L'Oréal Professionnel Serié Expert Absolut Repair Shampoo for Intense Damage Repair & Nourishment for Dry & Damaged Hair 1500 ml/50.72 oz

1500 ml is a salon backbar bottle, which tells you who this is really for. If you wash long or dense hair several times a week, buying Absolut Repair at this size costs a fraction per wash of the small one.

The shampoo itself is L'Oréal Professionnel's standard for dry, damaged hair: brittle, dull lengths that have been through heat, colour or the weather. It nourishes the surface while it cleanses, so hair comes out smoother, softer and easier to work through, and the improvement holds instead of rinsing straight back out.

• Salon size for households or frequent washing
• Aimed at dry, brittle, over-processed hair
• Smooths and softens as it cleanses
• The first step in the wider Absolut Repair range

Buy a pump for it, because 50.72 oz is not a bottle you want to tip one-handed over the bath. Follow with the matching masque on the ends.

Absolut Repair is the range most stylists reach for when hair is dry rather than fragile, which is a distinction worth making. If your hair is snapping under a comb, the Inforcer line is the better fit; if it is dull, rough and thirsty, this is the one. Both are salon formulas, so use noticeably less than a supermarket bottle would need.