Desperately Seeking Shampoo... and Conditioner... and Styling Products

Looking for the right shampoo and conditioner?

These websites offer interactive quizzes to help you determine the right product or products for you.

Also, they're kind of fun!

John Frieda: http://www.johnfrieda.com/en-US/Product-Advisor/

TRESemmé: http://www.tresemme.co.uk/Hair-Profiler/Question/

Dove: http://www.dove.pk/Interactive/HairProfiler/

Redken: http://www.redken.com/your-hair-profile/
Redken has 4 different experts you can have your hair profiled with!

Herbal Essences: http://www.herbalessences.com/en-US/hair-care-products


It's like a quiz for your hair :)

And if, after all that, you're still like me and can't find the right one, you're not alone!

On my last trip to the salon, I told the stylist how my hair kept feeling greasy and weighed down. I never used to have that problem, and I don't really use any product (I know I should use a heat protectant before blowdrying and/or straightening, but I often don't! Oh, I'm so guilty), so was really disappointed when lately my hair hasn't felt light and shiny as it used to. She told me that actually, a lot of the high street brands (or brands in drug stores and supermarkets) - i.e. not salon professional - have too many chemicals in them to try and make your hair look shiny. If you have really thin, fine hair, like I do, then you're much better off with a professional brand that doesn't add anything in.

So, at her recommendation, I have been using Matrix Biolage for colour treated hair and so far with really positive results. Although, it's still early days and it's hard paying twice the price for shampoo and conditioner, but my hair was really positively awful with my other shampoos :/

How about you? Have you found your hair's soulmate?

TRESemmé Split Remedy Shampoo and Conditioner

I've used a few of TRESemmé's haircare products over the years, so when they realeased a new line called Split Remedy, I thought it was worth checking out.

Split Remedy (US site/UK site) claims to reduce the number of split ends and fix 80% of split ends after 3 uses!

For someone with long locks, that's a serious claim.


So I've given these babies a spin and see if they deliever on their claims:

Less split ends - Yes, a definite reduction in split ends
just cut look - definitely not for me! My hair does not feel smooth or silky, but kind of easily knotted...
frizz-proof - uhm, my hair is pretty frizzy, and I'm not prone to frizzy hair at all

So I found that while it did improve the number of split ends I can see, my hair has been left feeling heavy and greasy. Ya know that feeling you get when you've either over-conditioned or forgot to rinse all the conditioner out? Yep, that one.

It might react differently to different hair. I have thin and fine hair that's usually pretty healthy and shiny. I do colour my hair, but at a salon about 3-4 times a year. My hair is also long, so yes, prone to split ends, but honestly, it's never really bothered me and I haven't had a problem with frizz before. It's usually shiny and sleek with no products other than just a good shampoo and conditioner.

Since my faith in TRESemmé is so high, I did think maybe I was doing something wrong. I've been trying everything with this shampoo and conditioner - including shampoo only, less conditioner, more conditioner, but all coming up with a similiar result.

This is the first time I can honestly say that I'm not sure I want even finish out the bottle on these. What a disappointment.

My hair and Split Remedy just don't seem to have a happy ending.

Syoss Treatment Mask for well-conditioned hair

So I got a sample of Syoss Treatment Mask with one of latest orders from Japan and as I've always been fairly impressed with the few hair care products I've used and tried in Japan, I thought it would be a treat.

It was.

Very lovely repair treatment. My hair felt so loved after using this. It feels shiny and soft and I'm happy. Very pleased.The next day, I loved this even more. *Must have*

Now the tricky part. Okay, so I like it, and we don't have Japanese supermarkets around here (ok, we do in London, but they don't carry cosmetics and hair products like in the US, yeah I'm looking at you, California with my green eyes!)  So the question remains, is it amazing enough to warrant paying to have it shipped from Japan? That almost always equals a big expense, so it has to be worth it.

I did a bit of hunting on the net. I'm detective, just like Kindaichi or MatsuJun in his latest drama, Lucky Seven, which I highly recommend by the way! 

Coincidentally, MatsuJun played young Kindaichi in the 3rd season of Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo.

 Yeah, but anyways, Syoss seems to be a brand name in Germany, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia here in Europe. Score! Maybe I won't have to order from Japan, if I can get something from my friendly German/Dutch/Scandinavian neighbours instead, that would be wonderful!

Syoss products on German website

While trying to find a way to get Syoss into the UK, I found quite a few sites claiming that Syoss and TRESemmé are the same brand! TRESemmé!?! Really?  Okay, that is easily available in the UK (and the US from what I recall). And yeah, okay I haven't tried it in years. Shall I get treatment mask from TRESemmé in the UK and see if it matches up?

I think I will. Will let you know the results!


Back to TV drama... 

Altho, I love MatsuJun, I have to say I remember the first two seasons of Kindaichi with Domoto Tsuyoshi back in the mid 90s with fondness. I was still a kid, but I remember these series being so good and scary! Ah, I think I have this on VCD even! Remember VCD? Now I feel like digging them out and rewatching.

Were/Are you a Kindaichi fan (any of the TV shows, anime or manga... even original novels)?