Little Golden Lamb

Organix: Rejuvenating Cherry Blossom Ginseng Conditioner

 Organix  No Responses »
Dec 062010
 

Beloved readers, the past few weeks I’ve been rediscovering brands I adored at the beginning of my healthy hair journey. Happily, I’ve come to find that they are just as fan-tab-u-lous now, as they were back then, if not better. Organix is a great example of this. I adore their shampoos and conditioners and have reviewed quite a few of them (you can read my other Organix reviews here).

I was thoroughly charmed by this particular conditioner’s adorable packaging.

The baby pink is gorgeous (I love soft pastel shades) and works well with the golden cap (which often looks gaudy, paired with other colors). I’m fond of bottles with curves including this one (though it’s a pain to get the last 1/3 of product onto your cute noggin). The font looks cute and the layout is decent, though I don’t care for the mis-matched uppercase and lower case. The cute graphics on the banner towards the bottom front are a nice touch.

The ingredients are rather “pretty” too:

Aqua (Water), Cetyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Parfum, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Glucoside, Glyceryl Stearate, Glycerin, Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, DMDM Hydantoin, Panthenol, Silk Amino Acids, Hydrolyzed Milk Protein, Organic Cherry Blossom Extract, Organic Ginseng Extract, Albumen, Bamboo Extract (Oil), Hydrolyzed Rice Milk Protein, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Tetrasodium EDTA, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Coumarin.

The product itself is a soft pink color, which I loved.

Unfortunately, that was  ALL I loved about this conditioner.

I “liked” it over all, but was not “in love” as I have been with other Organix products.

This had very little slip and while it made my hair feel more supple, it didn’t impart any extra softness. It spread well and worked into a nice froth to cover every inch of my TWA when natural, but left me rather underwhelmed.

As a texlaxed head, I preferred more slip than this offered; however, if you texlax to around the 3a-3b mark it will work well enough.

As a bone-laxed head this did just fine and the suppleness was beneficial.

The scent of this is very interesting, it is Baby Powder (to the 10th degree) meets musk.

Yes, you read that correctly.

In a way, I liked it, as it was “sensual” in a way. I understand that Organix is trying to play off the connotations of the “Orient” and “The East” that come to the mind of average American/Westerner with the mentions of Cherry Blossoms and Ginseng (as convoluted and horribly stereotypical as they may be).

That typed and read, it’s also rather “cheap” smelling and lingers for hours after use (the ingredient list alone shows how much “parfum” they put in it).

I suggest you take a sniff (cheeky I know) before purchasing, to be sure you can bear it.

What They Say:

“Luxurious Sulfate Free & Paraben Free Formulas

Organic Active Ingredients

Amazing Scents

Safe For Color-Treated Hair

Safe For All Hair Types

Why We Love It…
It’s a rejuvenating, sensual and alluring experience!

Why You Want It…
This Asian sensation helps invigorate the hair follicle while providing hydration and shine.

What’s In It For You…

It’s the perfect blend of cherry blossom extracts and ginseng root to rejuvenate the scalp and hair follicle to add volume at the root while replenishing your hair with nourishing rice milk and bamboo extract for hydration and shine.


What’s it in…
Organix® bottles are eco-friendly, manufactured from materials containing recycled post-consumer resin. All labels are printed utilizing environmental inks and compostable label film made from annually renewable resource corn, not from petrochemicals.“

-Organix

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Redken: All Soft Heavy Cream

 Redken  1 Response »
Nov 082010
 

Redken is a great gateway drug into Salon brands. Why do I say this, beloved readers?

It acclimates you in to Salon prices, with products hovering between $13-$27 dollars.

Thankfully, they are of great quality.

Before I begin waxing some serious poetic about this utterly luscious treatment, I need to say that similar products can be found at lower price points. Unfortunately, they will probably still be above the usual $4-7 dollar, mid-range quality drugstore product.

Pseudo disclaimer over, now onto the shameless gushing(^_^):

I love this product from the outside in.

Which is how I will review it. ^_^

I love the subtle golden shade of the bottle, the snappy font, clear layout and nice graphic use. I normally do not like to see black on bottles or black bottles in general but this looks chic next to the golden hue of the bottle itself. I normally do not care for tube packaging, as it is often flimsy. Thankfully, this can handle a few drops in the shower. The cap, unfortunately, like most tube-packaged products I’ve come across is a weak point –it breaks off easily. It does hold securely, which is great (watch your manicures, ladies!).

The first things about this product I fell in ABSOLUTE love with is its downright naughty, honey-sugar-cream scent.

If you do not like strong, super-UBER-duper sweet fragrance that lingers…this is not for you, beloved readers.

I adored this scent, it is take-no-prisoners, I-AM-A-LADY-BOW-TO-ME, honey-sweet. Ask to take a wiff before purchasing, if you’re concerned.

