Shampoo -Alberto Vo5 - Extra Body Shampoo
dottiedogood 8/24/2009 11:42:00 PM
This stuff blows my mind! It's the cheapest shampoo/conditioner you can find (even if you look in dollar stores!), and it is bar none the BEST i have EVER used! And I (like most people on this site I'm sure!) have a serious cosmetics obsession, so I've tried everything in my local drug store and then a few premium brands as well (KMS, Joico, Abba, Aveda, Sebastien). Within one day of using it, my hair is notably bouncier and shinier- and within TWO days of using it, I noticed that when I caught a tangle on a brush, it had the elasticity to resist breaking/snapping [and I haven't cut my hair in months, not to mention I dye it constantly (three days ago!) so it should be brittle and ridiculous]. Anyway. This shampoo is great. Yay!
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Hair Color -Clairol - Nice n' Easy -new formula
dottiedogood 8/22/2009 5:26:00 PM
I'm really pleased! I'll describe my "before-hair" first: it was a bit of a mess. Naturally light-medium brown, I've been going a dark golden blonde over the past few years-- so before dying it, my hair had one inch brown roots, and then a brassy mix of dark blonde home dye, professional dye and highlights. I used Nice n Easy #104 (medium golden blonde), putting it on my roots first and leaving it for ten minutes. Then I scraped what was left over the rest of my hair as best I could (I have long hair, and should have bought two boxes). At 20 minutes (the box suggests 30), I happened to catch my orangey, strawberry coloured hair in the mirror, and, after nervously waiting out 5 more minutes, I caved and rinsed it out 5 minutes early. Before rinsing it, I was POSITIVE i was going to end up with a reddish/orange-ish mess. Truly- it looked RED. But thankfully, now that's it's rinsed and dried, it's a (soft!) golden blonde- not red at all, beyond the warmth of the blonde, and not "flat" as some reviewers found. I would definitely try this brand/colour again (but I'd buy two boxes- I have a few streaks that I wasn't able to properly cover with the one.) NOTE: In my experience, this applies to all hair colour brands, but I always choose a shade one to two lighter than I hope to achieve. Re: The smell? Yup. It'll make your eyes tear up. But I find that with all permanent dyes?
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Hair Color -Clairol - Natural Instincts Hair Color
dottiedogood 1/25/2009 9:48:00 PM
I gotta say it...I love this dye :-) There are two colours that I use frequently: the first is Amber Shimmer, which I actually stock at home (I keep boxes in my linen cupboard), and the second is Tahitian Honey. The second one, though FAR lighter than my dark blonde hair, is perfect for toning down and blending my highlights when they come out a bit too...I guess you could say, nordic? ;-P As for amber shimmer, this is the only dye i've ever used (and i've been dying my hair for about fifteen years...wow.) that 9 times out of 10 comes out EXACTLY as it looks on the box. It's a lovely, honeyed dark blonde/light brown. ONE PROBLEM with the natural instincts line: There is one colour i've tried that is totally, oddly and inCREDibly unlike the box or the description: Golden Honey, described as a 'dark golden blonde' turned my hair a medium-to-DARK auburn red! It was truly strange. It's a nice red so I wasn't too perplexed, but if you're expecting blonde...red is a pretty weird outcome. Use with caution!!! ;-) UPDATE: I've now tried "Gingerbread" as well (finished drying my hair ten minutes ago!). I'd officially say this is *another* really nice colour from the NI line-- just shy of medium brown in depth, with a lot of warmth. Actually, it's probably best described as a really lovely light auburn, but note that I have a good deal of built-up reddish dyes in my hair that might have exaggerated this tone in the shade. Thankfully (despite how it looks as it develops!), it has none of those unnatural purple undertones that auburn dyes tend to reflect. Gingerbread left my hair a soft, shiny, rich, bronze-to-reddish, light-to-medium brown. Nice! Note: If anyone tries the new Natural Instincts "Caramel Creme" colour, I'd love to hear how it turns out...I almost went with this one tonight, but was nervous it would turn out much darker than "medium brown"...
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Hair Color -L'Oreal - Natural Match haircolor [DISCONTINUED]
dottiedogood 1/25/2009 9:32:00 PM
I dyed my hair using the 8W (medium golden blonde), and I feel pretty happy with the results! To have truly made a 'natural match' ;-P I would have used the 7W (dark golden blonde), but experience with blonde dyes has taught me that it's better to go one shade lighter than you might think to. So! Here's what I found: Yes, I agree that the dye is runnier than most, but since you apply it to dry hair, this isn't really a problem. I definitely agree with another reviewer that if you have long or full hair, you should get two boxes- which kinda sucks, because it's one of the more expensive brands. But with shoulder-length hair, I was desperately fishing every last drop out of the bottle and squeezing my hair to get dye to the dryer patches- which is something I've never had to worry about with other dyes. In terms of the dryness some people experienced, this wasn't a problem for me. Actually, my hair felt soft even before adding in the conditioner?? And that conditioner is pretty intense, too! The only downside I found is that the 8W on me is just a bit brassy- but this might mellow once I wash it a few times. Overall, I'm quite happy, and would buy this product again. To give you a sense of the results, I had about 1/2 inch of light-to-medium brown roots, and hair that was a mix of lighter highlights with a gold-ish brown base. The dye nicely handled all of the different tones, lightening my roots so that they now blend with the rest of my hair, and toning down the highlights so that my hair looks natural instead of 'streaky.' No real complaints here! :-)
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