My entire life I have had to live with fine, thin hair. It has limited the type of hairstyles I can wear, and made me envious of those who are lucky to have full, thick hair. All is not lost however! There are some amazing hair care products on the market today that go a long way in helping me achieve my desired style, and my favorite is a shampoo called Amplify by Matrix.
Amplify shampoo is part the Matrix four step volumizing system. The bottle claims that this shampoo “leaves every hair strand looking and feeling incredibly thick with advanced polymeric technology”. Matrix Amplify shampoo was voted the 2006 Launch Pad Readers Choice Award Winner. It’s a winner with me as well! It is packaged in a blue/green bottle with a flip top cap.
This shampoo is a pale blue color, and smells lovely with a touch of florals. It’s quite thick and rich, and just a small dab gives me a head full of lather. When I am done washing my hair, it rinses completely, leaving my hair feeling clean and fresh. We have a water softener, and sometimes it’s hard to remove all the traces of shampoo, but I have no problems with Amplify. Even without conditioner, my hair combs out nicely, and after blow drying my hair, it has noticeably more body than before.
This shampoo really does add volume and shine to my hair. It also contains a UV filter that will protect my blonde highlights from fading when I am out in the sun.
Ingredients
Because some people have sensitivities to ingredients and certain chemicals, I am going to list the ingredients for you:
Water, sodium laureth sulfate, sodium lauryl sulfate, cocamide DEA, cocamidopropyl betaine, sodium chloride, fragrance, methylparaben, aminomethyl-propanol, DMDM hydantoin, disodium EDTA, guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, citric acid, alpha-siomethyl ionone, hexyl cinnamal, butylphenyl methylpropional, linalool, benzyl salicylate, limonene, benzyl benzoate, citronellol, panthenol, cocodimonium hydroxpropyl, silk amino acids, hydrolated rice protein, and green & yellow dyes.
My Experience
Matrix Amplify can only be purchased in a salon, and my mother-in-law owned her own beauty shop for years. She turned me on to this shampoo and it has been one of my favorites for the past three years. It is more expensive than store bought shampoos, but then it does much more than the store brands – even those containing panthenol and other ingredients that are designed to give body to the hair.
I saw a difference the first time I used Matrix Amplify shampoo, and it seems to be improving my hair with continued use. Some shampoo’s work great for a few months, and then they seem to lose their ability to perform the same. I have been using Amplify for three years, and this hasn’t happened yet. Other shampoo’s tend to build up on my hair, leaving me no choice but to switch brands temporarily, or use a cleansing shampoo to remove it. Amplidy does not build up on my hair!
I have oily hair, but the bottle states that this is safe for all hair types. My mother-in-law has dry hair, and we both use this shampoo with no problems. It makes me wonder how effective those shampoo’s are that are said to be for “oily” or “dry” hair. I like having a shampoo in our home that will work for all the different hair types in our family, and it drastically reduces the clutter in our shower since we only need one bottle!
The Matrix company was founded in 1980, and has a proven track record of making hair care products that actually do what they claim to do! Believe me when I say that I have tried a plethora of shampoos and hair gels, only to be disappointed in their performance. Matrix Amplify shampoo makes every hair on my head stand up and be counted!! It cleanses my hair without weighing it down. Matrix claims that Amplify is designed to “increase the thickness and diameter of hair, and that is exactly what I have experienced. I am sold on this product. The only drawback is that this large bottle is quite heavy, if you have arthritis in your hands I suspect this may pose problem for you.
A large 33.8 ounce bottle retails for $14.99. It lasts for months.
The Matrix Amplify line consists of: Conditioner, hairspray, liquid gel, root lifter, foam volumizer, spray gel, gel wax, and color XL shampoo.
