.:: CybeleSays ::.

With this line brings the second time this year I’ve heard about the topic of pH and hair care products, as in, keeping the pH level of shampoo and styling products between a certain range will help keep treatments longer. Why is this good? From what I understand, a product’s pH plays a big factor in how long your hair color or treatment stays in the strands. When you have hair color put in for example, the cuticle must be opened up to deposit the formula, and it must be above a 5.5. So if you use a shampoo and other styling products that have a high pH, you are opening the cuticle and removing the color/treatment every time you use them. Makes sense.

When I met with the very knowledgeable Cindy from Zerrans here, they were the first ones to bring this fact up to me and their line is also pH-friendly. So now you’re probably wondering how the products you currently have in your bathroom will fair. If you’re up for it, Cindy says to get some litmus paper and test them. Yup, the same litmus paper you used to use in science class, and test your shampoos and conditioners. Bring on science class 101 again! Anyway, back to the products. The line is called SOJOURN and was created by Vidal Sassoon’s son Elan, so you know he knows something about hair, right? He studied the hair in its natural state and determined that the idea pH range is 4.5 to 5.5 so all the products fall in that range or lower. And they also incorporate keratin into the formula with what they call Keratin Cashmere Protein to really help moisturize strands and keep it strong. The line is also 100% biodegradable and free from parabens, formaldehyde, and sulfates.

And he’s made it easy for us to get the most out of the line by breaking it into four different collections – Smooth (the peach bottles), Moisture (the sky blue bottles), Volume (the moss colored bottles) and the one I tried, Colour Preserve (the ivory bottles shown here). Prices range between $20 and $26 @ sojournbeauty.com for salons.

I’m all about a great mascara and a great hair conditioner and both are hard to come by. But I am putting Luxury.Rinse from Aussie's KEVIN MURPHY right next to this one in my tub area. They reformulated this one recently and it’s made for those who color and have tthicker, coarser hair and even curly. It contains Kukui Nut Oil and Murumuru Butter as well as Grapefruit Extract to help promote hair growth. At the end of the day, the proof is in the touch and manageability and this one gives it all. Need I say more? 21.50/8.4oz @ kevinmurphystore.com.

I’ve been back and forth here about the topic of surfactants (Sodium Laureth Sulfates, Sodium Laurel Sulfates, SLS’s) in shampoos. For a while now, I thought that if a shampoo had SLS’s in it, it could not be used on color-treated hair as in, it would not make it last. Period. End of story. How did I come to this conclusion? Probably from a lot of things I read, heard, and the trend of sulfate-free products coming out didn’t help either (and do you remember a few years ago when I discovered that just because a shampoo is sulfate-free doesn’t mean it will make you hair color last any longer? Yup, it’s a confusing world!).

I’ve been lucky enough to come across some major hair people lately and decided to ask them their opinion about SLS’s and if yes, they do kill hair color, or not.

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As I mentioned here a few days ago that I just tried a new kind of hair color from L’OREAL PROFESSIONEL called INOA (Innovation No Amonia). It uses an OSD Technology (Oil System Delivery) to open the cuticle in the hair instead of ammonia to color strands. And this system has 13 patents pending! You read right, 13! There are 49 shades available in 8 shade families.

It came out last year and never heard of it until now and I even saw a two-page ad for it in the most recent Allure magazine. So maybe it’s getting another push? Anyway, There are a few salons in LA that carry INOA but only a select few that carry the whole brand and have a station set up seen here. I was invited to try it at the Warren Tricomi salon on Melrose Ave here in Los Angeles a few weeks ago and I have to say I am pretty impressed.

West Coast partner, Mr. Kaz Amor, was my Colorist (he colors Lauren Conrad's hair) and I just put my trust in him when expressed my preference for a copper-ish kind of color. And he let me smell the formula before painting it on and wow, no smell! This totally is something I’m not used to!

So how is it wearing? It was pretty bright copper when I first left the salon and I did see some of the color wash down the drain after I washed it for the first time but I gotta tell you, what it has settled into is a really nice wearable shade of copper – not too bright and not too subtle. It’s supposed to last as long as those with ammonia and I think it will make it as it's almost been 1 month now.

And here’s an offer for SoCal readers - the first 10 people to call the salon @ 323-651-4545 in the next week get half off of their L'Oreal Professionel INOA treatment with Kaz Amor. The service starts at $146 (for single process) and the half off does not include a blowout.

Not in LA? No worries! Simply go to findinoa.com to pull up salons around you. Let me know if you try it out!

Disclosure: this service was provided free of charge.

