Beauty Blog! It's All About The Hair

Even if you are not a girly girl and make-up gives you the willies...

You still have to wash your hair.

Unless you have dreadlocks and then I guess you don't. How do they keep their scalps clean anyway? I've always wondered about that.

Anyway, back to what I was saying.

Shampoo and conditioner (or creme rinse as it used to be called) have been around for a couple hundred years. When I was a kid, I remember watching commercials for Prell and Breck and my personal favorite, Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific...which is still the all time best name for a shampoo in the history of shampoo.

And it truly was all about smell. My sister and I would stand in the grocery store aisle and smell them all, always picking the one with the best sent. (Suave Strawberry was one my personal favorites...I loved the way it smelled).

Now here we are in the 21st century and women are no longer buying shampoo based on its scent. Haircare in general has undergone a huge transformation in the last 20 years. Shampoo and conditioner have gone high tech. Now we choose our shampoo based on our hair type. Straight, curly, frizzy, color-treated, split ends, fine, limp, thick, unruly...if you have a hair type, there is now a shampoo designed especially for you.

And these products make great promises. Guaranteed to reduce split ends. Guaranteed to make your hair 50 times stronger. Guaranteed you hair will remain smooth as silk even in high humidity.

(Just for the record, I haven't found any that can live up to that final promise...I live in the South where heat and humidity reside. Nothing can keep my hair from frizzing on a humid, oppressive day.)

If you have read my past beauty blogs, you know I am not loyal to one brand. I like to try different ones and pick my favorites. Haircare is no exception. I never buy the same brand twice unless I love it. And even then, I like to switch it up a bit.

Now with that said, I need to tell you what hair type I have.

It's thick. I mean super thick. My hairdresser has actually started padding in an extra 15 minutes to my appointment because it takes her so long to dry it.
And it's straight...well for the most part. It would be bone straight if I hadn't insisted on getting perms back in the 80's.

I blame it all on Jennifer Beals. I just had to have those Flashdance curls!

While my hair is mostly straight, it does have a tendency to wave and frizz. Let's just say a flat iron is my best friend.

I also color my hair...or I used to on a regular basis. I was getting highlights and lowlights put throughout my hair. However, I decided to stop...being a single income family was not allowing me to spend $125.00 every 4 months. I could stretch it out a bit between colorings because my roots never showed that bad. (I'm a natural blond & was just enhancing my color, not completely changing it) In November of last year, I had my stylist put the lowlight all over my head to tone down the light blond. She added a few highlights to the front and that's it. I haven't had any color on my hair since so this shade of blond I am currently sporting is as natural as I can get.

So you can probably guess most of the shampoos and conditioners on my list are for color-treated hair. To quote my stylist, "If you spend all that money getting professional color, you better use professional hair products. If you don't, you're wasting you money." And I totally agree. Using a salon brand shampoo and conditioner will prolong the life of your color. It won't fade and your color will stay true over a longer period of time. So with that said, let me tell you some on the ones I have used over the past couple of years.

1. Back to Basics Blue Lavender Color Protecting Shampoo and Conditioner
They sell this stuff at my salon and I really liked it. It's not cheap (the big gallon bottles will run you about $18-$20 a piece) but you can find them on sale. I bought the 2 large bottles for $24.00 total. Granted, that's a lot of money but if you are paying over $400.00 a year coloring you hair, this is a small expense.
What I liked: the scent and how my hair felt after using. The conditioner was really good on my super thick hair.
What I didn't like: I used more conditioner than shampoo. Therefore, I ran out a different times and I HATE that!

2. Redken Color Extend
Oh how I loved this stuff. I honestly don't think there wasn't anything I disliked about this product. It smelled great, left my hair like silk, and lasted forever. If there is any cons it was that Trade Secret didn't have the 2 for $24.00 special running when I ran out cause I totally would have bought this stuff again.
2 thumbs WAY UP for this stuff! Love love LOVE!

3. Paul Mitchell Color Protect
I had been a Paul Mitchell lover in the 80's and 90's when I was in High School and started taking better care of my hair so the brand was on my radar. This was the very first stuff I bought after I started coloring my hair professionally. And it was okay. I liked the shampoo much more than the conditioner. For some reason, it never made my hair smooth and silky and I hate that. If I'm paying a lot of money for the good stuff, I better be able to tell the difference. Scent was good but I wasn't impressed.

