Mother and Daughter Companies

Yes, I know. I haven't been here in a while. Okay, more like a year and a half. Forgive me. I got busy. I must admit, blogging is harder than you think it is. You have to keep it up. It's like having a job. Well, anyway, enough of that. On to the important stuff.

I was looking for a good conditioner for my long, thick hair the other day and was about to check out Makeupalley for some reviews and recommendations when I remembered something The Beauty Brains had written about. According to their article, products from the same "mother" company most likely will use the same formulations and ingredients for all of their "daughter" companies. One of the best known "mother" companies, as far as cosmetics goes, is L'Oreal (I mean, come on, they practically dominate the beauty scene). I had speculated this topic myself, even before reading The Beauty Brains' article and decided that this would be a good time to see if it was really true.

So I (somewhat reluctantly) x-ed out of my Makeupalley account and went to compare ingredients of three different conditioners, all of which are made by companies that happen to be owned by L'Oreal. The first one, the one I originally had my eye on, was Redken Smooth Down conditioner (Yes, Redken is owned by L'Oreal, along with Kerastase, Matrix, Shu Uemura, and Kiehl's. Surprise, surprise). The second is Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine, and the last, but not least, is L'Oreal Vive Pro Smooth Intense. All three of these conditioners are supposed to smooth down hair. I've compiled the ingredients lists for each below. The findings? They are very similar, indeed. Take a look for yourself:

Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine
Water (Aqua), Cetearyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Chloride, Amodimethicone, Pyrus Malus (Apple) Fruit Extract, Fragrance (Parfum), Cetyl Esters, Lauryl PEG/PPG 18/18 Methicone, Methylparaben, Persea Gratissima (Avocado Oil), Niacinamide, Pyridoxine HCl, Trideceth 12, Citric Acid, Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot Kernel Oil), Saccharum Officinarum (Sugar Cane Extract), Chlorhexidine Dihydrochloride, Cetrimonium Chloride, Linalool, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Citrus Limonum (Lemon Peel Extract), Camellia Sinensis (Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract)

Redken Smooth Down
Aqua/Water, Cetearyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Chloride, PEG 180, Cetyl Esters, Amodimethicone, Perfume (Fragrance), Methylparaben, Mica, Linalool, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Limonene, Citrimonium Chloride, Butylphenyl, Methylpropional, Trideceth 12, Chlorhexidine Dihydrochloride, PPG 5 Ceteth 20, Oleth 10, Alpha Isomethyl Ionone, Disodium Cocamphodipropionate, Iron Oxides (CI 77491), Lecithin, Phosphoric Acid, Macadamia Ternifolia (Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil), Candelilla Cera/Candelilla Wax, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylparaben

L'Oreal Vive Pro Smooth Intense
Aqua/Water, Cetearyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Chloride, Glycerine, Amodimethicone, Lanolin, Parfum/Fragrance, Cetyl Esters, Methylparaben, Camelina Sativa Seed Oil, Cetrimonium Chloride, Trideceth 12, Hexyl Cinnamal, Chlorhexidine Dihydrochloride, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Linalool, Limonene, Benzyl Salicylate, Yellow 10 (CI 47005), Citronellol, Amyl Cinnamal, Alpha Isomethyl Ionone, Geraniol, Red 4 (CI 14700)

So similar are they, that, in fact, their first three ingredients (which are pretty much the bulk of the product) are exactly the same! Enlightening? Perhaps. If we could only figure out those ridiculously long, unfathomable ingredients, right?

What point does that bring us to? Well, why waste money on a very similar product that will most likely end in the same result? Or maybe, more fairly, are expensive products really worth the extra money?

Now I'm beginning to doubt the holiness of Redken and opting for the cheaper drugstore version. Should I? What are your thoughts?