What's in my Shower?

A really popular Tag video is "What's in My Purse". While I think it's fun to watch and I would consider making my own post like that (would you guys want one?), I think it'd be much more fun and slightly more appropriate to this blog for me to make a "What's in my Shower" post since, after all, I'm sticking to beauty-related blogs here.

So let's get started! For this post, I'm going to focus solely on hair care products: shampoo and conditioner. And here is my collection...

Back row (L to R): Tresemme Color Protection Shampoo and Conditioner, John Frieda Sheer Blonde Lustrous Touch Shampoo and Condtioner, Herbal Essences Hydralicious Self-Targeting Conditioner, Dove Damage Therapy Frizz Control Shampoo
Front Row (L to R): Aveda Shampure Shampoo and Conditioner, Lush Daddy-O Shampoo

Let me first say that I have wavy to curly hair that is pretty thin (though I have a lot of it on my head). My hair is naturally a very dark brown but I've been coloring it on and off since I was in about 6th grade. Recently, though, I've made the commitment and have gone 100% blonde (which I adore! Future blog post perhaps?) and have a honey-gold blonde color with lots of highlights mixed in. I don't use hot tools very much. In fact, I hardly touch my blowdryer and very rarely flatiron my hair. The only hot tool I really use is a curling iron because I love big, smooth curls, a la Marilyn Monroe, my idol. Most of the time, I'm really a wash-and-go kind of girl when it comes to my hair. I normally just throw my hair in a ponytail or bun, pin my bangs back, and walk out the door.

With all that being said, I still live in the south and the climate just terrorizes my hair. All of the humidity makes me hair frizz like crazy or go completely flat. Constant changes between hot and cold? Yeah, bad news bears for my hair as well! So, I wind up trying a whole lot of different hair care products to make my hair more cooperative and easy to style. That's how I amassed this huge collection. :-)


Tresemme Color Protection Shampoo and Conditioner is available at pretty much any drugstore along with the rest of the company's line ($4.49 each at Walgreens for the 32 fl oz bottles) and is pretty reliable for a drugstore product. It's not my number one pick, but it smells pleasant -- kind of sweet, but still unisex -- and I think it does a pretty good job at protecting my hair color and keeping it fresh. My stylist says it's okay, but if you want volume it's just going to pull your hair down straight, killing any volume or curl.


Next up is John Frieda Collection's Sheer Blonde: Lustrous Touch Strengthening Shampoo and Conditioner (that's a mouthful!). This combo has been a recent favorite of mine and I think it's really working on my hair. I've noticed that I haven't been shedding as much and my hair is not breaking in half when I try to brush it. At the same time, it feels soft and sleek which is fantastic. The scent is also fabulous: sunflowers and amber. John Frieda's color sensitive shampoos and conditioners sell at Walmart for $5.87 each.


Moving on, we have Herbal Essences' Hydralicious Self-Targeting Conditioner. What this claims to do is balance your hair's moisture so that certain parts don't look more oily than others. I use it pretty rarely because my stylist told me Herbal Essences is extremely drying and not a good choice for people who color their hair like me. Still, I tend to use it when my hair feels extremely gross (like, after an intense workout or a long day out in the sun) and I think it works alright. It smells like sweet aloe to me and costs $3.22 at CVS.


Dove is by far one of my favorite companies and has been since I was about 7. I always loved that they encouraged women to love their own bodies and take care of themselves. So, when my hair started to freak out this summer and get all frizzy and nasty, I picked up their Damage Therapy Frizz Control Shampoo at Walgreens for $4.49. To me, the formula smells like warm sugar cookies (yummy!) and definitely does the trick. I prefer to use it on days when it's been humid, rainy, or muggy outside because that's when my hair frizzes out and turns ugly.


Over the past several weeks, I heard nothing but fabulous reviews about Aveda's Shampure Shampoo and Conditioner. Since I go to an Aveda salon, I picked up a bottle of each the last time I went for $9.50 a pop (a bit pricey, but I figured I'd make an exception for such a fantastic product). Aveda markets these products as being the latest and greatest in hair care as they contain morikue protein (basically, damaged hair is lacking protein. If you add protein to it, damaged hair will start to regain it's natural, healthy state) and other natural ingredients. The smell is a deliciously herbal citrus and definitely appropriate for anyone! However, I'm not too crazy about the shampoo. In my humble opinion, it just dries my hair out every time I use it and my hair seems brittle and sticky the next day. I'm not sure if that's supposed to happen and will eventually stop when my hair is no longer as damaged, but I don't like it! I've honestly been avoiding the shampoo and using the conditioner sparingly as well. I'll have to have a chat with the manager of my salon the next time I'm there and see why it's not quite working.


Lastly, in my shower, I have the superb Daddy-O from Lush Cosmetics. This itty-bitty bottle was $8.95 and the full 16.9 fl oz bottle is a scary $27.95. I know.. it's ridiculous! But to be quite honest, the baby-sized bottle is lasting me quite well. For those of you who aren't in the know, Lush Cosmetics is a fabulous company that creates all-natural bath and cosmetic products. Daddy-O in particular is vegan, which means it contains absolutely NO animal by-products and is not tested on animals. Anyway, this is a violet shampoo made for blondes or people with white or gray hair. The purple tone of the shampoo (and yes, it IS purple. And not just a light purple. No, this is a so-purple-it's-almost-black kind of purple) helps brighten blonde or light hair by pulling out any impurities. It smells floral, but natural. I would highly recommend it because I DO see results with it. However, because of the price, I use it as a once-a-week treatment and use it Sundays or Mondays in place of any other shampoo. Do not be surprised when it doesn't get very foamy. It's made with very little sulfate, the ingredient in most shampoos and soaps that creates foam.

