I used this shampoo years ago it was my first 'salon' brand shampoo and conditioner. At the time It was really great, it would clean my scalp well and leave it in great condition. Then when I went back and bought another bottle I swear the formula changed as other people have mentioned. It's now just a plain old basic shampoo nothing special, definitely not worth the expensive price tag. I have moved on to much better shampoos my current HG is Paul Mitchell awaphui ginger sulfate free it's amazing

Quick summary: It was terrible for my hair, not moisturizing at all.

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I am in the search for a new shampoo after Redken All Soft's formula was dramatically altered in 2012, and I have tried many shampoo/conditioner pairs - with no luck so far.

As this is a pretty expensive process, I research things online before buying them. I have only done a moderate amount of looking into Biolage so far, but I am somewhat confused by the information I've found about the Matrix Biolage hydrating range.

There seem to be two ranges that Matrix calls "hydrating": plain "hydrating" and "ultra-hydrating". Online commenters have said that the ultra-hydrating line has silicones, while the hydrating one does not.

Matrix products seem to be sold both in hair salons and regular retailers (such as Walmart), but I'm not sure if they are the exact same formulas or not. Some reviewers on Amazon (on several different listings for these products - I've read all the reviews on at least 20 listings there) have noted that there are several different ingredients lists on the Matrix Biolage Hydrating products (even though the exact same product name is on the front of the bottle) that they have bought there, and some speculated that either Matrix is changing their formulas over time, producing different formulas simultaneously for different market segments/supply chains, or that some Amazon third-party sellers are selling counterfeit goods.

Therefore I don't know whether the Matrix Biolage line that I see in my local supermarket is trustworthy, is authentic, and is the same stuff that I could find in a salon, or not.

[I know that I could ask for help about this range at a salon, but I've been to so many salons in my town for help in my product quest, and I have bought their expensive, recommended products which turned out terrible for my hair, and I just hesitate to continue bothering them when I'm not a customer of their stylists. (Besides, in all honesty, most of the product advice I've received in my town from salon employees has been inaccurate, and many of the staffpeople I've asked for help don't really know much about hair product ingredients, or about what can cause distress to different hair textures and skin types.)]

Other reviewers on Amazon and this site have said that the Matrix Biolage Hydrating formulas have changed over time, but I am not sure how (what exactly was added and subtracted), so I don't know what to look for on the ingredients lists of bottles that I see for sale.

I learned that Sally Beauty Supply sells a generic version of this line, and I went to a store yesterday to get their duplicate and try it out first. I have read somewhere on the internet that Biolage had changed their formula in 2011 or 2012, and that Sally had followed suit with their generic version, but the bottles in my local Sally store state that they have the "2010" ingredients list on them. I don't know if these are old products at my local Sally, or if they are freshly-made bottles and actually Sally has simply not changed their "dupe" formula of this line since 2010. I also don't know whether, because some reviewers have complained about reformulations of the offical product in 2011 and 2012, if the Sally 2010 version is better than the Matrix-branded 2013 version that I'd find now in a salon.

I would not be surprised if the lines have been reformulated over the years, since Matrix is now owned by Loreal.

The ingredients information given on the Matrix website about their products is entirely inadequate. For example, under the ingredients tab for Ultra-Hydrating shampoo are "aloe" and "algae". Under the ingredients tab for Hydrating shampoo it states: "Formulas with algae, sage, botanical aloe vera products or wheat germ helps to nourish and restore the health of the hair ". This is not only confusing (and ungrammatical!), it's insulting to the customer. This gives me no help in understanding their product lines and differentiation. It also makes me suspect that maybe they really do have different versions out there under the same product name (they way they say "algae, sage, aloe, OR wheat germ" is bizarre.)

When I do their website's product finder, no matter what answers I enter in many of the questions, I get the same product recommendation each time, the volumizing formula, which is not what my hair needs right now. It seems that the product finder stops listening to me after it hears that I have fine-textured hair. Therefore, I am unimpressed with their website.

I am desperate, however, to find something to replace my old-formula Redken All Soft, so I will venture onward into the Matrix Biolage muddle....

My impressions of the Sally Beauty Supply / GVP duplicates of the 2010 Matrix Biolage Hydrating shampoo and conditioner:

-I strongly dislike the scent. Yet most reviewers seem to adore it - ? It smells medicinal, woodsy, herbal. The scent is very strong and tenacious, so even 2 hours after I washed my hair, the odor was irritating my nose and throat. I am pretty sensitive to odors, so my experience won't be the norm, I'm sure.

