I hate shampoo. I don’t really have hypersensitive skin or anything, but I figured out some time ago that certain shampoos were making my back, shoulders, and face break out with continued use. For a very long time I used whatever my mom bought me (usually Suave), but once I finally began giving a crap about my appearance I realized that all Suave did was dry my hair out and make it poofy. It smelled good, but it was basically soap. … which is probably why I never broke out while using it.

My love-hate relationship started when my sister suggested Garnier. She has incredibly thick, hard to manage hair, but Garnier’s Sleek & Shine worked wonders for her. Another one of my friends who used Garnier always had really soft, pretty hair. I figured, well, why the hell not? Since I was trying to grow my hair out at the time, I tried Long & Strong (later renamed to Length & Strength). My hair was nice and smooth, and eventually it did become very strong, but my shoulders broke out so badly that I actually had bleeding sores for about a week. Once I tied the two together (my acne hadn’t even existed before I began using the shampoo), I cut my hair short and moved on.

From there on out it was just a big mess, and it still is. I tried all sorts of different stuff for about a year–L’oreal, Tresseme, Herbal Essences–and eventually went back to Garnier just because everything else seemed to dry out my hair, even if I used conditioner, AND made me break out. After using Length & Strength for about eight months, my hair was stronger than it ever was, and even seemed to grow faster. But occasionally it would still make me break out like crazy. That’s when I decided to find something else. Easier said that done.

I thought I’d found my match when my sister introduced me to Bath and Body Works shampoo. It was nearly $5 a bottle, but the Pink Grapefruit shampoo and conditioner smelled so good and made my hair look beautiful. About two weeks in to the bottles, though, my shoulders and back freaked out and I got one or two bleeding sores again (basically pimples which erupted on their own and bled… yeah, nice image, I know). The bottles are still sitting on top of the toilet looking lonely. I tried Pantene Pro-V next–not only did my forehead and scalp break out (a first for this whole experience), but my hair was largely dull and unmanagable. My boyfriend’s hair, however, looks shiny and blonder than ever. What am I doing wrong?!

This time I hope I’ve found my forever shampoo: L’oreal Vive. The bottles are a little pricier than Garnier, but the smell and texture of the shampoo reminded me of what my hairdresser used to use–you know how you go to get your hair cut, and you just don’t want to wash your hair for a week because whatever they used made it look and smell so good, right? That’s exactly what this reminded me of. My hair is nice and soft and my natural waves look like curls instead of unmanagable every-which-way flyaway strands. Plus it smells like a hair salon! But I’ll have to wait about two weeks to declare a victory–if I start breaking out again, I’ll have to go shopping for another shampoo. Again.

In the meantime, does anyone have any suggestions? I love Garnier, but it’s lacking that oomph my hair needs, and the breaking out thing really sucks. And I do clean my skin regularly with those acne cleaning astringent pad things–it’s pretty easy to tell when it’s my shampoo causing me to break out, because I will get pimples all around where my hair is the thickest. I just don’t know what to do anymore, other than keep window-shopping for a new shampoo…

God, I hate shampoo!

Credits: Pengie