After I came to, having passing out from hyperventilating as I tried to inhale as much of the syrupy-sweet scent I possibility could, I squeezed some of this decadent, custard-thick, opaque-white product into my little, golden palm.

This is a heavy product. It IS called “Heavy Cream”.

Fine-haired ladies chemically altered or natural: this product is  not your friend.

Thick haired, bone-laxed, texlaxed, and natural ladies alike: this is going to wrap around your thick strands, hold on, and not let go. “No” does not mean “No” to this conditioner. Like an intoxicated Frat boy on a naive Freshman cheerleader reeking of insecurity, this product will not leave your hair alone.

I have consistently received: smooth, smooth, smooth hair from this that was buttery soft and wonderfully scented.

As I said before this product is HEAVY. Your hair is not going to be light and bouncy, per se after using it, if you use heavy styling products after wards. Why? The ingredients throw moisture-bearing heavy-hitters from “Hello” then finish up with a massive dollop of dimethicone.

Behold:

Water, Cetyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Chloride, Glycerin, Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, PEG-100 Stearate, Glyceryl Stearate, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Fragrance, Methylparaben, Taurine, Laureth 23, Laureth 4, Chlorhexidine Dihydrochloride, Hydroxypropyl Trimonium Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, PPG-5-Ceteth-20, Wheat Amino Acids, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Oleth 10, Disodium Cocoamidopropionate, Lecithin, Phosphoric Acid, Avocado Oil, Trehalose, Arginine HCI, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylparaben.

No-cone ladies, this is also not going to be a friend to you.

You WILL need to use a shampoo with cocobetaine to keep this in your overall regimen without worry of build-up.

I tried using it as a co-wash, while washing with shampoo daily, and STILL needed a clarifying treatment after about ten days!

This is not much of a multi-tasker, beloved readers.

Natural ladies, this would make for a dulling, flake-inducing styling pudding, unfortunately.

It doesn’t work well as a co-wash, period.

As a shaving aid (I wouldn’t waste this on my legs) it would require a strong scrubbing to remove.

No, beloved readers, being a DC (deep conditioner) is what this product does best.

I will always gaze upon its bottle at the salon fondly.

Baa, baa, baa!

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Feria: Hi-Lift Browns, Downtown Brown B61

 Color, L'Oreal  5 Responses »
Oct 042010
 

Beloved readers, this is the color I used to finally achieve brunette status much earlier in the year.

Being brunette had been a desire of mine, ever since I got the unfortunate thought in my head that glossy, raven hair was unattractive.

Having finally achieved golden/ auburn/cherry-chocolate goodness with caramel highlights I had always wanted, I realized being brunette was not what I thought it would be.

Being brunette is lovely, beloved readers, if you’re born that way or achieve it via a box from your local drugstore.

It wasn’t however, the magic answer to what was really a self-esteem issue. I was the only person I knew with such jet black hair and my complexion. It made me feel odd. In high school, everyone lightened their hair and having no friends of my demographic I found myself a night-haired girl in a see of mocha-chinos and cornsilks.

I debated heavily about whether or not I should post this. As there are a couple of pics of me floating about this blog as a brunette I thought I’d mention what “made it happen”.

I realized this color did look rather nice, provided I kept my brows lightened to match (they are normally cobalt, if left to their own devices). It DID lighten my dark locks.

It also made me appreciate my natural hue every time my glossy black roots began growing in and stood out so defiant, so undeniable, so…THERE. Undeniably black, black, black-i-ty black.

Like myself.

There was the rub, beloved readers.

My hair, growing up, was like me: non-commercial, uncommon (where I was), unusual, and demonized.

It was also, defiant (in a non-disestablishmentarian way, authority has its place in a balanced life), elegant, simple, undeniable…and THERE.

Once I finally achieved “freedom” from it, I realized I had never been in bondage to begin with.

I post all of this, beloved readers, to note that hair color, like hair texture and length, hold large (perhaps unhealthily so) parts of our identity hostage.

Even when it does not, it plays a large role in how others interact with you, for better or for worse.

Should this color work for you…and I hope it does, I hope you find it’s merely an option and not a necessity, for looking your best.

As for my review?

The box says: DO NOT USE ON RELAXED HAIR.

I say the same, though I disregarded that advice.

Why? Because my hair is unusually resilient in the face of chemical abuse and I knew it could take it. There’s no special reason, other than being born with fast growing, horse-strong hair. I played the Genetics Card and won.

That said, the worry of long term retention (or rather, the extra up keep over the long term) made me eventually hang up my brunette hat and happily go back to being a schwarzkopf-beauty.

This is more than likely going to turn your hair red.

It will cause breakage.

It will cause dryness.

The question is…how much?

It’s very simple to use, processes in 30 minutes and comes with a tasty, wonderfully sweet-smelling conditioner.

