Saturday, January 26, 2013

Aveda Invati Review

I received a sample of Aveda Invati's Exfoliating Shampoo and Thickening Conditioner in the mail from a giveaway that they were having a few weeks ago. One of the first things I noticed is the strong smell of turmeric. Seriously, I opened the envelope that the samples came in and put it in my storage closet where I keep all of my hair products. Every time I opened the closet, tumeric would be the first thing that I would smell.

Tumeric has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for about 5,000 years. It has been used to relieve pain and swelling and is described as a "herbal aspirin" because of its anti-inflammatory properties. Before you readers decided to rub turmeric all over your aches and wounds, it is not easily adsorbed into the body and needs a helping hand from another product that increases solubility. Regardless, turmeric is considered to be good for the scalp because it stimulates blood circulation, provides nutrition to follicles and relieves dandruff and eczema.

Source: http://www.hairloss-research.org/UpdateTragedyofTumeric5-08.html

On the packaging, the product promises to cause "thicker, fuller hair" by using their "97% naturally derived invati system." This product is aimed at consumers with thinning hair. The shampoo is an exfoliating shampoo with "wintergreen derived salicylic acid" that can "remove build-up that can clog pores and [it] renews the scalp". The conditioner "restores strenght and improves hair elasticity [whilst] reducing hair breakage".

The shampoo is very thin compared to other shampoos. This is not a bad thing. A little goes a very long way with this product. Seriously, the sample was enough to clean my scalp and hair. I probably could have used only half of the sample bottle if I knew this ahead of time.  I wet my hair, added half of the shampoo, massaged it in, rinsed and repeated. My hair felt very clean but it didn't feel stripped. I liked this. Make sure to wet the hair well first and only use a little of the product. The first time around there won't be a lather. For the second time around use more water on the hair and more product. There will be a lather. Looking at some of the reviews on Aveda's website, the lack of lather has been a complaint. After watching a few naturalista hair product reviews, I have no problem with little to no lather from a product. I cowashed my hair for two weeks before using this product and I could see the dirt from my hair in the water in the tub after rinsing my hair. I did have shedding. I'm going to attribute that to the color that I have in my hair. For some reason, ever since I've colored my hair, I've found it very difficult to find a shampoo that doesn't cause shedding. With this product I had a lot of shedding. One stylist did question on Aveda's website as to why they decided to use an exfoliating shampoo on people that have damaged hair. Still, the shampoo did clean my hair and left my scalp feeling clean. I'm thinking about going back to my old faithful, the Elasta QP Shampoo for Relaxed and Color Treated Hair, it seems to be the only shampoo where I've experienced little to no shedding.I'm hoping that it still works its magic on my hair after using different shampoos over the past few months.

I HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE with their CONDITIONER!!! WOW! I actually contemplated not deep conditioning after using the conditioner. My hair was moisturized, soft and detangled. Arginine is a natural amino acid that is typically used for the treatment of hair loss and baldness. From one use, I could not tell if my hair was thicker but I could see that my hair seemed to be a lot healthier. I have dry, damaged hair that required a lot of moisture and this product gave that to my hair. I would definitely purchase the conditioner. I had 2 strands of hair in the tub after washing out the conditioner.

The Invati Scalp Revitalizer did not come with the samples. I would like to try this product. In any event, I am happy with the results from the conditioner. I would like to try the entire line of products over a three month period and track the results.

On Aveda's website, the Invati system retails for $108.00. This includes the :
Invati TM exfoliating shampoo-6.7 fl oz/200 ml
Invati TM thicking conditioner -6.7 fl oz/200 ml
InvatiTM scalp revitalizer-5 fl oz/150 ml


Separately, the shampoo and conditioner cost $24.00 each. The Scalp Revitalizer is $60 per 5 fl oz/150 ml bottle. 

