What They Say: “Illuminate and protect hair color with Graham Webb's Halo Smoothing Shampoo, which controls frizz and helps soften texture for a luxuriously soft, smooth, sleek finish. The technologically advanced formula in this smoothing shampoo balances porosity and closes the cuticle to lock in color and create a smooth, sleek strand of hair from scalp to ends. The gentle formula in Halo's Smoothing Shampoo envelops each strand in a smoothing, protective layer to prevent frizz. Lush surfactants gently cleanse while protecting moisture balance.”

Alissa’s Opinion: I love most of the Halo line, so I wasn’t surprised when I ended up replacing my regular daily shampoo with this one. The difference can be felt as soon as I rinse it out; my locks feel smooth and conditioned. My hair is always soft after washing with this, yet it isn’t weighed down. I like to use Halo Smoothing Shampoo whether I am straightening my hair or wearing it wavy because it stands up nicely to humidity. Of course it smells yummy too!

Retail Price: $13.99/10 oz. (See HaloHairCare.com for salon locations)

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What They Say: "Uplift your style. Halo Root Lifting Spray targets volume and thickness at the roots of the hair. Exclusive Halo conditioning agents maintain hair's natural softness and smoothness while allowing for maximum body. Like all Halo styling products, this Root Lifting Spray is formulated with our exclusive Illuminating Color Protection® Technology to protect vibrant color and increase brilliant shine. It also delivers added UV and thermal protection. "

Jen's Experience: It seems like I've been testing an awful lot of hair products lately, but hair products are actually than most products because they're stackable. Pre-treatments, shampoo, conditioner, styling gel, hair powder, volumizers, shine enhancers...they can all be used on the same day if you so desire (and often I do). I've been using this root-lifting spray on most days along with my Halo gel and Aveda hair powder combo. It's a lot like a mousse that you spray directly onto your roots for extra volume.

This is one of those products that works really well when you get the amount right, but can make your hair look really greasy when you don't. I find that spraying a few lines right along my part and massaging it into the rest of my roots is quite enough for me. I also have to avoid my bangs, because even the smallest amount of this product seems to weigh them down. When I get it right, the volume is pretty noticable, but I wouldn't say it's a vital part of my hair routine.

Retail Price: $15.99 (Visit HaloHaircare.com for salon locations)

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What They Say: "Boost your style. Halo Bodifying Gel infuses hair with body, texture and control with a smooth finish. A blend of specialized proteins strengthen and thicken each strand, increasing the width of the hair shaft and enhancing hair's overall body and fullness. Like all Halo styling products, this Bodifying gel is formulated with our exclusive Illuminating Color Protection® Technology to protect vibrant color and increase brilliant shine. It also delivers added UV and thermal protection."

Features and Benefits:

• Hydrolyzed Soy Protein strengthens and thickens hair, increasing the width of the hair shaft.


• Hydrolyzed Sweet Almond Protein adds additional strength to style while conditioning the cuticle for a lustrous finish.


• Breathable, bodifying holding agents hold style in place, yet allow for touchability and excellent memory.


• Shine enhancing agents reveal incredible glossiness.


• Halo's exclusive Illuminating Color ProtectionTM technology seals in hair color to prolong its vibrancy and reflects light to reveal a luminous, radiant glow.

Jen's Experience: It takes a lot of styling products to make my fine hair hold a style in the high humidity days of summer, and they all have "volumizing" or "bodifying" in the name. I liked that this product is a gel, yet it does more than just help style the hair -- it imparts shine and does seem to thicken my hair without weighing it down.

A look at the gel before I apply it onto my wet hair shows lots of sparkle; the glimmer in the gel gives the hair shine (although not so much that I don't feel the need to apply a final finishing shine) as well as a generally healthy appearance. After it soaks into my hair, I notice that may hair perks up a little. The volume the gel had added is already present. After blow-drying, my hair looks so much fuller than it does without the gel, and yet it still feels totally touchable.

Normally when I think of gels, I think of them as a styling aid, something I would use to help my hair hold a style. I'm not so sure that this product really helps in that department since it doesn't do a lot to texturize, but it does retain the body all day long, and for me, that's saying something.

To me, the only downside to this product is the scent. I think it smells like a bad perm. Although it's surprisingly strong at first, it quickly dissipates, so it's definitely not a lingering problem, just something to be aware of when using the product.

Tips: This may be the only styling product that I will ever say this about, but the key to really impressive volume with this product I've found is by using more of it than you would think you need. Usually, less is more with these types of products, but that's certainly not the case with this one.

