Tag Archives | haircare

Fight frizz with Tresemme Climate Control Mousse

By on August 4, 2012 in Reviews

It’s the height of summer, and where I live, that means wretched storms followed by extreme humidity. (If you think I’m kidding, check out this picture of my “backyard”. A 20 minute downpour made the pond rise about 12 inches). And with that humidity comes frizzy, unmanageable hair… until this year.

I tried Tresemme Climate Control Mousse ($3-5 at drugstores) on a whim and it turned out to be a great buy. I apply probably a baseball-sized amount (since mousse is mostly air) throughout damp hair and then blow dry/straighten as usual. This keeps my hair straight and frizz free for 2 or 3 days until I wash again. It also keeps my hair from developing kinks from sleeping funny or using hair ties.

The other thing I noticed is that it makes my hair feel a little more ‘grabby’, so it holds volume more easily. For my hair, which has a lot of slip, this is a great thing. If your hair already has a course texture, I’m not sure it would be. Despite the grabbiness (so technical), I don’t notice any tangling.

On top of all this, the bottle says it contains “UV blockers”. I’m not sure what this means since it doesn’t say ‘sunscreen’, nor is there any type of SPF listed. However I do know that protecting color-treated hair from the sun is important to make the color last longer, so hopefully this would provide a benefit for some women :)

Bottom Line

This product has the performance I want at a budget price, and it’s truly become a staple product for me.

Ingredients: Water, (Aqua, Eau), Isobutane, Propylene Glycol, Polyquaternium-4, Hydrofluorocarbon 152a, Polysorbate 20, Propane, Polyquaternium-11, Fragrance (Parfum), Vinyl Caprolactam/Vp/Dimethylaminoethyl Methacrylate Copolymer, Silicone Quaternium-16, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Polyquaternium-7, Undeceth-11, Butyloctanol, Undeceth-5, Linalool, Limonene, Citric Acid, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Amyl Cinnamal Hexyl Cinnamal, Citronellol, Geraniol, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Hydrolyzed Keratin.


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Sponsored Post: Tresemme Split Remedy Haircare Review

By on June 29, 2012 in Reviews, Sponsored

Tresemme Split Remedy

Over the past couple of weeks I have most definitely become a Tresemme girl thanks to this new line and a few other favorite products. When I first received them, I was extremely skeptical based on what I learned in Can You Get Hooked On Lip Balm? last year. The bottles claim to reduce split ends by up to 80% in three uses and I immediately called shenanigans. There is nothing you can do to repair a split end because hair is dead. You can temporarily keep it stuck together with hair products, but you cannot heal it. The only real solution is to get a trim above where the hair is split and take better care of your tresses in the future!

Despite my initial concerns, I’m glad I gave the products a chance because—for the most part—I really like them.

Shampoo & Conditioner ($5.69 each)

The shampoo is exceedingly gentle and has not aggravated my dandruff-prone scalp the way most shampoos do. It feels very rich, and I love that I don’t have to worry about my hair being squeaky clean—a.k.a. shredded—after washing. The conditioner also feels very rich, yet it isn’t thick  like most deep conditioners. The closest texture I can think of is melted chocolate. It feels physically heavy while remaining a liquid. I liked this a lot, and I didn’t have any issues with it weighing my hair down.

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Suave Scalp Solutions Nourishing Anti-Dandruff Shampoo

By on March 29, 2012 in Reviews

Suave Scalp Solutions, Anti-Dandruff Shampoo, Nourishing Coconut & Shea Butter

Sorry for the TMI but, like many women, I do suffer from dandruff and typically use shampoos aimed at reducing it. I’ve used Head & Shoulders for the past year or two, and naturally since it was working just fine I got antsy to try something new :P  I chose Suave Nourishing Anti-Dandruff shampoo because it’s a new product (I’m such a sucker) and it promises to keep hair shiny and smooth with the addition of coconut and shea butters.

Long story short, I found the exact opposite to be true. I thought my hair was much more dry than usual after using this shampoo and my regular conditioner, to the point that I only used it once and I’m not really willing to try it again. It also tangled quite a bit and felt very coarse. Looking at the ingredients, I’m going to place the blame on sodium chloride (salt) and citric acid being fairly high on the list. I can’t imagine either of those being very gentle on your hair.

Although you can purchase this shampoo for about $3.79 on drugstore.com, I can’t say I’d recommend it. I’ve got another shampoo to try out this week (highly recommended by some of my favorite bloggers), so hopefully I’ll have a more positive review to share next week.

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Towel + Hairbrush = Great idea or gimmick?

By on December 29, 2011 in Product Launches

With the new year fast approaching, I’m getting tons of info about product launches for spring 2012. Here’s one that seems like a great idea, but I’m skeptical of the claims.

Goody Quikstyle Brush

Goody Quikstyle

This brush has regular plastic bristles with little “fingers” of microfiber in between. Supposedly this will help wick moisture from your hair and ensure a smooth blowout. As someone who has a lot of hair (I desperately need a haircut… bad blogger!) this sounds too good to be true.

