I am a guinea pig

My mother-in-law has been getting her hair done at the same place for several years (15-30 years, I don't remember exactly). She gets her hair cut for free every 6 weeks. In return for a free hair cut, she has products tested on her hair. I went with her a few months ago to see what it was like and to see if it was possible for me to do it as well. It might sound a bit dodgy, but is really actually pretty neat. It looks like a salon except that there are computers at each station. There are different "sections" people can be in to test products. My mother-in-law is in the natural product section. They lady who cuts her hair is a master at hair cutting and usually has people she is training close by to observe her. I was able to get in the queue with the same lady.

I went last week to have my hair done for the first time. They can do just about anything you want. I plan to get highlights but I have to wait for the ones I have to grow out a bit first. When I went last week, they were testing a deep conditioning product. I got one that was for blonde hair. She brought out two bottles. She told me that one is currently on the market and the other is not. They changed one ingredient in the product and are testing to see if it is an improvement. Most of the products this company distributes (it is called Goldwell by the way) are only for salons. They do have a few lines that can be found in drugstores, but not much selection. Anyway, for the test, they parted my hair in half. Applied one of the products to half of my hair - they weighed how much product they used. Then applied the other product to the other half of my hair using exactly the same amount. Waited 5 minutes as would be directed on the bottle. Then washed it out. She combed my hair and had me feel both sides. She asked if I noticed a difference between the two halfs (yes, I did). Then I showed her the pictures for how I wanted my hair cut. She cut and styled it and then felt compaired the two sections of my hair once they were dry. She asked one of the other stylists to see what she thought. She wrote all of her observations in the computer.

I would post a picture of my hair cut, but I didn't take any. It is pretty much the same cut I have had for the past 5 years or so. Just the way I like it :)