Is Professional Shampoo More Expensive?

We get the question “why is it so expensive?” when talking about professional shampoo at the shop from time to time. We thought it would be good to break down the cost per use and usage comparables so you can take a look for your self and make educated choices when shopping for shampoo. We recognize most individuals have unique washing rituals so it makes it hard to compare. We also acknowledge that not all hair is the same and requires different amounts of product per use. Regardless, it is still helpful to gain some insight if you are curious.

Kirkland Moisturizing Shampoo by the liter, works out to be about $2/250ml in contrast to Davines Love Smoothing Shampoo by the Liter, at $16.50/250ml. When you look at the volume per bottle vs cost Kirkland can’t be beat. We have read reviews that this product is rated good overall. That being said there are other popular brands out there that are considered budget friendly that come in higher $ per volume. Pantene averages about $3/250ml and Herbal Essence closer to $5/250. None of these match up dollar to volume per bottle with Davines. When you take a closer look at usage you can be sure Davines is being used more sparingly and goes alot further in value.

Not everyone uses the same amount of shampoo so we are going to use a hypothetical situation:

Franny has medium length hair with medium density and they wash it every day. Franny would be inclined to use 2 full pumps of Kirkland shampoo (approximately 14ml), about 12ml of Herbal Essence or about 4ml of Davines. Let’s take a look at the yearly breakdown in cost based on this behaviour.

Kirkland $35.77/year (5110ml) – 4 Litre bottles

Herbal Essence $87.60/year (4380ml) – 11 400ml bottles

Davines $96.36/year (1460ml) – 1.5 Litre bottles that’s almost 1/5 of the product usage of Kirkland shampoo

A couple notes. Shampoo formulations are all made differently and some are more concentrated. With Davines being very nutrient dense and without fillers, you can be sure it will go further and perform better per milliliter. Another note is how much packaging is involved and the cost this has on our earth and our future. Overall, having to use 11 bottles of shampoo in a year is by no means conscious of sustainability. The energy and waste to produce these bottles paired with the packaging not being biodegradable has a major impact on our earth. The cost ends up being our future.

Did you know that when you purchase a litre of Davines shampoo vs a 250ml container the savings is 50%? Love Smoothing 250ml Shampoo $37 – 1000ml $66

Fun Facts About Davines Packaging

1. The packaging is designed considering the goal to abandon the use of virgin materials coming from fossil fuel, and to ensure their recycling at the end of life.
2. While it’s necessary to contain, preserve and protect the product, it must also have a minimal impact on the environment.
3. At Davines we aim to use the bare minimum quantity of material necessary to maintain the correct functionality of the packaging.
4. We prioritize the use of only primary packaging to avoid further external packaging, but if necessary, we choose either recycled and recyclable or compostable options.
5. We try to choose mono-material packaging that is easily separable for collection and recycling.
6. Working with our packaging suppliers we require only high quality solutions to reduce waste.

In interdependence — which is one of the founding values of the B Corp movement — there is no social sustainability without environmental sustainability, there is no progress without respect for ecosystems and human rights. Without human ecology, there is simply no future.

— Davide Bollati, Davines Chairman

Davines Plastic packaging Information
RECYCLED PLASTICS

The advantage in the use of recycled plastics lies in the possibility of reducing the production of new virgin plastic. In the context of a circular economy, the recycling of plastics allows you to maximize the value of this material even at the end of its life cycle, minimizing the impact it would have on the environment after becoming waste.

BIO-BASED POLYETHYLENE

A plastic derived from sugar cane that is perfectly recyclable. Using bio-based PE allows us to reduce CO2 emissions into the environment, and therefore provide a positive impact against global warming. It can easily replace the raw materials from fossil fuel, and it has a lower carbon footprint thanks to the cultivation of sugar cane. The cultivation of sugarcane, while managed properly, can absorb significant concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), an interesting aspect from an environmental point of view, because it can partly compensate the CO2 emitted in further steps of plastic production, making the total process more sustainable.

OTHER PLASTIC MATERIALS USED

It comes from non-renewable sources, but are recyclable and certified suitable for food use as a guarantee of safety.
PET – Shock-resistant plastic with good mechanical properties and good gas impermeability. It is used for the production of bottles and jars. It is one of the most easily selectable and recyclable plastics which makes it a great choice. The R-PET recycled material maintains characteristics very similar to the virgin polymer and has the food grade certification.
PE – PE is suitable for the production of bottles, tubes, capsules and lids, as well as film. For the moment it is not available in food-grade certified recycled version.
PP (POLYPROPYLENE) – It is basically used for the production of vases and capsules. For the moment it is not available in a food grade certified recycled version.

Preventing 100 tons of plastic from entering the ocean in 2021

Davines has partnered with PLASTIC BANK to further their initiatives. READ MORE HERE

At Chantel Funk + Co. our opinion is that using products that make your hair and its color perform better, products that do not cause harm to your body or the earth, means getting the most value out of your hard earned money.

We would love to know what you think!

**This article is not based on facts and rather is based on observation and opinion.