My holy grail shampoo/condition, Paves Professional, appears to be on its way to becoming discontinued because I can only find it at HairBoutique.com and they no longer stock the Milk conditoner.  Rats!  Thanks to Faux (thanks Cheryl!) mentioning Loma Peratin in a previous post, I set my sites on Loma Peratin (LomaForHair.com), but couldn't get the full list of ingredients.  So, I used the "find Loma" search function on the LomaforHair.com site and discovered Beauty First carries the line.  I called Loma first to discuss my hair type/wants (very fine, hate build up, reactive to sulfates) and they recommended Volumizing Shampoo, Daily Hydrating Condition alternated with Thermal Styling Protector (used to be called leave-in condition) every other day.  I asked the Loma rep twice if these products built up and she assured me the didn't.

Yesterday, I stopped by the Beauty First shop in Clackamas Promenade and spoke to Diane, manager.  She was very helpful, spending about 30-40 minutes with me discussing the origins/manufacturing processes of various non-sulfate shampoos/conditioners.  There are a bunch out there.  She is also chemically senstive, so didn't poo-poo my concern regarding irritation.  She really likes and uses Loma, but also likes Colour and Pureology.  Her hair stylist (there is a salon in the store) also say their clients like Enjoy.  All keep hair very silky without irritation.  She asked what I would like free samples of and I choose Loma Peratin and Colour.   The ingredients in both are similar to Paves Professional, so I'm hopeful either one will work for me without the dreaded build-up, scalp acne, or drying out my hair.  I believe she said Loma and Pureology use aloe vera rather than water as their base.

In her discussion of various products, she mentioned the chemist for Colour used to be one of the chemists of Pureology (before they sold to L'oreal in 2006) and before that Abba (before they also were sold).  Diane felt Colour was one of the best at keeping coloured hair true.  Another one she also mentioned was Enjoy.  The Enjoy makers take sulfate-free to a new level as they have an agreement with manufacturers to completely steralize the vats prior to making their products; hence, Enjoy's products are "made" on the weekends.  I didn't ask, but assume this special treatment probably bumps up the price; hence, why I avoided samples.  Don't want to get hooked on something too expensive.

Anyway, I'm bursting with joy over my samples. I'll let you all know how it works.

GB