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Showing posts with label Hair. Show all posts

Beachy Waves with Garnier Fructis Surf Hair

October 28, 2011 BY Ali Hassan 0 Comments

I have naturally thick and curly hair, but it lacks definition. Basically without any styling product it mostly looks like a big mess. I've been using Tigi Curls Rock Amplifier for years and it's a really good product for defining natural curls, but I wanted something cheaper. Completely by accident, I've stumbled on some great reviews on MUA for the Garnier Fructis Surf Hair and I was immediately drawn to it. I purchased my pot in Müller where it cost around 4,5 €, which is a really good deal for the amount you get. The scent is a variant of the typical Fructis fruity scent. Personally I really like Fructis scents and this one is no exception.

The product itself is very similar to Tigi's Curls Rock Amplifier. It has the same thick, sticky texture so moderation is the key when using this product. I'm still tinkering with the amount that works best for my hair. I have very long hair and using about two-blueberries-sized amount made my hair a bit sticky. On the other hand, using too little doesn't really define my curls that well. Make sure you use it on wet hair (the wetter, the better), rub the product between you palms and scrunch you hair while your applying it. I always let my hair air dry. If your hair is more straight, put it in a soft bun and just sleep with it (I don't have to, but it usually makes prettier waves). Here is the result (just air dried hair, I didn't put it in a bun here):

The waves/curls last about two-three days, the same as with Tigi's Amplifier, then they just soften a lot, but my hair is still miles away from being straight. Surf Hair is a great product, very comparable to Tigi's Amplifier, just a lot cheaper.

Thanks for reading!

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Hair Hair styling

Seriously Brilliant Hair Stuff - TiGi S-Factor

October 09, 2011 BY Ali Hassan 0 Comments

About a month an a half ago I ordered three S-Factor hair products: A massive 750ml pot of ''Serious'' Conditioner, Smoothing Lusterizer and Flat Iron Shine Defender. I wanted to test them properly before I wrote any kind of a review and I have to say I am seriously impressed by all three.

First off the hair treatment. ''Serious'' Conditioner comes in two sizes. I ordered the 750 ml version which comes in a massive pot (see the comparison with the Fructis mask in one of the pictures). The packaging has handle and comes with a handy spatula. You get a lot of product for the price which is perfect for us long-haired girls. When I opened the pot, the first thing I noticed was the very unusual scent for a hair mask, but I really love it. It smells like Vademecum Junior Strawberry toothpaste, the one I used as a child. It's a very minty strawberry scent and it actually feels minty in a sense that your hands tingle even after you've washed the product of your hands. I like that a lot.

The consistency is super thick, like a body butter or even toothpaste - another feature I like. I just have a feeling that thicker masks will work a lot better. Even though it's thick, it's easy to apply. I use the spatula to get about a two-walnuts-size amount of product and apply it on a half of my hair and then repeat the process of the other side of hair. I apply the mask to about 2/3 of my length. You're supposed to leave it on for about 3-5 minutes, but I always leave treatments to work longer. I rinse it off after about 15-30 minutes. When you're rinsing it off your hair feels very soft and slippery. Despite it's thickness it rinses of completely and doesn't leave any residue on the hair. I always leave my hair to air dry. Once it's dry, it feels soooo soft. Not a lot of products have that effect on my hair (so far just Redken All Soft conditioner). I have very thick, coarse hair, when people touch it they usually comment if I've used hair spray even though didn't use it. But this conditioner makes a difference. Although they are not super soft, I do notice a significant difference. The scent lingers for about a day, I love how freshly minty my hair smells that day.

''Serious'' Conditioner is some seriously good stuff. I give it A+ rating. I recommend ordering it online, because you can get it a lot cheaper than in hair saloons.

Smoothing Lusterizer is basically a version of After Party, the only differences being in size (SL is 200ml which is double the amount of AP) and scent (though both are very fruity).

As the After Party, Smoothing Lusterizer is a great product for smoothing your hair, taming that annoying frizz and adding shine. The consistency is thinner that After Party's, but both are white pearly creams. The scent is yummy. It's a very candy fruity scent, identical to Kiki candy by Kraš and the same as TiGi's Papayarazzi lotion.

