Shampoo & Conditioner I Love

I love Matrix Biologe. I think I found out about it years ago after I got a terrible hair cut at Great Clips but after the cut, was recommended Matrix products. I bought some and haven’t looked back since. To give some background, I have long, thick, dry, dyed hair. My scalp also gets dry and flaky if I use crap shampoo. So the products I look for have to: usually be dye friendly, really moisturize (my hair AND scalp) and not further damage my hair. If your hair is fine, oily, or not dyed, the stuff I use will probably be too heavy for you. I have experimented with a few different product lines Matrix has, but here are my favorite two:

http://www.matrix.com//our-products/haircare/biolage/scalptherapie/anti-dandruff-shampoohttp:

I found this shampoo to be awesome. I only wash my hair about once a week. On average. I can take between 3 and 10 days to wash my hair. A little goes a long way and it isn’t drying. It soothes my scalp. Gets rid of flakes and moisturizes. It doesn’t strip my haircolor horribly. Though I have weird colored hair so any shampoo at all is going to cause my water to be colorful. Which is one of the reasons I don’t wash very often.

http://www.matrix.com//our-products/haircare/biolage/hydra-therapy/conditioning-balm

I found this conditioner is freaking amazing. I love the smell. It conditions my thick, porous, dyed, long & damaged ends of my hair. I’d recommend to use it every other wash as it can be kind of heavy. But in the winter, go ahead and use it every time. I Buy it in a tub.

Those are the ones I love. However, right now I am using some others as experiments:

 Naturelle Biotera Ultra Moisturizing Conditioner

This is kind of like knock off Matrix Biolage. I don't like the smell as much as I like Matrix, but its been doing a pretty nice job lately. I've used it long ago in the past but sort of forgot if I liked it or not. I've been using it for a couple weeks and its been alright. Its moisturizing enough, but I think I might need to do a deep moisturizing treatment every few times I use this stuff. Not as good as the Matrix HydraTherapy stuff but not bad either.

Matrix Biolage ScalpTherapie Normalizing Shampoo

I accidentally got this instead of my anti-dandruff stuff. This is still not bad. I love the smell. Its not a creamy consistency like the anti-dandruff. It has salicylic acid in it to help normalize the scalp and keep it from flaking. So I view it as like dandruff shampoo lite. It isn't as moisturizing which is the biggest draw back. But it also isn't causing me to be super flaky. Again, I've only been using it for a couple of weeks so the jury is still out but preliminary results are: it's not bad.

All this hair junk!

I'll give the quick and dirty review of each, going Top Left to Right:

Beyond The Zone Split Mender - leave in conditioner
I use this in wet, just washed hair. It says you can use it in dry hair though. The smell of this stuff is pretty non-offensive. Not strong, not weak. Its sticky when you pump it out. When it dries, it leaves my wavy-ish hair pretty weighed down, mildly crispy & straight. I like to wash and apply this at night, then comb it loose in the morning. Helps for humid days!

Beyond The Zone Waxed Out - mousse wax
Honestly, not sure why I keep this stuff around. I apply it to wet hair as directed. And while it does tame frizzies, it's also too thick. It leaves like a waxy residue on your hair. Duh, must be the wax! I'd imagine this would be great for shorter hair you're looking to give some extra body. Something my hair isn't and doesn't need.

Beyond The Zone Super Sexy - texturizing wave spray
Super easy to apply with this spritz bottle. However, its leaking if I lay it on the side. Grr. Smells kind of nasty. Apply to wet hair and let it dry. If you really saturate your hair, it'll get stiff and crispy when it dries. But I find that combing it out once its all dry, and its good to go. Similar to the Split Mender, but in my opinion, not as nice. Wouldn't buy it again, but again, I'm not actually needing more body to my ridiculously long and thick hair.

Beyond The Zone Last Call - leave in conditioner
I love this stuff hardcore. It smells fabulous, the pump spray is easy to use (and doesn't leak when on its side) and it makes my hair soft. As with the other items, I put this in wet towel dried hair and then let it dry. I've left it as is in the morning after sleeping on it to let it air dry and it looks great. Or you could comb it out. However, doesn't help with frizz as much as the Split Mender or Waxed Out.

Beyond The Zone Super Sexy - styling sauce
Its been awhile since I last used this stuff. It says apply to wet or dry hair. I'm sure I've only applied it wet. It doesn't really smell like anything at all. The consistency is pretty thick and waxy. Bad for curls, great for thinner/shorter hair. 

Just For Me! Hair Milk 
Posted about this previously. The short was: its alright but I probably wouldn't buy it again. It was given to me by my mom.

Pantene Curl Defining Scrunching Mousse
So there was a time in my life when I was trying to culture my curls a little more. My hair isn't curly, not really. It has a good wave in it when it is short (or layered) and not chemically processed. I looked for curly haired products to try to help smooth the waves and not weigh them down. This stuff was ok at that at best. Smelled great but I hated how un-touchably crunchy it made my hair. I haven't used this in ages.

Matrix Curl Life Mousse
I then decided "Maybe its just Pantene's Mousse. I'll try a brand I like more." Still mostly nope. I like the smell better. But the results were mostly the same. Made it pretty and wavy, but un-touchably crunchy! I like to be petted, so this is a deal breaker.

Bottom Left to Right:
Living Proof Prime Style Extender
I used this just this past weekend. I washed and conditioned my hair as normal, towel dried, and used the entire tube on my hair. I think it smoothed out my hair quite nicely. But then I immediately had it braided the next day. The combination of this stuff and the light clear hair gel the braider used wasn't a good combo because I could only wear the braid 4 days instead of my normal 7. My scalp was super itchy and irritated. There's some red itchy spots on the nape of my neck that I'm not sure if it was this stuff or the gel or what. I'll give it another try sometime because I liked how it felt and looked after it dried (which took longer than normal by the way).

Josie Maran Argan Oil Hair Serum 
Straight up haven't tried this yet. I'm eager to give it a try though as it was recommended to me by a hairstylist friend.



For someone who doesn't do their hair a lot or put a lot of product in their hair, I sure have a lot of stuff!