Beauty

[chihuahuamom]

I use mostly "better" drugstore products but have tried a few higher end.  I don't notice any real difference.  What is your experience with this?  (I DO have hair that is in good condition and I only color with a semi-permanent color). 

[ladyroxanne]

no difference at all.  if you color you hair,make sure you use a color enhancining shampoo or one that won't strip your color.  most conditoners are the same imo. as long as you have normal hair you should have no problen.

[Irshgrl31201]

I have been in the beauty industry for years. First as a hair stylist (corrective colorist) then as an esthetician.

Drugstore products are just as good as high end. As a matter of fact the majority of the time drugstore products are made by the same companies that high end products are and many have almost identical formulation. Here is an example. Alpha Hydrox Retinol ResQ is $15 for 1.05oz  and philosophys Help Me is $49 for 1.0 oz. They are almost the identical product and you even get a little more with the Retinol ResQ yet the philosophy product is $34 more. There are tons of high end products out there that are the exact same. Most of Loreals mascaras are identical to Lancomes and they are made by the same company.

Every once in a while I will still find hair stylist or estheticians who really believe that high end products are better and I can honestly say 100% of the time they just aren't educated enough or have been brain washed by the high end companies that visit schools or salons touting these selling lines that have no basis in truth or fact. Stylists make a commission on the products they sell to their clients so it is in their best interest to get them to buy their products at the salon. My advice is that if you find a product you like at your salon and if you have a friend who has their license, see if they will buy it for you when you go to a beauty supply store. Salons mark you their products 100%.

That doesn't mean I don't use high end products. I do. One I can think of right away is Joico. They have several products I like to moisturize before and after coloring. I just like the formulation and haven't found anything high or low end that competes. I have even used products that have the same ingredients, they just aren't in the same amounts and that makes a crucial difference. There are also high end foundations I like better (or even low end ones) because they have the perfect color I like that I can't find anywhere else. 

There are some great drugstore shampoos and conditioners that are great and there are some that aren't so great. Just as there are high end products that are great and not so great. Everyone is different in what works for them. I LOVE Suave products, I think they have some great products and there are tons of other drugstore products I use. 

The most important thing for me is avoiding irritating fragrant products and I will say that high end cosmetics and hair products usually have more fragrance in them. I don't know why but people seem to respond more to fragranced products and seem to think they are more effective. The only thing they are more effective at is irritating skin. You would think in this day and age with all the research companies and consumers would realize that these aren't good for the skin but I actually know people who won't buy products that aren't fragranced despite all the research showing us it offers no benefit and even detrimental. 

[TY]

No difference here either. No shampoo, whether cheap or not keeps the dye from lifting at the roots.

[Campion]

We used to have bottles and bottles of Suave in our apartment in grad school because one of the roommates' dad worked there. Many different scents, all worked the same. I only notice that SOME shampoos seem to have stronger detergent and are more drying (the famous Prell, that stylists would use to strip color from hair if things went wrong.) I never could use Pert, the shampoo that had conditioner mixed in--a favorite of men who were impatient for grooming to be done with. It left my hair greasy.) 

I used to buy the clones of Aveda in Sally's--worked great. Right now I use DHC shampoo from a catalog only because it is relatively scent-free.  It works fine. 

There are tons of drugstore and beauty store brands that are far less expensive than fifty dollar bottles of shampoo--but there was ONE that did work better, which was Kerastase volumizing shampoo (French) and it's hideously expensive. But if you have very fine, thin hair, it really works. 

[ChynnaBlue]

They vary by product, not price. I've found some really good high end and some really good low end products. When I was doing conditioner only washing, I used a bottle of coconut Suave to wash because it was cheap and effective, but I used a Biolage Matrix to condition because really well and I never found a cheaper one I liked as much. My deep treatment was from Sally Beauty and cost somewhere between $5 and $8.

[Leelynn]

I've had a Keratin treatment done to my hair and I color so I have to use a sulfate-free shampoo. Of course, the hairdresser at Ulta steered me to the high-end shampoo lines, i.e., Living Proof, Redken, etc. I discovered the Loreal line at the drug store. Much less expensive and my hair loves it!! $25.00 vs. $7.00. I'm sticking with the Loreal.

[AspenGrove]

No difference in quality for my easy-to-manage hair except that I find most drugstore products are saturated with perfumes, so I won't use them. (Even Suave seems to have gone overboard on perfume in recent years. Ick.) So, I choose haircare and skincare products (not sold in drugstores) that are not perfumed and that therefore don't leave any lingering smell of any kind.

[Jacie]

No difference for me. I bounce around alot with brands. I find I always to return to Nick Chavez and Pantene. I guess they're my go to products!

[Lipstickdiva]

I used to work in a salon so I used high end products the entire time because I got them at cost.  I saw no difference in my hair using those products or using drugstore items.

I fairly recently had my hair colored and the girl who did my hair gave me a big speech about how she wouldn't guarantee her color if I didn't buy the color care shampoo they sold, which just so happened to also be the products they were having a sale on.  I told her I already had two, litre bottles of it because I bought it when they had a litre sale.  I'm the only one using it so didn't need more.  She told me she didn't know what I was using and wouldn't guarantee her color.  I told her just because I bought a bottle of shampoo that day also didn't mean I was going to use it.  Besides that I also know she is employed by the salon so if my color didn't last, all I needed to do was call the owner and complain.  LOL

Anyhow, I really did faithfully use that color care shampoo and the darker lowlights were gone in less than 2 weeks.   So that shampoo did absolutely nothing.

Many stylists in salons get commission on the products they sell or at the very least, it is kept track of so it is in their best interest to push products.  Most of the salons I go to try and sell products and they truly believe they are better than drugstore.