You can use it on wet or dry hair and it doesn't make your hair greasy or weight them down. It leaves your hair just super sleek, shiny and smelling gorgeous. The design of the bottle is just genius and so unique (although so is After Party's), but in terms of functionality it leaves some room for improvement. I've just got a feeling it's going to be a pain getting those last ml out. I've read some reviews that it goes off relatively quickly, so I'm a bit concerned about that. However I would still give it an A+.

Flat Iron Shine Spray Heat Defender is a heat protecting spray with a gorgeous scent. It smells like pears, apples and candy, I just adore the scent. It feels sort of oily so it instantly smooths, gives shine and makes your hair look very healthy (like you'd used a serum such as Orofluido). After straightening or curling your hair, it looks so smooth, even your ends look healthy. Unlike Schwarchkopf's Guardian Angel, which left my hair super sticky, this one performs brilliantly on my dry hair. The packaging is good, the nozzle sprays a fine mist and the clear plastic allows you to see how much is still left. You get only 125ml which is not a lot for the price (I paid 13,74 € on cheapsmells.com), but still the quality is superb. Another A+ product.

All in all I'm very satisfied with these products, despite the slightly higher price (try cheapsmells.com, lookfantastic.com, feelunique.com, etc.,... for lower prices). It's such a massive difference than using regular drugstore product (although you can find some gems in your local drugstore). I highly recommend S-Factor line if your hair need something more. I'll probably stick with S-Factor and get some other products because they really work well for my hair.

Thanks for reading!

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blush conditioner

Haul - Hair Care and Dior Blush

February 02, 2011 BY Ali Hassan 0 Comments

I ran out of conditioners, so I bought a tube of my faithful Brilliant brunette conditioner by John Frieda and what seems to be a revamped Garnier Repair & Shine treatment. When I got home I noticed that they didn't revamp just the packaging, but also the formula. It's a bit thicker now, the colour is a bit darker, ingredients are basically the same, but the biggest difference are the added pieces of melting apricot (a gimmick if you ask me, feels odd when applying on the hair, almost like a scrub). However the effect is the same as with the old version, still an excellent product.

Zmanjkalo mi je balzamov, zato sem spet nabavila moj zvesti Brilliant Brunnete od John Frieda in Garnier Repair & Shine masko, kateri so spremenili embalažo in sestavo. Sestavine so približno enake, je pa maska zdaj bolj gosta, malo temnejše barve in ima neke (tako piše na embalaži) topljive delčke marelice (kaj je smisel njih mi ni jasno, je pa čuden filing ko nanašaš masko, nekako kot piling). Efekt je pa dejansko enak kot pri stari verziji, tako da ostaja na prestolu moje naljubše maske.

I had a birthday last week, so my cousin got me a generous gift, namely Dior blush in the shade 829 Rose Dragée. It's a really, really light pink, one side is mat, the other shimmery. I have a hard time for the color to actually show up (needs a couple of layers), but it gives a lovely light flush. It probably won't show up on people with medium and darker skin tones. The brush that comes with it is really bad.

Sestrična mi je za rojstni dan prinesla velikodušno darilo Diorjev blush in odtenku 829 Rose Dragée. Blush je zelo svetlo roza barve, polovica je mat, polovica pa ima bleščice. Nanesti ga moram kar veliko, da se pokaže kaj barve, vseeno da lepo svetlo roza rdečico. Čopič, ki je zraven, je res slab, grob in ima premalo sčetin za kakšen boljši efekt.

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conditioner Ducray

My Current Hair Care

December 11, 2010 BY Ali Hassan 0 Comments

I have long, curly, dry, stubborn hair that hate rainy days and give me much trouble with trying to tame them (usually my only weapons are hair straightener or curler). I also have severe dandruff for some time now. I tried much of the products available here in Slovenia, from Oronazol , Fitoval (neither of the two was particularity effective), Vichy (the old packaging, worked very well for the first time, but didn't work the second time I purchased it), Lavera Cornflower (horrible, my scalp itched like crazy after using it, plus it really stinks, a very annoying herbal smell) and the list continues on and on. I purchased Ducray Selegel for dry dandruff 6 weeks ago and I just finished the treatment. It worked ok, it's not miraculous but it's a significant improvement in terms of sensitivity of the scalp, however dandruff is still here. It's recommended to continue the treatment with Ducray Elution, which I used once so far, so I can't review it fully.

