Dove Oxygen Moisture shampoo and conditioner

Nothing too great here. The conditioner works better than the Lux, but I'm still on the hunt for a good, well priced, shampoo and conditioner set.

LUX Super Rich Shine Damage Repair

I'm still on the hunt for a good conditioning mask to fix my fried hair. I chose this Lux damage repair due to great ratings on Cosme, and the fact that it cost about 500 yen at my local drugstore. You leave it on for about 20 minutes after shampooing. It is a weekly treatment, but I've been using it after each shampoo (just on the ends), and haven't noticed any terrible build-up.

It's better than the Laggie conditioner (which comes in cute little individual packets- perfect for traveling). But, it hasn't solved the problem. My Japanese friend swears by using Nivea cream lotion in her hair - I'm trying that next!

Laggie Rich Repair treatment

The double process straight perm Watanabe gave me totally fried my hair, so I'm desperate for treatments to disguise the damage. Since Aki san didn't reply to my email request for products he recommends, I picked up the highly rated Laggie Rich Repair mask (4 treatments for about 500 yen).

It definitely helped - I can get a comb through the ends, gave it a silky texture, and it doesn't look horrible, but you can still tell the ends are frayed and dry. I'd recommend this for a normal weekly treatment, not a salon-gone-wrong-fix.

Pantene Extra Damage Care Shampoo and Conditioner

I've been focusing my beauty budget on big ticket items lately, so I decided to try out the Pantene Extra Damage Care Shampoo and Conditioner. It's been working just fine, so, bye Ahalo Butter!

Adventures in Hair cuts: Nary

My bangs were looking haggard and my ends needed a shape up, so I made an appointment for a head spa and cut at Nary. Cutting to chase: go for the head spa, leave before the hair cut.

The salon is gorgeous. Breathtakingly beautiful.

The head spa was great. You could choose from different aromas. The heated head and neck massage was awesome and was nice and strong.

The haircut went well at first. We had a consultation. We confirmed only trimming the damaged ends, and used our fingers to confirm how much would be cut off. I described the bangs I wanted. She found a picture in a magazine to confirm she understood (she did). She cut the ends, perfect.

Then we got to the bangs. She suggested I change my part. I said no. She did something weird with my part, making it rather "S" like, and started cutting. I stopped her, corrected the part with my hands, and reconfirmed the type of bang we were going for, and that the length should be at my eyebrow (she repeated, "eyebrow").

How I got the world's shortest, bluntest bangs is beyond me. I stopped her. I fiddled with what was left of my hair. She made a suggestion. I said no, they were too short, they were an inch above my eyebrow, and "shall we finish"? She kept saying sorry. I paid and left.

I have a feeling the bangs will be great in a month...

Shampoo and Conditioner: Ahalo Butter

I'm rethinking my addiction to the Beauty Pride's APPS+E(TPNa) shampoo and conditioner. First, as I mentioned before, the cost. Oh my, the cost. Second, my hair doesn't seem to be reacting as well to the product as it did in the past. Perhaps it is time to rotate out?

So I purchased this Ahalo Butter Repair Shampoo and Conditioner set for about 1900 yen on Cosme. It did a great job! Love it! And much cheaper than the Beauty Pride!

2014 Year end awards: Buy these now!

These are the things I can whole-heartedly recommend:

Heroine make mascara

Heroine make mascara remover

Evangelist BB cream

Muji lipstick

SK-II stempower

Bifesta facial cleansing wipes

Tiare body oil

Beauty Pride's APPS+E(TPNa) shampoo and conditioner

Drybar dry shampoo

Traveling with Japanese luxuries: prepping to conclude an 18 hour flight looking fabulous

I always leave my flight looking oily and gross. So, I put together a little carry-on love to attempt to remedy that situation.

First up are the Bifesta facial cleansing sheets (550 yen). These oil and fragrance free sheets are supposed to give you a deep clean. I use these facial cleansing whenever I start feeling oily during a flight, and also in the bathroom of the airport when I arrive at my destination. Result: absolutely fabulous. Love these. They take off all my makeup and leave me feeling squeaky clean, and they give me a clean canvas for a fresh make-up application at my destination airport bathroom without having to get water all over the place and risk messing up my bangs.

I've been using the SK-II stempower as my morning and evening moisturizer, and am loving the mochi-like feeling it gives my skin. Japanese flight attendants use this instead of a facial mask on planes and swear that it helps them remain looking so positively fantastic throughout a long-haul flight. I can attest that it lives up to this claim!

Before settling in for a sleep, I slip on my Dr. Scholl compression leggings. My hope is to stave off bloating and uncomfortableness! I use these around my house, and love how they massage my legs. I've also found that they really do reduce leg and ankle bloating.

