Happy Easter, Easter Bunnies! I hope you had a nice one.
Today I am talking HAIR. Oh yes. Truth be told, my hair has been a disaster area for quite some time now, due to over processing. Dye – perm – dye – straightening treatment – dye – home straightening treatment – dye – remove dye – dye again – so on and so forth. The result was a frizzy orange mess which I was constantly trying to repair.
At the beginning of the year I had a perm that was growing out in the form of a ball of frizz, and I used a home straightening treatment on it which turned it to STRAW. To confirm this, I was sat with my mother and she said to me, “Why does your hair look deep fried?”. And trust me, she knows deep fried.
Then suddenly, after months of basically not having the energy to fight my hair woes and going to work each day looking like I’d walked through some statically charged doorway, I decided to buy some new products. And they’ve made ALL the difference.
The line up…
From left to right:
1. Shampoo: Kerastase Bain Exfoliant Hydratant
2. Conditioner No. 1: Aveda Clove Conditioner
3. Conditioner No. 2: Pantene Repair & Protect (which I found in the pound shop!)
4. Kerastase Oleo-Relax Serum
5. Kerastase Nectar Thermique
1. Kerastase Bain Exfoliant Hydratant both exfoliates the scalp and moisturises dry hair. As you can see it comes with a pointed tip so you can apply it specifically to the scalp and rub it in. It has a scrub texture to get rid of any dead flakes, and gets rid of flakes in 6 weeks. Here is the shampoo – it lathers up fine and I’ve noticed my scalp is less flaky and dry, although if I don’t wash it for 2 days it will get itchy again. Unfortunately it does contains SLS, so maybe that’s why I still itch:
2. I bought Aveda Clove Conditioner because I needed a natural or gentle way to colour my hair. The only thing I could think of was by using a conditioner what leaves a hint of tint (so to speak) in the hair! I can’t really use the shampoos with a hint of colour because I find they disagree with me.
I chose Clove Conditioner over Black Malva because I didn’t want anything too dark.
This conditioner is expensive (I don’t spend much on conditioner because I go through so much of it) but it is SO good for leaving colour. It’s reviewed here. I highly recommend it if you want a gentle way to add some colour. The more I use this the better it lasts on my hair – at the moment I only need to use it every 2 weeks (I do use a generous amount) and I’ll leave it on for as long as possible. The last time I used it my hair looked a good 3 shades darker but in a good, glossy way!
3. I bought Pantene intensive conditioner because it was cheap and it’s really good for getting through knots. My hair can cope with intensive conditioners used regularly and Pantene just seems to work well on my super knotty hair.
4. Kerastase Oleo Relax Smoothing Serum is a yellow coloured light serum – I usually hate serums, they leave my hair so lank. This one is quite watery though, so 2 pumps works well for me on damp hair, and 1 pump once it’s dry.
5. Kerastase Nectar Thermique is for really dry hair, and it’s a balm you apply before using heat on it. I reviewed this years ago when I liked it, but didn’t love it. Now….I LOVE it. I LOVE IT SO MUCH.
I apply a good amount of this cream (I have been going through it quite quickly unfortunately, but I found a generous squeeze works better than a stingy one) on wet hair the brush my hair, and blow dry on a high heat. And this completely tames down my frizz, smooths it down, makes everything shiny and glossy. I find I can use less of this if I mix it with Oleo Relax.
That’s it! I don’t write about my hair care routine very much purely because I hadn’t found a brilliant one but now I have!
I purchased all the Kerastase from Feel Unique – it’s not the cheapest range in the world but worth it. I bought the Aveda Clove conditioner from eBay (around £16) and the Pantene in good old poundland!
What is your hair care routine?
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Love the post, just bought the Aveda conditioner in Black Malva, been looking for something to keep my colour topped up… Is the nectar thermique the same as the ciment thermique?! They seem to do a similar job.
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Kerastase Bain Exfoliant Hydratant sounds great. I’ve stopped colouring my hair and the condition is so much better but I am not that happy with the colour of my natural hair though.
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oh the Kerastase Nectar Thermique sounds interesting. i may just have to check that one out. Thanks for the post lovely.
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I am glad you got over your hair troubles. I think great looking hair is worth the investment of expensive hair care products. I had a relative who used to work for P&G and he said that there is a reason why pricey hair care is what it is…the manufacturers use more expensive ingredients and are less harsh on your hair.
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I know exactly how that feels like, and hate that feeling of straw ends. I fried my hair beginning of last year and it has taken me this long to cut all of that crappy processing off. Once in a while I’m tempted to do some sort of perm or straightening again, and then I have to remind myself that I went through hell and back in order to forget that horrible experience. Even though my hair looks like a uncivilised country-bumpkin mess, it’s still better to have healthy hair than straw. The thing that saved my hair was hair masks. I did that every second day and holygeebus, it made a big difference. Kerastase Masqueintense is probably the best, albeit expensive, and works like a charm. Try it, you won’t regret it!
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LOL … I love the cat picture. Oh and Glad to hear that your hair is well too. Yes Pantene deep conditioner seems to be great, I bought a whole batch for £1 (the green one though ‘restorative’) its brilliant to detangle hair. I gave it up because of silicones I think … before finishing it all up .. of course
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