I'm not sure if I would pay $108.00 for these products after one use. This is something that you invest in and I would need another try at the full line of products to become a long time or at least one time customer. I love the smell of the products. I love how clean my hair feels after using the shampoo, I love the slip that the conditioner gives my hair and I love their smell. Both products left my hair moisturized. Still, I did experience lots of shedding from the shampoo. I'm still not sure if it is due to damaged hair caused by coloring or if it's a result of the products used. The product does promise a 33% reduction in hair loss after results from a 12-week clinical trial. I've only used this product once so I can't say if it caused a reduction in hair loss or made my hair thicker. Using the products has made me more curious. Did the products change the coloring of my hair? I don't know. I used another product two weeks ago that caused a reddish tint in my chocolate brown dyed hair (although turmeric is known to lighten the hair my hair didn't seem to look any different from the previous week). 

Aveda does cater to different hair types. For example, on the website they have lots of video tutorials and reviews. One of the tutorials that I watched was for their Be Curly line. It was interesting how Allen Ruiz recommended various products from the Be Curly line, diffusing hair and braid outs to create "loose, natural looking curl shapes". The model's hair looked pretty nice. I'm sure that a few naturalista's might want to check out some of his recommedations or products. The prices seem comparable to some of the natural products offered out there. 

You can check out pictures, usage information, pricing and ingredients at Aveda's website: http://www.aveda.com/product/8419/21056/Collections/InvatiTM/invati-exfoliating-shampoo/index.tmpl

I was not paid or asked to review this product. The review is comprised of my own honest opinion. 

Have any of you all tried Aveda's Invati line? What do you think about it? Is there any place where you can purchase the products at a better rate? What about the other products offered by Aveda? Any hits or misses? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think...

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

L'Oreal EverPure Sulfate-Free Color Care System

Background: Here's the deal. My hair and sulfate-free shampoo's have a love/hate relationship. Why? The shampoo makes my new growth go back to having a beautiful curl pattern and my relaxed hair straight. I don't like to straighten my hair and I worry about having breakage as a result of having two different textures. My sister on the other hand has natural hair. She usually braids or hot combs her hair for special occasions and has complained about her curl pattern being ruined as a result. Using a different type of sulfate-free shampoo has resulted in her 4a-c curls coming back to life and really popping. I'll let her write a review.

Product Description: This product was made to cater to color-treated hair. The product contains rosemary and juniper. The product states that it has an anti-fade system, 100% sulfate free, no harsh salts, natural botanicals and 100% vegan. The conditioner contains no drying salts and has UVA/UVB filters. The conditioner promises to deeply nourish and revitalize dry, damaged hair. The shampoo promises to gently cleanse, nourish and revitalize dry, damaged hair without causing color stripping using a sulfate-free formula.

Where: I received a complimentary sample of the EverPure Moisture Shampoo for Color Treated Hair. My previous shampoo was starting to cause my darkly colored hair to have reddish tones and it was time for a change. This is a moisture shampoo and having dry, color treated hair, I was excited to try this product.

Process: I wet my hair and washed it with water. I added about half of the package of  EverPure Moisture Shampoo and rubbed my scalp. I wet my hair again with a bit of water and added the remainder of the package. From previous experiences, I realized that if you want to maximize the use of the shampoo and get a bit of a lather, saturating the hair with water and then adding the shampoo with water will do the trick. I LOVE the smell of this shampoo. The shampoo also looked different than expected. It was rich and creamy compared to some sulfate-free shampoos that are opaque. Sulfate-free shampoos typically leave my hair tangled and very dry. This shampoo detangled my hair. My hair was not super moisturized but it was not dry.   I like the shampoo. I had little to no shedding. The shampoo does contain Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate and Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate. I typically use shampoos that contain Sodium Lauryl Sulfate because they don't cause shedding of MY hair and are a lot more gentle on MY hair than shampoos that contain other types of sulfates. The Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate comes from coconut and palm oils and is noted to be safe for the skin and is easy to rinse out and does lather. Hence, the use of Sodium...Sul... in this shampoo. Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate comes from the fatty acid of coconut oil. It allows water to be mixed with oil and dirt thereby causing easy rinse out of buildup. This product is considered to be mild but it can cause irritation depending on its percentage in the product. You can do your own research and decide. None of my color was rinsed out when I rinsed out the shampoo.