I just had my hair colored with a color system that uses no amonia to deliver the color. It’s called Inoa from L’Oreal Professional (review coming later this week). As far as color goes, I decided to go with the color of the season, copper. And I love it! It looks just like this color model Lydia Hurst has on the March 2011 cover of Elle Mexico. Gorg! Anyway, with a new head of hair color, comes the time to assess the latest shampoos, conditioners and hair styling products to keep it lush and vibrant.

KERASTASE Chroma Sensitive ($43/6.67oz @ kerastase.com) – this one is one part cleansers and three parts conditioner. Even if you use a color-safe shampoo, this one doesn’t strip the color as much as even those. Use this one the first three shampoos after coloring and then alternate each time with your color-safe shamp.

For shampoo and conditioner, I’ve been all over OJON’s new Color Sustain Color Revealing Shampoo ($22/8.44oz) and Color Sustain Color Revealing Conditioner ($23/8.44oz) that will help maintain your new vibrant color from water-induced fading for up to 40 washes. Tah-dow! Water and any kind of cleansers will fade color fast so if you can cut down on how often you clean your strands and use something like this duo to gently clean them, you will save some money and time in the end.

And they also have a Color Protecting Cream ($24/4.2oz) and Gloss Finishing Hair Spray ($23.50/7.4oz) as part of the collection so if you’re really serious about your investment, invest a little further. All @ ojon.com.

Disclosure: Samples of these items were provided for review purposes.

This next one is something I was looking for for quite some time – a clarifying shampoo made especially color-treated hair. And I finally found it! OUIDAD Water Works Clarifying Shampoo uses a combination of fruit acids like grapefruit, orange flower extracts and botanicals to rid hair of water residue, chlorine and minerals yet gentle enough to be used on my lovely colored strands.

And they claim this one can actually help enhance hair color!

$15/8.5oz @ ouidad.com.

Disclosure: A sample of this item was provided for review purposes.

Speaking of sprays, how about two made just for strands?

L’OREAL EverPure UV Protecting Spray ($8.99/8.5oz @ drustore.com). If you color your hair and you’re hitting the beach this summer, this is a must-have product! It’s sulfate-free (duh, would hope it would be) and contains UV filters to keep the sun from changing your hair color.

This product contains Methyl Parabens, which is considered by some as an ingredient of concern. Read more here. Read my ingredient disclaimer here.

PHYTO Phytomist ($26/5oz @ drugstore.com) – made just for dehydrated hair, which can happen from coloring or perming (perming?? Like pantyhose, will the perm ever come back into fashion?!), this uses botanicals to help prevent oxidation. FYI, it has silicones in it.

Disclosure: One of these items was provided to Cybelesays.com for review purposes. One I bought.

Now here’s something I never really thought about – I use shampoo and conditioners for color-treated hair but what about styling products made for color-treated hair? Thankfully the EUFORA line thought of this with their Color Locking System, which is a Sculpture Styling Glaze ($23/10.1oz), which has been featured on the site before, and an Illuminate Shine Mist ($20/4.2oz). Both of these help your color stay 30% longer then by using traditional styling products. These contain organic aloe vera gel and squalene, which helps lock the color into each strand. Both @ eufora.net.

Disclosure: Samples of these items were provided to Cybelesays.com for review purposes.

I’m totally into the hair oils these days like this one and here’s another one taking up space in my bathroom. They’re so great for so many different things when it comes to the hair like taming frizzies and fly-away strands, restoring moisture, enhancing color, protecting hair from free radicals or just smoothing  it the hair after styling. This latest one is WHITE SANDS Orchids Oil ($20/3oz @ whitesandsproducts.com) and they tout it as especially beneficial for those with course and curly hair.

And check out all four ingredients: Cyclomethicone (a silicone), Dimethiconol (used in a lot of hair care products to impart shine), Bulbophyllum SP. (the largest group of the orchid family), and fragrance. That’s it! What’s also interesting is the way it smells. It smells like the name says, like an orchid but I guess this particular strain or orchid, Bulbophyllum SP smells pretty bad, so they add a synthetic fragrance, which is fine since it’s the ingredients I’m after in the first place.

Disclosure: The following item was provided to Cybelesays.com for review purposes.

We’re definitely on the brink of a new hair trend – oils, as in, using nourishing oils to keep hair healthy and here's a new one to sink your teeth, or rather strands, into. 

MACADAMIA NATURAL OIL’s Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment ($36/1.5oz, $6/.35oz @ macadamiahair.com) is taking center stage of this feature. The line came out this month and I really think it;s going to be garnering quite a few accolades.

What it is: combo of Macadamia Oil, Argan Seed Oil and special botanicals.

How it’s used: 1 to 2 pumps in damp hair or dry hair and even as an added nourishing kick in most hair treatments like coloring. This one will also help with frizz and UV protection. Big recommendation!

Disclosure: The following item was provided to Cybelesays.com for review purposes.