Have you ever wondered what is the difference between hair products sold at the pharmacy and those only available in hair salons. Are the higher prices (often two, three or even four times higher) of salon products justified?
They have lingered over these questions for you! Here are the main big differences between these two ranges of hair products.
Pharmacy shampoos
These products have big advantages: they are easy to get and they are affordable.
On the other hand, some sources point out less interesting reasons which explain the lower price of these products:
Although they sometimes contain premium ingredients (found mostly in salon shampoos), it is still much smaller.
They often contain chemicals that, even if they give the short-term illusion of healthy, shiny hair, have the real effect of removing the natural oils that hair needs to be healthy and balanced. You can read more and find the options present.
They contain a good deal of “filling” ingredients, which do not nourish the hair and leave residues.
This is not a condemnation of pharmacy products! It must be remembered that it is different for each brand and that more and more “cheap” brands are tackling this, for example by offering products with more natural ingredients, no sulphates, etc.
Hairdresser shampoos
Supporters of salon shampoos claim that they contain more and better ingredients to feed the hair from the inside, such as vitamins, minerals and oils that are too expensive to use in pharmacy products.
They also argue that:
These higher-end products contain fewer chemical ingredients and filling.
They are concentrated, which makes it possible to use much less at a time. A French blogger also notes that often the opening of the spout of a container of pharmacy shampoo is much larger than that of a salon product, which implies that the amount to be used must be less.
These products often use a technology called “cationic surfactants”, which literally stick like keratin magnets to moisturize and / or preserve their color, making shampoos and conditioners much more effective.
Devil’s advocate
Here are other arguments from both sides, which add even more to the debate.
For salon shampoos: Virtually all hairdressers and other professionals in the field (those who are independent, not those affiliated with a brand) say very strongly that salon products are really superior.
For pharmacy shampoos: Note that many companies are behind many brands. L’Oréal, for example, makes both pharmacy shampoos (L’Oreal, Garnier …) and salon shampoos (Matrix, Biolage and Redken). So one might think that the research and development behind these two types of products may be crossed and that, since they are often made in the same plants, there may not be such a big difference between the two. .
In conclusion
As in many debates about fashion and beauty, the answer is probably not settled, but lies somewhere in a gray area.