Monat Hair Care Review and Story

Aka: how I turned into a diva!

If you told me 18 months ago I’d consider buying shampoo that retails for $35 per bottle, I would have laughed. While rolling my eyes. Is there a term doing those simultaneously?

But my FB friend Leah would share photos of this “amazing” shampoo. Actually, I HAD tried it before. I got a free sample and didn’t love it. And I’ll tell you why later on in this post.* I’m overall pretty happy with my hair. I don’t do much to style it except blow it dry. My biggest issue is my hair feeling greasy right away. But even though I don’t have any major issues, I’m open to easy solutions and help!

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Last April, after being assured I would get a full refund if I just didn’t like it, I ordered a shampoo/conditioner set. At full price. Though I had to talk myself off a ledge and remind myself that this was also a business expense, I knew my friend would help me with a refund if it came to that. Plus I didn’t want to sign up for any subscriptions or programs without knowing I liked it, even if I was bypassing hefty discounts.

I then waited and hoped I would hate it. Seriously. I hoped I would be able to tell you all to save yourself the trouble.

But dangit, the stuff was great.

I tried the Smoothing Shampoo

What was great about it? It just works like shampoo is supposed to work. But that I never thought actually existed. Now, I concede: I have never paid this much for hair care before. Maybe other pricey stuff works this well. I just can’t say. But this stuff left my straight hair completely clean but not stripped. Soft but not flat. De-greased for longer than usual. JUST RIGHT. It’s the baby bear of shampoo!

The big test for me was going to be if these lovely results continued. I typically had to rotate my shampoos. For whatever reason, shampoo that works for me will eventually stop working. I’d have to take a break and come back to it. But I used the Smoothing shampoo and conditioner exclusively from that point on (April 2019). AND IT NEVER STOPPED WORKING. Wait, I may have used something else on a long weekend trip to a family wedding.

And then, in June, I took a trip to CO. Toward the end of the trip, Leah contacted me about a really good deal. I don’t remember the details, but I think I could sign up for the VIP Program, the fee would be waived and I’d get a screaming good deal on some product. Since at this point I was convinced I’d be ordering regularly (though not frequently because I was still on my initial order from two months prior), I decided this was the deal to push me from retail customer to VIP/Subscriber. I told Ms. Leah I’d sign up when I got home Sunday night.

Well, some of you know I didn’t make it home Sunday night. The really abbreviated version is I ended up in the ICU. I think Leah messaged me that the deal was extended because of the strong response and did I still want in? At that point I said yes, but I can’t right now. But with Leah’s help I WAS able to sign up on time. And you know why I bothered? From ICU? Because during that hospital stay, I fantasized about WASHING MY HAIR WITH MY MAGIC SHAMPOO! OK, I’d have taken ANY shampoo but I was really looking forward to THAT shampoo in particular.

For many reasons, that first shower felt sooooo good, despite being beat up and broken. If you’ve ever been unable to shower, you know what I mean. Anyway, my reliable, indulgent shampoo was one of those reasons. As I continued to recover, I cut my hair short because managing any involved styling was too much for me. But a simpler cut with shampoo and conditioner that worked well every single time was just what I needed to feel a little better about myself!

So I suppose that was the beginning of my journey to diva-hood. I now find myself at a place of REQUIRING this shampoo. I now understand famous stars who MUST have special bottled water or smoothies flown in from far away places. It’s basically the same thing, right?

Not exactly. Because ANYONE can enjoy the indulgence that is Monat. I admit I took the long, roundabout way. I started at retail, moved to VIP customer and then, when I realized I was missing out on saving 30% with no sales commitments (really!), I finally moved to Market Partner. I was always planning on sharing my product experience with you, but ended up on a longer journey than I expected!

And now on to the pros and cons

CONS

  • You need to wash twice. You really do. See below.* Which means….
  • Longer showers. I actually turn OFF the water in warm months to save water. Though I’ve found I don’t need to wait as many minutes as suggested EVERY time.
  • You can’t use sales/promos toward flexship orders. Darnit.
  • It’s not cheap. BUT you might end up saving money by fewer washes, fewer trips to the salon and using less product.
  • Money back guarantee does not include return shipping (unless it’s a company error)

PROS

  • Monat JUST WORKS – hair feels clean but soft. And stays clean feeling longer.
  • RELIABLE – I know if I use this stuff, I’ll have a good hair day.
  • ALL FORMULATIONS seem to work well for me, allowing me to take advantage of sales. Yes, I have my faves, but no matter which one I use, I seem to get the same results that wowed me at hello.
  • Some report they wash their hair WAY less, and not just because they use The Champ Dry Shampoo. But because they just don’t NEED to with Monat.
  • Because they’re concentrated, shampoos last longer since you use less. My first bottle lasted at least three months of exclusive use on medium length hair.
  • The formulations that work best for me seem to require the LEAST amount of shampoo. I use a dime size, but twice.
  • This is NOT an issue for me, but many people report hair regrowth and thickening when using Monat.
  • Money back guarantee. (See last con listed above, though)

VIP Pros

  • Only need to order thrice to fulfill VIP commitment.
  • Then keep your discount FOREVER.
  • Super easy to cancel a VIP order by moving back your next ship date.
  • Free shipping
  • 15% discount once you hit $84, so stock up.
  • Free product with your Flexship orders.
  • Make referrals for $20 off your next order.
  • Click here to learn more about the VIP Customer program.

Either/Both

I feel the VIP program was especially suited to my family since we have several females and there is a consistent need for hair products. Sometimes the VIP Only for You freebies aren’t ones I need but one of my girls might. I think if it’s just you, you might go awhile between orders.

It’s not made with only hops, baking soda and nettles. But here’s an EWG Ingredients analysis of one of the popular shampoos to show you how well it scores in terms of environmental safety. I did not compile this myself.

Extra Tidbits

I also started ordering for my curly girl. Somehow I ended up with a curly girl. Poor thing is being raised by a super straight haired mother. I’m clueless. She loves the Super Nourish™️ Oil Crème products on her thick, curly, long hair. She also uses the Curl Defining Cream.

*Remember when I said my first try at Monat didn’t work? Here’s why! The instructions said to wash twice. And I didn’t. Because WHO DOES THAT? It’s just a ploy, right? Nope. It’s the key. For whatever reason, it makes the magic happen. Now, I thought, “maybe ALL shampoo does work better with two washes?” So I did try that with other shampoos. And maybe they did work better, but not as well as Monat.

If you’d like to learn more about Monat or natural haircare in general, join me over at Group Hairapy. This is a group by and for REAL women who aren’t models and don’t spend hours on their hair but still love the benefits of Monat. This is a no pressure group. We’ll share product information but also just chat and support each other.

I really don’t expect you to be all in about Monat after reading my post here. I know I had to try it for myself. But if you DO end up thinking it’s the bee’s knees, remember that you can get a 15% discount as a VIP and a 30% discount as an MP, with no buying or selling requirements. Since I signed up as an MP mostly to get my 30% off, I can’t speak to the business opportunity as of yet. You do earn commissions on sales you refer and it’s easy to refer because you do get a referral URL/website.

Here is where I once again admit that I am NO beauty blogger. So maybe I would have been impressed by some other higher end hair products if I had tried them. But it was too risky to try them. With Monat I had someone who was accountable to me and promised a return of my money if I wasn’t happy. Which is something I hope you feel I can offer you, too.

I’ve collected a few photos of people who are NOT me! I tried to choose REAL people. No models or hair models.

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