Aveda Blue Malva Shampoo and Conditioner......

Hi everyone!I highlight my entire head and I recently decided to give Aveda Blue Malva Shampoo and Conditioner a try in an attempt to control brassiness. I had previously been using a shampoo called 'Gold Out' once every two weeks, but really wasn't crazy about it b/c it left my hair feeling stripped and dry. However, although I was trying to avoid Aveda, just b/c they are becoming so difficult to find, I decided to search for some Blue Malva. I was REALLY impressed with the shampoo and I like it better than ARTec Smoothing-- it lathers better and my hair feels more conditioned. Also, b/c it is so moisturizing I can use it every day instead of once every two weeks. Also, the scent is very pleasing and not quite as medicinal as other Aveda products (like Curessence). With just the shampoo alone I saw some subtle results (even my mom noticed that my hair wasn't quite as yellow-gold). So this prompted me to buy the conditioner a few days later-- the conditioner is light, yet moisturizing enough and the results are more intense than the shampoo alone-- this really cools the brassiness. So, I am VERY pleased-- On the days when I use Aveda, I shampoo with Blue Malva and follow up with Deep Penetrating Hair Revitalizer-- I use the Blue Malva conditioner once a week. The Aveda Blue Malva line, "adds silvery brightness to grey hair and neutralizes brassiness in other colors".Sherry~

Hi,Well it seems like we are on the reverse paths here. :-)I used to ONLY use either Aveda Blue Malva or Aveda Shampure and I loved what it did to my blonde hair. You are right, the Blue Malva adds nice highlights and removes brassiness. The Chamomile is also wonderful for adding very subtle highlights.Unfortunately with the ever increasing prices (they went up several times during my use of the products) and the fact that Aveda yanked them off the Net for the most part, I started feeling frustrated about how difficult and expensive it became to use BM and Curessence & even the Beautifying Oil (which I still make the effort to find and buy).The Aveda products are excellent. I totally agree.I switched to ARTec because it does make my hair feel wonderful and look great and it is easy to find and much better prices. Also, I can order it at WW Beauty and I have a standing order.I will agree that the Smoothing does not add the color highlights that the Blue Malva or the Chamomile does. ARTec has color shampoos but I have not really worked wtih them to this point. I probably will down the road when I am ready to test something like that. I am not sure that they are as good as the Aveda Blue Malva or Chamomile or whether they remove the brassiness that Blue Malva will do after ongoing use.Jeff personally loved Blue Malva but he prefers the ARTec Smoothing conditioner. So he mixes the two and uses Blue Malva most of the time with a little Smoothing shampoo rotated in from time to time.Thanks for sharing your findings about the highlights and removal of the brassiness. I just wish Aveda was more accessible and more inexpensive and then I would probably use it a lot more than I do.Have a great day.Karen> Hi everyone!> I highlight my entire head and I recently decided to> give Aveda Blue Malva Shampoo and Conditioner a try in> an attempt to control brassiness. I had previously> been using a shampoo called 'Gold Out' once every two> weeks, but really wasn't crazy about it b/c it left my> hair feeling stripped and dry. However, although I was> trying to avoid Aveda, just b/c they are becoming so> difficult to find, I decided to search for some Blue> Malva. I was REALLY impressed with the shampoo and I> like it better than ARTec Smoothing-- it lathers> better and my hair feels more conditioned. Also, b/c> it is so moisturizing I can use it every day instead> of once every two weeks. Also, the scent is very> pleasing and not quite as medicinal as other Aveda> products (like Curessence). With just the shampoo> alone I saw some subtle results (even my mom noticed> that my hair wasn't quite as yellow-gold). So this> prompted me to buy the conditioner a few days later--> the conditioner is light, yet moisturizing enough and> the results are more intense than the shampoo alone--> this really cools the brassiness. So, I am VERY> pleased-- On the days when I use Aveda, I shampoo with> Blue Malva and follow up with Deep Penetrating Hair> Revitalizer-- I use the Blue Malva conditioner once a> week. The Aveda Blue Malva line, "adds silvery> brightness to grey hair and neutralizes brassiness in> other colors".> Sherry~

