As you have probably figured out by now, I love beauty products. I am a hairdresser, so naturally I use hair products all the time. How do I personally know what works and what doesn’t? Honestly it’s just from experience and lots of feedback from clients. Clients constantly tell me what worked for them and what didn’t and what other products they love that I haven’t tried myself yet. Like someone recommended their favorite dry shampoo to me, and now I’m hooked.
Why do I choose professional hair products?
- Professional products are highly effective.
- They have better quality ingredients.
- They are more concentrated to last longer.
- You get the best deal for your money.
Are drug store products just as good?
I love my professional root thickener but if I didn’t have it and I could only use a drug store root lifter I would. Using any product hair is better than using nothing (in that case). You can’t get your hair to do much without a hair product. It simply won’t hold without one. But from experience I see that profession products perform much better. And if you are looking for maximum results, I don’t think you will find it in a $4 can.
Why hairdressers push professional products?
I wish I had something sneaky and bad to expose because that always makes the headlines, but the truth is stylist don’t make much off selling professional hair products to you after your salon visit. Their commission is pretty small and usually not even worth the effort to take extra time to help you pick something out. However, if your stylist does do it then you know you got a good one on your hands. Personally my goal is to help people find products that help them achieve the results they are looking for. After a client leaves the chair, it’s in the stylists best interest to help them maintain that volume or gloss so that it can show off their work. A compliment to my clients’ hair usually reflects with a referral to me. And I’m not joking but the girl who brings me the most people uses the most products and that’s why her hair looks the best.
Why are professional products not advertised in TV commercials?
Well, it would be hard to advertise a professional shampoo that is targeted to hydrate your hair to everyone in general. We are taught to match a bottle of shampoo to your specific hair texture, hair density, scalp condition, and your hairs’ chemical history. By you purchasing a one-for-all advertised product, that might not give you the results you are looking for. If you are someone who wants your hair to be the best that it can be and you are looking for solutions to the problems you may be having; like dry hair, no volume, split ends, frizz then you need products specifically designed to resolve those issues.
How to spot a scam or a quick sale
- If you see a product on a TV commercial, try looking for a product review site to get another buyers opinion like on Highya.com. They give customers like you a platform to write your review of a product you tired.
- Try to ask yourself, is the person in the commercial really using that product? Does their hair look like it was really boxed colored like advertised or does it look like they had it professionally done? And can you tell that a top professional hairdresser gave them an amazing blowout for that volumizing product that's being advertised?
- Is the product advertised specific to your need or is it for the general mass?
Here is an example I found in a picture advertising the Fusion Styler. If you look at their before and after picture, you can see that the girls hair is way shorter in the after picture. I don’t understand, did they give her a hair cut? Or does the Fusion Styler make your hair a few inches shorter? I would understand if her hair had more volume and appeared shorter because of that but it looks flat to me. So just based solely off this picture I would see a red flag.
Find someone you trust for product recommendations
- If your hairdresser is styling your hair and you love the results the products are giving you, then they are a great person to make recommendations.
- Find bloggers that actually use the products they are recommending. How would you know? Well for instance I explain when I’m using that product or someone I know uses it, as opposed to just giving a review on it.
- If you are buying makeup in places like Nordstrom or Macys try taking recommendations from makeup artists whose makeup you like. Same goes for YouTube videos, look for people who wear makeup how you want to wear your makeup and not just because they are super popular. No one wears ten types of foundations. We normally wear one or two. So if they are reviewing ten different kinds that might not be helpful to you.
Hope this article helps you make some better-informed decisions about your future beauty purchases. Thank you for reading!
Photo credit: Kibenko Photography
