Why Salon Shampoo?

I get that question all the time. Why on earth would a same person spend $20 for a bottle of shampoo when drugstore shampoo is only $1.99? Shampoo is shampoo, right? Its all just soap. What are those wacky hairdressers thinking?

We're thinking we care about your hair, that's what. We love what we do, we care about our clients, and -I might get a little shrill here - we just spent 2 hours creating the perfect color, highlights, and cut for you, and a $2 shampoo is gonna strip all that hard work out. In two weeks or less your new style becomes a brassy, frizzy mess.

And as I heard shouted on Potomac Ave as the bars let out Friday night, "Hey! You're in Dormont! You can't go 'round lookin' like that!"

Drugstore shampoos are made to be cheap, and for companies to make money on a low priced product, they fill them with cheap detergents that strip color and dry hair out (yep, frizz!), and this dry hair is now primed for breakage and split ends from daily styling. And as I said before, a client comes to me and spends $58 on professional color, scrubs that color right out (and dries out her hair at the same time) in less than two weeks with cheap shampoo. Hardly a deal, right? What about "better" drugstore shampoos? Nope. They're all pretty much the same. And the "professional" stuff you see and pay $20 for? Don't be fooled! These are "gray market" items, meaning they are either very clever copies (it's legal - barely - but they do it) or, worse, it actually came from a salon but has either expired, or worse been contaminated with bacteria.

See a news broadcast about this here -->http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OBub9O9l9E

Professional shampoos, on the other hand, are formulated to respect your hair, your color, and the time you spent in the salon. They are not diverted, "gray market" items. They also are concentrated, so you use about half as much. Think of it, for the same price as 6 $2 shampoos, you're only using one, it lasts the same amount of time and your hair has never looked or felt better. (plus imagine fewer trips to the store or plastics in your recycling bin) Your color doesn't fade! Your hair texture actually changes. It becomes smoother and silkier. It's not as dry. But what if you have oily hair? There are professional shampoos made to clarify oily hair that do so without stripping your color or the surface of the hair strand. It's true. You're stylist can recommend a shampoo that's perfect for your hair. It's what we do.

Next week: which products should I use to style my hair?