Then, before I pop on my noise-reduction headphones hooked up to my ambient noise app, I put on my Kao Megurythm heated eye mask, in lavender. These always put me right to sleep here at home, and really help when I'm wedged in an economy airplane seat! Note: I've been trying out the different aromas (rose, yuzu, and unscented), and so far I much prefer the lavender.

Other items in my beauty carry-on: travel toothpaste and brush, hand sanitizer, pepto bismol (um, airplane food?!?), a sleeping pill, deodorant, perfume, and make-up.

And, make my hair look great upon final exit of the airplane, I use this fantastic dry shampoo from drybar.

I have to say, I looked really marvelous for coming off an 18 hour flight. Paparazzi ready!

World's most expensive shampoo? Beauty Pride's APPS+E(TPNa)

I feel like my hair is aging fast, so I went in search of something I might be able to do about it. Cosme just put out new rankings for shampoo, and Beauty Pride's APPS+E(TPNa) took top prize. The comments are positively glowing. Apparently, this stuff is the real deal and can actually reverse damage. Also, as the real deal, it is ridiculously expensive. A bottle of shampoo costs 8600 yen. Conditioner: 8600 yen. You can get samples online for about 2100 yen. This is a review of the sample sized product.

I have to admit, this is nice stuff. It feels good in your hands when you pump it out. It lathers nicely in your hair. The conditioner is thick, but doesn't weigh hair down. I used all the product in the individual use packets, but I think I could get away with using only half on my mid-length hair. In the end, I got soft, silky, bouncy hair. I got "just-stepped-out-of-the-salon" hair.

I usually wash my hair every 2-3 days, depending on my running schedule. On day 2, my hair continued to be soft and manageable. No noticeable traces of oil/grease. After pulling my hair into a low ponytail for an 80 minute yoga class, there are no traces of the "band."

Some of the comments on cosme say that after an initial great impression, the product fails to "wow" the second time. So, I washed my hair with Beauty Pride's APPS+E(TPNa) shampoo and conditioner a second time, using only half the product in the individual packets, on day 3 (no other product used in between). I also did not style my hair after washing, so this was all the work of the product. I have to say, it was lovely. It still had that light-bouncy-soft feeling.

I am torn. I LOVE these products, but the cost is SO high!

So, I tried a little experiment. First, I shampooed with my normal MUJI seven herb. I followed up with the APPS+E(TPNa) conditioner. Result: Nice hair. Not quite as bouncy as when I used both products together, but it had the same look on day one, day two, not so much. Also, it felt like there was product in my hair, but nothing like the after-product feel of the Mogans conditioner.

Then, I shampooed and conditioned with the MUJI and Mogans. Same results that I normally get. Ok, but not great.

Finally, I shampooed with the APPS+E(TPNa) and followed up with the Mogan's conditioner. Result: almost the same results as with the regular MUJI and Mogans.

So, if I can stomach the price, I will first buy the conditioner. When my MUJI shampoo runs out, then I'll spring for the conditioner. I'm trying to remind myself that I spring for facial beauty products, why not some for my hair?

Mogans Conditioner

My super expensive (2800 yen) highly rated (number 1 on cosme) conditioner arrived today, so I just had to wash my hair and try it out!

It is much better than the Shiseido Tsubaki. It doesn't have a discernible smell, but it smells very clean. It is a lighter formula and doesn't weigh my hair down at all. It gave me a bit of a shine, but not much silky softness. Despite not weighing down my hair, there seems to be a residual feeling of "product."

Overall, I'm much happier with this conditioner than my previous one and will use it until it runs out. However, for the price, I was hoping for more, so I'll keep up the search!

UPDATE: I've started putting this conditioner on post-shampoo, leaving it on for about a half hour, then rinsing. Now, I love it! It still has a "product-y" residue, but I think that is what is giving me the shine, so I'll deal with it! Also, hair is MUCH softer.

Shiseido Tsubaki shining shampoo and conditioner, MUJI seven herb shampoo

I have lots and lots of fine hair, which is just a different beast than Japanese hair. Therefore, I've been having a hard time finding shampoo and conditioner that work for me.

First up was the infamous Shiseido Tsubaki shampoo and conditioner. These are available EVERYWHERE for cheap. I found that they really weighed down my hair and left a lot of build-up.

So, I ran out of shampoo first, and moved onto MUJI's Seven herb shampoo, available at MUJI stores for about 1400 yen. The shampoo has a nice smell and left my hair squeaky clean without feeling stripped or dry. It has a cosme score of 5. I would buy it again.

Monday, my delivery of Mogan's conditioner arrives and I am so excited to try it since it cost a fortune (about 2800 yen) and is currently ranked at number 2 on cosme.net. Wish me luck!