Bargainista’s High Low beauty review - Calia Texture Curl Cream and Tousle Me Softly

I’ve been quietly trying some new products over the summer. Some because I found them in stores and wanted to give them a try. Some were sent my way from friends at PR firm or directly from the brands themselves.

Let’s start with the hair. You may remember I’ve got a cool tool to help me straighten my hair. Well, actually, although it’s awesome it’s quite hot and the process of blow drying my hair first (it’s got a mind of it’s own and needs a good stretch first) then using a straightener is time-consuming.

So, for summer I decided to go with the flow rather than fight it. Calia, my current hair salon launched a new line of products and for $18, I bought a tube of their new Texture Curl Cream for curly hair with the promise of soft curls without frizz. A dab the size of a quarter will do you. On a good day, my hair has soft waves and curls, little frizz and no crunchy or sticky residue.

Shortly after I started using this new product, the folks at Palette PR sent me the complete Tousle Me Softly product line by Herbal Essence totally by coincidence. When it comes to hair products, I’m a bit of a snob and usually stick to salon quality brands. I’m not a big user of drugstore brands per se, even if they often sell for a quarter of the price.

But, I couldn’t resist since the timing was right and I decided to give the Tousle Me Softly finishing touch cream (approximately $5 per jar). I tried it and put it through exactly the same process as the salon brand since both products had similar instructions, once I dissected the marketing speak on the containers.

Results:
Tousle Me Softly finishing touch cream provided great hold and little frizz. However, my hair did feel a bit crunchy. If you’re on a budget and can’t afford the higher-priced stuff, this did an impressive job.

As for the other tousle me soft products, I tried the tousling spray gel too. It didn’t work on my hair nearly as well as either cream. My hair was crunchy and sticky. I’m keeping the flexible hold hairspray ‘cause I’m sure it will suit me fine and the wild violet and pomegranate scent is fresh but not overpowering. I gave the shampoo, conditioner and mousse away to a couple friends.

Whether I’ll keep the curly, tousled look over the fall, the verdict is still out but the tousled look seems to be sticking around for a while.

Have you tried either of these products? Do you have hair like me that’s neither naturally curly nor straight but somewhere in between? What are your favourite summer hair tricks?

Giveaway winners announced: Bargainsta banishes bad hair days

With more than 20 entries consisting of blog comments, blog posts, photos, email and a combination of more than one of the above, three of you will be receiving a Conair Infiniti Nano Silver Steam Straightener and products from two John Frieda product lines: Frizz-Ease Weather Works and Luxurious Volume.

Peter Ciarduilli from Calia Hair Design selected the three winners and explains why:

“Brenna Flynn, looking at the photo’s she submitted. Brenna was able to get her hair smooth and straight. Pretty similar to a salon stylist.”
Those are her pics on the right.

“Marie, spends to much time on her hair (45 mins.) only have it curl up again. She needs the proper tools to help her out.”

“Farm Girl., something needs to be said about hair always in a ponytail. Again, with proper tools hopefully it will help her get out of wearing a ponytail all the time.”

I don’t know about you but I’d love Brenna, Marie and Farm Girl to let us know what they think about the Conair Infiniti Nano Silver Steam Straightener and let us knowwhether or not the John Frieda products helped them tame their hair. Each of you are invited to submit a guest post. And by all means, if anyone else has tried any of these products, please let us know what you think.

Peter also wanted me to share another sweet hair deal with you…
He’s added Stephanie to the Calia Hair Design team. She’s had more than 10 years of salon experience – both as a stylist and colourist (she’s a certified colour educator). I haven’t met her yet but he says she’s been in numerous competitions and has a “warm and energetic personality.” If you book an appointment with Stephanie in January, you’ll receive 20% off her services. Sounds like a sweet deal to me.

Thanks to Conair, John Frieda, Peter Ciardulli and most of all of you who participated in this giveaway. Look out for more in 2009!

photo credit: Brenna Flynn on flickr