Lately, I’ve been feeling the urge to cut my hair. I like it long, but I’m itching for a change, maybe something drastic. The only thing holding me back — and I recognize how silly it sounds — is that I’ll probably want all the fur I can get to keep warm in the winter, LOL.

And I’m not the only woman hearing the siren call of the scissors. On Monday at the Marc Jacobs Spring 2009 show at NY Fashion Week, the posh Mrs. Victoria Beckam revealed a new ‘do. It’s very Halle Berry-esque, yah?

I think V. Becks has the right ‘tude to pull it off and looks great. I don’t know if I’d ever have the guts to go this short, but ya never know.

How are you wearing your hair these days? Are you happy with it, or are you feeling the urge to get a new cut?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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I have never in my life wanted a mullet as badly as I did yesterday afternoon.

El Hub and I had a few minutes to kill before the start of a movie we went to see, Tell No One (two words — SEE IT!), so I cruised into a beauty store across the street from the theater.

The store’s inventory looked pretty standard at first, but then I spotted these:

1. Sparkling Mullet Body Wash/Car Wash, $12, (”Strong enough to clean the car, yet gentle on the nards”)
2. Vibrant Mullet Shampoo, $8 (”For a healthy, shiny mullet… new muscle car scent!”)

LOLOLZ!

They’re part of the … uh … Mullet line by Blue Q.

While I’d wager that one would not technically require a mullet to be able to use these “beauty” products, I imagine they would be *that* much cooler if one did.

Can’t get enough mullet? Earn your B.S. in mullet-ology at Mullets Galore, a site dedicated to the art of mullet classification in both urban and country settings. You’ll find plenty of mullet pictures to inspire your next trip to the salon.

Mullet line distributor Blue Q sells a wide range of bizarre bath and body products (along with magnets, car air fresheners and t-shirts) with fun, cheeky names and packaging.

They distribute several brands, including Miso Pretty, Dirty Girl and Cat Butts (Tabs’ favorite).

I’d like to try the Cute as Hell line. Check out the artwork on the packaging. It’s very Nightmare Before Christmas.

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I’ve been getting lucky, ladies! I’ve been finding some great drugstore shampoos and conditioners lately, like Suave Professionals Vibrant Shine Shampoo and Conditioner ($7 for the pair), a drugstore knock-off of a popular salon product, Sebastian Laminates Shampoo and Conditioner. I used Sebastian products back in the mid-90s and loved them but not the $20 price tag per bottle.

One thing I like about Suave Pro Vibrant Shine is the fragrance. A thick head of hair weighted down with a heavy scent can feel downright oppressive. If you don’t like overwhelming scents in your hair, then give this a try. Both the shampoo and conditioner have a very light, vaguely fruity scent that smells clean and not synthetic or plastic-y at all.

The shampoo lathers into a rich, sudsy foam that takes some work to rinse out, but I like products that force me to make sure I’m rinsing thoroughly. Same goes for the conditioner, which also takes some time to rinse out. Just as a comparison, it’s a bit thicker than Aussie’s Opposites Attract Conditioner, so if you have difficult hair that needs to be weighed down, Suave Pro Vibrant Shine Conditioner might be a good option.

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Holy crap! Do you ever have good hair days? I had a string of them this week, and you can too.

I owe it to the shampoo, conditioner and spray gel from the Aussie Opposites Attract Collection — a reasonable $3 each.

For the past few days, to restore some of the moisture to my hair, I’ve only been shampooing my roots, washing the rest of my hair with conditioner alone. It’s a little trick I picked up somewhere along the way, and I do it to prevent my hair from drying out. It really seems to help.

After rinsing out the shampoo, I coat the hair from roots to ends with the conditioner, wait a few minutes for it to sink in and then rinse one last time. The thick, rich conditioner works well for me because I have a lot of hair and need something to weigh it down (otherwise it ends up very big and Bride of Frankenstein).

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Last month I tried my very first Pureology product ever — Colourmax Spray hair color protectant — and came away impressed. I decided to keep an eye on the brand.

Pureology Dandruff Scalp Cure Shampoo and Conditioner ($35 each, wow!) are the latest additions to the Pureology product family. The company caters to people with deep pockets and color treated hair, but are they charging too much?

While generally effective at treating dandruff, most over-the-counter dandruff shampoos tend to strip away hair color. Pureology sought to develop a product that could treat dandruff without ruining a dye job.

As with Head & Shoulders and most other dandruff shampoos, the active ingredient in Pureology’s dandruff products is pyrithione zinc, an antifungal/ antibacterial agent commonly used to treat scalp scaling, itching and flaking, but while most dandruff products limit the amount of pyrithione zinc in their products to 1%, Pureology uses 2%.

To save hair color, Pureology products use a blend of UVA and UVB protectants the company calls “Anti-Fade Complex.”

I will get dandruff from time to time, particularly when the seasons change. To treat it, I’ve always just reached for Head & Shoulders Shampoo ($8) and a conditioner like Bumble & Bumble Super Rich, but, even limiting my use of Head & Shoulders to no more than once a week (and then only on my roots), my hair felt dry and my color would fade faster than usual.

After using both Pureology dandruff products once a week for a month, not only did my dandruff go away, but my hair color didn’t.

Pureology Dandruff Scalp Cure Shampoo

Price: $35 for a 10.1-oz bottle
Use: To treat dandruff without stripping away hair color
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A+

The shampoo has a lovely vanilla scent with a touch of musk and builds into a nice lather. It’s not as drying as Head & Shoulders is, and while I could probably have used it safely on my full head of hair, I stuck to only using it on my roots. I figure that way the 10-oz. bottle should last upwards of a year, which breaks down to about $3 per month.

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