(no subject)

[coraa]

I just took a shower with a sea salt scrub and then put on a loverly peach body butter. I smell good. (And now I feel like Jaegermonster....)

So, a personal grooming question, while I'm in this mood. I've been using Pantene Red Expressions shampoo and conditioner on my hair, and I've liked it quite a lot, but my hair is getting used to it. (I need to switch shampoos every so often or I get buildup, and they start not cleaning/conditioning as well. It may be psychological, but it feels real, and that's good enough.) What shampoo and conditioner do you use, and do you like them? My hair is, mm, maybe 3-4 inches past the shoulder, very fine, slightly wavy, very prone to tangling. Scalp tends to oiliness but not badly; most shampoos work fine for me, so really it's conditioner I'm wondering about, and I'm particularly interested in a conditioner that will detangle fine hair without weighing it down too much. In the past I've happily used Herbal Essences -- I used to use one that came in a green bottle and smelled... well, like apples, though I think technically it was meant to smell like kiwis, and I liked that too, but they've rearranged their line and I can't find it anymore. I do color my hair, but I use henna, which doesn't damage it (or at least not noticeably so), so I don't need a conditioner specifically for colored hair.

I've been thinking about trying Mane & Tail, because the idea of using horse shampoo and conditioner amuses me to no end, but I haven't yet because it only comes in a great big farking bottle and if I don't like it I'm stuck with a lot of it.

(As a point of interest: I've also tried not using commercial shampoos and conditioners, but an apple cider vinegar rinse just don't cut it at all for detangling my hair.)

Any suggestions? (And, because I'm just generously a curious beast: what do you use, even if it wouldn't be appropriate for me?)

Comments

[eepmirva.livejournal.com]

I've been using bath and body works mosterisng shampoo and conditioner in the moonlight path sent (same sent I was wearing when I met you.) I started using it cause I buy so much of their stuff I could get a discount on it and it works really well at dealing with the tangles I get. Before that, I was just using whatever was cheepest at the grocery store, and I switched about 8 months ago and when I went home for christmas my friends all commented that my hair looks a lot better, so it is doing something!

I've also used it on Matt's hair a few times (his is almost as long as mine, and has a lot of damage becuase when he played in his heavy mettle band he kept perming his hair and completly killed it doing so!) and it makes his hair look a lot better too. (His is a lot more fine then mine is, so it does work well on fine hair too.)

Anyway, I'm sure all of that fulfulls your curiocity about what I use on my hair! :o)

Edited to add: oh yeah, and it smells REALLY good too! :o) (Though once your hair is dry the smell fades a lot - useful when using on husband's hair (don't want him smelling like a girl all day!))

[morganlf.livejournal.com]

You might try John Frieda's shampoo for reddish hair. I have fine hair, but a ton of it, and his blonde shampoo and conditioner work really well for me.

[cwendy41.livejournal.com]

I switch off every other day. Currently I am using Pantene ProV and Garnier Fructise. I generally buy 2-in-1 because I am lazy. I usually buy moisturizing shampoo and sometimes I buy the ones that help hair strengthen. Sometimes I buy shampoo for curly and/or colored hair even though mine isn't.

[porfinn.livejournal.com]

Sorry for being a bit wordy, but found this a good way kill sometime while waiting for paint remover to do its thing..