The reason I have so many different hair products in my shower, by the way, is because I like to keep things fresh with my hair. In other words, I sort of believe that if I'm constantly using the same shampoo and conditioner, my hair won't react the way it's supposed to to it, so changing it up keeps my hair from "getting used to" any particular formula. Another helpful hint? Don't wash your hair every day! While it sounds a little gross, it is really, really, REALLY bad to shampoo every day because it strips your hair of its natural oils which it needs to stay damage-free.

What's your favorite shampoo or conditioner? Post below and let me know!

My Top 10 Drugstore Brands

If you follow my blog, you already know that I'm a champion of drugstore makeup and beauty items because they often work just as well as the more expensive brands and cost a heck of a lot less. While it's true that some work better than others, so many of the fantastic drugstore products I've tried have worked miracles and never fail to impress me.

Here, in no particular order are my most highly recommended drugstore makeup, skin, and hair care brands:

1) Rimmel London: I obviously have to mention this brand because their mascara, Sexy Curves, just won my Battle of the Brands: The Search for the Perfect Mascara, but the brand has so much more that I really love. Their lipsticks are smooth, moisturizing, and heavily tinted, allowing for a vibrant, colorful lip. I also like their pencil eyeliner because of it's smooth and creamy formula. Rimmel always has adorable packaging and their makeup is slightly edgy and hip. I would recommend it for the 20-30 crowd, but anyone with the right attitude can make it work. Rimmel's prices are pretty low on average.

2)Maybelline: Maybe it's because they've been around forever, or maybe it's because they just have really nice products, but Maybelline is another fantastic drugstore brand. Their Falsies Mascara came in second place in my Battle of the Brands, but I'm a huge fan of their eyeshadow quads. These fantastic little palettes have four highly pigmented eyeshadows that go together to create the perfect eye look. I really enjoy the eyeshadows on their own or together because they're high quality and don't crease easily, which means your look can last all day. Maybelline is also low priced -- although, sometimes it's a bit more expensive than Rimmel -- and has pretty bland packaging, but I feel that the high quality of their eyeshadows more than makes up for it.

3) Revlon: They make my favorite foundation. Period. Without their stellar foundation formula, I don't think my makeup would look quite as good on a day-to-day basis. It's a bit on the pricey side as far as drugstore makeup is concerned, but I think it's truly a great product and worth every single penny.

4) John Frieda Collection: This is by far one of the best hair care lines I've found in any drugstore or Walmart. I feel that it's quite trustworthy because it has the name of one of the most successful salon owners in the world behind it and has always helped my hair, whether for frizz control or color shielding. Currently, I'm in love with the Lustrous Blonde line of this collection. The shampoo and conditioner leave my color-treated hair feeling soft, strong, and manageable. I don't feel that it weighs down my hair nor does it dry it out. The price point can get expensive, so I would recommend shopping around at different stores before buying (i.e. price compare Walmart and Walgreens online before buying as they might be running different ads and specials).

5) Neutrogena: I've always been and always will be a Neutrogena girl. The brand makes the perfect skin care regiment for people with skin like mine: normal to dry with little acne, some rough patches, and minor discoloration. They have products targeted at teens, but recently introduced a more mature, adult skin care line (review, anyone?). Their scents are clean and light, easily usable by men and women, and their formulas leave my skin soft and glowing.

6) Aussie: When it comes to deep conditioners and hair masks, Aussie's got it down pat. I'm a big fan of their products because they're made mostly of natural ingredients, which means there's less of a chance of my hair suffering damage. The products are very affordable and smell delicious!

7) Sonia Kashuk: Though it is only available at Target, Sonia Kashuk is a fantastic cosmetic line that has high-quality makeup at a mid-level, affordable price. The gel eyeliner from this line is a standout product that I could not live without!

8) New York Color (NYC): When it comes to nail polish, nobody does it better than NYC. They have a HUGE variety of nail polish that is extremely affordable and comes in beautiful shades and colors. No matter what people try to tell you, NYC is definitely on the same quality level as OPI and China Glaze (all nail polishes chip eventually, no matter how much you pay for them). NYC is constantly coming out with new colors, so go check them out!

9) Physician's Formula: Kind of like the Clinique of drugstore brands, Physicians Formula makes tons of great products for people with sensitive skin. I love their baked eyeshadows and have heard wonderful things about their recently released custom eye enhancing line. It's moderately priced for a drugstore brand, but really works well and is bland enough for sensitive skin.

10) Evolution of Smooth (EOS): I've already told you that I LOVE their lip balm, but their shaving cream is just as nice: extremely silky and moisturizing and smells fantastic. I wish they were carried more widely, but they're products are always available at CVS and Target. They can be a bit pricey for a drugstore brand, but it's totally worth it.

What are your favorite drugstore brands?