Loreal Ever Pure Volumizing Shampoo/Conditioner

Hi everyone!

Over the weekend I bought some new shampoo and conditioner that happened to also be on sale.  The shampoo/conditioner are the Everpure Volumizing Shampoo/Conditioner by Loreal.

This is one of Loreal's more recent products.  These shampoos and conditioners (they also come in other formulas) are safe for color treated hair because they are sulfate-free and have no harsh chemicals or salts.  They use natural botanicals, have a built in UV filter to protect your haircolor from the sun, and 100% vegan.

This particular formula has a minty smell, to me it does not smell masculine or feminine, more like a unisex smell.  It also does a decent job moisturizing for a volumizing shampoo/conditioner (I find that a lot of them dry my hair out more than regular) and a little bit of shampoo lathers up a lot. Even though it makes a lot of lather it rinses cleanly and easily. 

Pros: Not too drying, fresh minty fragrance, no harsh chemicals, Vegan/cruelty-free, color safe, UV protection

Con: Can be a little expensive

For a drugstore shampoo, this one is a bit on the medium/expensive side.  I got these for $6 each tube, on sale. (Usually about 8$ and the tubes are not that big) However, taking extra gentle care of colored hair may be worth the cost.

Would I recommend this? Yes.

Palty Hair Color- Before!

Hello everyone! 

So, it's been about 3 years since I last touched any kind of color to my hair.   Last time I did, my hair was horribly damaged, dry, and it was like I had a dry blonde birds nest on my head.

For the year 2011, I am going to be changing my hair color for the first time in 3 years- Coloring my hair symbolizes (to me) the changes I plan to make for the next year. 

I decided this time I want to try Palty hair color, a Japanese brand that seems to be popular and work a bit better on dark hair (like mine).  I went to my local Japanese market (I have a Mitsuwa Marketplace nearby and the stuff is 10 bucks a box, not different from American brands you'd find at any drugstore.) and bought 2 boxes of a color called Milk Tea Brown.  This is what it is supposed to look like:

One thing I have heard about this brand is it tends to not do much within the 20 minutes that the instructions say to leave it on, I have heard of people leaving this color on for up to an hour, so I think that's how long I will leave it.   My hair is virgin (all natural) and in good shape so this shouldn't be too damaging. 

This is my current hair color:

I don't expect that my hair will lighten to that extent but we'll see. Sometimes I am pleasantly surprised with hair color.

The dye kit is actually quite simple- it comes with developer, color, and a leave in conditioner. (I'll post pictures of what comes inside in my next post, as well as my version of English instructions because they are in Japanese ONLY)  It also has a nifty comb nozzle so you can just comb it into your hair. 

Well, I am probably going to color it today or tonight, and I will post pictures of the end result and a review next post.