What They Say: (about the shampoo) "Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Fortifying Shampoo nourishes and smoothes hair, even with moisture in the air. Nutritive Micro-Oils provide extra conditioning benefits to nourish straight, wavy or curly hair and give long lasting smoothness and frizz control. Helps makes hair 5x smoother and 5x stronger and so much shinier*. Adds manageability and improves texture for all hair types without weighing hair down." (about the conditioner) "With Nutritive Micro-Oils, Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Fortifying Deep Conditioner helps tame frizz and flyaways. It nourishes straight, wavy or curly hair and helps makes hair 5x smoother and 5x stronger and so much shinier*. This 3-minute masque improves texture and manageability for all hair types without weighing it down."

Melissa's DeLush Downlow: Straight to the point (no pun intended): I LOVE this line. It's inexpensive, smells amazing, and makes my hair feel soft and look great. My hair really is significantly smoother when I use this, especially when I also use the deep conditioner, which doesn't weigh my hair down. I have very coarse, randomly frizzy hair, so anything that can help tame it is a winner in my book. Especially when it doesn't take a huge chunk out of my wallet.

Retail Price: $3.99 each (at drugstores everywhere)

DeLush Rating:

When I finally ran out of my last mousse, I didn't have a lot of cash, so I thought I would try out a drugstore brand, and because I've been seeing a lot of advertisements for Garnier's hair products, I had to give theirs a try.

What They Say: Take control of your style!  Garnier Fructis Style, with fruit micro-waxes, gives you the power to create and control any hairstyle you want.  What is volume inject mousse?  It is a new generation styling product that builds weightless volume and body that lasts all day without stiffness.

Jen's Experience:  When I first started using this product, I was absolutely in love.  It didn't provide as much volume as the last mousse I was using, but it never got sticky or stiff no matter how much I overapplied it to one section or how much I let my hair air-dry.  It completely met my expectations, and I was thrilled to have bouncy but touchable hair.  Over time though, I noticed that my hair was looking less and less healthy and shiny, and though process of elimination, it seems that this mousse may be a little too hard on my hair for everyday use.  Although I am no longer using this as part of my daily routine, I do still use it for special events, with no obvious damage to my hair.   

Retail Price: $3.99 (Walgreens)

Rating:

If you subscribe to our newsletter, you might have noticed that this week's beauty tip was all about at-home haircolor. I was inspired to write that after a long search over a couple of weeks for a new color. I've dyed my hair since I was about 12 or 13, so I have no idea what my true natural color is, only that my roots are dark enough to be noticable when I dye my hair my usual light beige or light ash blonde. In the interest of finally matching my eyebrows, and perhaps less upkeep, I decided to go brunette. Having never colored my hair darker than my natural roots, I was at a loss for what shade of brown to try. Eventually, I settled for Light Golden Brown, which was a good match for my skin tone without going too dark at once.

Well, this weekend, I took the plunge and colored my hair. It was a long 30 minutes, and it looked like it was going to work, but when I rinsed my hair out, I was really shocked. It wasn't that different from the last color. Even worse, when I styled it this morning, it took on an orange glow. I can't figure out what I did wrong; I keep re-reading the instructions to see if I missed a step. The lesson here, girls? The color strand test is your friend on major color changes.

I've had a couple of bad coloring experiences in the past, but mostly through my own fault. I colored my hair platinum blonde for several years, but when I did it myself, the back of my hair didn't always come out right, almost in zebra stripes. But for the most part, I've had great experiences with at-home color.

Now, it's your turn. Tell us about a great experience, your favorite hair color product, or your worst haircolor nightmare. And if you have any tips for toning down my hair -- please, I need the advice.