I swim outdoors, so I tend to keep that in mind when I buy hair care products.. My hair is fine and not especially thick. I'm not sure if it is because I take good care of my hair by accident (I can't stand the whine of a blow dryer, and heat is suppose to be really hard on hair) or I'm just lucky, but me hair seems to remain pretty healthy. It seems to be extremely porous, so I can dye it without any problems, and seems cooperative if I do decide I want to subject it to curlers or a curling iron.
I use to bug the hair stylists the few times I had to have my hair styled on set. Oddly enough, my experience was that make-artists are wonderfully friendly and happy to share all kinds of tips, and hair stylists (not the ones at a salon, only on sets) are terse, grumpy and tend to be pretty tight lipped about offering advice. But one woman I worked with was very nice and offered unsolicited advice that I have found very useful. She told me that because I didn't have especially thick hair I should be very careful how much conditioner I use, since daily conditioning can weigh my hair down. Since my hair was not thick (but she said it wasn't really thin either) I would probably need to wash it every day since hair of my type was prone to looking greasy, and any styling product would probably offer all of the conditioning I needed (on days I work at the cafe I use mouse to give my hair more shape and texture). When I asked her what type of styling products, she made a slight show of bending down to my ear, and in a loud stage whisper, said, “cheap!”. She also advised me to get some sort of conditioner that I could use once or twice a week, and even recommended olive oil. When I told her I swim often, she recommended that I put the conditioner on before I get my hair wet. And then she went into a monologue about how much more effective it is to use conditioner on dry hair.
So, after my long monologue, I spend money on my shampoo because I want it to be gentle enough to be used more than once a day if necessary. I also took her suggestion, based on my swimming, and I buy a product that has chelating agent. I really like my regular hair stylist a lot (she once re-opened her store just for me); she charges $25 for a haircut, does a great job, and recommends good products. When I told her what I was looking for she gave me samples from a company called Iden Cosmetics, for Bee Propolis shampoo. Neither of us have any idea if the bee goo does our hair any good, but it does have EDTA (a chelating agent to keep the my hair free of deposits from minerals, and, allegedly rids it of styling crap), it is very gentle, and seems to have enough conditioning agents (like silicone) that I don't have to use a conditioner after washing my hair. The stuff lasts forever, so I don't mind spending a bit more.
http://idencosmetics.com/
As for conditioner, I buy cheap stuff to put in my hair before I body board (though, usually not before I swim in a pool), and once every other week I might massage some sort of oil (olive, castor, avocado, whatever) into my hair fifteen minutes before washing it. I usually buy Sauve hair styling products, because Paula Begoun likes them, and they are cheap.
http://cosmeticscop.com/learn/product_reviews.asp
Rachel, and other hair stylists, have said that my hair is in great condition. And when I did one show as a hair model, the dye artist was thrilled with the texture of my hair, so maybe I'm doing something right, but that still doesn't mean I have a clue how to make my hair look properly coiffed. I'm getting better, but I still don't feel up to the task of having long hair to have to fool with regularly. In fact, it is definitely time for a haircut again!

[maggiedacatt.livejournal.com]

I most prefer using very sparing amounts of professional shampoos, especially Paul Mitchell, Biolage, and Aveda. For a long time I stopped and just used Pantene et al. because it felt like a frivolous expenditure, but since I've had the dyed hair (and since my stepmom was paying) I've been using Aveda Color Conserve. In addition to the regular shampoo and conditioner, they also make a leave-in conditioner that has sunscreen in it, which really helps prevent the UV-based fading. I notice a big difference when I get too lazy to put it in.

[sithjawa.livejournal.com]

When my hair was long (and hellishly wavy/tangly) I used Aussie wash-out conditioner. I forget what it's called but that's the company. I just checked and they have a whole bunch of different conditioners and all I know is it was one of the 3-minute miracle ones. I didn't know they had more than one.

It worked very well for me and I never had to switch it out. I have thick hair, not fine, though.

[madduckdes.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed the Aveda products, but I haven't felt like splurging again lately. I used to use Sapmoss for dry hair.

Pantene Pro-V took care of me for awhile.

Redken makes some pretty good product, and you can get relatively small quantities packaged together in a little "trial pack" for ten or twelve bucks at some salons.

Paul Mitchell makes a good smoother that I've been trying lately. It really helps with the fly-aways. (Of course, the world would notice that more if I ever got around to brushing my hair...)

Mark really likes the 365 brand shampoo that they sell at Whole Foods.

Dove has products that are reasonably priced and that smell nice.