Side by side
Herbal Essences Color Me Happy Shampoo vs Person & Covey DHS Tar Shampoo
89% function match · 8 of the 9 functions we compared match Formula overlap 29%. Herbal Essences Color Me Happy Shampoo and Person & Covey DHS Tar Shampoo share 1 ingredient among each other's most prominent.
Which of these fits your hair?
We check your pattern, moisture need, scalp, fragrance tolerance, weight sensitivity and more against each formula — and say which one lines up.
Your profile at a glance
- Your answers appear here
- Your answers appear here
- Your answers appear here
- Your answers appear here
When each one is the right call
What each formula is built for, from its own ingredient list.
- Color Me Happy Shampoo — fast-oiling scalps
- DHS Tar Shampoo — cuticle-smoothing pH
Side by side
Every trait, aligned
One row per trait, read from each product’s own ingredient list and record. A dash means we have not researched that field for that product — it is not a “no”.
- Fast-oiling scalpsthat need a real reset wash
- Hard waterand swimmers dealing with mineral deposit
- Cuticle-smoothing pHa pH adjuster brings it to the acidic range hair prefers
- Tight budgetsit sits in the lower price tiers
- Cuticle-smoothing pHa pH adjuster brings it to the acidic range hair prefers
- Short ingredient listsfifteen ingredients or fewer
- Scents bother youthis product carries a scent
- Sulfate-free routinesit uses a sulfate detergent
- Dry or damaged haira strong detergent system strips as it cleans
- Sulfate-free routinesit uses a sulfate detergent
- Hair that tangles wetnothing here reduces combing force
- Picking it up locallywe have it recorded in one channel only
More facts about each one
Facts as we recorded them. A dash means we have not researched that field for that product — it is not a "no".
The bottom line
The bottom line depends on your hair
Which of these two suits you is a question about your hair, not about them. The consultation answers it — and tells you what your routine needs around it.
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The detail behind the table
Where the readings above come from: the ingredient lists themselves, each brand’s claims checked against them, what owners report, and cost per ounce in context.
Shared and distinct ingredients
Shared and distinct ingredients
Computed from the ingredient lists as printed. "Shared" means both lists carry it; where it sits on each label is stated, because position is what tells you how much.
What both formulas carry
What only one of them carries
Color Me Happy Shampoo
- Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
- Cocamidopropyl Betaine
- Fragrance
- Passiflora Laurifolia Flower Extract
- Passiflora Quadrangularis Flower Extract
- Sodium Benzoate
- Methylchloroisothiazolinone
- Methylisothiazolinone
DHS Tar Shampoo
- Solubilized Coal Tar Extract (0.5% Coal Tar)
- Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine
- Peg-8 Distearate
Full ingredient list — Color Me Happy Shampoo (24)
-
1
Water
- solvent
-
2
Sodium Laureth Sulfate
- sulfate cleanser
- cleanser
-
3
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
- sulfate cleanser
- cleanser
-
4
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
- amphoteric cleanser
- secondary cleanser
- cleanser
- Below about this point, order stops being meaningful — these are typically used at 1% or less.
-
5
Fragrance
- fragrance
- declared fragrance
-
6
Citric Acid
- pH adjuster
- hard-water chelator
- 7 Passiflora Laurifolia Flower Extract
- 8 Passiflora Quadrangularis Flower Extract
-
9
Passiflora Incarnata Flower Extract
- botanical extract
- 10 Zeamays (Corn) Silk Extract
-
11
Pearl Extract
- botanical extract
-
12
Sodium Citrate
- pH adjuster
- hard-water chelator
-
13
Sodium Xylenesulfonate
- solubilizer
-
14
Cocamide MEA
- secondary cleanser
- nonionic cleanser
- thickener
-
15
Sodium Chloride
- salt
- thickener
-
16
Sodium Benzoate
- preservative
-
17
Tetrasodium EDTA
- hard-water chelator
-
18
Peg-60 Almond Glycerides
- emulsifier
-
19
Linoleamidopropyl PG-Dimonium Chloride Phosphate
- conditioning agent
-
20
Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride
- conditioning agent
- polymer
- gum
-
21
Methylchloroisothiazolinone
- isothiazolinone
- preservative
-
22
Methylisothiazolinone
- isothiazolinone
- preservative
-
23
Yellow 5
- colourant
-
24
Red 33
- colourant
Full ingredient list — DHS Tar Shampoo (7)
- 1 Solubilized Coal Tar Extract (0.5% Coal Tar)
-
2
Water
- solvent
-
3
Sodium Laureth Sulfate
- sulfate cleanser
- cleanser
-
4
Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine
- amphoteric cleanser
- secondary cleanser
- cleanser
-
5
Peg-8 Distearate
- thickener
- emulsifier
-
6
Sodium Chloride
- salt
- thickener
- Below about this point, order stops being meaningful — these are typically used at 1% or less.
