I’ve been getting lucky, ladies! I’ve been finding some great drugstore shampoos and conditioners lately, like Suave Professionals Vibrant Shine Shampoo and Conditioner ($7 for the pair), a drugstore knock-off of a popular salon product, Sebastian Laminates Shampoo and Conditioner. I used Sebastian products back in the mid-90s and loved them but not the $20 price tag per bottle.
One thing I like about Suave Pro Vibrant Shine is the fragrance. A thick head of hair weighted down with a heavy scent can feel downright oppressive. If you don’t like overwhelming scents in your hair, then give this a try. Both the shampoo and conditioner have a very light, vaguely fruity scent that smells clean and not synthetic or plastic-y at all.
The shampoo lathers into a rich, sudsy foam that takes some work to rinse out, but I like products that force me to make sure I’m rinsing thoroughly. Same goes for the conditioner, which also takes some time to rinse out. Just as a comparison, it’s a bit thicker than Aussie’s Opposites Attract Conditioner, so if you have difficult hair that needs to be weighed down, Suave Pro Vibrant Shine Conditioner might be a good option.
Some drugstore shampoos and conditioners can feel … cheap, but this doesn’t. No flakes or dry hair after using Suave Pro Vibrant Shine. Matter of fact, it smooths and shines, stretching out my loose waves, as well as products costing far more. After using both the shampoo and conditioner my naturally wavy hair was *almost* straight!
Suave Professionals Vibrant Shine Shampoo and Conditioner
Price: $3.50 each, $7 for both
Use: A drugstore shampoo and conditioner combo comparable to salon products
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A
If you’re a wavy or curly haired girl on a silicone-free hair regimen, please note that both products do contain silicones (sorry). But if you aren’t picky about silicone and want a highly affordable, quality shampoo and conditioner without an overwhelming scent, give ’em a try.
Ladies, the countdown is on! Tonight is the season premier of The Hills. I’m expecting lots of desperate attempts by Heidi and Spencer to grab camera time, and it looks like Audrina and Lo are headed toward an epic SoCal showdown, with a few tears from Lauren (who apparently forgot her waterproof eye makeup).
I was looking at the show’s website and couldn’t help but notice a surprising range of unusual facial expressions from Whitney.
I loves ya, Whit! But, to quote Brent Bolthouse (Heidi’s boss at her alleged place of employment), “You better get that under control.”
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
*PROUD MEMBER OF TEAM AUDRINA!*
OMG. Nearly peed myself at the Whitney references/expressions…hahaha that’s great. EEEEEEEEEK!!!!! T-minus 4 hours until the big show! Geeze, I love bad tv 🙂
Hi Alyssa,
OMG! Me too! I am so glad that I have something to look forward to on Monday nights…
TEAM AUDRINAHHHHHHH!
Hey Karen,
Your post came right on time, I was about to run out and buy some new shampoo/conditioner today, actually. 🙂 Do you know if there’s any advantage to avoiding products with silicones? I keep hearing about them, but I haven’t heard why…
Hi Elena,
Some curly haired girls believe that it builds up in your hair, causing it to be even more frizzy! Yowza! I was hard core no-silicones for a while and I did notice that my hair got softer, less frizzy and more less unruly. It was really hard though for the first two months because my hair went NUTS!
Now though, I’m less strict about it. I like to try different products because you just never know what will be the miracle product for your hair. 🙂
I’ve always had good experiences with Suave. I use their clarifying shampoo after swimming in pools to get all the chlorine out. My brother buys their products because they’re cheap and I always borrow them for the yummy scents, like coconut and strawberry. Mmmm!
Ah, makes sense now. Thank you. 🙂 I have pretty curly hair, but I guess if silicones are kinda bad I could just use a clarifying shampoo every now and then to help out. I’m still taking a look at the Suave combo, though, they sound pretty awesome.
Another great drugstore buy, Pantene’s Beautiful Length’s shampoo&conditioner! I cut my hair short a while back, but I swear ever since I started using that a little over a month ago, my hair’s grown a lottttt!
