Ingredients in Action
Natural fruit extracts and silicones in the budget spray protect your hair and hold your style. The pricier spray's new "Heat Dispersion Technology" distributes heat evenly across the hair so sections of your strands don't weaken more than others; it also contains style-holding polymers.
And the Winner Is �
Both sprays prep your hair to take the heat by sealing the cuticle. But the less expensive spray is more moisturizing because it's alcohol-free.
Ingredients in Action
Powder in the thrifty brand absorbs excess oil, as do rice and oat starch in the costlier spray.
And the Winner Is �
Both products will clean and add volume to a heavy, oily mop, but what about the less-than-fresh scent of dirty hair? The pricier "shampoo" has a crisp, lemon-y scent to mask any odor.
Ingredients in Action
The shampoos contain a similar combo of nettle, wheat proteins and panthenol. Nettle removes product buildup to keep your hair from going flat. Protein fattens hair strands from the inside out to add volume. Panthenol is a moisturizing agent.
And the Winner Is �
The expensive version is mostly natural, but the cheaper formula contains organic ingredients -- so it's better for your hair and the environment.
Ingredients in Action
Shea butter, cetyl alcohol and amodimethicone help the budget conditioner smooth and rebuild your hair while amino acids, lavender and white truffle oil are the stars in the pricier product.
And the Winner Is �
The rich, creamy formula in the spend-y stuff will undoubtedly soften your strands, but the peppery, mineral smell could turn some people off. The cheaper formula's amino silicones are so durable, they might stay in your hair for a few washings, so you get even more conditioning bang for your buck.
Ingredients in Action
The budget formula restores smoothness to all of your strands with cationic surfactants. The pricier product contains caviar extract to nourish your hair, cytokines to stimulate protein production and antioxidant vitamin C.
And the Winner Is �
Both pack a powerful punch against old hair age (if you're medium to long in length, the hair is old), but the cheaper version's cationic surfactants are positively charged, so your hair has a better shot at looking like it did before the damage set in.
Hair products are like fraternal twins -- similar in ingredients, but very different on the surface. We asked Lesley Bride, senior scientist at Procter & Gamble Beauty, and Fritz Clay, owner of Hair Play Salon in San Francisco, to compare similar products and say which are so close, you might as well save -- and which are worth the splurge. The results will surprise you.