Retail Price: $16.00 (Visit HaloHaircare.com for information on salon locations)

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Jeannette has always struggled with finding products that can help her feel in control of her natural curls, which are not super-tight spirals, but more difficult-to-style waves and flips with frizzy tendencies. So we asked her to try this line by Halo to find out if it is a curly-haired girl's dream come true.

What They Say
(about the shampoo): "Mild cleansing and foaming ingredients gently cleanse without robbing hair of vital moisture. Panthenol prevents thermal damage to scalp and hair, while promoting body and moisture. Jojoba conditions and moisturizes for intesified body and spring. Wheat proteins subdue static and frizz. Improves combability of curly hair. Humectants help curls retain moisture and spring."
(about the conditioner): "Protective, shielding forming agents surround each hair shaft for increased combability and silky feel. Lightweight silicones deliver a soft, sleek feel without buildup. Wheat proteins condition and reduce static. Softens and unties tangles in rough, curly hair."
(about the curling crème): "Sensual emollients assist with softness and in reducing flyaways. Jojoba proteins condition hair with added moisture leaving hair with improved body, shine and feel. Humectants attract added moisture to promote additional and even curl formation. Silky texture slips through damp hair for quick, easy distribution in salon and at home."

Jeanette's Reviews
(about the shampoo): It cleanses gently and is moisturizing, also the hair shaft seemed to feel stronger after using it. I truly feel it saved my hair from breakage when our water softener went out and our water was terrible. In the past, I've had to get my hair trimmed to take off the damage when dealing with hard water. However, while using this shampoo I felt like my hair stayed healthy and strong which was a hugely noticeable benefit.

(about the conditioner): This conditioner is really nice, however my hair is fine and curly, so less was the key here. While it didn't weigh my hair down, if I used more than a tiny bit my hair was actually TOO soft to manage. If you have more coarse hair, this conditioner may be something that really helps you with your hair texture.

(about the curling crème): This product greatly reduced flyaways for me, which has ALWAYS been an issue. This actually is the first product I've ever used that made that much of a difference. I still felt that less was best for my fine hair.

Overall, I think these products are worth the investment because of how much healthier my hair has become while using it. For those with very thick, coarse hair it should work well, too. If you have fine curly hair like myself, just be careful about the amount of conditioner or curling crème you use. I used this while styling my hair curly as well as straightened with a flat iron, and the most significant benefit no matter what the style method was the reduction of flyaways and increased strength.

Retail Prices: Shampoo & Conditioner $16/each, Curling Crème $18 (the complete Halo Curl collection is available exclusively through premier salons and distributors across the Unites States and Canada. For more information on salon and distributor locations, call 800-456-9322 or visit www.halohaircare.com)

DeLush Rating:

What They Say: "Illuminate and protect hair color with this weekly high gloss rinse that intensifies color vibrancy while maximizing shine and luminosity.

Translucent formula wraps each hair strand in a protective gloss for unprecedented vibrancy. Cationic conditioning detects hair's neediest areas to deposit shine where hair needs it most. Speed selective processing delivers results in as little as five minutes. Heat and additional time may be used for heightened shine results. Substantive shine solves clients' challenge of maintaining glossiness of hair color from service to service. Halo's exclusive Illuminating Color ProtectionTM technology seals in hair color to prolong its vibrancy and reflects light to reveal a luminous, radiant glow."

Melissa's DeLush Downlow: The promise of high shine like I've never seen before really got me hooked into getting this product. I'm a firm believer in the importance of hair health on your overall look (who isn't?) and anything I can get my hands on to make my hair softer, healthier, and yes - shinier - is completely worth the try. I could hardly wait to try this one, and I have to say - based on the promises, I had extremely high expectations. I even wrapped the rinse in a towel for about 8 minutes per their suggestion for increasing the results.

My only real worry when using this was that it would weigh my hair down. I guess I equated its promises of shine with the possibility of a "slick and greasy" feeling. I'm glad to say that there was no residue at all, and there was NO greasy feeling.

As far as shine goes, I did notice more shine than normal, but not to the degree that I was hoping for...any of the three times I've used it so far. But- my hair texture is a bit coarse to begin with. Perhaps if I'd used a straightening iron to smooth it out the shine would have been much more evident. I mean, I can't expect one product to give me red-carpet shine without a little work! It still imparted a bit more shine than if one were to use an intense conditioning treatment. In my opinion, the product would still be a good one to try if your main concern is shine; however I wouldn't recommend substituting it for products that also improve hair health. Also, consider using the entire line if you really want to try to maximize your shine results.

Retail Price: $19.98 (in salons and Beauty Brands stores)

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