To this week’s bitch targeting pretentious stylists: It is NOT our responsibility to know what the hell Shopper’s sells. Their products are NOT suitable for your hair no matter how spectacular their commercials are. Your split ends will remain split ends if you buy a tacky knock-off product from shopper’s of the same brand we sell. I would know this because I’ve spent money learning about it, you havent. So next time you want help, allow us to show you “suitable” salon products, and get on your way. Stop making our already mediocre interraction more mediocre.
This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 5, 2008.
OK, this is not a response about product; I buy the stuff at Shoppers and it’s OK, despite what the OP says. But I used to spend a crazy amount of money on my hair for everything, including cuts, styles, highlights, colour etc. Then I was unemployed and decided to go to one of those “factory” salons where you get a cut for about $15. Guess what? My hair looks exactly the same as it did if I had went to a “high-end” salon and spent three times as much. And guess what else? I colour my own hair and it looks and lasts the same as if a stylist at a salon did it for about 10 times the price.When I first started going to this factory salon, I asked the stylist why she worked there. She said she started out in a high-end salon and her co-workers were pretentious bitches who gossiped about everything and everyone, so she left and got a job in a factory salon cutting hair. And she was good at it, too. And she had great hair herself. Not that typical short, reddish-burgundy haircut you see every stylist with.About a year ago, I went to a high-end salon because I got a freebie from someone and I realized what I had been paying all that money for all those years: Atmosphere. They get you coffee, you listen to nice music, the stylists are dressed to the nines and the massage your scalp when you get your hair washed. But now I just want my hair cut. So at the factory salon for $15, I am in and out in 20 minutes with a cut that is just as good as I’ve ever had at a top salon. And the interaction is fine, too. High end salons are a rip off. I just want a haircut. I’ll walk out with wet hair; I can style it myself. I’d rather spend my time and money on something else than pretentious salons.
Any Cosmo girls know that the top beauty magazines (Cosmo, Glamour, Marie Claire, etc.) give TONS of recommendations for drugstore products. Sure, some high end products are the best of their kind, but you can still get a decent result from generic brands depending on the product and your hair type. If the beauty editors at Cosmo aren’t experts, then I don’t know what qualifies.
‘tacky knock-offs’ are bad for our hair, or the people you paid taught you that so you can help feed the over-priced and vain hair industry?$2 shampoo or $10 shampoo, its still just freakin’ hair.and the hairdressers still gonna fuck it up anyway.Theres a big difference between 2cm cut off and 6cm cut off.I wish they’d teach you guys THAT.
Higher-end products are sometimes diverted to Shoppers and Lawtons. Also any shampoo is good as long as you know the pH level of it. Between 4.5 and 5.5 is good. And as long as there isn’t too much sulfates or sodium in the ingredients it should be good to use. Salon products can be just as horrible as bargain basement types.Money is going to be tight for everyone in the coming days, and spending 150$ on a hairstyle is not going to sound very reasonable to very many people. Even 45$ for just a cut is a little crazy.
Move it along, you said:Your split ends will remain split ends if you buy a tacky knock-off product from shopper’s of the same brand we sell. Are you implying that if a person bought the high end products that their split ends would be repaired? Cause if you are, you’re part of the lies that are being told to consumers about hair products. The only thing that gets rid of split ends is cutting them off. Hair is dead, it can not be repaired or infused with vitamins or antioxidants or any other bull that the advertisers are telling us. Everyone’s hair reacts differently to different products. For some high end products are what makes their hair look good, for some it’s the cheap stuff. But, don’t try to label all drug store products as bad and all salon ones as good. It”s a blanket statement that isn’t true. Plus, if you check out consumer beauty advocate Paula Begoun’s website, she’s researched all this and will tell you that the majority of hair products have all the same ingredients, all you’re doing is paying for the fancy salon names. It’s just more advertising bullshit..I don’t know where you “spent money learning about this”, but it sounds like you’ve been suckered by the industry you work in so that you can perpetuate the myth about salon products.
Cosmo recomadations? Aren’t these the same products that are advertising in the magazine?As for the hair dresser, there are good hair dresser’s and bad hair dressers at both types of salon. I’ve only been to one higher end type, and it was a great experience. Definetly my prefered place in Halifax.
Soap is soap is soap, people. All shampoo is 80-90% water, 2-8% surfactant, with the remaining 1 or 2 % being fragrance, preservatives, colour, agents to make it look pearlescent, and maybe conditioner. Go look on your shampoo bottle right now. The first ingredient listed will be water, and the second will be some variation of lauryl or laureth sulfate. The sodium laureth sulfate in Redken shampoo is chemically identical to the sodium laureth sulfate in President’s Choice shampoo. The dozen or so other ingredients listed under water, surfactant, and fragrance are present in a ratio to water of about 1/10000. We’re talking mere molecules. If you buy salon brand shampoo, you are paying for packaging, perfume, and marketing.
