How to Read a Hair Care Claim
Read the small print first.
Find the little * or † beside a number and read its footnote. The answer is in the small print.
Six Questions to Ask
- What was measured? Strands snapping while combed is breakage. It isn’t growth.
- On what, and how many? Hair samples in a lab, or people’s heads? Thirty people saying how their hair felt?
- Compared to what? “Versus untreated” is a low bar. So is a formula tested against itself with its conditioning ingredients taken out.
- In what weather? A frizz number without the humidity it was tested in can’t be read.
- One product, or a whole routine?
- Who ran the study, and who paid for it?
“Looks” and “feels” describe the surface. No footnote is an answer too.
When we use a figure, we name where it came from. Hold us to the same six questions.
Spot something we got wrong? Tell us and we’ll fix it.