Shampoo Responsibly: Suave Professional Line of Hair Products

Pictured: Santa Monica’s The Shampoo Lounge, provided the venue for our Suave challenge/party

Suave, the low priced leader in shampoo and hair conditioning products is kicking off 2010 with a line of professional products to be sold at retail outlets. About six weeks ago, Suave’s PR firm reached out to me to see if my friends and I might be interested in taking the Suave challenge. In exchange for our time Suave gave me $200.00 to throw a party for my friends and invite a stylist (paid for by Suave) to style my quests and let them sample the new products. Free party? Fun times, sans expense? Sold. As a practicing recessionista I was intrigued. How many people could I host for a party without me having to cook? How far could I stretch the budget? Would it be a feast or takeout pizza? After working long hours all week, the last thing I want to do is host a party if I can’t enjoy it because I have to spend my time preparing everything to save money.

So here’s the story of our fabuless party and experience with Suave. First, let’s start with the products. Suave sent over samples of their new professionals line. The line features shampoo and conditioner systems with some fairly amazing fragrances and materials considering the price The new line includes Suave Professionals Almond & Shea Butter Moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioner; Rosemary Mint Invigorating Shampoo and Conditioner; and Aloe & Ginseng Volumizing Shampoo and Conditioner. Each bottle is generously proportioned, about 15 fluid ounces. The quantity is about twice as much as other leading salon products. So price wise, its cheap. But is it any good?

To find out, I invited 15 friends over for a Happy Hour at The Shampoo Lounge in Santa Monica to try it out. I decided to do a Happy Hour because it fit the budget, and was more economical than a dinner feast. Some guests were treated to shampoo, blow dry and style using the Suave products. I personally tested the Rosemary Mint shampoo. I choose this one because of its wonderful Rosemary fragrance. I don’t like that fruity scented junk on my hair. I liked the cleanness of the Rosemary scent. On my hair, it performed almost like baby shampoo. Its very, very gentle and it seem to give my hair a nice conditioning, flattening my frizz down a bit. My friend Tracy tried the Aloe & Ginseng shampoo with good results. I’m not a professional stylist, so I can’t say if Suave will work for everyone’s hair, but I would definitely use it again. For me, and this is just me, 90% of the shampoo choice decision is based on scent, and I think Suave scored brilliantly in this area by delivering shampoos with similar scents to more high-end, pricey lines. I was sold at hello when I smelled the Rosemary shampoo. With the Suave shampoo, I’d still use leave in conditioners (like Fast Food) to tame my curls and relax my frizz. However, for shampoo, my recessionista needs are simple, give me the clean and the gentle. So Suave Rosemary met that basic criteria.

Pictured: David Jensen, Master Stylist and owner of The Shampoo Lounge in Santa Monica.

Our special consultant for this trial, David Jensen of The Shampoo Lounge, gave top marks to Suave’s new Volumizer and Hairspray. He found those products to be every bit as good as products from more expensive lines.

Pictured: One satisfied Suave party goer, who would rather enter a witness protection program than have their picture placed on The Recessionista Blog! 🙂

Now, the second part of the story, how did we do on the budget? After calling several caterers, most of whom quoted me prices of $500.00 and up based on serving a few appetizers, we settled on a cheap and cheerful Mexican feast catered by family owned delicious landmark restaurant Lares in Santa Monica. They prepared taquitos, nachos, and quesadillas (chicken, steak and cheese) for an army for a mere $98.00! Free chips and salsa come with every order, just like in the restaurant. They did the cooking and I did the manual labor of picking it up at their lovely bar. Oh it was terrible, the effort it took to pick up that carryout order 🙂 I supplemented the hot food, with two party sized Baja Ensalidas from lard free chain Baja Fresh for $30.00. That left a whooping $72.00 for drinks. I bought cheap and cheerful Little Black Dress (LBD) Wine on sale at Ralph’s grocery for $8.00 a bottle. I also had a Red Plum coupon for $5.00 off 2 bottled of LBD wine. The LBD Chardonnay turned out to be quite delicious. For Pinot Noir, I chose the full-bodied, berry scented Lane Turner from Trader Joes for $19.99. My final cocktail choice was martinis made with a splurge of Grey Goose vodka ($35.00) from Costco and assorted home made and bottled mixers (Marshalls for $3.95) A few fresh lemons and limes bought the total up to a grand $200.00. A budget friendly and delicious event! Via la recessionistance. This buffet and drink selection served approximately 15 people.

If you’re interested in checking out Suave professionals, click here browse their website, and sign up for coupons and special offers. I’m not here to pitch Suave, but check it at your local drug store or Target/Walmart and see if its worth trying.