Beauty &The Beehive: Shampoo: The 411

Shampoo plays a major role in the integrity of your hair.

There is a lot to take into consideration when choosing the right one for you.

Buying from the drugstore or grocery store is

The biggest NO NO when it comes to buying your Shampoo!

Let me explain why:

It's called PRODUCT DIVERSION.

This is when product lines that are made exclusively for salon purposes and professional retail sales make their way into drugstore, super markets, and other unintended stores.

It is not illegal, however, it is frowned upon.

I started out my journey in this industry at a Paul Mitchell school and they talked about this often and taught us what to look for when discovering diverted products.

majority of the time these products are obtained through the "black" market and are either counter fit or older products that they have just added water or other harmful bacteria to in order to fill the bottles again.

But it is as simple as reading the back of a bottle to determine if it has been diverted! Professional products will say "Only guaranteed when purchased in salon" or "For sale in professional salons only"

The biggest misconception of diverted products is that people believe they have hit that jack-pot when they see Paul Mitchell, The original Moroccan Oil, & others in the aisles of their grocery stores. Most think they are going to get these cheaper than if you were to just purchase from your stylist.

This is false. Manufacturerer suggested retial prices are usually $10 less than the price listed once it has been diverted.

You can help decrease diversion by buying your hair care products from a professional salon only.

Everyone loses when you purchase diverted products.

You are not getting the best quality your hair needs and in case you are not aware, most stylist make a commission off selling products and depend on it to pay their bills.

So why not help your stylist, while helping yourself!

While were on the topic of drugstore products, let's talk about the elephant in the room:

DRUGSTORE SHAMPOO! Rather it be my personal opinion; the worst- Pantene or many others such as Suave, Garnier, Aussie, Herbal Essence, TRESemme, Dove, or L'Oreal you should not be buying it.

I don't care if it is $5 and your taking the "cheap" way out.

In the long run- you're not!

Professional hair care lines range from $10-30. You usually get more for your money amount wise, as well as better quality. drugstore shampoos are made up of mostly water which makes them less concentrated, forcing you to use more product each time to obtain the lather and rinse your going for. This will lead you to buying their products more often.

Totaling in a higher hair care expense by the end of the year.

Along with being made up of mostly water, in the majority of them (PANTENE SPECIFICALLY) contain a waxy substance that actually is made up of plastic particles. This is the ingredient that leaves your hair feeling "silky smooth", however, you can literally take a razor blade or sharp sided object and scrape along side the hair follicle of one who has been using said products

and a waxy build-up will be removed.

As you use the shampoo each time it will just layer and layer the hair, eventually drying it out and not allowing your daily products or hair color to break the surface as easily of your hair follicle. leading to color fading faster and styling products from doing their job to the full potential!

Some brands however have professional lines that are sold in salons, such as TRESemme & L'Oreal. From personal use I have noticed they are made of better quality than the rest.

An Important factor to consider is your hair type! This doesn't just mean fine, medium, or coarse.

You need to take into consideration what you do it to chemically, daily while you style, and what effect the environment has on it as well.

Below is a general list of the different shampoos that cater to specific needs:

Chemically Treated:

Someone who has colored, permed, or chemically altered their hair.

Volume:

Normally for someone with fine to medium hair seeking thickness and volume.

Smoothing:

normally someone with coarse or curly hair wanting a straighter smoother look.

Blonding:

There is nothing worse than a BRASSY blonde! They actually make shampoo that is colored to counter act the brassy tones that naturally happen as hair fades or encounters well-water. Taking you back to kindergarten for a moment; think of the color wheel! Most blonding shampoos you will find are purple or blue. Across from purple & blue on the color wheel is yellow and orange- AKA BRASS!

Red or Anti-Fade:

Red is the hardest color to keep in ones hair if it is not natural. Red colors tend to not have full color molecules in the hair cuticle due to the vibrancy of the color applied. Therefore it doesn't have much to latch on to, allowing it to fade faster than other colors. This is why having a shampoo with red color pigments in it help to keep it lasting longer. They even make shampoos like this for brunettes that come in different tones to cater to your specific color.

Moisture:

When hair is dry due to blow drying, flat ironing, or just humidity this is the perfect solution to add some luster back into your locks.

Anti-Frizz-

Normally for those with curl or wave looking to help their texture not 'fro out in crazy weather climates. This can also help add moisture back into your hair when it's missing.

Now, let's talk about this "Sulfate Free" nonsense. Well it's really not nonsense. It makes a big difference in the quality of your hair. There are still some, but very few, hair care lines that don't carry sulfate free shampoo. So before your get your britches in a bunch, just do your research and see if your favorite shampoo brand has an alternative!

First of all- What does sulfate free even mean?

Sulfates overtime will actually dry your hair our and strip your color that you just paid a pretty penny for. I always tell my clients shampoo is like car insuracne. You wouldn't go driving around without it. Using cheap, drugstore brand shampoos on freshly colored hair is pretty much doing the same thing! Yeah yeah yeah, it's not illegal- yet :)

Sulfates can also lead to frizziness, especially in curly hair.

It may take some getting used to when you make the switch, if you haven't already. Sulfates essentially just serve the purpose of thickening the product and allowing them to lather. Most people feel the hair is not clean if it does not lather, this is false.

But as you can see why I said, it may take some getting used to.

You can also find sulfates in household cleaners.

Now I don't know about you- but I wouldn't pour a bottle of Windex or pledge on my head!!

The phrase 'Sulfate free' has been linked to healthier, organic products due to less chemicals actually being in the products now.

Another adjustment when switching to sulfate free shampoo may be the price tag. If you are still a drugstore shampoo buyer, then this will be a large increase in price. However, if you are already using professional hair care daily then you will only notice a couple $ increase. However, I know about a million things I would pay more than a couple bucks for,

as long as i knew I was making an investment in bettering myself.

Below are some of my favorite

sulfate free shampoo brands!

Awaphui Wild Ginger- this Paul Mitchell shampoo may be the best alternative for you if giving up the lather is whats keeping you from switching to sulfate free! It will have a great lather due to other natural ingredients. Smells AMAZING! & rebuilds your hair from the inside out.

Its a 10- I absolutely love this entire line.

It's so moisturizing and repairs damage. I can't go a day without it.

joico Color Therapy- There are still color safe options, and really anything sulfate free should be color safe. But I LOVE this line especially. My hair feels so clean after and always smells so good, because lets be honest- smell is important when it comes to picking a shampoo.

CLARIFYING!

I can not stress the need to clarify ENOUGH.

These are my top three favorite clarifying shampoos.

Moroccan oil.

Joico.

Malibu: Hard Water.

All three get the job done the first time, smell great, and will help to remove product, hairspray, and shampoo build up. You should be clarifying your hair at least ONCE a week. some of you may be able to get away with every other if you shampoo your hair less.

The Malibu line however is the Mr. Clean of clarifying shampoos.

It will strip chlorine and hard water residue.

My parents had hard water when I was growing up.

This is a blonde's nightmare.

It increased the amount of brassy tones in my hair.

Thankfully, my mom is a smart woman.

She made sure that I had the correct shampoo to keep it squeaky clean

and bling bling blonde after she paid hundreds of dollars to have it colored.

I recommend the Malibu line for swimmers, pool rats, & those of you always in the sun.

Come summer time, all of our hair can need a little extra TLC and this shampoo will get the job done!

Deva Curl- First of all, it's amazing. It makes my POKER straight hair have a little bit of split personality disorder and makes it think it has curl. It will enhance your natural texture and bring out the best curl possible as well as being sulfate free. what more could you ask for?