-The conditioner was doing 85% of the moisturizing effect of the pair. The shampoo didn't seem very good.

-After my 2nd wash with these products, my hair was extra frizzy, breaking off mid-strand, really curling up (which in my naturally straight hair is a sign of protein overload and imminent breakage), and kinking up terribly in the last inch of the ends (again, an indication in my hair of too much protein). This was not AT ALL moisturizing for my hair.

-Even Suave Apple 97-cents shampoo, which I had tried 3 times, 2 weeks prior to this, left my hair in better condition than the Sally dupes of Matrix Biolage Hydrating.

-Maybe the "real" Matrix 2013 products would have a different effect. However, I won't be trying them because the Sally dupe formulas were so destructive to my hair after only 2 uses.

I used to buy Biolage for dry hair and loved it!!!! I loved the shampoo and the conditioner, but it is no longer the same. The price has gone up while the quality goes down. My hair is so dry and frizzy from that stuff. I will just buy drug store shampoo and conditioner from now on. It really just burns me up to pay so much for a product that does the opposite of what it says! I WILL NEVER BUY BIOLAGE PRODUCTS AGAIN!!!!!!

Been using for 10 years. Tried and tested many other professional brands but always come back to this. Does everything it says on the bottle and I love the smell

I just bought this shampoo today at Ulta, it's quite the commitment being a jumbo liter. After reading some of these reviews I'm a little nervous, it seems longterm use with this shampoo dries hair out. But we'll see....for now I really like it. It smells pretty and clean. I don't see how it could be too overpowering to some...but to each his own.
It has a nice lather and rinses clean. My hair is noticeably softer. However I didn't use the matching hydrating conditioner. I used another Matrix Conditioner...Deep... something (I forget). Anyway it worked well too. Although it didn't detangle right away like my normal drugstore conditioners do. But it did eventually detangle my hair. But then that's another review altogether, isn't it? Will update if I find this is drying my hair like others had mentioned.

Ok, so I am actually reviewing the generic version of this product I got at Sally's (5 dollars a bottle and the exact same ingredients, scent, and everything!) and I am thoroughly impressed. I wasn't expecting to like this because it has sulfates in it and I've been trying to avoid them. However, I've always loved the smell of Biolage and wanted to get it since it was so cheap. My hair is SO soft and silky. Normally when I get out of the shower, I immediately feel like I need a leave-in conditioner because my ends are so dry. Not the case here. The conditioner is extremely thick and moisturizing, as well as the shampoo. I highly recommend this if you buy it at Sally's for cheap. Now I can see why people rave about this line!

This is a good shampoo. Unfortunately, I found the scent too overpowering. It smells really chemical. I wouldn't buy this again.

I don't mind paying more for a good shampoo, but honestly this wasn't a good shampoo for me. I've had way better and some for a third the price. I used this for 15 days, and honestly I'd say that's a good test run. I used it with the biolage conditioning balm and honestly it felt like it did nothing. The smell was ok, but it was sickening to me after awhile.

When I first used this shampoo, I thought it was a God-send! My waist length hair was dry and fried from using tea tree shampoo for months and I used this shampoo (along with the conditioning balm) after a recommendation from a hairstylist friend.

At first my hair was smooth, silky and gorgeous. Then my hair started shedding - then eventually falling out in clumps. (It got so bad I made my husband start cleaning out the shower plug so I wouldn't have to panic after seeing the amount of hair in there!)

It took me a while to realize the hair loss started coincided with the use of this product. I immediately stopped using it and switched back to cheap, but reliable, Aussie Moist. My hair has slowly stopped falling out and just for good measure, I used the Biolage once again yesterday just to see what would happen and wouldn't you know, I had plenty of hair detaching from my scalp immediately after shampooing.

I see a lot of mixed reviews on this product. The first few times I used it (along with the hydrating conditioner) it left my hair soft, silky and shiney. However, after using it for a few weeks, it left my hair feeling rather rough and dry. Since I paid a lot of money for this product, I didn't want to throw it away. I decided to alternate it with Aveeno shampoo and conditioner, and since doing so have seen an improvement using this method, but nothing amazing (Aveeno on the other hand treats my hair well). I will keep on using this shampoo until it runs out, but will not repurchase.