Shampoo and Conditioner Review: Blonda by Unite

It's almost summer, and that means time for light hair, tanned skin and lots of patio drinks :)
As most of my friends know, I have a love affair with being a blonde. It all started at a young age. I think I just wanted to be like Barbie, but unfortunately my mother would not let me dye my chestnut locks until I was at least 14.
So since my teen years, I have been going back and forth between blonde and brunette. Usually for the winter months I stay dark, but once April/May rolls around, I got right back to blonde :)

A few weeks ago I had my hair dresser cut my hair into an angled bob to get rid of all the red still in my hair (sidenote, never dye your hair red because it is a nightmare to get out). Anyways, in an effort to get me more blonde, we decided to cut off the bottom of my hair which was predominately reddish/ brown and highlight the rest of my hair a lighter blonde.

He did a fabulous job and my hair feels so much healthier. The colour is nice and vibrant, but I think I want to go even lighter, to more of a champagne blonde. It's a process I tell ya, but lots of fun.
In order to keep my blonde bright, I needed to purchase some blonde shampoo. I used to always use Pureology Antifade purple shampoo, but it was very expensive. Last year, I used John Freida blonde shampoo but found it dried out my hair.
Joey (my hair dresser) suggested I try Blonda by Unite, which is what they sell at Studio Five Salon. At $25 a bottle, I was hesitant, but convinced myself that I needed it. Beauty is pain on the wallet, am I right ladies? And I couldn't just buy the shampoo without the conditioner, so there was another $25 for that. A grand total of $50 for blonde maintenance. (Another sidenote, being blonde is rather expensive!)

Since my dye job almost 2 weeks ago, I have washed my hair about 4 times with the Blonda shampoo and conditioner set. The bottles I purchased were 236mL which is not that big considering the price. They claim to keep yellow tones out  and maintain your colour bright. What I love most about it is that it smells like grape koolaid. Yummy! I compared the ingredients of this shampoo with that of the John Frieda purple blonde shampoo I have and noticed that the John Frieda shampoo did have a lot more alcohols in it compared to Unite's Blonda, however, most of the main ingredients were pretty much identical.

While I think the shampoo and conditioner have done a good job with the colour so far, whenever I use them, I feel like I need to use a lot of it in order to get that "squeaky clean" feeling. The shampoo does not lather that well so I need to use a lot more than I thought when washing. Maybe that was their plan so that you are forced to buy more!! As I said, being blonde is not cheap! Especially when you are not a natural blonde.

So at the end of the day, is this brand worth the price? Yes and no. Yes if you can afford it, but no if you are on more of a budget. I think there are plenty of other products on the market that work just as well for a fraction of the price. Just look for any shampoo that contains violet in the ingredients list. And don't forget to use a good deep conditioner at least once a week to keep hair from damaging.

Happy Blonding!!