Everyone loves a good hair product. Once you find a product that you've fallen in love with, it's hard to break up with it. We go to drug stores such as Target, Walmart, or Walgreen's to buy products that are cheaper than at a professional salon - and with good reason! It's hard to convince yourself to invest in an expensive product at the salon when you can buy a more convenient, affordable product. Me, especially being a broke college student, find it hard for myself to make this investment as well.

If I wasn't already a licensed hairstylist, I feel like I would have a hard time getting on board with investing in salon professional products because they can be so expensive. But if you haven't already noticed, there's a keyword to recognize and understand when it comes to your hair products, and that is investing in them.

The truth is, when you buy drugstore products that are affordable and get the job done it's hard to find any reason to spend more money than you need to. The other truth is, these products are actually horrible for your hair. That is the reason they are available at such a low cost, and that's what sets them apart from salon professional products.

Because drugstore products are retailed for so cheap, they are also manufactured for even cheaper. Which means the scientists and chemists that are experimenting in the lab and formulating the shampoo you use aren't primarily worried about the quality of the ingredients they use, they are only concerned with producing an extremely low-cost product that can be sold at a low cost, with low cost and low-quality ingredients.

They mainly consist of base ingredients - like fillers, plastics, waxes, fragrances, and silicons that coat your hair shaft and over time a layer of buildup forms. This causes your hair to not only be layered in a coat of residue but also become dull, frizzy and dry over time.

Think about it like this - it's like buying fast food in comparison to fresh, whole food. Fast food is cheap, quick, easy to access and doesn't require a lot of thought. You order a cheeseburger and fries and your stomach is happy. Whereas buying fresh, whole food takes a little more time, money and thought. You have to put in an effort to make a list of fresh ingredients that will make up a yummy recipe, buy the ingredients and then actually cook it. At the end of the day, eating the whole food is better for your overall health than fast food.

Salon professional products are made with quality ingredients that will help the overall health of your hair, especially if your hair is color treated. And hairstylists recommend these products over drug store products exactly for that reason. If you do have color treated hair and you don't use salon professional shampoo/conditioner to maintain it, it's like washing an extremely expensive gown with the rest of your laundry instead of taking it to the dry cleaner to be properly cared for. Getting your hair professionally done is an investment from start to finish, and not investing in salon professional products to properly wash and take care of your hair is essentially throwing the money you spent on your hair appointment down the drain.

For example, if you just saw your stylist and had he/she color your hair a really pretty rose gold, but then used Pantene or Suave to wash it, that color is going to instantly fade. Like within one or two washes. But by using the color safe salon professional shampoo that your stylist recommended to you, the color is more likely to last 8-10 washes and keep it vibrant.

Talk to your stylist about what salon professional products you should be using. Start by going in and getting an idea of how much the products would cost and then start saving! Maybe set aside 10 dollars a week and then you'll be able to invest in quality hair products in no time. You'll fall in love with your hair again!