Hump Day Hair

Sharond here,in for Katie for Wednesday Hump Hair Day!...


This week I am going to do something a little different and ask you, the readers and reviewers of Meg's Makeup, to tell me what you look for on the containers when buying hair products. Do you read all of the ingredients or only the tag lines or let name brand be your guide? I have to admit I was one who rated products by four categories based on where purchased, starting from least desirable (drug stores, discount stores, and grocery stores); discount hair salons similar to Cost Cutters or Great Clips, followed by private salons and the best is the spa's, especially exclusive ones. Online stores were intermixed on all four categories for me.

For our anniversary this year my husband took me to Broadmoor Hotel, a five star resort in Colorado Springs with a high-end spa. I loved their private brand goods bath and body products and immediately went and spent small fortune on buying them all without reading the labels. When it written on the bottle that "the same essential oils that cleanse the hair are excellent sources of nutrition as they smooth and detangle." I trusted the claim and assumed it would contain essential oils and other natural products; I felt safe buying these without scrutinizing the ingredients like I usually do. Imagine my surprise when I read the contents: purified water, glycol stearate, cetearyl alcohol, stearakonium chloride, diazolianiyl urea, fragrance, D & C green #5, FD & C yellow #5. Where are the organic essential oils that the tag line suggest? I only saw chemicals and synthetic urine on the ingredient list! I felt so cheated by the hotel that I don’t even want to go there for dinner anymore because who knows what ingredients might be in the food!
I decided to compare similar products which would be as natural as I believed the spa products would be. I purchased these at following at drugstores, discount salons, and private salons. In a former review, the Scalp Therapy by Nioxin was purchased at a discount salon, had lots of essential oils, and they were at the top of the list. For the private salon I chose Abba Tru Mint Light Daily Conditioner and the ingredients sounded wonderful. It contained botanical infusion of water, chamomile, matricaria extract, salvia leaf extract, aloe and many more plant based extracts before the cetyl alcohol and other ingredients that are not in my dictionary.

For the drug store brand I grabbed bioINFUSION ORGANICS Brilliant Shine conditioner. Their tag line was enough to make me want to run home and use it right away. It made me think that my hair would be just like silken, full locks seen on TV and print. Their catch line states, “enriched with certified organics and natural botanical extracts. Calendula soothes and detoxifies the scalp, helping to restore natural shine. Lemongrass’s powerful antioxidants help protect and revitalize hair.” But . . . what were the ingredients? . . . Water, artemis, chamomile, calendula flower extract, lemongrass extract, aloe vera, glycerin and then the chemical type ingredients.


The interesting thing about all these products is that they were close to the same price, with the Nioxin being the most expensive. Usually you can get that packaged with the shampoo for a very reasonable price, sometimes cheaper than just the scalp therapy alone. I felt the items not purchased at the spa were about equal and would recommend them to anyone. The conditioner from the spa was a huge disappointment. It smelled great just like essentials oils.

Sharond here, filling in for Katie on Hump Day, Hair Day!

My name is Sharond and I will be helping Meg and the other reviewers by filling in as needed while they tend to personal matters! I'm the beauty pinch hitter!

First, a bit about my own hair: at 52, I have never colored it, had a perm in more than 25 years and don’t use a blow dryer, curling iron or heated curlers. I would say that my hair is about as virgin as it can get. I was a white blonde until my late twenties, having my son in my early thirties, my hair started to turn into a golden brown with blonde highlights. At the age of 40, I had lost about half of my fine thin hair and was diagnosed with thyroid problems. What has grown back is a mish-mash of all sorts of hair. Part is still straight and thin, part is uncontrollably curly, and then part is thick with wonderful waves which I love. Best of all, I can only count a few gray’s. I shy away from products that are loaded with ingredients which can’t be pronounced or need a chemist to understand.

