Aveda

Most people know that I am a big Aveda fan now. I have been using the shampure, which I still love and the Curessence which I am wild about. I stated to Karen awhile back that I think my hair has gotten to a point where I will not have to deep condition with the Curessence like I have been doing.. i.e. leaving it on for a few hours and using the hot towel. Actually, I quit doing the hot towel routine a month ago. Just leaving the Curessence on for about 2 hours with a cap does wonders. Today, I left it on for about 20 minutes and I found it to be quite adequate. I was wondering from all the Aveda users, does anyone continue to use the Curessence as a regular conditioner? The clerk at the Aveda store said it is really for repair work but I am wondering if you can continue to use it indefinitely as a regular conditioner? And how about the Cherry Almond Bark conditioner... has anyone used it and the Curessence? What's the difference in conditioning? Also, the color shampoos and conditioners.. Who has used the one for very dark hair.. the Black malva, I believe. Does it wash out for sure and would it cover very obvious gray hairs? I am so afraid of color not washing out since my horror episode with the Natural Instincts. I read where, was it Noreen, who used the color shampoos and people at work noticed? I am curious about these. Just wondering if I could use it here and there to cover the gray for a bit then let it wash out after a few shampoos. Alot of questions, I know.. sorry.. but I am thinking of trying out some of the other Aveda products.. I use Clinque on my face..and also am thinking of trying Aveda's skin care line.. Cher~

Noreen: Thanks.. I may give it a try. My natural color is like what your co worker's is like. Dark brown with red highlights. I love my natural color but am concerned about what it would do to the silver in my hair. I don't want to have another horror story to tell about!! My silver is very porous. I too, love the Shampure. It's great. I am out to experiment with some of the conditioners but since I am so spoiled by the Curessence, I am not sure where to go from here. Thanks for your imput. And if I give the color ones a go, I will let you know how it worked out. By the way, how long have you been using Aveda and do you alternate with another brand? Cheryl> Hi Cher,> I don't use the Black Malva, but one of my> co-workers does. She has very dark brown hair> with some red highlights, which she hates. She> uses the black malva to get rid of the reds. It> looks really good in her hair. I use the Madder> Root to bring out the reds. After the first time> the red is noticable, but just a little. No one> else really notices but me and my husband. By> the third use it is very noticable. It is kind> of an accummulative effect. It does wash out pretty> easily. I do notice that I can still see some> red after the first shampooing and use of the> Camomille, but by the second it is gone. Keep> in mind that I only use the color conditioners.> Though I have a bottle of Camomille Shampoo around,> I am hooked on the Shampure. I hope this help> a little. If you try it, let me know how it works...Noreen>

Hi Cher,I've been using Aveda for a year now. Before that I had used Pantene for about 3 years. I lived in Georgia for 11 years and never had any problems with the Pantene. It made my hair very soft and silky. But when I moved back to New England my hair started drying out and by the end of my first winter here, my hair was starting to be in pretty bad shape. I knew I had to do something and Karen gave me lots of good advice. I started reading all the good comments on Aveda, and my co worker seemed to like it, so I started searching for it here. I found one place at the mall that sold it, but since I wasn't going into the salon to get my hair "done" the stylists were not very helpful and didn't want to take the time to answer any questions. So I just picked out what I thought I would need. My first purchase was the Camomille Shampoo and The Deep Conditioner. That seemed to work OK and I used both of them until I ran out of the deep conditioner. By then my hair was doing remarkably better. I decided to try the Camomille Conditioner next. That worked pretty good too, but it only comes in little tubes and with the length of my hair I was going through it pretty quickly. So I decided to try the Rosemary Mint conditioner. It came in a large bottle and I figured since the other products were doing quite well it might keep me from going to the salon as often. It was a mistake. It left my hair very dry and hard to comb. I now buy the tubes of color conditioner 3 at a time. Then a wonderful thing happened. A new salon opened at the mall. Their product area is about 4 times larger than their styling area, and they are willing to take the time to answer all my questions. They suggested the Shampure. I tried it and I loved it. My hair has never felt or looked better. I haven't tried the Curessence yet, but that is my next thing to try. They sell sample sized bottles and I figure 2 of those should give me an idea of how it works on my hair. I hope I have as much luck with it as you and Karen do. Also, this winter I found the Beautifying Oil and I use that before every shampoo. I am glad to say that my hair did much better this winter than the winter before. I don't use any other brands of shampoo or conditioner now. The only thing I do every few months or so is to use the Camomille Shampoo. But this is more to use up the bottle then for any other reason. I am like you. I have found something that works for me, and I am afraid to experiment too much with other stuff. Good luck..Noreen

I am a big aveda fan. I am thinking about using the aveda color conditioners. I have medium ash brown hair. I thinking about using the black marva conditioner. Will it turn my hair totally black, or a brownish black shade? Does it stain the bathtub and do you need gloves when you use it? Thanks for the information.>

Another thought: Also, I am not big on artificial colors and Clinque uses all kinds of yucky coloring. I don't think Aveda does. Yes, I agree that they are priced about the same. thanks for your feedback. When I run out of Clinque, I plan to do the same that you are doing..incorporate alittle at a time.. Cher~> Hi , Cher,> I used to use Clinque skin care too, and> although I still like it, I am trying to branch> out and try new things. One thing I would to see> Clinique do is incorporate more environmentally> friendly and recyclable containers, but I feel> that about a lot of cosmetic packaging. But I> tried the Aveda Purifying Cleanser (I could not> afford to buy the whole line at once, so I decided> to start with that). I like it so far. I have> "normal" skin, that has a tendency to> be slightly dry in the winter. I think Aveda is> priced pretty comparably to Clinique.