The ingredients speak for themselves:

Shimmer Enhancing Conditioner: Aqua/Water, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Behentrimonium Chloride, Amodimethicone, Cetyl Esters, Isopropyl Alcohol, Theobroma Cocao/Cocoa Seed Butter, Trideceth-12, Chlorhexidine Dihydrochloride, Methylparaben, Cetrimonium Chloride, Parfum/Fragrance, F.I.L. #C24242/1.

Again, I must implore you to evaluate WHY you want to put your hair through something as damaging as this and if the reason sits well with you…be sure it sits well with your hair. In other words, have a new protein-heavy regimen ready and make sure your hair can take it!

Also, keep a window open when you apply it…this is peroxide working at its best and you well definitely know it via your sinuses!

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Aveeno: Nourish + Style Curl-Defining Spray Gel

 Aveeno  No Responses »
Sep 062010
 

Beloved readers, this left me incredibly underwhelmed.

I was geeked about the wheat germ oil in it, as a way to add ceramides to my hair, while curly (Why are ceramides important? Click here).

That alone was not enough to make it worth leaving my hair thirsty and frustrated.

Not only did this bring very little shine to the party, this left my hair dry, dry, dry!

Not a good look.

My hair was still touchable and light, but hardly moisturized or “nourished” as the bottle claims.

I don’t like writing negative reviews.

Unfortunately, there is little good I can say about this.

From the bland color palette, to its overly sweet, oatmeal-esque scent and odd snot-like texture, this was a waste of $8 for me.

I tried this on my loosely texlaxed hair on my path to being bone-straight which was a 2b texture and got no definition, shine, or added health.

A royal shame, indeed.

Ingredients:

Water, Polyacrylate-22, Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Gluten, Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ Oil, Phenoxethanol, Acrylates/Beheneth-25 Methacrylate Copolymer, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Caprylyl Glycol, Glycerin, Panthenol, Disodium EDTA, Fragrance.

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Nexxus: Alluring Curls Curl Creating Gel Elixir

 Nexxus  No Responses »
Aug 232010
 

Beloved readers, this product like many others geared towards textured hair has different results based on your texture.

Because of this, I’m going to structure this review a bit differently than most.

I will do my usual nitpicking about its packaging, get on to to the details of the product itself and then address performance issues by texture.

I love packages like this one (minds out of the gutter, you know who you are). Pumps work fantastically for dispersing thick, clear, sticky, tacky gels like this one (despite the tackiness it spreads wonderfully on damp hair). It’s sturdy, delivers an ample amount with each press, and won’t give out on you in the middle of setting your style.

The subtle gold of bottle itself with snappy black font and a clean layout with stylish, simple use of graphics makes for a handsome looking product.

The gel itself, as mentioned in the above parenthesis is tacky, clear, and thick. It has a nice, fresh, somewhat fruity scent. I hate fruit scents, but this one is unobtrusive and pleasant. It’s also clearly feminine which I love. I hate unisex fragrances. I am a woman. I want to smell like one. Hear me BAA! ^_^

Any who, this does provide great hold and shine, though it can become crunchy VERY quickly. This can be avoided by using it sparingly and using it on damp hair.

This will NOT give you a texture you do not have.

My natural hair has little curls and coils if all I do is wet it and shake it out and let it dry. If you can say the same of your coils, curls, corkscrews, tassles, or waves, then this will define them and give them increased shine or sheen, depending on their diameter.

If you do not have a naturally well-defend curl pattern, the amount of this you would have to use, to make your curl pattern easily visible (if you do have one to start with) will probably lead to crunchy helmet hair.

Not lovely.

If you have no curl pattern, this is going to do very little for you, unfortunately.

All of the above holds true whether you are natural or texlaxed to achieve your texture. Texlaxed and natural curlies can benefit from this alike.

A final note for relaxed ladies, many of these curl enhancing gels are perfect for giving extra “umph” to a braid-out or for laying down edges on bone-laxed or very near straight hair, which accepts via these methods a curl more easily than natural hair that has no easily visible curl pattern.

Ladies without curl patterns, I would turn to a water based pomade for sheen and keeping styles frizz free over this particular gel. Other gels can work well for you but, this one leads to “Crunch City” with haste for ANY texture.

As a final note, wash weekly (at least) to avoid build-up with this, with a shampoo containing cocobetaine (SLS or ALS is not necessary).

