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Pls remember: These reviews are based upon my own experiences and opinions. Since we all have different skin types it'll have a different outcome for everyone. Therefore these products may work differently for you.
Showing posts with label volume. Show all posts
Showing posts with label volume. Show all posts

Sunday, 29 April 2012

Tigi Epic Volume Shampoo & Conditioner

coming soon! its currently on its way to me (cant wait) , so after using it i will write a review on it
Be sure to come back!

update: currently trying it now, I'll update again in about 2 months to let you know the results all i can say now is that it smells super fruity and lovely


anything you read today please don't quote me on it. by no means am i an hair expert or claiming to be one!! if by any chance I'm wrong please do let me know, i mean I'm not perfect and I'm only writing this based on my research.

okay so normally when i do reviews i say whether i liked the product or not and to what extent it does what it says right? well today's review is a little different. its slightly more about the ingredients in the product rather than the product itself.

for about just over a year now I've been growing out my hair hoping it'd reach my bum. the recent awareness and hype about sulphate free shampoo's never really bothered me until recently when i realised the ends of my hair have been dry and coarse. lately, I've also had excessive amount of split ends! I've always wanted to try the TIGI bedhead line and when i realised the TIGI bedhead superstar line was sulphate free it seemed like the perfect time to try out the brand. However i heard the superstar line had been replaced with the 'epic volume' line and i assumed it must be a repacking and improvement on the old formula. since this brand is little expensive i purchased this off amazon to save a few quid (not sure how much exactly).
I purchased it for £22.81 including P&P which i thought was pretty reasonable for high end price averaging out each bottle to be around £11 especially since the bottles are so huge.

i was all happy and what not with the product however it took me so long to do the review because i didn't really see much results. i mean it definitely does give volume to the hair i would say 'epic' volume but at least its something other volume shampoo's don't offer. i understand its advertised as a volumising shampoo as opposed to a sulphate free one however as you can see from the last image on the second line it does state that it is sulphate free. so a week into using the product curiously i read the ingredients which mind you a lot of it didn't make sense to me >.<

the ingredients in the shampoo are as follows: 
Water (Aqua/Eau), Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate, Isopropylamine Dodecylbenzenesulfonate, Cocamide MEA, Glycol Stearate, Parfum (Fragrance), PEG-150 Distearate, PPG-2 Hydroxyethyl Cocamide, Panthenol, Polyquaternium 11, Sodium Chloride, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein PG Propyl Silanetriol, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein/PVP Crosspolymer, Tetrasodium EDTA, Butylene Glycol, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Extract, Magnesium Nitrate, EDTA, Potassium Polysorbate, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Magnesium Chloride, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Methylisothiazolinone, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, CI 17200 (Red 33), CI 60730 (Violet 2).

most products that have sulphate will be ingredients ending in 'sulphate'. when i noticed immediately the ingredients in yellow that end in sulfonate i had to do research. is it the same as sulfate i hear you asking? well when i done by research sulphonate is suppose to be a more formulated and mild version of the sulphate which is obviously suppose to be less harmful. if you do science you'll know sulphonate is a combination of sulphate and another property. in other words sulphate means salt so sulphonate would be an ingredient which is salt based but not salt.
HOWEVER today when i done my research specifically on Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate i found that it is an extremely drying ingredient which is said to be much more harsher than sulphate itself!!! If you don't know by now sulphate is a very harsh chemical which strips your hair of its natural oils leaving very dry, brittle and unhealthy.

silicone
i also researched to find out what type of ingredients contain silicone which is also another ingredient to look out for. to my research i found out ingredients ending in 'cone' or 'one' are obvious silicone products. there also other types which i of course haven't looked into so I'm quite sceptical to mention.
silicones aren't actually anything bad what they do it perform a sort of barrier/film around the hair shaft making it appear soft, silky and is used as a detangler, therefore its more likely to be found in conditioners. so i guess in a way it form a sort of protective layer around the hair.
however this does mean not only does it protect your hair from the bad but also the good! so any masks or treatment would not be able to penetrate into the hair. also silicone is not water soluble so you CANT wash out the silicone. so overtime repetitive usage of it will just keep building up product onto your hair making heavy and flat. therefore look for ingredients that would actually heal your hair and benefit it rather than just 'coating' it. the silicone products i found in the shampoo is highlighted in yellow too. 
Overall since silicone is not a harsh ingredient in my eyes if you've been using it for ages and your hair is healthy and shiny then i guess you should continue to use it. only when your hair is experiencing the symptoms of dryness, itchiness, or dull heaviness.

when doing my research i found this useful website which has an A-Z of all ingredients and says the extent to which an ingredient is harmful. Some ingredients my not be listed under the certain letter you are looking but may be listed under another. so don't be afraid when you don't find a certain ingredient.
http://tightlycurly.com/ingredients/
but do take into consideration its written by a person who had curly hair so the result may differ compared to you, but overall its a quite versatile and generic website.

