Hairdresser’s Simple Shampoo Experiment Unveiled A Common Beauty Mistake People Make
A beauty guru grabs two cups of water and two bottles of shampoo and then lets the cameras roll. The salon owner wants to settle an argument once and for all: is there really a difference between cheap and expensive hair products? Within seconds, the results of her experiment are clear – and they have subsequently blown the minds of millions of viewers who have since watched Rachel Trach’s 2017 Facebook video.
Isn't it all the same?
Many people believe that all soap is the same – and there are plenty of reasons to believe that this may indeed be the case. For one thing, the ingredients in cheap shampoo tend to mirror those that you get from a more expensive blend. An article on the website of British newspaper the Daily Mail found that the six main ingredients in a salon-quality L’Oréal shampoo were the same as their drug-store version.
All marketing
John Hamilton spoke to the news outlet at the time. As the owner of an organic beauty company, Essentially Yours, he had some expertise to back up his claim that “we’re all being ripped off” by the wildly differing prices that accompany hair-cleaning products. He alleged, “People are led up the wrong alley with advertising and marketing, and don’t realize the basic ingredients in shampoo are the same.”
Multifunctional comes at a cost
In the same piece, though, other experts argued that luxury shampoo was worth the cost – and there were reasons why it carried a heftier price tag. Scientist Beccy Peevers countered, “Consumers place increasing demands on their shampoo. They want multifunctional shampoos that offer UV protection, anti-frizz benefits, heat protection and thickening properties. Ingredients that offer these benefits are more expensive due to the research and development that has to go into them.”
The key to picking the right shampoo
In the end, experts do agree on one thing: finding the right shampoo is about confidence and feeling good. Hair expert Philip Kingsley said that people fly from around the world to seek his hair advice because well-coiffed tresses make us feel good about ourselves. The trichologist said, “You can’t flaunt your primary [sexual characteristics] in public, but you can flaunt your hair.”
