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Hair Care Products . . . Does Expensive Mean Better?

“Getting Value for your Hair Care Product $$”The number-one myth you need to come to terms with is the notion that expensive or salon hair-care products are somehow superior to drugstore versions. Many consumers feel that if they buy salon products, they will achieve a “salon look” for their hair. In many ways, that is a logical conclusion. Most of us know that we always look better after a salon appointment. A good hairstylist can make hair defy gravity, smooth out frizzies as if they never existed, coax previously flat, limp hair into abundant voluminous waves, and transform perfectly straight hair into winsome, natural-looking curls.

We know their talent plays a large part in what they can do, but when we see those products being strategically applied, we assume there must be something special inside those bottles of conditioner, jars of gel, and cans of hairspray. Plus, most hairstylists wince every time a client confesses to using a drugstore product instead of a salon product. On top of all that, their suggestions of what to use and how important it is to use the best products for your hair are so convincing.

But the beguiling stumbling blocks don’t stop there. Another reason many women become enamored with salon products is because drugstores are just so overwhelming. At the drugstore, we get hit in the face with literally hundreds of product choices. In our bewilderment, the only differences we see are the colors of the bottles, the names we are most familiar with from advertisements, and, if we are bargain hunting, the price tags. There is no way to discern actual differences, and no one to tell us which product will do what we want and need.

At the hair salon, none of this confusion exists. Not only is the selection much smaller (most salons carry only a handful of lines, versus dozens and dozens at large
drugstores or beauty supply houses), but eager stylists and the people behind the
counter are there to gush over the effectiveness of each of the products they sell.

The fact is that most all of the more expensive products are either made by the same companies that make the less expensive products, or that the same basic contract manufacturer is making many salon lines as well as many of the drugstore lines.
What about the fact that L’Oreal owns Redken, Dial owns Nexxus, Wella owns
Sebastian, and Bristol Meyers owns Matrix? How does that figure into the equation?

With all this status pressure and the stylists’ image at stake, it’s a wonder women
ever deign or dare to buy hair-care products from the drugstore. How could drugstore products begin to compete with the salon setting and its influence on us? They
often can’t, despite their quality, and that’s where our emotions get in the way of reality.

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