Beachy Hair - minus the beach

I used the same shampoo, from the same bottle, for the whole of 2012. A giant 1 litre bottle of Aveda Be Curly shampoo. It's good but i felt like i needed a change, and my hair probably did too.

However, since the turn of the year I've been trying out other shampoos. No conditioners as I'm still using the remnants of a Frederik Fekkai conditioner for curly hair that smells like tangerines. Not oranges, tangerines, there's a difference ;)  I've even begun trying a Tresemme nourishing shampoo, something i never ever thought I'd try. But I decided that i wasn't going to spend insane amounts of money on something you wash into and out of your hair.

And then Bumble and Bumble just had to go and launch the Surf range.

New for summer is the Surf Foam Wash shampoo and the Surf Creme Rinse conditioner. As well as the fantastic Surf Spray. I absolutely LOVE their surf spray but at £19 a bottle it's just not been in my shopping basket for a few years. I bought my first bottle back in 2005 from HQ Hair. I saw a few reviews raving about the new range but never from anyone with my type of curly (kinda already beachy) hair. In John Lewis last weekend i hesitated and decided not to buy it. I have this new rule. If I see something I want to buy, i don't buy it there and then. I wait a day. If I still want it the next day I weigh up why, then decide if i really need it before i buy. Works. Sometimes! But this non purchase lingered on my mind and as soon as I was home I searched online to see if there were any bargains.

Hurrah! I managed to stumble upon a site i hadn't heard of before, Active Beauty, and with the lure of 15% off until 21 May i didn't hesitate for a day. I bought the shampoo, conditioner and the surf spray all with free delivery too. Bargain.

I tried it out on Saturday. I wasn't expecting much to be honest. You know when shampoos promise much and almost always fail to deliver. But oh, how wrong was I! What I ended up with was soft, great smelling, 'beachy' hair. Usually if i don't put mousse on my hair then it ends up a frizzy mess. But with the aid if just a few drops of hair oil and a few sprays of Surf Spray it was like I'd just stepped out of the  water in Ibiza. No really.

It was soft, manageable and yet had the messy look about it. Well, messier than my usual. But with a look of being 'done' too. And the smell. Oh the smell. I can't describe what it is except... aqua. I didn't need to use much of the shampoo to produce a lather and I've learnt to use half the amount of conditioner than I think I'd need. A huge plus was that the conditioner felt like i had rinsed it properly. I wary of some conditioners when they don't rinse out or take half an hour to rinse out (Pantene, Aussie - in my experience - yuck). I let my hair air dry for a few minutes then sprayed some surf spray in it. There was no tangles or straw like texture, just 'beach' hair. Honest.

If, like me, you have curly hair and want something to give you a bit of that 'done' texture look then this range is probably for you. Only if your budget can stretch to them that is, because at £18.50 per bottle they aren't exactly budget priced. But I only get my hair done maybe twice per year so I like to treat it in between times.

Angela x

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