I’m a sucker for anything “As Seen on TV,” as I’ve mentioned here before and I think it’s mostly the notion of we-ve-found-a-better-way-to-do-it of it all. And this next one totally falls into that category. It’s called ROOTS ONLY and is for applying at-home hair color to your, well, roots only.
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.
Did you know that this week marks Klorane Dry Shampoo's 40th birthday? In that case I’d guess they were the first dry shampoo on the market!! I’m quite fascinated by dry shampoos as a whole anyway so covering another one this week is only fitting. It comes from the new DAVID EVANGELISTA line. Mr. Evagelista is a Hollywood hair stylist and has seen it all. I am surprised it took him this line to come out with his own line but he really took his time sourcing ingredients and working with chemists to come up with products that perform, unlike the ones he was running into. He has even included a unique ingredient called HMM-7 complex, which is a unique multiplex of stimulating and reparative peptides, emollients and anti-oxidants that protect the health of the scalp and hair.
With dry bars all the rage right now, this Hush… Volumizing Dry Shampoo is a great way to help prolong your blowout and save a little dough. This one not only sucks up oil and other impurities using rice starch but it also adds some volume to strands so you’re not walking around with a flat mop. $19/3oz @ davidevangelistabeauty.com.
Disclosure: A sample of this item was provided for review purposes.
Ok, you get your ubber-expensive Brazilian Blowout or whatever your salon is calling the Keratin hair treatments these days and now what? How do you keep the super-straightness of it for as long as possible? Yes, sulfate-free is now your main business but two new companies have not made it their business to help you keep it straight for as long as possible too.
KERATIN PERFECT – Exclusive to Sephora, this line contains:
PerfectCleanse Keratin Enhanced Shampoo ($24/8.5oz)
PerfectSilk Keratin Enhanced Conditioner ($24/8.5oz)
PerfectRenew Daily Keratin Replenishing Spray ($34/6.7oz)
PerfectRescue Intense Keratin Repair Serum ($40/1.7oz)
PerfectShine Keratin Oil ($40/1.7oz).
This line uses a very tech-forward process called ReBonding Techology, which penetrates the hair to repair any weak Keratin bonds and keeps strands frizz-free and manageable. The Repair Serum has been my go-to for the past few weeks and I really feel this one fills in the nooks and crannies as my straightening treatment slowly washes away. Get them @ sephora.com.
GLOSS MODERNE - Line contains:
High-Gloss Shampoo ($27.50/8oz)
High-Gloss Conditioner ($28.50/8oz)
High-Gloss-Serum ($26/4oz)
High-Gloss Masque ($32/4oz) and you can purchase all four products for $114.
Their products contain Keratin, panthenol and botanicals like coconut and passion fruit extract among others to help keep hair 180 degrees from frizzy. And these have a Coco de Soleil scent to them, which is a blend of coconut, almond and rum and was created in a fragrance house just for these products. Nice. Get them @ glossmoderne.com.
Disclosure: Samples of these items were provided for review purposes.
By now, we’ve all heard of the Brazilian Hair Treatment, or the other many names it goes by, and a lot of us have even tried it. And by now most of us have heard the backlash on the treatment because of dangerous levels formaldehyde and other toxic ingredients in the products used. Some salons are banning the treatment altogether and others are turning the other cheek because it is such a money maker. And I hear that this issue is going to the top, the FDA, but until then, how do you feel about it? Are straight locks more important that health? Before you answer that, how about if I tell you about an alternative that seems pretty darn safe and it’s Vegan.
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.
CRACK, yup this Styling Treatment is called Crack.
What it is:
How to use it: This micro protein/power peptide infused formula is one that is applied right after shampoo on towel dried hair (I used about a quarter-sized dollop). Work into strands and then blow dry to help it penetrate.
So how did this work? Click below!
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.
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