Tuesday 19 May 2009

Battle of the Brunette Shampoos

I wash my hair in the morning, every other day, and use a hairdryer to dry. I don’t use many products, and wear my hair down mainly.

Firstly, I tried Redken Colour Extend – a product that claims to extend the length of your colour, whilst leaving hair soft and silky. At around £11 a bottle you would certainly hope so. After just a few washes, Redken was already living up to its expectations and no only did my colour remain reasonably vibrant until my next salon appointment, it was also soft, shiny and quite frankly gorgeous! I recall my hair even ‘squeaking’ when washing it. It took literally a few minutes to dry and, was so manageable. Even on second day, my hair still felt soft and silky. If it wasn’t for the fact that I can’t afford to spend £22 every few weeks on shampoo I would be a true convert.

After my next colour I tried Pantene’s Colour Expressions Brunette - for glowing velvety brunettes. After all, Mylene Klass makes it look so good on the advert. This cost around £3 a bottle, so was much easier on the purse. Although perhaps Redken left my hair feeling slightly cleaner, softer and silkier, I was probably more impressed with Pantene, given its reasonable pricing! The colour lasted reasonably well, and at my next hair appointment, my hairdresser even commented on how soft my hair was! My hair dried reasonably quickly in the morning, and the following day still felt clean and healthy. It’s not surprising this is becoming the nations favourite.

The next product to come under the scrutiny of my testing was John Frieda’s Brilliant Brunette. Coming in at around £4 - £4 per bottle this wasn’t over priced at all and was quite reasonable for a professional brand. However, after the first wash I was less than impressed – my hair felt dry and brittle and going outside made it knotty and in constant need of brushing. It took ages to dry with the drier, and on the second day my hair felt in desperate need of a wash – already feeling greasy, and my colour was fading rapidly. This was probably my least favourite product, and despite the price I wouldn’t even buy again if it was in a BOGOF offer!

Lastly, I am now using Garnier Fructis Colour Last, costing the bargain price of £1.50 a bottle. My colour certainly isn’t lasting, but at least my hair feels clean, soft and easy to handle. It dries relatively quickly, and on the second day feels just a tad greasy. It smells absolutely lovely, and quite unsurprisingly fruity. I would buy this again, but probably only if they didn’t have my first choice, and wouldn’t use on a permanent basis otherwise I fear I may end up having to have my hair coloured more often.

The winner for me was very close, but in the end I had to give the honour to Pantene Colour Expressions Brunette for providing a close to salon brand product, but at a drugstore brand price.

hair using pantene


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