Hair Care Products: Salon Versus Pharmacy Brand?

Hair care products are everywhere, salons, supermarkets, pharmacies and beauty supplies. One of the problems with finding the best for you hair is the new phenomenon of so-called beauty supply stores that have propped up.

There once was a time when beauty supply stores only sold to licensed professionals and the best products could only be purchased from salons. Ulta Beauty got around that rule by attaching a salon to the store or vice versa to offer the best hair care products to its clientele. Other chains like Sally Beauty supply began selling hair care items that could be found at both salons and pharmacies, but not the cream of the crop. Later, knock-offs and big names began illegally popping up creating a huge hair care controversy.

Although today is Thursday, as readers of this beauty blog know, hair care questions are generally answered on Wednesday, but this writer and pro had other obligations to tend to. This week’s beauty question came from a client and reader who touched on this very subject.

Lisa, a client and friend from the neighborhood has curly hair. I have recommended a few products for her, however she bought a pharmacy brand believing it was a professional hair care product because it was sold from a “beauty supply” that sells direct to the public. FYI people, if a beauty supply sells direct from the public, there is nothing guaranteed about the products they distribute.

Good morning, so I just purchased a line of Salma Hayek hair products from a beauty supply store, which I love but was wondering if this is actually good for my hair? I heard there is something in it that is found in relaxers.

My answer was, I am not sure-any pharmacy brand really isn’t good, and Salma Hyack’s Nuance Blue Agave Curl Cream is sold in CVS for $9.99, therefore making it a pharmacy brand. The reader answered, “but I like it, especially the curl cream, it is fabulous.” Well, who can argue with customer satisfaction?

So, here it is the abridged version of why you should buy professional products used in salons versus retail chain hair care products. I am sure the actual manufacturers would have facts to support what I have written, but I have tried to keep this light to explain the main reasons why salon products are the better choice.

When a professional styles your hair in the salon, he or she uses specific hair care products. They show you how to apply for the best possible outcomes. Now although it is rare to mimic the finished look to a tee, using the recommended line will help you to achieve it home.
The manufacturer guarantees salon products.
Retail brands are mass marketed and therefore are more cost effective for the consumer, however that doesn’t mean they put the best ingredients in. As you can tell by the ingredient listings below, the main ingredient attracting the buyer only has to be listed on the bottle and in the Nuance brand comes in small amounts listed fourteenth on the bottle. A comparative, yes expensive, but professional brand’s main ingredient is listed seventh.
Although alcohol and alcohol derivatives are mentioned on both brands, there is more in the store brand than the professional hair care product.
Using professional products over time, not just once or twice, not only does the job it claims to do, but it also improves the condition and appearance of the hair.
Professional air care products sold in the salon compliment the salon service, be it color or chemical.
Lastly, store bought hair care brands leave a build-up of by products on the hair, dry the hair out and some may even leave the hair worse for the wear, especially on chemically treated hair.

Nuance: Water, Polyquaternium-11, Propylene Glycol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glycerin, PEG-8 Dimethicone, Dimethicone, Cyclopentasiloxane, Hydrogenated Castor Oil/Sebacic Acid Copolymer, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Dimethicone PEG-8 Meadowfoamate, Agave Tequilana Leaf Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate, Wheat Amino Acids, Polyquaternium-59, Butylene Glycol, Citric Acid, Sodium Hydroxide, Disodium EDTA, Diazolidinyl Urea, Idopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Fragrance.

Moroccan Oil: Water, Paraffinum Liquidum (Mineral Oil), Cetyl Alcohol, Polyquaternium-7, Glyceryl Stearate, Dimethicone, Petrolatum, Arganic Spinosa Kernel Oil (Argan Oil), Tocopheryl Acetate, Panthenol, Fragrance, DMDM Hydantoin, Cetrimonium Chloride, Citric Acid, Citric Acid, Citronellol, D-Limonene, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Hexyl Cinnamal, Hydroxycitronellal, Isoeugenol, Linalool, BCC12-Base.

If you want cheap, use a store bought brand, if you want gorgeous hair, then use what the pros do. Professionals use professional hair care products and only recommend that which can be sold through professionals. It is not a cult or a scheme or a trick! I would not be caught dead using a pharmacy brand on my double processed, Brazilian blowout hair. And my hairstylist friends had better make sure that when I am dead, I go out wearing only the best hair care products on my dead head.