For color-treated hair, L'Oreal ColorVIVE Gentle Shampoo for color-treated or highlighted hair scored the highest, but by a very small margin. Basically none of the products tested really offered much in the way of preventing color fading. It was also found that when combining the hair color brand with the accompanying shampoo and conditioner that the color faded faster in 4 out of the 6 case studies. Their recommendation? Cover your head with a hat to keep off the suns ultraviolet light.

There was a bit more successes when testing brands that claim to improve fine and limp hair. The interesting discovery that was made, however, was that shampoos designed for "normal" hair produced equal results as those labeled for fine, limp hair. Pantene Pro-V Ultra V Shampoo Plus Conditioner for normal hair topped the list in this category.

Enticing Ingredients - What is the truth?

Proteins
Digesting proteins will certainly improve your health but washing your hair with them won't change a thing.

Vitamins and provitamins
Offer no advantage to hair care or hair problems.

Botanical extracts
Make a product smell good but do not offer any other beneficial qualities to hair care.

UV protectant
Very minimal results were noted on the tested products.

Fruit acids, a.k.a. alpha-hydroxy acids
Offers no benefit to hair care.

Antioxidants
Offers no benefit to hair care.

Designer water
Benefits derived from including designer water to hair products will be washed away with normal shower water.

Humectants
Manufacturers use humectants in shampoo mainly to increase advertising verbiage. The shampoo detergents remove the humectants that attract moisture to hair.

Ingredients that work!

Ammonium lauryl sulfate
Detergent type ingredient that cleans the hair.

Guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride
Promotes smoothness and volume to hair.

Dimethicone
Coats the hair adding to manageability and softness.