Ghost, some conditioners contain agents that temporarily glue the split ends back together. So if you use the product every day, it looks like your split ends are gone. If you stop using it, split ends come back. So it appears that the product repairs the split ends. And this “miracle” ingredient is just a chemical binding agent available to any manufacturer, not just the high end ones. I’d say this knowlegable stylist is completely brainwashed by his/her own industry’s hype.
OP you are brainwashed. think about it.
I’d expect to be treated like a moron if I went to Oh My Sole and asked what Payless shoes they recommended because it was all I could afford, and wanted the same sort-of-kind-of high-quality shoe they sell, only cheaper and somewhere else. Stylists aren’t trained with drugstore products. If you want someone to tell you about your drugstore product, ask someone at the drugstore, where you buy it.
I choose to frequent a high end salon because i’ve had enough bad experiences with some of those ‘factory’ ones. The place i go to now looks a little pretentious, but i’m very comfortable with my stylist, and i’ll only ever book with her. She’s never tried to push any expensive products on me..when i first started going to her, she’d occaisionally ask if i needed anything extra, but that’s it. I don’t mind paying $50 for a good cut, because i’m never nervous walking in. I know that i’m getting exactly what i pay for, and that i’m going to be very happy walking out every single time. Those other places may be quite a bit cheaper, but if they’re using a spray bottle to wet your hair, there’s probably a pretty good chance you’re leaving with a shitty cut.
Go to the stylist not the salon. I push some products on my customers because I sell them style and image. The quality is better in some cases, but not necessarily, and you would have to be a chemist to really know the difference.Its the difference between buying Gap and Old Navy, or even Old Navy and Walmart – there is a difference, its just a matter how different it is to each person.
Miranda- thanks for the info, I learned something new. But yeah, the OP is still brainwashed if she believes that this stuff is either truly fixing split ends or that only salon products can do this.
what I hate is all these lame additives they put in the shampoos and conditioners for the purpose of making people think the shampoo is super-special. “Ooooh, this shampoo has kakaberry extract and essence of pine nut, it must be better!”
OK some things to clear up->1) fuck Cosmo, those 100 new sex moves are the same ol 100 sex moves from years ago so that shows you their knowledge.2) The only way to get rid or “fix’ your split ens is to cut them off, you can temporarily mask the problem but it does not fix it.3) Not all salons are pretentious.4) I myself (a stylist) DOES NOT have that typical short, reddish-burgundy haircut5) ” All shampoo is 80-90% water, 2-8% surfactant” that is ONLY drugstore Salon grade shampoo is 80-90% surfactant and 2% water THIS IS THE DIFFRENCE BETWEEN SALON AND DRUGSTORE SHAMPOO!
I have only been to an actual hair salon about twice in the past 15 years. I cut my own hair, or I get someone random to do it. The last place I went was to the Hairdresser school in Lacewood, and they did a fine job, and even massaged my scalp for a grand total of $10. It took about 90 mins, but for $10, I’ll sit there for that long. Plus, they’re so focused on doing a good job, that they don’t force you into small talk the whole time. Highly recommended.
I don’t know why I’m even taking the time to respond to this, but Jane, do you even know what “surfactant” is? I can guarantee you that no shampoo, or any other product that is meant to be applied to living tissue, is 80% surfactant, because it would burn your hide off. The most commonly used surfactant in hair products is sodium lauryl sulfate, which has a pH of about 10 in the concentration you site. This is sufficiently caustic to cause severe chemical burns. For god’s sake, stop talking out of your ass.
ahhh Miranda Miranda Mirandawell let me exsplain this a little bit better ->when purchasing from a drugstore your shampoo is this->10% SOAP surfactant (the main soap that cleans your hair)50% water 40% WaxWhere when you purchase a higher grade shampoo the lower the wax content so55% surfactant (SOAP)45% water0% waxNow when i paid money and learned my course we have LEARNED that SURFACTANT is the SOAP.Now if you would like darling i can surely educate you on this.therefore your talking out your ass because your not trained in this line of business.
Miranda = physicist.Jane = hairdresser.Let’s revisit that ass-talking bit, shall we Jane?
And for old time’s sake, I’ll just throw in a Jane = Gingerfor good measure.
Hey, thanks Qwerty. But I think I’m gonna fold up my lectern and go home. I get paid good money to teach people this stuff (science, not hairdressing). I’m not going to give it away for free on the internet 😉
Ahh i am not Ginger i dont know why that keeps being brought up! I do like Ginger because of the fact everyone on here bashes my bad grammer which i admit and she stands up for me in that aspect!Also Miranda you are prob great at what you do i am not doubting that in my text book thats what its called a soap surfactant i evern looked it up so i wouldnt sound like an idoit on here.
Jane, I apologize to you for the “talking out of your ass” comment. Clearly, you are stating what you were taught, and what you believe to be correct. I think your information is incorrect, but I can agree to disagree without being rude. Just to clarify, though, soaps are compounds which contain a surfactant agent, which may be why your textbook refers to a “soap surfactant”. So while your shampoo may contain 50% soap, I assure you it does not contain 50% surfactant. So maybe we are both right.
Miranda I agree were both right 🙂