Shampoo SOS: Help me, Thrifties, you’re my only hope!

Hi. Do Asda or Tescos do a like for like? I use whatever “real” brand the pound shop have on offer. I got a 500ml bottle of Schwarzkoph colour preserve shampoo the other day. Our pound shop usually have 200ml Johnsons baby shampoo in stock. A huge jump from 9p but a classic brand. Our youngest has sensitive skin and Johnsons seems to be all we can use!

March 10, 2014 at 2:56 am

I use TRESemmé large bottles which are often on offer at a range of places for about £3 (wilkinsons, asda), again a huge jump from 9p but it will last me the whole year. Or sometimes TKMax have large bottles of salon shampoo and conditioner in the sale, expect to pay a few pound, but these again will last forever.

March 10, 2014 at 9:20 am

Had a similar problem with Asda. I was buying their 8p shower gel as hand wash, because I was getting eczema on my hands and the medicated stuff I was using was not helping. I read on a website that Asda 8p shower gel made a good hand wash because it had no perfume in it and of course, as a shower gel, it had to be safe for all one’s important that the places. I started using it and it worked a treat. Then all of a sudden out of the blue it went up to 30p a bottle but I still kept buying it because I knew it worked then this year it has become perfumed with some synthetic apple concoction and has gone up to 80p. If you look at the percentage price rises they really are astronomical. I think, that even though these were a bottom shelf purchase, they were just getting too popular and so the price went up. This must be the same thing with your shampoo. So I am looking yet again for unperfumed products but I really do not want to pay a fortune for a brand because unperfumed they may be but they probably have other ingredients which are irritant.

March 10, 2014 at 10:24 am

I’d vote for no-poo too, I stopped using shampoo at the start of the year and went down the bicarb for washing and vinegar rinse route. It didn’t take too long to get through the kak phase and is fine now, with the added (thrifty) bonus that I no longer need to use any styling product on it either, my previously flat hair is now much more manageable.

Good luck finding an alternative.

March 10, 2014 at 8:32 pm

Not to brag but with regards to hazel1009’s comment, Morrisons in Brentford still stock this shampoo…

March 12, 2014 at 5:00 pm

I used baby shampoo religiously, purely because it was cheaper and it seemed to agree with my sensitive skin. I actually don’t now because I discovered that it’s sooooo alkaline (to not hurt babies’ eyes) that it prettying strips your hair of any goodness! I wait until things like herbal essences are on offer and but the big bottles for around £2- not 9p, granted! Have you looked around a few other local Morrisons stores? You might find one still hoarding them, and you could stockpile? X

March 14, 2014 at 8:02 am

My mum uses alberto balsam and her hair is amazing…..and she has NEVER used conditioner. I dont how she gets away with that as I always use it otherwise I csnt get a comb through it. Have u tried superdrug? All their own brand stuff is buav approved.

April 9, 2014 at 6:03 pm

I buy shampoo bars. They were initially marketed for dreadlocks however they’re suitable for everybody to use. They cost between £4 – £10 a bar however mine lasts me up to 2 years and I have hip length hair.

They’re fragranced naturally using essential oils, don’t contain SLS, which is a known allergen, especially for those of us with sensitive skin – I experience eczema, psoriasis and rosacea so have to be extremely careful what I use on my skin! I also have very fine, silky hair so mainstream liquid shampoos don’t work well for me because they’re so heavily laden with additives such as silicone to give the impression of smoother, shinier, healthier hair. These products weigh down fine hair making it look greasy and stringy very quickly. The problem with them is that the more you use them to tackle the said greasies, the more it coats the hair and the more frequently you need to wash it. Also, the whole needing to shampoo your hair twice thing stems originally from marketing – it doubles the amount of product you use which means you buy twice as much of it. Regularly washed hair that isn’t laden with styling products only needs one shampoo.

My advice as an ex hairdresser would be to pay the extra for a natural shampoo, preferably a bar; only shampoo once and be sure to rinse thoroughly. It will last much longer than liquid shampoo because it’s far harder to use too much of it, it’s more concentrated so less is needed, it doesn’t go off, it has less impact on the environment, there’s less packaging involved, it can be used to hand wash clothes, is gentle on the skin so can be safely used all over the body (thus cutting down on how many products you buy/have cluttering up your bathroom) as well as for cleaning your babies, children and pets. Knotty Boy bars cost about a tenner and last really well. Posh Brats also sell handmade soap – there are numerous body and hair varieties available for around £4 a bar and they’re made here in the Stockport area. I prefer to buy these as I like to support small, local businesses. They don’t last quite as long but they’re less than half the price so it evens out in the long run. Dr Bronners comes in bar and liquid form. I find that the liquid works well on my hair but that the bar soap tends to leave a residue. The bar can be used for all the above and the liquid has the advantage of working well as a SLS-free washing up liquid, etc. For an even cheaper option, if you prefer liquids, do a web search for SLS free base. It’s meant for those who like to make their own beauty products. You can pick up as much or as little as you like (the last time I looked, a litre cost about £10), it can be diluted down for bath and shower products and you could either leave it unfragranced or add your favourite essential oils should you prefer. The regular SLS base is cheaper should you prefer that. Sometimes a bigger initial outlay is more cost effective in the long run, especially if it’s multi functional. Alternatively, you could go down the apple cider vinegar route. It has a lot of uses for skin and hair care as well as for around the home. It can be used to cleanse the hair and scalp or used as a rinse instead of using a conditioner. Here’s a link for more information. http://www.naturallivingideas.com/wash-hair-with-apple-cider-vinegar-rinse/ Good luck with finding your new holy grail hair product!

May 14, 2017 at 5:34 am