There's a new consumer alert on something you may buy all the time.

Are you getting what you pay for when you purchase hair care products? At least one brand says what's sold in big retail stores may not be what you think. You can find Paul Mitchell shampoo at retail stores like Target, but the company's reps say you can't be sure it's the real deal.

"It's either counterfeit, tampered with or black market," says Robert Cromeans, the Global Artistic Director for John Paul Mitchell Systems, commonly called "Paul Mitchell."

"We don't sell to these outlets. We only sell to salons like mine or around the world," he says. However, Action News found Paul Mitchell products in Target, CVS and Walgreens. "The fact of the matter is... they aren't buying directly from us," he says.

The company says it has contracts with distributors that are only in the professional hair care industry. The distributors then sell the products to the salons. Somewhere in that chain, Paul Mitchell says a wholesaler gets involved and buys the product in what the company calls a "back door" deal. The product then ends up on retail store shelves where it should never be.

"That product could be old... it could be tampered with... it could be counterfeit. The product is not going to be first-quality," says Vikki Bresnahan who is in charge of brand protection at the company.

She says old products don't perform well and counterfeit products could be dangerous. She points out a counterfeit case where the fake Paul Mitchell product had high levels of bacteria. The company says it usually costs more in a drug store or supermarket than it does in a professional salon.

Bresnahan said the products in the stores cost between 50 cents and five dollars more. They say the best way to protect your hair, health and wallet is to buy from a certified salon.