shampoo to use

hey all, i wanted to make the subject like "counterintuity" or something like that, but i figured nobody'd read that, but basically, i've been growing out my hair for a year now, back six months ago, i used brilliant brunette (stuff my sister had) and no conditioner on my hair, and i loved it, and tons of other people felt the need to tell me they liked it too...the summer came, i kept letting my hair grow out, but i got out of routine. and this school year, everyone's calling it an afro, which i don't want (no offense to those with them, i'm just not that kinda guy) and some people have called it cool, but i'm definitely not very confident about it, and i don't think many people like it, and lately i've been using herbal essences color reviving/moisturizing shampoo and conditioner, whereas the brunette stuff was voumizing...so what i'm wondering is, what has caused the increase in bushiness? is it the two extra inches of hair? or could it be the shampoos and/or conditioners i'm using? like could it be that maybe the added voume from the bb weighed my hair down? i dunno, if a change in shampoo doesn't fix it, i'll cut it myself, please help!