Process Continued: I then applied the EverPure Moisture Conditioner. This Conditioner was thicker than I expected. It is thicker than TRESemme's conditioner. I applied the product from root to ends and instantly, my hair was very soft, smooth and moisture rich. I was so surprised at the slickness of my hair, that I decided to look at the ingredients and see if a dimethicone was in the product. Interestingly, there are no dimethicone's in the conditioner but there is in the shampoo. Also, the conditioner smells great! The conditioner has peppermint leaf extract. I always go out in search of products that smell like peppermint. I like the way it makes my scalp feel and the smell. I left the conditioner on for 5 minutes and my hair felt so SILKY. It was crazy. I keep washing my hair out thinking that I had product left in my hair because my relaxed ends had so much slip. I have a very dry patch in the middle of my hair where there is broken and damaged hair. I wish that I had more of the conditioner to add in this place. Unfortunately, the natural parts of my hair felt 'dry' with the conditioner on. I would like to try a full size of the product. I also had some shedding. My hair usually sheds with certain conditioners. Still, I would buy a full size of the conditioner. My color also remained intact.

Ingredients:
Moisture Shampoo: Aqua/Water/Eau , Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate , Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate , Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate , Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate , Cocamidopropyl Betaine , Glycol Distearate , Glycereth 26 , Decyl Glucoside , Parfum/Fragrance , PPG 5 Ceteth 20 , Divinyldimethicone/Dimethicone Copolymer , Amodimethicone , Polyquaternium 7 , Polyquaternium 10 , Methylparaben , PEG 55 Propylene Glycol Oceate , Propylene Glycol , Carbomer , C11 15 Pareth 7 , Benzophenone 3 , Benzyl Salicylate , Hexylcinnamal , Glycerin , Trideceth 12 , Laureth 9 , Linalool , Tocopherol (Natural Vitamin E) , Limonene , C12 13 Pareth 23 , C12 13 Pareth 3 , Benzyl Alcohol , Juniperus Communis Fruit Oil , Methylchloroisothiazolinone , Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) OilRosemary , Methylisothiazolinone , Sodium Hydroxide , Citric Acid


Source: http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/l'oreal-everpure-moisture-shampoo%2c-rosemary-juniper/ID=prod4254011-product
Moisture Conditioner: Aqua/Water/Eau , Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate , Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate , Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate , Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate , Cocamidopropyl Betaine , Glycol Distearate , Divinyldimethicone/Dimethicone Copolymer , Glycereth 26 , Decyl Glucoside , Parfum/Fragrance , Polyquaternium 7 , PPG 5 Ceteth 20 , Amodimethicone , Polyquaternium 10 , Methylparaben , PEG 55 Propylene Glycol Oceate , Propylene Glycol , Carbomer , C11 15 Pareth 7 , Benzophenone 3 , Benzyl Salicylate , Hexylcinnamal , Glycerin Trideceth 12 , Laureth 9 , C12 13 Pareth 23 , Linalool , Tocopherol (Natural Vitamin E) , C12 13 Pareth 3 , Limonene , Benzyl Alcohol , Juniperus Communis Fruit Oil , Methylchloroisothiazolinone , Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) OilRosemary , Methylisothiazolinone , Sodium Hydroxide , Citric Acid
Source: http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/l'oreal-everpure-smooth-shampoo%2c-rosemary-juniper/ID=prod4254013-product




This product does contain mineral oil and methylparaben. They are lower on the list. The bases are at the top and the smaller amounts of ingredients are at the bottom. If this is the case, then the fragrance,methylparaben and mineral oil are in the middle which for me is fine. I have no problems with mineral oil.

