoo. Sigh...I HAATE not shampooing. I feel really yucky!
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cate: i know!!! we sound way tooo cute..
but i love my stylist to death!! she's my best friend's sister, so i've known her and thought of her as another older sister for so long.. i don't agree with everything she says regarding hair care since it's not scientifically proven (god i can be such a science-snob), but she has tried so many products on herself and on her clients, so her recommendations aren't without merit..
i don't know if u girls do this.. but sometimes i go in early for an appointment, and i just watch my stylist do other people's hair.. i love seeing their reaction when everything is all done.. their faces just glow because they just feel so pampered and pretty.. and i'm just sitting there going, "wow your hair looks gorgeous!!!!".. then i see them walk out with a huge smile and that makes me happy..
i am so weird.. :P -
Judy: Thanks for the info from the BBs about no water...PERIOD! Guess it's back to "avoiding all social contacts" once I get past the two day mark of not shampooing after coloring. And don't you just hate shower caps? They are so friggin' ugly! :devil:...LOL
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Keep in mind the mark-up for Professional/Salon products. My mother has been a hairdresser for 30 years. When I go with her to the supply store the prices on shampoo's, conditioner's, styling aids, nail polishes, etc. are about 60-80% lower then what a non-professional would pay. So with that in mind - are those products REALLY that much better then the ones at the drug store? In the end someone like my mom (or myself when I'm with her) would pay the same amount for a drugstore brand as you would at the supply store.
So, I'm lucky enough to get whatever I want at cost - and being a product wh*re, I buy just about everything from the supply store and the drugstore. What have I personally found? Pantene conditioners rock the house. For me anyway, I've found this to be the case. Like everyone here says, get what works best for you! -
Karen--I love my shower cap! It's blue and white and has a terry cloth lining. although I am having a hard time shoving all my hair into in right now so I bought a cheapo pink one that seems really big, but does the job. My husband says I look hot in it! lol
Gloria--I am getting my hair done on saturday....big events happening in my hair life....Saturday is the date for the donation cut-off so I am going from long beautiful hair to about 10 inches shorter. I love to watch people having their hair done and it makes me happy when they leave happy too. I just hope I can be one of those girls that leave happy! -
Back to my point regarding what you expect from your hair product, another reason I like Kerastase so much is that not only does it protect my hair color it is also formulated to enhance it.
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Cate: If you're finding shower caps that make you look hot, I am definitely shopping in the wrong stores for this item b/c I feel like an old woman whenever I put mine on.
But are you sure your husband is looking at your shower cap? :wink:...LOL -
Karen--you are probably right. Either that or he is using sarcasm...Trust me I look like an old lady too and just feel if you can laugh at yourself then life is good.
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Just randomly looking, but this site:
http://www.privemillenia.com/page/page/2907669.htm
had the Prive stuff for a few bucks less.
I am on a hair product "strike" for now, I have things I need to use up first, but if this saves a few bucks for someone, have at it.
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