-
7
Citric Acid
- pH adjuster
- hard-water chelator
Claims check
What each brand says, against what each formula shows
Claims are quoted from each brand. We only mark one supported, partly supported, or conflicting when that product’s ingredient list actually speaks to it.
Color Me Happy Shampoo
Protects your hair from damage to allow your hair to look radiant
Stated by brandCan’t be confirmed from label.Color-safe and pH balanced
Potential conflictLikely to pull colour faster.Paraben free, mineral oil free, dermatologist tested
Stated by brandOnly the brand’s testing shows this.Silicone free
Stated by brandCan’t be confirmed from label.
DHS Tar Shampoo
Tar-based formula for the treatment of dandruff and psoriasis
Stated by brandSoothing, not an active treatment.Designed for control of even chronic scalp conditions
Stated by brandCan’t be confirmed from label.Helps prevent recurrence of scalp itching and flaking associated with Psoriasis, Seborrheic Dermatitis and Dandruff
Stated by brandSoothing, not an active treatment.Fragrance and dye-free
Stated by brandCan’t be confirmed from label.PABA free
Stated by brandCan’t be confirmed from label.
What owners say
What people report
Recurring themes our researchers wrote in their own words from sourced reviews. We do not store or scrape star ratings, and we never balance one product’s themes against another’s by inventing them.
Color Me Happy Shampoo
Reviewers praise the pleasant Moroccan Rose scent and the pump dispenser, which several call easy to use in the shower.
Reviewers say it leaves hair soft, manageable and moisturized rather than dried out, including those with hair damaged by frequent box dyeing.
A few reviewers reported bottle or pump mechanical issues, such as an overly thick formula that would not dispense properly.
Reviewers using the Moroccan Rose scent say it does not strip or fade their hair color and several have used it for years specifically for their color-treated hair.
DHS Tar Shampoo
Repeat buyers who have used the product for years say it leaves hair feeling soft despite being a medicated, tar-based formula.
long-time repeat customersSeveral long-time users, including some directed by a doctor after trying prescription options, say it clears stubborn scalp itching and flaking within about a week when other treatments had not worked.
OTC/Rx tar-shampoo users with chronic scalp conditionsA reviewer who switched after his longtime tar shampoo (Neutrogena T/Gel) was discontinued calls this a solid direct replacement, though he would like it offered in larger bottle sizes.
shopper replacing a discontinued tar shampooPrice check
Cost per ounce, in context
Cost per ounce against every product of this type we have priced, each at the size it is most often sold in. Value labels are computed from that percentile and from how many products that do the same job cost less; they are comparisons, not judgements about a brand.
$0.48/oz vs $1.92/oz — Person & Covey DHS Tar Shampoo costs about 4× more per ounce than Herbal Essences Color Me Happy Shampoo.
Every mark sits on one distribution because these are compared against the same set: 805 shampoos with a computable unit price.
Computed from cost per ounce against every product of this type we have priced, and from how many products that do the same job cost less. It is a comparison, not a judgement about the brand.
Compare with something else
Close formulas to each of these, as their own comparison pages.
Color Me Happy Shampoo · DHS Tar Shampoo · All shampoos in the library
How this page was made
- This page is assembled from the same researched records the individual product pages render: identity, each ingredient list as printed, each brand's own claims, dated price observations, and review themes written in our researchers' own words. Nothing on it is written per comparison.
- We do not rank these against each other. Which of them suits you depends on your hair, and that is what the consultation works out.
- The formula similarity percentage is a stored, precomputed number: position-weighted overlap of the two ingredient lists blended with agreement on the attributes we derive. It measures how alike two formulas are, not how well either works.
- The value band is a fixed label over two stored numbers: this product’s cost per ounce as a percentile of every product of this type we have priced, each at the size it is most often sold in, and how many products we score as doing the same job cost at least a quarter less per ounce.
- The "Is this right for you?" panel reads only your own consultation answers, and it applies exactly the filters our recommendation engine applies. It is computed when you load the page and is never stored on it.
- 6 sources were consulted across the products on this page.
- Ingredient order tells you relative amount only above roughly 1%. Prices are observations on the dates shown and change without notice. We do not sell these products and take no placement fees.
- This is cosmetic information, not medical advice, and nothing here diagnoses or treats a health condition.
- This particular combination is not listed in our sitemap: we only submit pairs of comparable products that our similarity data says people would actually weigh against each other.
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