I road tested a product this week that I think is a great idea! It’s called "No More Bad Hair Days Kit" from Robert Craig.

You may have noticed that when traveling, staying at a hotel or resort or at a friend’s residence, your hair begins to act like someone else’s. It may be limper, fuller, dryer or more fly-away. It never styles in the way it does at home.

The reason for the inconsistency is the water. In various parts of the country, cities or even in on opposite sides of the same city the water is often very different. The minerals it contains cause it to range anywhere from soft to hard. You can see the result in the way your shampoo lathers or doesn’t lather, whether your hair feels dry or is more limp and wispy than usual.

Robert Craig offers a kit that contains a packet of water test strips. When you are in a new location, you just dip a test strip into the water. The tip of the strip will change colors according to the amount of minerals. Then you go back to the Kit that also contains three color-coded, travel sized bottles of shampoo. Just match the tip of your test strip to the color on one of the bottles to decide which shampoo will work for that location.

When traveling recently, I had the opportunity to try all three bottles of shampoo since I found that the water varied widely from one location to the next. ( I even discovered that the water in my own home changes from day to day. At my first test, I discovered I had moderately hard water, which changed to soft two days later when the water softener recycled.)

I found all three bottles of shampoo to be good at cleansing my hair, leaving it shiny and manageable. I noted that none of them left my hair overly soft - making it usable for anyone with fine, limp hair.

The Kit also includes a spray leave-in conditioner. It is designed to detangle, moisturize and offer protection against UV damage. This is a very light conditioner, that doesn’t leave an overly conditioned feel to the hair. In this way, it is designed to be used on many types of hair. My naturally curly hair is color treated and needs softening, so I resorted to my own stronger conditioner to keep it manageable.

Over all I was very impressed with the No More Bad Hair Days Kit. The shampoo is concentrated so that you won’t deplete the 2 ounce bottles quickly and it all comes packaged in a convenient zippered plastic bag to make it easy and safe to pack.

Travel Accessories Samsonite® Compact Hair Dryer

Mini Hair Dryer