Cost: I've looked on L'Oreal's website and the products seem to be reasonably priced. The MSRP is anywhere from $5.99 to $8.99. Walgreen's currently has a sale on the products. They are offering $1.00 of some products and buy one get one 50% off for all right now.

Overall: I like both of the products but I'm still a bit on the fence with this product. I have a lot of shampoos and conditioners right now so I'm not sure if I would run to the store and pick up the product without trying the sample again and seeing how my hair reacts to it over time. I would like to try it again especially the conditioner. For the conditioner I would probably leave it on my hair for a longer period of time or go under a dryer with it to determine the overall effects. I was surprised at how moisturized my hair was. If I were sent the whole line of products to try out and review I would no questions asked.

Further thoughts: I think natural girls would love this product. Sulfate-free shampoos seem to help my hair's natural texture look even better. Also, with the sulfate-free movement and the price, many girls may consider this product. They may also have to add a deep conditioner to the hair after using the product.


L'Oréal Professionnel Mythic Oil

I  received a sample of the L'Oreal Mythic Oil in the mail yesterday. The sample was the size of a perfume tester bottle. I've added a picture below.




The first thing I noticed about the oil is how light it is. My Hot Six Oil feels incredibly heavy compared to this oil. After applying the product, my hair was not shiny or weighed down. My hair had seemingly adsorbed the oil instead of just coating the strands and I was happy. The next day I added a bit of water to my hair and then added the oil to seal the ends and the ends of my hair did not have that crispy, dry damaged look. Unfortunately, I used the product up in two tries. My hair is very dry and I wish that I had been able to try out the full sample.The 4.2 oz is selling on Amazon for $25.00. I did not flat iron or blow dry my hair with the oil because I'm going heat free for the next few weeks. I think my hair would have looked great though if I had flat ironed because the oil is so light. This oil has been given positive review from various hair salons. On Amazon after 32 product reviews it's been give 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.

As a broke college student I don't think I'll go out and buy the full size product to test out the results. When I get a great job? Sure! I like the oil. The smell is heavenly. I love, love, love the smell. My hair smells great and does not look like I poured liquefied petroleum jelly on my hair. Again, I would love to try out the full sized product to get a better feel of the product.

Nothing But Sampler Pack

A box was delivered to my mailbox today and I had no idea what it was. The box was pretty big for a sample but not big enough to be a care package or surprise from a friend. I opened the box and there was the Nothing But Sampler Pack inside. I was sooooo excited! Firstly, the videos on Sofn'free's facebook page was a bit suspect. Yet, looking at the packing of the products, I forgave the presentation of videos. No wonder the videos were very low key! They were trying to give off a very organic, honest and authentic feel to the products being advertised. Right down to the green coloring of the packaging. In the package, Sofn'free sent 1 sample packet each of the Nothing But Curl Sealer, Nothing But Pure Pudding, Nothing But Cleansing Conditioner, Nothing But Clarifying Shampoo and Nothing But Intense Healing Mask. Also included is a $1.00 off coupon that lasts until the end of this year and and an informative flyer. The box that the samples were sent in has a Velcro closure, pictures of different hair types and pictures of full sized products. Nice!






The Nothing But products are named as such because the products contain no "petrolatum, mineral oil, sulfates, parabens, colorants [or] phthalates". Phthalates are a group of industrial chemicals that are used to create plastics such as PVC. They are used in nail polish to prevent cracking and hair sprays to form a film over the hair to prevent stiffness. They are claimed to cause permanent damage to the male reproductive system and endocrine system. I have never heard of this type of chemical before. I'm not a chemist so you can do the research. Sorry :( There is also Dimethicone in a least one of the products that I quickly glanced at. The silicone's in that particular product is not water soluble.

In any event, as you all know by now I'm not a naturalista. Mineral Oil or not, I'm not very particular about ingredients. Still, I was excited to try this product and see the results. I do have relaxed hair but I liked the simplicity that the products offered. This line to me seems to me to promote less is more which is something that I like. Lengthy washing, conditioning and styling regimens are not in my overall plan. I just don't have time. Also, I'm in the process of doing 3 month stretches in between relaxers so these product is appealing for taming my mane.

