Shampoo - worth paying more?

[poppyseedy]

I generally just buy whatever is on offer in the supermarket and the whole family use it (including bald husband, haha) - I don’t think I’ve ever spent more than £5 on a shampoo. Is it worth spending more? I’m considering treating myself to a bottle that only I use but I don’t want to waste my money. Generally I find all beauty products a bit ‘emperors new clothes’ but am I wrong? My hair is shoulder length, straight and not averagely thick/thin.

Shampoo spends such little time on your head before being washed off, so l would think any difference is minimal. Conditioner on the other hand is designed for its ingredients to remain in the hair after rinsing.

I follow the advice of The Blowout Professor on YouTube. He has a quiz that helps you find what your hair type is and gives a list of recommended products. That means I use Morrocanoil shampoo. I got all the products he recommends and it was expensive, but it was very much worth it.

I will spend up to £10 but am not loyal to any brand because I've never noticed a difference as long as I don't buy the very budget brands from the bottom shelf.

I think I now probably just gravitate to the ones that smell nice and look nice in the shower!

At times I've tried various expensive brands , including Olaplex, Kerastase, Oribe, that have been recommended by my hairdresser or friends but have never noticed any difference.

No, it’s not worth paying more. This episode of Sliced Bread on radio 4 looks at exactly this question and they conclude that it’s not worth spending more…

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001gx0z

I never understand this. Washing your face or hair with something cheap that strips the skin is a terrible thing. Just because it's not on long doesn't mean it has no impact. You can find cheaper things like Cerave and Cetaphil that are good but you will find more cheap products will be bad for your skin than pricey ones.

Op I dont think it is interesting people didn't name brands your hair will be different to other people's hair

For me I have very fine hair and it's so straight. It gets greasy easy and I also have some highlights in. I use kms conscious style every day shampoo.

Dd2 who lives at home also has fine hair however hers is slightly curley and she is prone to dandruff. She uses lush godiva and once a month a specialist dandruff shampoo i have forgotten the name of. We had itnreccommended here on mn actually.

Dh uses head and shoulders on his almost non existing hair

For me if I use dd2s or dhs shampoo my hair looks flat and likenits soaked up a whole load of grease
For dd2 she didn't find my shampoo did much for her hair said it was like her using dad's shampoo. And that made her hair dull and lack lustre
Dh finds no difference and claims its all a waste of money anyway (then asks me why my hair looks so bad when I have used his when I ran out of mine)

So its about finding the one that is good for you. Talk to your hairdresser find out what style of hair you have then try shampoos for this.

For me yes the more expensive shampoo makes a difference
For dd2 a medium priced makes a difference
For dh nope it doesnt make any difference. But then he has a no 3 all around and is going bald up top. So not a lot to wash.

Yes and no. I love the Invati range which is pricey, but also Faith in Nature and the Garnier solid shampoo. I also had lovely hair when using soap nuts!

@MidnightMeltdown nope my hair bra strap length, poker straight, very fine and soft.

As it's so fine and soft it's more fragile and can tangle and break easily. If I were to go out in breezy conditions with my hair down I'd get those tiny little knots that you can't tell are there until you brush your hair then it snags and breaks.

The products I use after washing are to repair, strengthen and protect the strands. The Kerastase hair mask (I use the Resistance Architecte one) is also fantastic and if you were to only buy one expensive hair wash product it should be that one. Even though my hair is already soft/shiny I still notice a massive difference every single time I use it and so can my partner.

I never get split ends or anything anymore, I get my hair trimmed and dyed every 10wks and my hair still looks freshly trimmed before they trim it again. Years ago when I just used whatever shampoo/conditioner and heat protector was on offer I'd get my hair cut more frequently than I do now but and you could tell it needed a good trim at every appointment.

It's not necessarily a matter of price, but of finding the shampoo that is right for your hair. A good shampoo gets hair very clean without stripping it. All the other stuff - strengthen, tame frizz, repair damage - is pretty useless. Shampooing correctly - doing it twice, concentraton on the oilier parts of the scalp, rinsing thoroughly - is definitely important. "lather, rinse, repeat" isn't just something they sell to sell more shampoo.

