[PandaMoOo]

Hopefully all of us use shampoo to wash our hair, but how do we know which one to use? Just cruising down the aisle of the shampoo aisle most of us would agree that shampoo is a moderately expensive item, and heavily competitive - so the question is, what is important about shampoo? Is that $20 bottle all that much better then the $3 bottle? I went to research!!

The most interesting realization I came about the 2 academic sources I used were how "consumer centric" all their reason was... "we add conditionor to our shampoo because market research shows people want their hair smooth and conditioned hair."

Anyway my findings were:
-Only a small amount of foaming is really needed to clean your hair, most shampoos add extra foaming agents then needed because people *think* it's cleaning better.
-Aloe/Minerals/Bark/Fruit etc have been sceientifically proven to not help shampoo your hair!
-A lot of shampoos/conditionors have a UV radiation agent that helps reduce damaged hair in the sun.
-A lot of the more expensive conditionors now use "silicones," although I could find no specific information everywhere is claiming these silicones to be far superior in conditioning qualities.

Conclusion: Eh... I was hoping for a more definitive easily referenced study, but all details seem to point to there -is- a difference, but not that big of a difference. So it seems the best way to get your own answers is to experiment with different kinds of shampoo/conditioner because most likely it will not make a difference ... and a lot of it depends on your personal hair and what you want to do with it. Most interesting find was that Aloe/Minerals/Bark/Fruit really don't effect hair conditions, take that Herbal Essences!

SOURCE: Cosmetics & Toiletries 119 no5 64, 66, 68 My 2004
SOURCE: DCI 163 no2 28+ Ag '98