The package comes with detailed instructions and recommendations for usage. The flyer which I have taped to my wall contains recommended regimens, detailed descriptions of each product and ways to combine the products for styling. For everyday usage a maximum of three products is recommended. You can choose to use all three or not. Once a week, only the Cleanser Conditioner is recommended but one can also opt to use their Pure Pudding and Curl Sealer. The Clarifying Shampoo is only recommended for once per month. The flyer also reminds us that everyone's hair and 'road' is different. Their website contains further help through an ask box http://www.nothingbuthaircare.com/pages/ask-will.  The flyer also clarifies different hair types in detail. The flyer and products alone make me even more excited about the products. One product that I am looking forward to is the Cleansing Conditioner. This seems to be a great start up kit for transitioning, learning about hair journey's or seasoned users.










Again, the packaging of the Sampler Pack is BEAUTIFUL! I can't wait to try out the products and hopefully I will love them so much that I will buy full sized products. Right now I'm up to my ears in shampoo and conditioners so that will have to wait until later in the year.

Check out their website: http://www.nothingbuthaircare.com/. The page seems to have sales and other interesting offers on a regular basis. The website is easy to use and attractive. Nope, I was not paid by the company to endorse this product. The promotion of the samples alone just hooked me onto it and I wanted to find out the reactions of my readers.

Have you guys tried any of these products? Would you recommend them? Did any of you request samples? Tell me what you think below.

Nivea Lip Butter

I received a full sized, free product from Nivea via a giveaway that they had a few weeks ago.They recently came out with a new lip butter line. Their lip butters come in Smooth Kiss, Vanilla & Macadamia Kiss, Caramel Cream Kiss and Raspberry Rose Kiss. Sounds delicious doesn't it?





The product arrived three days ago in the mail and I was grateful. I didn't realize that I have an allergic reaction to pineapples. My lips were already a bit chapped. After eating the pineapple, my lips had sores on them to the point where they were bleeding at some places. Once I rubbed this lip butter on my lips , they felt much better. I was happy that the stinging had stopped. Three days later my lips have healed and the edges of my lips do have scabs. I'm sure in a few more days they will be fine. Also, with all this cold weather that we have been having it's nice to have this on hand. The Smooth Kiss doesn't have a scent or 'flavor'. They really are smooth.  Hence the name. Once your lips do start to heal, there may be a white residue. The lip balm is very thick and it's also white. I don't think it'll be a problem if you rub it in.

Right now CVS has a sale on these (2/$5). There are also coupons out there that will bring the price down to either 1 for free, $2 or $3 for 2. I think Sunday papers have a $3 off coupon for 2 so that's like $2 for two lip butters. Whichever coupon you use if you do, I liked this product and the way my lips felt and looked after the product was applied. I think I'll go out before weeks end and purchase 2 more.

What do you guys think? Where you able to snag any coupons? Are you a Regular Nivea user? How did you feel about the whole Rihanna not being asked to represent the line again once it became more popular? Leave a comment below!

Friday, January 11, 2013

Justin Timberlake is Back!

I knew that 2013 would be an epic year! Justin just released the video below announcing that he is in the studio/may release an album/single this year! The early part of this year alone will have releases from Destiny's Child, Beyonce's Super Bowl Performance, Tamar Braxton, Mariah Carey, Backstreet Boys, Brittney Spears, Janet Jackson and Lady Gaga just to name a few.

Melodramatic much?!?!? I'm getting excited like a fan girl right now.

Are you all as excited as I am? He makes sure to remind us that he has made two albums in 10 years. The quality of his albums have always been amazing and I look forward to listening to his new music. In any event, I can't wait to see him perform. We'll see what happens in the next three days.


What do you guys think? Are you excited? Leave a comment below.