Dear Paula,

I am wondering if you might provide a review of Philip B’s Russian Amber Shampoo.  In a recent issue of Lucky magazine, a beauty editor basically claimed that this product is a miracle for all types of hair, and will make anyone's hair look amazing even without styling or products. The catch? It’s $140 for a 12-ounce jar! If the claims are true, I think I'd be willing to fork over the cash.  It's hard to believe, though; is there really something special about this product, or is it all hype? Hopefully you can either tell me it's all it's cracked up to be, or save me (and others) from washing $140 down the shower drain!

Julie, via email

Dear Julie,

How can a beauty editor make this absurd assertion? I can’t think of a more hair-brained notion than a shampoo, or any hair-care product for that matter, being able to alter hair that’s curly, straight, frizzy, dry, oily, or whatever, in some miraculous fashion to get it to do what you want without a flat iron, blow dryer or other styling product. What planet has she been living on?

Without any doubt, from any rational physiology principle based in reality, the Philip B shampoo in question is NOT worth the expense. Russian Amber Imperial Shampoo’s only unique aspect is its stratospheric price. The main ingredients are water, sodium laureth sulfate, fragrance, benzyl benzoate (a plasticizer derived from the Balsam Peru plant, so it definitely has the potential to be drying for hair and potentially irritating for the scalp), and PPG-3 benzyl ether myristate, which is an emollient ingredient with shine-enhancing properties and a silicone-like feel (Source: Journal of Cosmetic Science, Supplement, 2004, pages S143–S150). But none of this is exciting. It’s as standard as white bread, and I mean Wonder Bread!

Aside from marketing claims, what you’re getting with this shampoo is an incredibly standard detergent cleansing agent coupled with a lot of fragrance and some conditioning ingredients that function like silicone, which is present in hundreds of shampoos and conditioners, none with price points even close to this product. If you want fragrance buy an eau de cologne; fragrance has no benefit for hair, and the amount of fragrant plant extracts present in this shampoo can be a problem for the scalp.

Interestingly enough, I was recently on a panel of experts for a report WebMD was doing on hair-care products. I analyzed the formulas for every product they sent me as well as commenting on aesthetics and performance. The beauty writer on the panel simply used the products on her very thick, coarse, curly tresses and then told the group what she thought. That’s nice, but in terms of reliable information, how a particular hair-care product works for one person doesn’t translate to millions of women and their varying hair types, conditions, and personal preferences. In other words, hearing what this beauty editor thought about various hair-care products was a decidedly narrow approach that doesn’t lead to making an informed decision. The beauty editor from Lucky may think Russian Amber Shampoo is “a true miracle”, but the real miracle is how any hair-care company can make consumers believe that spending this much on shampoo is a good idea.

In terms of physiology, when hair becomes wet the bonds of hair are broken and then reformed as it air dries. So if your hair is curly, when it becomes wet it straightens and then as it air dries the bonds of the normal structure are reformed back to the way it was. If you don’t alter the bonds either by heat or holding it in place to reform the bonds to look different than it does naturally hair can't be altered or "styled" in any manner. Film forming or wax-like ingredients in styling products can "hold" hair to some extent and temporarily alter hair form, or using something like curlers to hold the hair in place as it dries can do the same. Even more effective is the use of heat-generating styling tools such as flat irons and blow dryers that alter the bonds as hair dries providing even more wonderful hair altering results.

By the way, a few shampoos that work even better than this to provide smooth, shiny, beautifully soft hair include Neutrogena Triple Moisture Cream Lather Shampoo ($5.99 for 8.45 ounces), David Babaii for WildAid Hydrating Shampoo ($9.99 for 13.5 ounces), and L’Oreal Vive Pro Smooth Intense Shampoo for Dry,  Rebellious Hair That’s Thick ($4.99 for 13 ounces).