Category: Product Reviews

Finding a New Shampoo and Conditioner: Update with Winners and Losers

It’s been about 2 months since I shared that I was looking for a new shampoo and conditioner. After a few years of using Olaplex (No.4 shampoo and No. 5 conditioner) and Moroccan Gold Series Treatment Mask as a heavy-duty conditioner, I suddenly didn’t love them anymore. I think they changed the formula of my deep conditioner and my hair was feeling just kind of sad and limp.

So, I went on a google search to find a new shampoo and conditioner combo for my fine, dry, color-treated hair (here’s the post where I talked about it).

I gathered a ton of information and then hit up my local TJ Maxx and Ulta to grab a few options to try:

After giving them all a try over the last couple months, we have a clear LOSER:

JVN Undamage Strengthening Shampoo and JVN Embody Volumizing Conditioner

I found the shampoo and conditioner for $10 each bottle at TJ Maxx and they are supposed to gently cleanse, be good for over-processed hair, minimize split ends, and add thickness and fullness to limp strands.

After using it for a few washes, it just is not a good fit for me. My hair felt very dry afterwards and certainly not very moisturized. While it had body, it was much more puffy and frizzy than I’d seen before. It was better as ‘second day hair’ after sleeping on it, but still pretty bad.

When it comes to winners, we really have TWO winners.

Pricey Winner: Pureology Hydrate Sheer Nourishing Shampoo and Conditioner

If money were no object, this combo would be stocked in my shower until the end of time. I bought the trial sizes at Ulta ($10 each), because I just couldn’t commit to $35 for a bottle of shampoo and then ANOTHER $36 for conditioner. Key benefits from the Pureology people are: specifically for dry, fine hair, restores suppleness to color-treated hair, and the conditioner provides moisture and softness.

As a bonus, it smells absolutely wonderful and the shampoo foams up really well. The conditioner has menthol in it, which makes your scalp tingle and feel so nice. I LOVE the way my hair looks and feels when using the Pureology. It has body and keeps a natural wave without frizz when I let it air dry on day one. It also keeps everything looking great and moisturized without feeling greasy on day two and day three.

If I found this on sale somewhere, or at TJ Maxx for a discount I’d scoop up a half-dozen bottles and hoard them.

Shopping info:

Less Pricey Winner: Joico HydraSplash Hydrating Shampoo and JoiFULL Volumizing Conditioner

I call this the “less pricey” winner, but if I bought it full-price off Amazon it would be similarly priced to the Pureology. However, my TJ Maxx is pretty stocked with Joico shampoos and conditioners for $10 a bottle, so I feel pretty confident that when it’s time to re-buy they will have more. The Joico adds hydration and softness for fine-to-medium, dry hair and will not weigh it down. The conditioner, also specifically for fine, thin hair, is supposed to provide instant body and long-lasting fullness.

If I hadn’t tried the Pureology, I would have been 100% happy with the Joico. My hair loves it! On day one it dries nicely with body and no frizz and on day two and three, it is still looking bouncy and shiny. No limp hairs here!

The only reasons I like the Pureology better is the minty scent, the frothy lather and tingly scalp. The Joico does a great job, it just doesn’t give me that ‘spa day in my shower’ feeling.

Shopping info (try TJ Maxx or Marshalls first!)

So, with all that being said… this thrifty girl* is sticking with the Joico shampoo and conditioner. HOWEVER, if I come across Pureology on a super sale… all bets are off!

* Yes, I realize there are lots of cheaper shampoo and conditioners out there. My hair is high maintenance and I like the fancy stuff.

Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means that clicking on a link may help me earn a small commission at no cost to you.

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Loving Right Now: FUBAR on Netflix

{Pssst, my Loving Right Now posts aren’t paid or sponsored or anything. They are just stuff that I’m totally digging now and thought you would like too. You can check out my previous posts here}

I haven’t done a Loving Right Now post in quite a while, but we binged a new show over the holiday weekend and it was so much fun I have to share!

Source: Netflix.com

Yup, that’s Arnold Schwarzenegger and he’s back, baby! He plays a CIA operative that is *just* about to retire and is pulled back in for one last job. Oh yeah, and he finds out his daughter is also in the CIA.

It’s hilarious and has some great action. And like my favorite version of Arnold – it doesn’t take itself to seriously. Both Travis and I laughed throughout the entire 8 episode series and even Jack was into it (there is bad language and just all around kicking butt and shooting people, so keep that in mind if you allow your kid to watch). There are lots of callbacks to Arnold’s previous movies, so that was really fun to see too.

It just came out on Netflix, so watch it a million times so that we can get a session two!

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Home Update: Our Amazing New King Bed, Frame & Headboard!

