Salon VS. Drugstore
There is a constant battle between spending the money to buy products your stylist tells you to at the end of your service. Versus going to your local grocery store and buying hair products. I've been talking with a lot of clients lately about what they are using at home, and BOY am was I amazed by how many used grocery store brands! I have taken it upon myself to always educate my clients on this topic. Being in this business I forget that not everyone knows the real difference. I pride myself on not being a sales person, I am however looking for what's best for you and your hair. So I wanted to break down the main differences and why it is so important for you to buy from your salon on your way out the door.
To be honest I am a product junkie and I LOVE knowing what I am recommending my clients, from the ingredients to how to tame your mane. Its so important to me when you come in and pay as much as people do for their hair to go home with great product to maintain that color service you just paid hundreds of $$ for.
Let's take a scenario of wanting to start the process of going lighter and you easily spend $300 plus. Do you really think going to your local drug or grocery store and picking up that $10.99 shampoo and conditioner is really saving you that much money? I can tell you the answer is NO. I decided to shampoo with my hair with a grocery store brand <I don't want to name names here> while out of town visiting a friend. I figured what the hell why not I haven't used this stuff since high school. Let me tell you, I LITERALLY watched the yellow in my hair go down the drain. When I got back home I had a co-worker cut an inch off my hair because it felt so DRY. You can say it, "that's a little dramatic Val." Well, I want to encourage you to try your salon products for a week then switch back to your grocery store brand and tell me you don't see a difference.
Some products that you might have seen in your salon now in your local drugstore might look the same, but these products have been "diverted" which means these products are expired as well as their bar codes, and can no longer be found where they really came from, basically its a black market for hair products. They've been diluted with water, sulfates, and low-grade ingredients, or counterfeit which if expired can contain high levels of bacteria. By doing so they can also cause irritation or worse infection. Even when compared you'd be surprised to know your local drugstore is anywhere from 50 cents to $5 more than what you would buy at your salon. The fact of the matter is they aren't buying from the actual manufacturer. You'll also notice one more thing, you're probably buying it more often due to the fact it has more water than any other ingredient.
Look, I completely understand its expensive to spend a couple hundred on your hair then another amount on products, before I got into this industry I never understood it either. Now, the only thing I can do as a stylist is educate you. If you are going to buy salon grade products make sure you buy from your salon, or even the manufacturers website to guarantee the products your buying are the REAL DEAL.