I love Lush products. Period. I stumbled across their store while in Cobh, Ireland in 2004. I spent almost my whole vacation allowance in that one shop. I was very surprised to discover they are a large company based out of Vancouver, Canada, though personal with the container products stamped with a sticker of the person who made it. Lush is a “green” company with a lot of their products not wrapped; 75% are vegan, 100% vegetarian, and never tested on animals. Their website is very easy to use with all products with ingredients listed, organized so they are easy to find, quick shipping, and with orders come samples to try. The stores are very generous with samples also. The site also has a forum where people comment about the products or ask for/offer advice.

I opted to try the shampoo, BIG. When I first opened the container and looked at this gelatinous salt, I was a bit hesitant on how to use it. I held the container up to my nose and was mentally transported to the beach, with the mingled scents of the ocean and a margarita in my hand. Diving in, I put a big glob on my finger and rubbed the salt through my hair. I was surprised to find my head so overloaded with bubbles that I need to rinse. The salt felt good on the scalp and my hair was clean, squeaky clean, and really shiny.

My hairdresser noticed that I was using a different product and commented that my hair was in the best condition she had ever seen it. I wash my hair every day and did notice that it tended to dry it out. I found that once or twice a week was about right for me as it is for many women. The more I used the shampoo, the thicker my hair seemed to get. I think it was because of the residues of formershampoo’s and conditioner’s, like the different waxes andparabens, were finally being washed away. BIG comes in an 11.6-ounce cup which makes it hard to take with you when traveling. Do not let the price
scare you; a little goes a long way. I would say a small pea amount is more than enough for shoulder-length hair. There is an added benefit to BIG: that works great as a salt rub for buffing dry hands, elbows, feet and more.

Ladies how much do you love Lush's BIG Shampoo?

\nBUY LUSH HERE!

Kate here, with a warning or two..There are some shows on television that I feel should just be deleted for the greater good of society. And no I am not talking about such television masterpieces as MTV's Date My Mom or The Hills which are horrifying reflections of society and thus I watch religiously and are my favorite shows. Rather I am talking about such shows as "Unsolved Mysteries" which traumatized me as a child and means I can never be alone in a house at night. Or the "E! True Hollywood Story: Inside the Mind of Serial Killers" which left me convinced that all of my neighbors are secretly storing and eating dead bodies inside their homes. Recently I watched a television show on the Discovery Channel (my first mistake) called "Super Snake" about how giant snakes hide in trees, stalking people from above before pouncing on them and eating them alive, complete with pictures and video of such acts. I honestly do not know if I will ever be the same. I find it hard to go about my day to day life with a smile with the knowledge that it is possible that I could die from being eaten by a giant snake. You are probably wondering the point of all this so I will get to it. I decided I needed to know more about my new mortal enemy so my boyfriend and I decided to take an overnight trip to the San Diego Zoo. I had recently received bigsexyhair's "Big Shine Shine Spray" and decided to see whether it could truly provide all I needed in terms of shine, hold, and softness for my overnight trip without bringing my entire arsenal of products (plus the less product means the less smell for the giant snakes to sniff you out with).

Here's what bigsexyhair has to say about their product: "Big Shine Shine Spray delivers the ultimate shine with its weightless, non greasy formula."

I tried Big Shine Shine Spray the morning of the zoo trip, and it flattened out ALL of my frizzies (which is saying a lot), made my hair very shiny, and at the end of the day after being windblown and sweating and walking 9 million miles, my hair still looked great and the style had held up very well. It comes in a very small metallic can that fits very easily into an overnight bag or purse and has a very pleasant, clean smell. My one word of warning would be to USE IN MODERATION as too much of this product will leave you looking like a drowned rat (snake food). Also for girls who have stringy hair or problems with oiliness I would say to STAY AWAY because this would only aggravate your problem by a million fold. Overall this is a great product that really made my hair look and feel better and I would recommend it to girls with curly, frizzy or dry hair for a great shine and softness boost!

Anyone else tried the shine spray? Want to join in my petition to rid the world of giant snakes?/b>


Available at Drugstore Near You!