My brother is a former hair dresser and I spent most of my early 20’s being his guinea pig under the brights lights of the salon. I’ve had my hair colored just about every shade of brown, black, red, and blond and tried more shampoos than I can count. His particular salon promoted Redken back when it was priced higher and not available outside of select salons. But does Redken really offer any benefits over store brand shampoos like Suave or Pantene?
I found a bottle of Redken Clear Moisture shampoo at CVS and was surprised to see the salon brand had made its way onto the shelves of a drugstore. I decided to try it and paid a little under $9.00 for a 10 ounce bottle. This really wasn’t much of a difference over a bottle of Pantene for around $5.99 for an 8.5 ounce bottle.
The Redken Clear Moisture shampoo claims to provide lightweight moisture for dry hair, helps restore its health, re-balance, and gently clean while leaving it airy and shiny. I was just hoping it would leave my hair conditioned and moisturized. I had been growing it out recently and it’s been getting drier and needs more attention. I thought a new shampoo was worth a shot.
I tried the shampoo and applied a small amount only once before rinsing thoroughly. It was white and creamy and had a light smell. I don’t care for perfumes or strong scents, so just a regular, non-descript shampoo smell is fine with me. I decided to skip any conditioner to see how well the shampoo would moisturize.
After leaving my damp hair in a towel for about ten minutes, I let my hair air to discourage any over drying from the heat of a hair dryer. Once I styled it, I was pleased to see there wasn’t any heavy residue and my hair did seem lightweight and airy. However, I also know that you can achieve this feel just about anytime you switch shampoo for a day or two. I didn’t notice any visible difference in shine. While the ends didn’t feel dried out, they didn’t feel moisturized either.
I used the Redken Clear Moisture shampoo for several weeks and often coupled it with Redken conditioner. My hair didn’t dry out and I never felt compelled to switch up shampoos to wash out residue that usually builds up after overusing one product. Anytime I’ve used Suave or Pantene for even a week, the ends of my hair seem dried out and my color fades quickly.
While my hair seemed to retain more moisture, it never really felt properly conditioned without the use of Redken conditioner. But conditioning isn’t something the shampoo is promoting, just moisture. But how should I define moisture? Just an overall lack of dryness? If that’s the case, then this product helped me achieve it.
Although I was pleased with the overall result of the product, I wasn’t ever wowed or impressed. My hair never really seemed shinier or healthier, just more manageable and less dry. I would recommend this product to someone on a budget who can’t afford the $20+ bottles of salon products like Kérastase, but wants an upgrade from Suave or Pantene. As an added bonus, my hair color didn’t fade as quickly with the Clear Moisture shampoo and left my hair easy to style.
Keep in mind that I have fairly low-maintenance hair, so it’s difficult for me to judge how this would work for someone who has unruly, severely dry, or damaged hair. I would definitely buy the product again as an everyday shampoo, but will continue to keep my eye out for other products.
