My hair is telling me that it’s been a long, hard summer.  Between chlorine, salt, sun, hair dryers, flat irons, and curling irons (and that little box of hair color I–shhh!–use every couple of months), my golden tresses are looking a bit like straw.  Plus, it’s been a shocking FOUR MONTHS since my last haircut, for a variety of good reasons, top among them that my friend Robyn, who cuts my hair better than anyone else in the world, lives in Virginia, and I live in Tennessee.  I guess I’m lucky it’s only been four months given that we live 12 hours away from each other!

So, given that my hair is in desperate need already, and we’ve got another couple of months of summer-like weather down here in the South, I was pretty happy to shoot my hand up in the air to volunteer when Dove asked bloggers to review their Intensive Repair Conditioner.  It arrived in the mail last week and I put it in the shower line-up right away.

OK, the first thing I noticed has to do with the packaging–the flip top popped open easily.  Having broken more fingernails than I care to remember on balky shampoo and conditioner tops, this was a big deal for me!  The second thing was the smell–yum!  I don’t have a very sophisticated nose (all white wine tastes like white wine to me, not like “oak” or “butter” or “citrus”), but I can tell you that the conditioner smells great.  My daughter even commented on my great-smelling hair later that day.

The folks at Dove say that their Intensive Repair Conditioner  has “Fiber Active technology that penetrates deep inside the hair strand, helping rebind damaged proteins.”  What that meant for my hair is that it felt really soft when I rinsed the conditioner out (by the way, it’s a daily conditioner, not a deep conditioner, which I prefer anyway).  My hair combed out much more easily, and when I blew it dry it felt softer and smoother.  I’ll admit that my hair went right back into my standard summer hairstyle–the ponytail–but it was a bouncy and shiny ponytail, and my hair didn’t feel heavy or greasy.

I tend not to be very brand-loyal when it comes to hair care products, buying whatever is on sale (or I have a coupon for) and mixing in a few higher-end styling products when I feel a specific need.  But I can definitely see myself using this whole bottle up–and I’ll probably pick up the shampoo to go with it this week.  Anything that can get me a few more weeks between hair cuts is worth its weight in gold!  Oh, and since they conveniently provided a coupon for us–just scroll down for it–you know I’ll be out buying more for sure!

Want to know more?  Visit www.dovehair.com.

Why not take a minute to enter their sweeptstakes for a $1,000 Spafinder gift certificate?  You know you could use one!  Just follow the directions below.  For a), once you’ve entered your contact information, you’ll want to answer the question, “How did you manage to fry your hair this summer?”  I’ll go first:  I sat by the pool with my hair full of sweat and chlorine!  And I LIKED it!

Enter to win a $1,000 Spafinder gift certificate!

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY

COMMENTS TO THIS POST ARE NOT SWEEPSTAKES ENTRIES. PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR ENTRY METHODS FOR THIS SWEEPSTAKES.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Follow this link, and provide your email address and your response to the Promotion prompt

b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and then visit this link to provide your email address and the URL to that Tweet.

c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and then visit this link to provide your email address and the URL to that post.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. Winners will have 72 hours to claim the prize, or an alternative winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 9/4/2012 – 9/30/2012

Be sure to visit Dove^®Hair.com to get a coupon for $1.50 off Dove Hair Therapy products.

***While I have been compensated for this review, the opinions expressed are entirely my own.***

Thanks for stopping by!