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whats a good shampoo and conditioner? i have long, thick, wavy hair. i want something to moisturize, protect from blow drying, strengthen my roots, and straighten if possible. make it more manageable. i keep hearing about pantene pro V on this board. what type to get, and what type of conditioner. a leave-in conditioner? pleeease help me with this.
I have the same type of hair it sounds like, so I'll throw my 2 cents in.
First off you must realize that everybodies hair is different and that even if our hair is the same type, thick and wavy, it may well react different to a particular product. Trial and error is about the only way you'll find something that works for you.
That being said, here's what I use.
For shampoo, I've been using one of the Aussie products called Mango Smoothie for the past couple months, it claims it's made for coarse, wavy unmanageble hair and will smooth hair and strenthen the cuticles. I've been pretty happy with it, but I haven't noticed and waves going away, not that I really want them to, I was just hoping for a bit more manageability, and it might just be my imagination, but it seems to have done that. What I have really noticed is that I don't seem to be loosing as much hair when I comb. I guess that's good news.
I haven't really found a conditioner that I like. Seems anything I use makes my waves so light that I cannot control them at all and I look like I'm permanently attached to an outlet getting zapped all the time. What I've been doing is washing every other day, but rinse my hair out with luke warm water every day that I do not wash. This helps get rid of bed hair and also pull some of the oils down away from your scalp towards the ends where it's needed. One other showering tip I picked up from my wife. I clamp up my hair when I wash the rest of me to keep my hair out of the harsh body soap, that's helped it not dry out so much too.
If your hair is like mine, then you might as well forget about trying to straighten it. My stylist says anything you try will either not work, or if it does, it will damage your hair. It's just not worth it.
I do use Infusium23 leave in conditioner a couple times a week on days that I wash, that helps put a bit of moisture back into it and doesn't give it that electrified look so bad.
I don't blowdry my hair so I can't help you there.
Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
Hi...I think AVEDA products suppose to be good, you can try it...and about straightening it..have you tried flat iron??? It works well!!!!
Although I don't have hair like yours, I would still suggest Aussie products. If you're looking for a moisturizing shampoo, try Aussie Moist Shampoo (I've been using it with great results, I have dry hair). As far as conditioner goes, a good friend of mine that has long, curly hair (not too thick though) reguarly uses Aussie 3-Minute Miracle conditioner. He says it's very good (mind you, he is not looking to straighten his hair).
I've been using the 3-Minute Miracle about twice a week, and using a leave-in Aussie Hair Insurance conditioner the rest of the week. It's been working pretty well.
I've used Pantene Pro-V before and it was also pretty good, although (for whatever reason) Aussie feels better and my hair seems to be shinier since I switched to Aussie (just my impression, it's really hard to compare).
Speaking of blowdrying, anyone has any experience or opinions on the Thermasilk products ("heat is good for your hair" is their slogan)?