Shampoo and Conditioner

Back in June, I ran out of conditioner one morning for my hair.  I'm one of those people that always has a spare in the closet.  I don't like to run out.  But, I had mistakenly bought a 2 in 1 shampoo and conditioner (which doesn't work as conditioner).  So, I was stuck.  I had shampoo, but no conditioner.  I wondered if I could use Suave or a more inexpensive conditioner.  I have pretty plain hair.  It's stick straight.  I don't perm or color it.


So, I tried.

First, I tried Suave.  I used it for a few days and felt like I was tearing my hair  out.  Every day, I found that my hair got rougher and rougher.  I knew I had to get some new conditioner for my hair--fast!


I had been using Herbal Essences for about 7 years.  Before that, P&G used to make a great shampoo and conditioner comparable in price to Suave that was as good as Herbal Essences.  I've always saved the coupons for Herbal Essences, but this time when I ran out, I didn't have any.  That was really what prompted me to think about Suave.  Over the years, I've tried a few others like Dove (really watery), Tresemme, Aussie, Pantene...  But, I've found that Herbal Essences works the best for my hair.  


Since I still didn't have any coupons for Herbal Essences and I am quite stubborn, I felt determined to see if I could find something else that would work.  


I discovered in my search of shampoo aisles that ShopRite carries a generic of Pantene.  I also discovered that Costco has tried to make a generic professional shampoo and conditioner.  


I tried both, but with so-so results.  The generic Pantene was quite watery.  I like conditioner that is thicker because it coats my hair better, goes farther, and I can use a smaller amount.  The Costco conditioner works pretty well, but it has weighted my hair down so that it's flatter and straighter than normal.  I am still using it because I didn't want to waste the bottle.  


Over vacation, I used VO5 conditioner and I found that I had the same results with my hair that I did with the Suave.  


Finally, some coupons came out in the paper for Herbal Essences and in the BJs coupon book!


With the combination of the two, I got a great deal on two large bottles (40 oz.) of Herbal Essences conditioner for $5 ($2.50/each).  I did use coupon in July and get two large bottles (40 oz.) of Pantene Conditioner for $4 ($2/each).


In all this time, I had been using my herbal essences coupons at Target because they had the best price and I learned long ago, that using coupons on the smallest size is often a better deal than using the coupon on a large size item.  So, I had never checked the prices at BJs using coupons (store and manufacturer together).  It turned out to be a great deal and a much better value than buying them at Target!  


I'm really looking forward to finishing up my Costco conditioner and getting back to my old Herbal Essences!