Hair care is serious business. Each year, consumers all around the world spend millions of dollars on hair care and styling products, and more of these products are appearing on store shelves all the time. And because the majority of these products all claim to be “the best”, it can sometimes be difficult to sift through the available options. Shampoo is a particularly crowded segment of the market, with dozens, if not hundreds of different brands and formulas. However, not all shampoos are created equal and if one wants the best available option, selecting a quality salon shampoo is highly recommended.

Sulfates are the primary cleansing agents used in the manufacturing of most shampoos, with ammonium laurel sulfate, sodium laurel sulfate, and sodium laureth sulfate being the three most common. Each of these chemicals is capable of cleaning dirt and oil from the hair, although they offer varying degrees of harshness when doing so. Shampoos that contain ammonium laurel sulfate tend to be the most gentle, while sodium laureth sulfate is the most damaging. By reading the ingredients label, it is fairly easy to find out how harsh of a shampoo you are choosing.

A quality salon shampoo will almost always use ammonium laurel sulfate, if it uses sulfates at all. This is because salon products are generally designed to be as gentle as possible, so as not to leave the hair dry, brittle, and lifeless. There are also many sulfate-free shampoos available, and these are often highly recommended by professional stylists. However, as there are plenty of examples of shampoos that use gentle sulfate cleansers, or no sulfates at all, and can be purchased through a local drugstore or supermarket, the question remains “Why buy from a salon?”

Believe it or not, a bottle of salon shampoo will almost always last longer than will a typical bottle of drugstore shampoo. As a general rule, the formulas that are utilized by most salon-grade shampoos are significantly more concentrated than are store-bought varieties. This, of course, means that one will need to use less product for each washing, and as such the bottle will stretch further. So while a bottle of salon formula may cost more money at the point of sale, in the long run, the difference in price is not usually as large as it might at first appear to be.

Another advantage that salon brands have over most supermarket shampoos has to do with the build-up of residue. Store brands tend to use chemicals that over time can slow accumulate, leaving the hair dull and much harder to style. By comparison, the formulas used by top salon brands are specifically designed to avoid these residue issues. In fact, this is one of the most commonly cited reasons that salon brands are recommended over the less expensive drug and grocery store brands. They are much better for use on a daily basis due to their gentle cleaning characteristics and high-quality ingredients; and of course, the end result of this is a healthy, shiny head of hair.