Is more expensive shampoo necessarily better?

mrs_baggins

I was talking to someone about shampoo and even though they really struggle with money still spends £18 a bottle on shampoo! So really my question is - do all the claims for this shampoo or that shampoo actually make a difference? Does 'thickening' shampoo have any noticeable effect? Is caffeine in a shampoo good? And so on. There are shampoos for colour, texture, smell, for curly hair, straight hair- are they all basically the same

I must admit to using whatever very cheap one is about and my hair to me seems ok. What do other people think and use?

homeisthecalm

I have to say, good shampoo/conditioner does indeed pay off and without forking out for it, my hair wouldn't be so nice.

Many brands 'claim' to do certain things, I.e thicken or add shine etc. However, I rarely find that this is the case with cheap brands.

If you shop around, you can get some good deals but if you're happy as you are, there's no need to miss what you don't know

The cheapest shampoo that I've used, that has been fairly decent, is probably Boots own brands, or Treseme.

mellymoo74

Yep
Used both
Currently using electric London a day my hair is great
(I also use olaplex cos I bleach it white and it's black)

I was advised if you can only afford one buy good shampoo.

fixx

As I need protein based shampoos/conditioners, then yes - generally the more expensive the better. But that's because protein based ingredients tend to be expensive, so shampoos with more of the ingredients I need are therefore more expensive.

Not sure if the same is true of moisturising shampoos/conditioner - but then any of those would be rubbish for my hair, no matter how expensive.

I do believe that there are great cheap shampoos out there, and rubbish expensive ones. You need to find the best for your hair, which can take a while, and might be at the upper end...

(I wouldn't pay £18 for a bottle though! I use TIGI shampoos a lot, which can be got for a decent price online if I go for the jumbo sized bottles, but would be £15/18 per normal sized bottle if bought at a salon)

cazs

I had heard that shampoos are much of a muchness and just removing 'dirt' from your hair and that the more important product, and thus the one where worth spending more, is the conditioner.

mellymoo74

Not true
Your just repair get the damage done by a rubbish shampoo with a good conditioner

Anyone who hasn't tried olaplex yet seriously get it off ebay it really does repair your hair

donnac2558

Cheap usually has SLS in them which a cheap foaming agent. This makes my head itch and can caught dry scalp.

Hermia

I tend to go for shampoos in the £5-£10 range. I have tried some really expensive ones and not really noticed any difference to my hair (certainly not enough to warrant the price tag). I have also tried really cheap shampoos (the sort that are sold in pound shops or come in big litre bottles in the supermarket) and they left my scalp and hair looking an utter mess.

I think it probably comes down to your hair type to be honest. I think the same with skin care. I know people who have beautiful resilient skin who can use cheap soap and look amazing. But if you have any issues you might need to use better products.

BTW, I really wish expensive haircare brands gave out samples. You can find sachets of 'drugstore' shampoos pretty easily, but not ones that cost an arm and a leg. Given that I have even had recommendations from hairdressers that have been a disaster I am wary of spending £20 on a bottle of shampoo without trying it first.

[Deleted User]

Last year I persuaded my new girlfriend to try the Alberto Balsam I used when she finished her£15-20 bottle of shampoo (can't remember the brand but it comes in a turquoise bottle.

She hasn't looked back since and is very happy with the AB.

I recently got a big bottle (1L) of Morrisons savers shampoo for 40p and I can't tell a difference in my hair from when I used the AB and will definitely keep buying.

This is one step too far for the GF and she won't even try it.. I'm sure there's some logic there somewhere.

catherinekate

As others have said . . . depends on your hair and the shampoo. I used to get great results with the Dove shampoo which was always in Poundland, but they seem to have changed the formula.

You wear your hair on your head every day, I wash mine daily, and a 400ml bottle of shampoo lasts me around 2 months. If that was a £10 bottle that would be a cost-per-wear of 16p per day - probably better value than most of the rest of my outfit!

Hermia

[Deleted User] wrote:

Last year I persuaded my new girlfriend to try the Alberto Balsam I used when she finished her£15-20 bottle of shampoo (can't remember the brand but it comes in a turquoise bottle.

She hasn't looked back since and is very happy with the AB.

I recently got a big bottle (1L) of Morrisons savers shampoo for 40p and I can't tell a difference in my hair from when I used the AB and will definitely keep buying.

This is one step too far for the GF and she won't even try it.. I'm sure there's some logic there somewhere.

Alberto Balsam is one of the cheap brands that was a disaster for me. I got two different ones when they were on special in the pound shop and they left the ends of my hair like straw and my scalp was left both greasy and flaky. I have no idea what was in them to cause me so many problems. At least at that price I could chuck them in the bin without feeling guilty!