Imam dolge, zelo suhe, kodraste lase, katere je skoraj nemogoče ukrotiti brez uporabe ravnalca ali kodralnika. Še posebej imajo radi deževno vreme, takrat imajo frizz party, lol. V zadnjih letih imam ogromne probleme s prhljajem. Poskusila sem ogromno šamponov na voljo v Sloveniji od Oronazola, Fitovala (oba precej neučinkovita), Vichy (staro pakiranje, ta je pomagal prvič, ko se ga uporabljala, ko sem kupila drugo pakungo efekta ni bilo več), Lavero plavica (grozen, lasišče me je grozno srbelo po uporabi, pa še njegovega zeliščnega vonja ne prenašam najbolje), itd... Šest tednov nazaj sem kupila Ducray Selegel za suh prhljaj in sem ravnokar zaključila s kuro. Je kar efektiven, ni sicer čudežen, je pa precejšno izboljšanje kar se tiče občutljivosti lasišča, samo prhljaj ni izginil. Priporočeno je nadaljevati z šamponom Elution od iste znamke (do zdaj sem ga uporabila le enkrat, tako da kakšne konkretne ocene ne morem podati).

My favourite conditoners/masks/treatments are:
TBS Honey Conditioner – My absolute favorite, very moisturizing and effective. Gorgeous sweet smell (marzipan?). Of course they discontinued it, plus it wasn't available here in Slovenia, since we don't have TBS. /Moj najljubši balzam. Super nahrani lase pa še diši lepo (mogoče po marcipanu?). Seveda je šel iz prodaje, itak se ga pa ni dalo kupiti v Sloveniji.
Fructis Oil Repair mask – I think I repurchased it four times in an row by now. Great mask, again very moisturising, nice fruity smell. Really lovely product./ To masko sem kupila že 4. zapored. Ena izmed najboljših mask, je zelo hranilna, diši enako kot vsi fructisovi izdelki –sadno. Res super za svojo ceno

John Frieda Brilliant Brunette Shine Release conditioner – I discovered this conditioner a couple of months ago and I recently purchased a second bottle. I haven't noticed any extra shine or even that it would enhance my hair colour, but the hair feel very silky after using it. The scent reminds me of a mixture of coconut and a generic shampoo scent. / Ta balzam sem prvič kupila nekaj mesecev nazaj, zdaj imam že drugo tubo. Po njem so lasje zelo svileni, nisem pa opazila kakšnega posebno močnega sijaja ali pa da bi poudaril barvo las (kot trdi proizvajalec), meni je vseeno zelo všeč. Vonj me spominja na mešanico kokosa in nekega tipičnega vonja šamponov.

For my ends I currently use Orofluido, a silicon-oil, which contains argan, cyperus and linseed oil. It's heavily scented, but I can't smell it anymore the next day on my hair. It's an oriental scent with most prominent notes amber and vanilla. It looks really luxurious and it quite greasy. The amount you receive is huge, the bottle holds 100ml, which lasts you a long time. It a decent products, one of the better ones I tried.

Za konice trenutno uporabljam Orofluido, ki ne nekakšna mešanica olj (vsebuje arganovo, cyperusovo (ne cipresino) in lanenino olje) in silikonov. Diši parfumsko, orientalski vonj baziran na jantarju in vaniliji, jaz vonja drugi dan ne zaznam več na laseh. Je precej mastno in gosto, super za moje suhe lase. Količina je ogromna, steklenička vsebuje 100 ml izdelka, kar traja kar nekaj časa. Olje mi je kar všeč, je eden izmed boljših silikonov, ki sem jih preizkusila.