other useful sites:
 http://livecurlylivefree.com/product%20ingredients.htm
http://beauty.lovelyish.com/730932618/why-you-shouldnt-buy-silicone-hair-products/

ingredients in the conditioner:
Water (Aqua/Eau), Cetearyl Alcohol,Cetyl Alcohol, Dimethicone, Glycerin, Parfum (Fragrance), Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Divinyldimethicone/Dimethicone Copolymer, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Cyclopentasiloxane, VP/VA Copolymer, Phenoxyethanol, Quaternium-91, PPG-3 Benzyl Ether Myristate, Neopentyl Glycol Diheptanoate, Palmitamidopropyltrimonium Chloride, Cetrimonium Methosulfate, Propylene Glycol, Hydroxyethyl Ethylcellulose, Isododecane, Quaternium-87, Dimethiconol, Polyquaternium-55, Propanediol, Polyquaternium-11, Polyquaternium-37, C12-13 Pareth-23, C12-13 Pareth-3, Disodium EDTA, Methylisothiazolinone, Caprylyl Glycol, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, CI 14700 (Red 4), CI 19140 (Yellow 5).

enough of the science, i suck at it! now to the review...
this has taken time to come along since i haven't seen any major results. i want to have long shiny hair. i mean by using this shampoo and conditioner in combination with the macadamia mask my hair has become softer i must admit but my hair isn't anymore shiny.
both the shampoo and conditioner have a loveeeelyy fruity fragrance to it which is marketed as 'strawberry yogurt fragrance' which lingers with you all day. since the shampoo doesn't consist of pure sulphate ingredient it is quite hard to lather up but with a bit of help of water it lathers up fine but without as much bubbles. the formulation is also quite thick. 

the thing with silicone products is that it would make you hair feel heavenly smooth WHILE your washing it but after its dried its back to normal hair.

i must admit though after changing up my shampoo and conditioner to this my hair has become less dry and i have no more dandruff or dry flakes from having a dry scalp.

despite the sulphate and the silicone in the product i rate this a 4 out of 5.
 its definitely worth the money as it does what it says on the box (volumises the hair), it smells heavenly and its such a large sized bottle which for me would last at least 6months. in terms of healthy hair i guess this does fail that requirement.
overall in a way the silicone and sulphate do cancel each other out. when you use the conditioner it coats your hair then the sulphate (clarifying ingredient) in the shampoo in the next wash washes out the previous silicone and so forth.

recommendation
during my research i did find that the body shop have a rainforest line which supposedly contains No silicones, no sulphates, no parabens and no colourants. however nowadays i will definitely read the ingredients despite the claims they make.
however the body shop rainforest conditioner contains Distearoylethyl Hydroxyethylmonium Methosulfate which scared me a bit. but looking at http://tightlycurly.com/ingredients/ its seems to be classified as an 'okay' product which is used for conditioning.

also the shampoo contains Isopropyl Alcohol which is also known as rubbing alcohol and on http://tightlycurly.com/ingredients/ its deemed as a drying ingredient but i guess since the line doesn't consist of sulphate it has to cleanse some way right?

Friday, 28 October 2011

No 7 Exquisite Curl (01 Black)

No7 Exquisite Curl Mascara (01 Black)

Yes yes, my obsession with mascara still continues. I decided to go boots & grab this mascara after hearing a few raves about it. Seeing as the brush looked similar to my current fav (Maybelline Falsies) i decided to give it a try.

This is what the brush looks like if your wondering.



So here are some pics that i took that which might help.
Knowing the nombty (did i just make that word up? lol) that i am AFTER i had actually applied the mascara i realised it might actually be more helpful if i was able to show a pic of my natural bare lashes. So guys this is my left eye but i applied the mascara on the right. This is my lashes curled.


This is my lashes with only one coat of mascara. Please excuse my funny looking lashes :$ *ashamed*. I recently had extensions (which is the first & last time i ever get that done), which of course left me with barely any weak lashes. I'm still in the process of growing them out ^.^   Got a review coming soon on eyelash growth, make sure you check that out!


 This is the lashes with two coats of mascara. (here we go again with the funny looking lashes :$)


Claims:
- "Coats your lashes to a more beautifully curved and volumised look, with long lasting curl"

+ I definitely saw separation of lashes making each lash look more defined & some length.

- However for me i didn't see the volume that it claimed. . I have the famous barely noticeable Asian lashes, which go straight outward. So my best friends are a lash curler and waterproof mascara. Overtime I've noticed that waterproof mascara keeps hold of my curls much better! Personally for myself it didn't hold the curl since it was waterproof however it may vary for others. I think this will be fab for those with naturally curled lashes.

Cons for this mascara will be that its more lengthening and separating than volumising. No mascara is both lengthening and volumising (be sure to let me know if you know of one ^.^)

Wednesday, 12 October 2011

TRESemme Dry Shampoo Review


So i decided to get this dry shampoo for a holiday when i went abroad in the summer. I don't trust the water over there so i definitely will limit the amount of times i wash my hair over there. That's where this dry shampoo comes handy.
I was very skeptical to try this as i heard it can leave white dandruff like dust powder everywhere. However i followed the instructions exactly and i found this actually works!

Claims
- Volumising Dry Shampoo
- Removed oil & boots body
- Lemongrass formula refreshes hair

How I Use It
I spray it into my hair, let it set for amount a min or so then i just work my fingers into the roots and ruffle my hair. If there's any whitish grey patches left, which happen when you spray to close to the hair i just spray a bit of water of it and it vanishes.

Obviously like any dry shampoo its going to add volume. Newly washed hair is always more voluminous than weighed down greasy hair. So this dry shampoo ticks that box.
It has a fresh fragrance to it which i find not so overpowering so it should be okay for those non fragrance freaks. ^_^

It removes oil and leaves the hair clean, fresh and bouncier. There really is nothing more to say, its a dry shampoo & it does its job!