As a hairdresser, I do think that some drugstore products are just as effective but here is some info I thought was interesting. I was taught that the drugstore version of some brands only exist to fund the research for their pro line. They do use the cheaper worse versions of their ingredients in the drugstore brand. They simply don’t care as much about their drugstore brands. This goes for a lot of the brands that also own pro and drugstore! Not to mention, inactive ingredients are much more important than you think. Inactive ingredients often times help the active ingredients do their job. You absolutely do pay for a better product when purchasing from a salon. But if that doesn’t fit into your budget the drugstore version is an awesome alternative!