Haha, poor Whitney, it probably doesn’t help that she’s got a face full of clown makeup =/
Hi Asta,
Yah, I am liking the products I’ve tried from their hair line so far. 🙂 The kicker for me is how my scalp reacts…
I am gonna try their Orchid Petal conditioner next. Have you used it yet? It smells really good.
Hi Elena,
For some curly haired gals silicones are a godsend! So I guess it depends on how your hair is behaving at the time. I find mine is okay if I use silicone shampoos and conditioners on occasion and skip silicone-laden styling products.
What hair stuff do you like?
Hi GG,
Pantene! It’s been years since I’ve used it. I loved the old school scent… when they reformulated a few years back I was heartbroken because they changed the smell. How long do you plan on growing your hair?
LOL, I so love Whitney. I’ve heard that MTV is giving her a show of her own in NY.
Hey Karen,
I’m pretty open to experimenting with different products. I used to be addicted to Head & Shoulders, but it was drying out my hair, so I just switched around all kinds of brands for a while, not really finding one to stick to. My favorite hair product splurge is Sebastian Potion *9 – I _love_ that product. But for summer, I’m just using a basic hair gel to lock in my curls.
Do you have a fave hair product that you always stick to?
Past my shoulders if I can make it that long! It used to be halfway down my back, but it’s at that awkward stage where you wish it would just grow a couple more inches or you want to just cut it again. I remember the old school Pantene! My mother’s a beautician so she’d always bring really nice salon stuff home, but all I ever wanted was some good ole’ drugstore brand shampoo!
Whitney’s awesome! You’re right though, she needs to reign in that rogue eyebrow of hers…
Hi Elena,
I used to buy TUBS of Potion 9 back in the day. I *loved* that stuff. Then, one day, it literally stopped working and left my hair looking flat and frizzy. Blah!
For styling, believe it or not I love this cheapie gel from Herbal Essences Set Me Up Styling Gel. After washing I work it through, come with a wide toothed comb (it stretches out the waves) and let it air dry.
For conditioner, I always go back to Bumble & Bumble Super Rich conditioner.
It took me a long time to become one with my wavy hair. I’m glad I finally got to the acceptance point, cause now I have a lot more time to sleep, LOL!
Hey GG,
Remember when Whit fell down the stairs during the Today Show (or was it Good Morning America)? I loved that she just got back up and kept smiling. I thing she’s the type of person I’d like to be friends with in real life. Out of the whole crew both she and Audrina seem the most real to me.
Whatever you do, don’t cut your hair! I cut mine really short a few years ago and it took forever to grow back because it would get to “that stage” where I’d feel it tickling the back of my neck… and then I’d hack it all of again! Hang in there!
YES! That was so hard to watch… I would’ve died. Which reminds me of dinner with my mother on Saturday night. We had teppanyaki, and when the chef flipped a piece of shrimp at mother to catch with her mouth, she was a bit too eager, tilted back too far grabbing my chair as she went down. So mother and daughter ended up on the floor in the middle of the restaurant. If it wasn’t so hilarious, I might have cried from embarrassment! Good thing we both wore pants 😉
I know! I’m trying SO hard not to give in! But my mother’s my hairdresser and she’s refused to cut my hair when I’ve asked her in my moments of weakness so I think I’ll be okay =)
Hey Karen…just to jump in on the silicone/no silicone discussion – my hairdresser said that the silicones build up on the hair shaft and thus prevent moisture from getting in…meaning that your hair will get drier and thus frizzier. So she told me if using Silicones, it’s best to alternate them to make sure that you do get the build up off and that the hair does get needed moisturizer…so if you use say a clarifying shampoo for the build up, you should follow with a nice conditioner without silicones to help moisturize your hair…before reverting back to using silicone products.
I might have to try that out!! My hair is fine and thin and easily can get stringy and weighed down. I did buy the shine spray and it’s really nice!!! Not greasy at all and it was SHINY. And it was only $2.25!
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