You know when you make one of those home updates and then you kick yourself for not doing it sooner? That’s us right now. We’ve been living with a queen-sized bed for our entire relationship. Considering that my husband is 6’4” with a gigantic wing-span and we are coming up on 15 years of marriage… that is way too long.

It’s not that we didn’t want to upgrade to a king-sized bed… it’s just that every time I glanced at mattress prices, they were over a thousand dollars and that didn’t even include the frame, headboard, sheets or comforter!

Also, I was petrified that we would pick out a mattress, get it delivered to our house, and then sleep on it a few nights only to find out that it caused our entire bodies to hurt. I mean, how do you pick out a mattress and make the RIGHT decision??

Well, things got a little interesting on our vacation. The VRBO property we stayed at had THE MOST comfortable bed. Literally every morning, Travis and I raved about our night of sleep. I tried to check the mattress for a brand name, but finally in desperation emailed the owners to figure out the brand and model of the magical mattress.

And it was from Amazon.

Even better. It was affordable! The day I checked the mattress price, it was $650 with free Prime shipping. Which is over a thousand less than I was expecting. Also, it had over 3,000 reviews with 4.5/5 stars.

Source: Amazon.com

So, I stuck it on our Amazon Wish List (pro tip: always do this so you can keep track of price changes) and started shopping around for a frame and headboard.

Source: Amazon.com

And a mattress cover. And a sheet set. And a new comforter. I researched the heck out of everything to find exactly what I wanted, stuck it on our Wish List and left it there.

Over the course of a week and a half, the bed price dropped by $60 and the mattress cover went on sale for 50% off.

So, I ordered the mattress cover and waited some more.

Until one morning, I woke up and checked my Wish List… and the mattress was $439. FOR A KING-SIZED MATTRESS! I could NOT have hit purchase any faster! The headboard/frame I liked hadn’t changed price at all, so I went ahead and ordered that too. After looking at what felt like hundreds of options, I found our comforter and sheets at Target.

The mattress and frame were scheduled to arrive throughout the week, so I had planned to take apart our old bed on a Saturday morning and then build the new bed.

Everything arrived a few days earlier though, so it snowballed from “let’s move this stuff upstairs for the weekend” to “let’s just grab our old headboard and take it out on the way down” to “I took apart the old bed” to “I’m building a bed on a school night.”

The bed actually didn’t take very long to build. I unpacked all the pieces, stopped for a homework help break, started putting the frame together, stopped for a dinner break, finished adding in the slats, and then called for Travis to come and help me lift the mattress onto the frame and open the plastic.

If I had worked straight through, it probably would have taken me an hour. I was being SUPER careful about putting everything together exactly right, loosely tightening everything and then getting it nice and tight once everything was perfect.

Totally worth it though because this bed is AMAZING. The mattress is amazing. The frame and headboard are amazing. The comforter and sheets are amazing. You guys, I am so thrilled that we finally upgraded!

Here’s what we got:

Mattress: Classic Brands Gramercy Cool Gel Memory Foam and Interspring Hybrid 14-Inch Euro Pillow Top Mattress – King Size

Keep an eye on the price for this one – I’ve watched it go from $439 – $650 and back with no rhyme or reason. If you add it to your Wish List, you can easily check the price each day (or multiple times a day if you’re nuts like me).

Headboard and Frame: HOOMIC King Sized Platform Bed Frame with Geometric Wingback Headboard in Dark Grey – King Size

This frame and headboard’s price stayed consistently at $235 with $59.99 delivery. However, for a period of time they had a $40 off coupon (which we used) on the listing.

Mattress Pad: Utopia Bedding Quilted Fitted Mattress Pad – King Size

This “retails” at $29.99, but I grabbed it when it went 50% off for $15. Stick it on your Wish List and wait until it gets down to $15 before you hit purchase. The bed is a pillow-top, so I didn’t really need this to be fluffy. But it was reasonably priced and I like to be able to throw it in the wash regularly.

Comforter: Casaluna Textured Chambray Cotton Comforter – King Size

I was super, super picky about what I wanted with our new comforter and this one from Target hit all of my checkboxes. The King size comforter with 2 shams is $149 – I bought it in the store because I wanted to fondle the fabric and make sure I loved it.

Sheet Set: Opalhouse Designed with Jungalow Floral Cotton Sheet Set – King Size

I had been eying the mix-matched floral sheets from Natural Life, but they were just too expensive. So, I was thrilled to find this gorgeous floral set from Target for $60. The pillowcases were gigantic because they are made for king-sized pillows. However, we have standard-sized fancy memory foam pillows we love, so I just sewed the pillowcases down to a smaller size.

We are ecstatically happy with our new bed set up. And my super-saving heart is happy that we spent a total of $908 for everything!

Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon affiliate and Shopstyle Collective links. This means that clicking on a link may help me earn a small commission at no cost to you.

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