But, we are grad-student poor, and since I like my expensive salon I try and space my cuts about every four to six months. If I desperately need a trim I’ll go to a cheap place in between, but JUST for a trim, nothing fancy.

However, to save money I do go cheaper than cheap with shampoo (VO5) and then use my all-time favorite Biolage for conditioner. It took my husband two months of me doing this before he agreed to try such a cheap product, (VO5). He is a hair snob-but I am so happy to report that it is working out super well. And trust me when I say that I have ‘difficult’ hair and I never thought I could use a cheap product.

That being said, I think hair care is as important as using soap when you bathe. It’s just a personal hygiene requirement for me which I don’t fight too much just to save some money.

Have you ever used Burt’s Bees shampoo bar? It’s supposed to be heavenly. I wish I could try out each of the things on the organic shelf, one by one!

(And since someone recommended Locks of Love for the long-haired and charitable-minded, let me add my anti-rec for that organization: it’s a for-profit group that makes very few actual wigs. Mostly, they sell your hair and make a killing.)

Consider donating your hair if any of you ladies grow your hair long. I contributed my hair to Locks of Love.

I agree with Margo, you can’t skimp too much on hair product. However, you’ll find that a lot of the products which make your hair feel great have silicone in them, which builds up over time and eventually dries it out. It’s why I stopped using Pantene Smooth and Sleek.

I did cut my own hair once and I did such a bad job. My hair was really thick and frizzy back in high school and well i ended up cutting one side too short and the other was too long. People asked me if I got my haircut somewhere the next day and said it looked good … heh.

He did a fabulous job of turning my dry, thick and wavy hair into a sophisticated layered cut.

I thought of buying Trade Joe’s shampoo and conditioner … I think it has Jojoba oil which is good for the hair? I should read Paula’s book on “don’t go to the cosmetics store without me.” But my male roommate also uses Trader Joe’s and I don’t want to mix up the ones we use. I thought of buying Matrix biolage and Paul mitchell recently … it’s only $15 a liter bottle at Costco or 2 for $20 like StrangeBird said, which is a great deal.

If you could post some reviews, that’d be great. I’ll do the same if I decide to try Trader Joe’s. It’s cheap though … almost the same as drugstore prices … $2 bucks a bottle.

Margo – Thanks for that comment! I’ll have to email you and ask for more recommendations! I have thick, wavy hair that tends to frizz up sometimes – got any good recs on what kind of shampoo to use? Does Biolage dry up your hair?

Strange Bird – I’m interested in organic products as well (when I’m at Whole Foods, it’s like I’m a kid in a candy store). Do you have any specific brands/products you like?

But I also would never cut my own hair. Too risky, and since I only get it done 2-3 times a year, not worth scrimping on. (Also with the long layers.. perhaps the lowest maintenance style there is!

If you try to stock up at the 2 for $20 sales on the liter bottles, you can save yourself a bunch of money on hair product. Salons usually run the best promotions for the holidays, once in the spring, and back-to-school.

The ones that I’d still pay full retail for:
Matrix – Biolage – normalizing shampoo, daily leave-in tonic, mousse
(matrix amplify was awful. all their other products are great)
Redken – All Soft line, Glass smoothing serum

It’s expensive to be high-maintenance in New York.