I would love to get the water out of my hair faster, but I’m not sure how much those little bits of microfiber can actually absorb. And once saturated, wouldn’t they keep re-wetting hair that’s already dry? For $11.99, I’d have to find a heck of a deal to try this one out.

What do you think?

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Mason Pearson… why did I wait so long?

By on June 27, 2011 in Reviews

I’ve always wanted a Mason Pearson hairbrush but never wanted to dish out the dough. After repeated assurances that Mason Pearson makes the most wonderful hairbrushes ever, I broke down and bought one at Liberty of London. At £50, it was my most expensive purchase from the trip – and I don’t regret it one bit.

I’ve heard about Mason Pearson many times, usually in beauty magazines. For those of you who don’t know, Mason Pearson is an English brand that’s specialized in handmade hairbrushes for over 130 years. They offer brushes with boar bristles, nylon bristles, or a combination of both. Based on Lipglossiping‘s recommendation, I opted for the handy size boar & nylon combination.

Source: Escentual.com

Inside the lovely vintage-printed box is the brush, some care instructions, and a nifty black tool for removing hairs from the bristles.

Simply put, this brush is amazing. The longer nylon bristles cut through the bulk of my hair while the short boar bristles smooth each strand. My hair looks and feels better than it has in a long time, which is saying a lot considering the average humidity of a Georgia summer is approximately 500%.

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Recent Haircare Trials & Tribulations

By on May 6, 2011 in Reviews

Like many people, I suffer from dandruff and scalp itch. Yeah, it’s gross, but I hope some of you will find this post helpful anyway. For a long time I used good old Head & Shoulders 2-in-1 followed by a nice conditioner. Even though this was working pretty well, I decided that there might be some better choices out there and I should check them out. Big mistake!

First I tried Neutrogena T-Sal Therapeutic Shampoo ($10). It stripped my hair to the point that my hairdresser asked (in the politest way possible because she is a sweetheart) what I had been doing because my hair looked shredded. The damage was spread throughout the shaft of the hair even though I am careful to only use medicated shampoo on the scalp and roots. No amount of deep conditioning could undo the damage this shampoo caused. I really don’t think there’s much to say beyond that. I chucked it in the garbage after about two weeks.

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Brazilian Keratin Treatment, Part 2

By on September 8, 2010 in Reviews

After three long days of no showers, no hair ties, and no tucking my hair behind my ears, I finally got to see the results of my treatment. Here’s my hair after washing and blow drying:

After La Brasiliana Zero Keratin Treatment

Keep in mind that this was not a fancy blowout… I just used my fingers as a comb and kept the air pointing downward. Before the treatment, my hair would have looked like a teased cotton ball after blow drying. The difference is pretty impressive if you ask me!

I will probably still flat iron the ends and a few places in the back where it’s still wavy. Even with that, my hair styling time has been cut in half! I’m hoping that further treatments will make my hair even more straight. Continue Reading →

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Brazilian Keratin Treatment, Part 1

By on September 1, 2010 in Reviews, Tutorials

la-brasiliana Last night my lovely friend came over to play hairdresser and help me do my first Brazilian keratin treatment. It’s basically a treatment that’s supposed to relax curls and make hair smoother and shinier without the aid of harsh chemicals. Results should last about three months. Since I straighten my hair, this was music to my ears!

Normally BKTs cost $300-500 in a salon, however I was assured by a hairstylist that it’s basically impossible to ruin your hair by doing this at home, so of course I wanted to try. I did quite a bit of reading over the past few months and determined that La Brasiliana and Rejuvenol were top notch brands. Both have formaldehyde-free formulations (more on that in the final post).

I purchased my 4 oz (125 mL) bottle of La Brasiliana Zero Keratin Treatment from Amazon for $79.90. I had read that 2 oz of product would be sufficient for one application, but in reality my ridiculously thick hair required more like 3 oz.

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Herbal Essences Hydralicious Featherweight Conditioner Review

By on August 10, 2010 in Reviews

Herbal Essences Hydralicious Featherweight Conditioner ($4.29 for 12 oz) is a great lightweight conditioner. Now, that’s not to say that it isn’t moisturizing. Quite the opposite, I find it gives all the moisture of a deep conditioning treatment without that “I just smeared mayo all over my hair” feeling.

This conditioner had a lot to contend with as I normally use harsh dandruff shampoo that strips my hair pretty darn well. Because of this, I can’t say how well it works in conjunction with the matching shampoo. I’d love to compare this with Pantene’s new Aqua Light range, however it’s not yet available in the US.

Hydralicious smells lovely, though I can’t say I get quite as excited as this woman. I don’t know what water lily and passion fruit is supposed to smell like, but suffice it to say this conditioner has a lovely tropical scent that doesn’t disturb my usually sensitive nose.

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