Professional shampoo brands tend to be more concentrated so you can use less. They may be less harsh and less likely to over strip. But if it's not right for your hair, it won't matter what it cost.

I've been trying a few lately as have dyed red hair but also need something to give me volume. Garnier hair food was awful and gave me loads of product build up on non hair washing days. I wrote a post about dry shampoo on here because I thought it was that. Switched to OGX and that's better. Just bought a wella pack from hairdresser which was £25 for 250ml shampoo and 200ml of conditioner and that was on offer so I hope it's good! I used a John Frieda one for dyed red hair which was good but I'm allergic to it.

Best I've tried is Pureology hydrate I think, the blue one that smells a bit minty. It's so beautiful. Lasts ages as it's super concentrated but it's prohibitively expensive for me.
Daily I use faith in nature and a few squirts of Pureology leave in conditioner. If I'm feeling flush I'll buy the shampoo and conditioner too.

Hi, I have very similar hair, which herastase shampoo and conditioner do you use?

Sorry that was to @BeansOnToast32

i wash my hair twice, first time with a supermarket shampoo then a second time with a better quality one, I pick different ones as a second depending what I have bought that i like the smell of!

Aussie is the best and I can get it £3 per bottle. I just love it, smells great.

I am 48 and have lots of shoulder length hair. If I use cheap shampoo my hair sort of matts together on top, this is a total nightmare when I come to comb it out after washing. The best cheap products I have found are the Aussie ones, but Kerastase and Olaplex have been game changers for me. They make styling my hair much easier and keep my hair moisturised and glossy.

@NiceUnusualDifferent I alternate between 2 because I have brown dyed hair so I use the pink bottle (I think it's called Chroma) which is a colour protecting shampoo and I use Bain Extentioniste (green bottles) shampoo and conditioner which is the repairing and strengthening line. I also use the Resistance Architecte Mask once a week.

Ive used the green repairing ones for years.

Thanks, I've recently dyed my hair brown so will give them a try

I use Davines hair products. Expensive but I only wash my hair twice a week. It’s naturally curly and blonde which is not a good combination. It’s prone to becoming frizzy sand the products in the Davine range created for curly hair reduce the tendency to frizz. I used to straighten my hair but now I can let it dry naturally and it curls nicely.
The company uses simple packaging and all bottles can be refilled ( if you remember to take them with you to the salon).
A small 250ml bottle will last me 3-4 mnths, you don’t need to use a lot and you don’t need to apply twice.
They are a herbal based formulation and smell lovely. They don’t have that synthetic smell that a lot of products do.

I use Label M colour stay shampoo and conditioner and have done for years. I buy it in 1L bottles as it's cheaper (it's still about £30 a bottle 😬).

Occasionally I get fed up with buying it as it's so costly - and go cheap. But it's just not the same and I always go back to it.

Gone are the days when I used to buy Aveda which is absolutely delicious but insanely expensive.

For me, yes - but it really comes down to a bit of trial and error. Just because it's more expensive doesn't auto mean it's good.

I use kerastase S&C along with their serum and heat protector and it does make a difference.

I had to give this up due to cutting back financially and I can really feel and see the difference in my hair. I had a bit of spare money this month and bought the kerastase and my hair feels so much nicer today. I also use olaplex along side it.

Not really imo. What you do with your shampoo (not neglecting parts of your scalp etc) is what makes the real difference (imo).

But I have never found an ultra cheap conditioner I truly like. Mid range is completely sufficient however ime. expensive is not automatically better...

Do all Davines hair products smell nice? I bought their medium hold hair spray after my hairdresser used it on me because it smells amazing 😂 I actually like curling my hair now just so I can use it. I hardly ever curled my hair before because I hate other hairspray.

I have fine hair and I love the Aveda Invati range. This was a birthday treat and it is marvellous. You hardly need any shampoo so it lasts ages. I wouldn't usually spend that kind of money but it's definitely noticeably different.

@GonnaGetGoingReturns I saw Wash & Go in Poundstretcher last week. Didn't realise it was still produced. Reminded me of my childhood.