Aveda Colour Conserve Conditioner

...I am quite partial to Aveda hair care. It isn't just because they have products that actually seem to do my hair and scalp some good but I also like the way that their products use the power of plants and botanicals rather than relying on chemicals. And I also like the way that they try and source ingredients in the best way ecologically and in an ethical manner (for more details on how they source their ingredients and on how they help look after ...
...my scalp. Luckily another Aveda product sorted all that out for me but it was with some apprehension that I decided to switch from my scalp benefits shampoo and conditioner as my main shampoo and conditioner to this Colour Conserve range. I knew that Aveda products are not heavily chemical based and so they are far more gentle and less likely to strip away my lovely new vibrant colours but my main worry with using this Colour Conserve conditioner ... more

As part of my latest mid life crisis I decided that I was going to dye my hair exactly how I wanted it. I wasn't going to worry about the sharp intake of breath from my Mum when she saw it (or the sharp intake of breath from my husband when he found out how much it all cost).

My last trip to the hairdressers saw me go for striking layers of red in amongst my normal colour dye and one of the things that I had to ensure was that if I was going to spend over £100 having my hair dyed in such a dramatic way I really needed to make sure that I was going to be able to keep it looking as good in the weeks following my hair appointment as it did when it was first done.

As you have maybe gathered from previous reviews of mine I am quite partial to Aveda hair care. It isn't just because they have products that actually seem to do my hair and scalp some good but I also like the way that their products use the power of plants and botanicals rather than relying on chemicals. And I also like the way that they try and source ingredients in the best way ecologically and in an ethical manner (for more details on how they source their ingredients and on how they help look after the environment see www.aveda.co.uk). So as I was paying for my hair cut and colouring I decided that I would add their Colour Conserve Shampoo and Conditioner to my bill. This particular review is for the Colour Conserve Conditioner.

I have been dying my hair since I was 18 and in that time I have spent a fortune on a variety of colour safe products which have been recommended by my colour technician and hair dressers. One of the things that I have found is that not only have the shampoos made my hair so soft and fly away that it goes frizzy and then very greasy but the conditioners have just compounded the issues. I also have a problematic scalp which many conditioners have caused to flare up as they seem to leave a residue on my scalp. Luckily another Aveda product sorted all that out for me but it was with some apprehension that I decided to switch from my scalp benefits shampoo and conditioner as my main shampoo and conditioner to this Colour Conserve range. I knew that Aveda products are not heavily chemical based and so they are far more gentle and less likely to strip away my lovely new vibrant colours but my main worry with using this Colour Conserve conditioner was that not only would it keep me seeing red but that it wouldn't make me see bright pink (ie irritation) on my scalp.

So how does my hair and scalp feel? Well to put it simply my hair and my scalp feels great. My hair feels hydrated, soft, manageable and well nourished. After I wash my hair I a dose of about two 50 pence pieces and smooth onto my hair before combing it through with a wide toothed comb. Any excess that comes off on the comb gets smoothed back on to my hair. I do use slightly more of this product that I do other Aveda conditioners simply because my hair has been quite abused with hair dye and I want to protect it as much as possible. I usually leave it on for 3 to 5 minutes before rinsing and after I have used it my hair feels heavy with moisture. The consistency of this conditioner is a fairly thick cream. When you squeeze it between your fingers it isn't runny and when you put it on your hair it clings to it nicely. And it smells lovely. The shampoo smells lovely on its own but once I combine it with the conditioner my hair smells fantastic. Like the shampoo it is very fresh smelling - slightly earthy but with quite a warm herb like fragrance and once it has been dried it smells fresh for a couple of days.

Its active ingredients are Guar Bean, lavender, peppermint, ylang ylang, vitamin E derived from soy and rose geranium and rose oil. What I do like about Aveda as I mentioned before is their ethical stance on acquiring their ingredients and their website shows how they source their rose geranium oil and rose and lavender oil for this (and other) products. Whether this kind of thing is important to you from an ethical stand point it actually makes quite interesting reading anyway.

But as with the shampoo, the most important thing is does this conditioner live up to its name of Colour Conserve and I can say a big resounding yes to that one. Unlike other products I haven't noticed any fading even after 6 weeks.

Another big advantage of this product is that my hair blow dries really well once I have used the conditioner. It doesn't tangle and it makes my hair even shinier than it is when I just use the shampoo. I do straighten my hair quite a bit but my hair doesn't feel dry or damaged. I only use the conditioner every other wash because my hair would get really greasy if I used it every wash. That isn't anything to do with the conditioner itself as I have to do this with any conditioning treatment that I have ever used. By using the conditioner in this way my hair feels and looks really smooth and healthy and it has a great shine to it.

A 200ml bottle of this conditioner is £13.50 and 1 litre is £47 (although I have seen it cheaper on other beauty websites). It is expensive I admit but it is a product that lasts both in terms of its effects and its shelf life. It has a shelf life of 24 months and it normally takes me 18 months to use a litre of one of Aveda conditioners. I didn't buy a litre of this conditioner as I don't expect to be using it as my regular conditioner unless I decide to keep with my red sections (well I might do). If I do keep my hair like this then I will be getting the big bottle with a pump dispenser this excellent product becomes quite good value. And I would rather spend money on something that really works than waste money on buying a number of products that don't. And if you do colour your hair a lot and you are not entirely satisfied with the colour safe products that you use I would thoroughly recommend that you try this product. 

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