The colorvitality hair shampoo is great, I’m not however quite so pleased with the results of the flatout conditioner.

My hair is fairly short, thick and wavey and it tends to be quite dry, even coarse. So I have to ensure I regularly condition it to ensure it doesn’t get too dry and coarse looking. This is even more important now that I have it coloured as the colour tends to further dry it out. I thought if I bought a more expensive product, from a professional hair salon, I would get the results I wanted.

I bought the KMS hair products from my local Regis hair salon and discussed with the assistant that I wanted a conditioner that helped with the dryness of my hair but that didn’t at the same time lose my waves. Having decided on the kms colorvitality shampoo, the suggestion was that the kms flatout conditioner would work well with it. It says it is excellent for coarse, unruly hair and that it smoothes hair, keeping it calm and tangle free. I was a little concerned that the name ‘flatout’ indicated a resulting ‘flat’ and not wavey hair but decided my concern was probably unfounded and went ahead and bought it.

I wash my hair about every 3 days and after the first couple of times of using the conditioner I was really pleased with the silky feeling and vibrant look. I was happy the shampoo and conditioner seemed to be working well together.

Unfortunately though after a further couple of uses I felt my hair was becoming quite lank and the waves were disappearing. The conditioner seemed to be too overpowering.

I continue to use the colorvitality shampoo for every wash as I think it’s great but only use the flatout conditioner once every 3 or 4 washes. On the other occasions I use the TRESemme colour revitalising conditioner. This combination seems to work well and I get the conditioned but still wavey hair that I want. I also save money as I’m not using up the £11+ bottle of KMS conditioner quite so quickly!

I have fairly short but thick, wavey hair and it is now coloured auburn / brunette. I have it professionally coloured at my local hairdressers every 6 - 7 weeks. Yes, it costs a fortune but I prefer to keep it looking good!

I had been using off the shelf supermarket shampoo for coloured hair and whilst some were OK, I didn’t feel I was using the best I could. By chance I was out shopping in Chelmsford and came across a Regis Hairdressers which had many different hair products.  I discussed my hair with the assistant, describing how I wanted to ensure long lasting colour, and the suggestion was to try the KMS colorvitality. I had used KMS hair products before and thought they were good so decided to go with the suggestion.

I’ve been using it now for about 4 weeks. I’m really pleased with the results and for the moment will continue to use it, even though the £10 + price tag is a little steep, it’s still worth it.

As well as the kms shampoo, I also decided to buy the kms flatout conditioner. Unfortunately I haven’t had the same success with this, I’ll come back to that another time though. For now, the good news is the kms shampoo for my coloured hair really works for me.

So what bath lotion to use? I have put 3 of the cheaper end products to the test over the last few nights:

• Palmolive Naturals bath milk with honey & moisturising milk, approx £1.70
• Sainsbury’s aloe vera creme bath with aloe vera extract, approx £1.00
• Simple Soothe bath milk with Aloe Vera and Rosemary Oil, approx £1.90

Each of these products suggest an element of skin moisturiser which is one of the reasons I selected them. I feel it important to take every opportunity to moisturise and generally nourish your skin.

The first bath milk I used was Soothe from Simple. Pouring it under the running water you straight away get the hint of rosemary coming through and a reasonable volume of bubbles. The whole experience then in the water was very pleasant. I say pleasant rather than anything more as that really describes my feeling, I wasn’t blown away but equally I wasn’t disappointed.

How fantastic though the next choice was, the Naturals bath milk from Palmolive. I love the refreshing smell although I suspect some may think it is a little sweet. I lay in the bath, enveloped by the milky coloured water and bubbles and really felt great. There’s no doubt my skin felt moisturised and in fact still felt silky smooth the next morning. A really nice bath product.

How could my next product compete, the Sainsbury’s own aloe vera creme bath? Pretty well actually. It’s got a refreshing smell, rather like cucumber I guess and creates lovely bubbles. The mositurising aspect was there but I didn’t feel it was to the depth of the other products.

All in all I’d rate the Palmolive Naturals bath milk with honey & moisturising milk a clear winner, it’s the perfect bath lotion! I’d put the Simple Soothe second, followed closely by the Sainsbury’s own aloe vera creme bath.

There are other bath milks and bath oils that are available at much greater cost. I’ll be checking into these shortly.

I have been checking out some day hand creams; Fast absorbing hand cream from Neutrogena, Hand Cream from the Sainsbury’s Basics range and Healthy Hand & Nail cream from Vaseline Intensive Care.

The Basics hand cream from Sainsbury’s is pretty good but it does smell more like some medication to me and as it’s applied it really stays on the surface of your hands which on both counts means it’s not for me.

The Neutrogena fast absorbing hand cream, really is that! As you put it on and start rubbing it in you can really feel it absorbing away from the surface of you hands. I’m not too keen though on the shine it leaves on the hands.

In my opinion, the best of the 3 hand creams is the Healthy Hand & Nail one. It smells positively refreshing and whilst not absorbing as fast as the one from Neutrogena it’s fast enough that there’s no problem. My hands are left feeling nice and soft and moisturised. Cost wise it sits in the middle of my 3 choices which is even better.

The nails are supposed to be strengthened due to the use of a blend of Keratin and milk protein. It’s too early for me to tell how this works for me but I’ll carry on using it for a few days and get back to you.

All of these products are available from Sainsburys and my personal ranking is:

1. Healthy Hand & Nail cream - approx £1.77
2. Neutrogena fast absorbing hand cream - approx £3.50
3. Sainsbury’s Basics hand cream - approx £0.50