Hi Karen and everyone else,I DO agree with you about Aveda being difficult to find-- it is, and I just hate popping into salons to just to 'see' if it is in there-- I much prefer the ease of on-line ordering :) I just wanted to make clear, that I have absolutely NOT given up ARTec-- not for the life of me, as I LOVE ARTec! I just find that if a use the Blue Malva once or twice a week it really improves on the color of my hair-- however, I while I find the Blue Malva shampoo wonderful, most of the Aveda Conditioners leave little to be desired (they are nice, but tend to be a bit too heavy on my hair)-- The best conditioner in the WORLD is ARTec Smoothing, I just wish that shmapoo did a bit more-- I also continue to love most of the ARTec Styling products, especially the Texture Creme (what a scent)-- Just thought I would let all know that I am still a fan of ARTec (I think most of you who read regularly already know that), but the Blue Malva is most definitely a WONDERFUL 'switcha-roo' whicn kicks up your color a bit! To Karen or anyone else who has used the ARTec Color enhancing line, please let me know how you like it-- I am usually pretty LINE LOYAL and I would love to try out the ARTec Color enhancers :) Take Care everyone!Sherry~> Hi,> Well it seems like we are on the reverse paths here.> :-)> I used to ONLY use either Aveda Blue Malva or Aveda> Shampure and I loved what it did to my blonde hair.> You are right, the Blue Malva adds nice highlights and> removes brassiness. The Chamomile is also wonderful> for adding very subtle highlights.> Unfortunately with the ever increasing prices (they> went up several times during my use of the products)> and the fact that Aveda yanked them off the Net for> the most part, I started feeling frustrated about how> difficult and expensive it became to use BM and> Curessence & even the Beautifying Oil (which I> still make the effort to find and buy).> The Aveda products are excellent. I totally agree.> I switched to ARTec because it does make my hair feel> wonderful and look great and it is easy to find and> much better prices. Also, I can order it at WW Beauty> and I have a standing order.> I will agree that the Smoothing does not add the color> highlights that the Blue Malva or the Chamomile does.> ARTec has color shampoos but I have not really worked> wtih them to this point. I probably will down the road> when I am ready to test something like that. I am not> sure that they are as good as the Aveda Blue Malva or> Chamomile or whether they remove the brassiness that> Blue Malva will do after ongoing use.> Jeff personally loved Blue Malva but he prefers the> ARTec Smoothing conditioner. So he mixes the two and> uses Blue Malva most of the time with a little> Smoothing shampoo rotated in from time to time.> Thanks for sharing your findings about the highlights> and removal of the brassiness. I just wish Aveda was> more accessible and more inexpensive and then I would> probably use it a lot more than I do.> Have a great day.> Karen

Hi there!I know that Aveda makes another shampoo/color conditioner combo called Black Malva and this is supposed to tone down redness in darker hair colors-- however, the Blue malva does say that it is for all hair colors-- so I guess you could ask a stylist what he/she would reccommend.Sherry~> My hair is brown with red highlights but the more I> color it brown to get rid of the red the redder it> gets. Is that considered brassy or is it just the hair> dye fading? Anyhow, I was wondering if you thought> Blue Malva would tone down the red. Glad to hear it's> conditioning too since my hair is extremely dry and> damaged and I didn't get really good results with> ARTec Smoothing.

Hi Sherry,I have dabble just a bit with the ARTec color line. Quite frankly I am giving my hair a rest. I just finished testing the L'anza Long Hair and unfortunately it did not work for my hair. I am writing a review and it should be available soon.I tried the ARTec color shampoos and found them to be very thick and somewhat drying. Well I discussed this with Arlene Benza from ARTec and she told me that because the ARTec color shampoos are designed to be very color intensive (much more so than Aveda) that the shampoo needs to be diluted with ARTec smoothing shampoo.I had not known that and had not tried it that way. I probably will again in the very near future when my hair recovers from its last testing.Right now I am doing lots of ARTec Moisture Pac and Aveda Beautifying oil to try and get it back after the Lanza.One thing I have personally found is that there are about 4 or 5 chemicals that are used in a lot of the shampoos that really mess with my hair. ARTec and Aveda don't seem to do that. Thank goodness.Thanks for the info Sherry.Best wishes,Karen> Hi Karen and everyone else,> I DO agree with you about Aveda being difficult to> find-- it is, and I just hate popping into salons to> just to 'see' if it is in there-- I much prefer the> ease of on-line ordering :) I just wanted to make> clear, that I have absolutely NOT given up ARTec-- not> for the life of me, as I LOVE ARTec! I just find that> if a use the Blue Malva once or twice a week it really> improves on the color of my hair-- however, I while I> find the Blue Malva shampoo wonderful, most of the> Aveda Conditioners leave little to be desired (they> are nice, but tend to be a bit too heavy on my hair)--> The best conditioner in the WORLD is ARTec Smoothing,> I just wish that shmapoo did a bit more-- I also> continue to love most of the ARTec Styling products,> especially the Texture Creme (what a scent)-- Just> thought I would let all know that I am still a fan of> ARTec (I think most of you who read regularly already> know that), but the Blue Malva is most definitely a> WONDERFUL 'switcha-roo' whicn kicks up your color a> bit! To Karen or anyone else who has used the ARTec> Color enhancing line, please let me know how you like> it-- I am usually pretty LINE LOYAL and I would love> to try out the ARTec Color enhancers :) Take Care> everyone!> Sherry~

Hi,As a general rule...any shampoos with the following chemicals will almost always dry out my hair:Sodium Lauryl, Sulfate MEA Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Chloride, Citric Acid.The more of these chemicals that a product has and the less of good herbs like chamomile, burdock root, cherry almond bark that a product has, the more drying it is to my hair.My hair also does terrible with any alcohol or alcohol derivatives. Just dries it terribly.Hope that helps.Best wishes,Karen> What are the chemicals you have found in shampoos that> dry your hair?