4. Biolage Color Protect
This stuff is great. It smells divine and works beautifully. And it's usually on sale which is a big bonus for me. Because it's one of the best, lots of drugstore brands try to copy it's formula (Suave being one of them in their new Professional line but I'll get to that in a bit). Biolage is great stuff...well worth the price.

5. Bed Head Dumb Blonde
Now I have to admit, I bought the stuff based on the name and color. I loved the pink shampoo...it was so pretty. And it smelled delicious. Can't say enough good things about the shampoo. It's a shame it has to be followed by the conditioner. This is easily the worst conditioner on the list. It's awful. I had to use handfuls of this stuff and still my hair was full of tangles after a shower. I was so disappointed, I never bought it again and threw it out before I emptied the bottle which this money conscious girl NEVER does.

Now that I no longer color my hair and my budget is tighter than ever, I have switched back to the drug store brands. I was surprised how good they have gotten since I last bought them. Here's my favorites.

1. Suave Professionals Color Care
Simply put, I can not believe this stuff is less than $3.00 a bottle. It's fantastic. It smells great, leaves my hair smooth and tangle free and does help prolong the highlights in my hair. It claims to be like Biolage and I agree. Even my stylist couldn't tell I was using Suave. Love it!

2. Garnier Color Protect
Now I'm going to tattle a bit...this is my husband's favorite shampoo. He loves Garnier but he uses the regular formula for healthy hair. It's smells divine and does leave your hair like silk. And the make great hair styling products, too.

3. Suave Professionals Sleek
This is my current obsession. I have never used a shampoo designed for straight hair. Since I've had my hair colored, I always used something to protect it. But now that my hair is back to its natural color, I bought this a few weeks ago. I absolutely LOVE it! It compares itself to Matrix Sleek Look which I have never used but heard great things about. But I can honestly say I have noticed a difference in my hair. It's silkier and straighter and doesn't seem as prone to frizz. Great stuff!

Some of you are probably wondering why the top selling shampoo and conditioner brand is no where on my list...Pantene. Honestly I'm not a big fan. Yes, it smells great and when you use it, your hair does seem shinier, more manageable. But for me, the improvement is short lived. Soon after using it, my hair gets dull, lifeless, faded. I'll never forget my stylist asking me what I was using on my hair about 4 years ago, before I started coloring it. I was on a Pantene kick and she said my hair was coated in gunk. She actually asked if I was using Pantene! I admitted I was and she went on to explain how it's filled with so many oils (which is why your hair looks so incredibly shiny when you start using it) that eventually will weigh you hair follicle down. She said if you use that stuff, you have to invest on a cleansing shampoo to use at least once a week (She recommended Neutrogena)to get all that oil off your hair. Needless to say, I stopped using it and have never bought Pantene again. But if you use it and see different results, please post a comment and let me know...I am always open to second chances!

Last but not least, I thought I talk briefly about the styling products I use. Since my hair is straight, I don't use much. But there are 3 products I love.

1.Garnier Sleek and Shine Smoothing Milk
This stuff works very well. It's not my absolute favorite, but if you are on a budget, it works great for straight hair.

2. Chi Silk Infusion
This stuff works great. Makes your hair silky and shiny...a great product to put on towel dried hair before blow drying. My stylist uses this and I love the way it makes my hair look.

3. Biosilk Silk Therapy
I definitely saved the best for last. Oh Biosilk how I love thee....let me count the ways!!!
Words can not describe how much I love this stuff. Whoever created it deserves a medal. It's the most incredible hair product I have ever used. You want to talk about shine? Oh my God. Forgetaboutit. Even the name is appropriate because my hair IS silk after using it. LOVE LOVE LOVE my Biosilk!

There are hundreds or hair care products on the market and I have touched on a small few. If there's a product you love and I didn't mention it here, tell me about it...I love you hear what you are using. Don't be afraid to leave me a comment!

Have a great week...here's to a week's worth of good hair days!