Ingredients:

Water (Aqua/Eau), Propylene Glycol, PVP, VP/Methacrylamide/Vinyl Imidazole Copolymer, Acrylates/Beheneth 25 Methacrylate Copolymer, PEG 40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Polyquaternium 4, Triisopropanolamine, Sorbitol, DMDM Hydrantoin, Fragrance (Parfum), PEG/PPG 18/18 Dimethicone, Polyquaternium 39, Tetrasodium EDTA, Hexylcinnamal, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Limonene, Linalool, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Citronellol, Hydroxyisohexyl 3 Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Ext Violet 2, Lavandula Angustifola Oil, Polyglyceryl 3 Distearate, Polysorbate 60, Stearic Acid, Palmitic Acid, Myristic Acid, Hydrolyzed Sweet Almond Protein, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Althaea Officinalis (Marshmallow) Root Extract, Triticum Vulgare Wheat Flour Lipids, Persea Gratissima Avocado Oil, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Sterol, Alpha Glucan Oligosaccharide, Ceramide 3, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Butyl Methoxy-Dibenzoylmethane, Tocopheryl Acetate

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Nexxus: Emergencee Strengthening Polymetric Reconstructor

 Nexxus  No Responses »
Aug 092010
 

Beloved readers, this review will be rather short.

Why?

Because I don’t care to be negative and this product left me terribly disappointed.

The short of it, my darlings, is this:

You can get ten times better results for up to $11 dollars less.

Yes.

You read that correctly.

I know this is loved by women across the net. That’s wonderful. I am fond of typing: do what works best for your particular head of hair and use what works best for your particular head of hair.

I’ve had better, for less.

I have to wonder, if those who love this product, have been introduced to the two wonders that run MARATHONS around it for $7-$8 dollars:

Colorful Neutral Protein Filler

ApHogee Two-Step (The First Step Only)

Click the links above for my reviews. They give better detail and energy to what I’d essentially say here, which would be all the reasons they are superior to this product.

What I will do, for the remainder of this review is describe this product in my usual detailed fashion and what results I did get, however underwhelming.

This has the consistency of egg-whites and looks about the same with a slight yellowish tint. It doesn’t have a unique fragrance. It has an unoffensive, slight “salon” scent that does not linger. The scent, more or less, is a cocktail of “chemical” odors.

It spreads easily and has a slightly tacky, jelly-ish consistency. You will probably use a significant amount with each use, relaxed or natural to fully saturate your hair.

I followed it first by the directions and my hair didn’t feel any stronger, nor did it stop the bit of breakage I had at the time. Sigh.

I used it like an apHogee treatment and got a slightly better result, but it was not the instant, immediate fix that the aforementioned items provide.

Needless to say, as I scowled at it on the counter, I knew its review was going to be a short one.

I’m not saying this is a bad product, per se.

I’ve just had ten times better…for less.

Interestingly, I found a blog post wherein, The Beauty Brains picked this product apart, ingredient by ingredient and found it to be of little worth in terms of conditioning or strengthening.

You can read their findings here.

Ingredients:
Polyacrylamidomethylpropane Sulfonic Acid, Water (Aqua), Collagen Amino Acids, Hydrolyzed Elastin, Propylene Glycol, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, DMDM Hydantoin, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Methylparaben

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Q & A: Vanilla/Long Term Relationship vs Breaks Over

 Q and A  No Responses »
Aug 022010
 

Beloved readers Melyssa asked:

Hello, how would you compare this with the break over conditioner? which one do you prefer and which is more moisturizing? thank you.

This question will be a simple one to answer. My hair loved Long Term Relationship hands down relaxed, texlaxed, and natural. ^_^

Thank you for reading!

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Q & A: Melyssa/ SPF and Strength

 Q and A  1 Response »
Jul 192010
 

Beloved readers, Melyssa asked:

hey there, lgl! quick question… i heard that the super high spfs (55+), aren’t any more effective than those in the 30-45 range. do you think this is true? what level of spf do you like?

it’s thanks to you and nonie that i even STARTED using sunscreen, maybe just last year!

Good question, my dear.

I prefer SPF as high as I can get it as I burn like toast. I love SPF in 70, 98, and 100 when I can find it. The lowest I prefer to go is around 55 SPF. My beloved Clinique sunscreen is half that. Once I finish my current jar, I’m back to stronger stuffs.

To answer your other question about whether higher SPF is more effective: yes and no.

It is only a couple percent more effective at protecting your skin, once you get past 30 SPF. So in that light it seems pointless to pay more for higher SPF. That said, it protects skin LONGER at a slightly better rate.

In other words, if you’re prone to putting it on once and then not being disciplined to re-apply it later in the day, the higher SPF may buy you a little more time to get out of the sun before you burn.

I’m prone to doing this. I like to apply all my products once (in the morning) and be done (until I start my night time regimen post-shower) so I look for long wear formulas in EVERYTHING (especially mascara). I’m just that, way I suppose. ^_^

There’s debate about this as well, with many saying higher SPFs benefit you over the LONG-TERM (your lifetime) but offer no better protection against melanoma than an SPF of 45 (the benefit past that is truly tiny, about 2% from most of the articles I’ve read like this one).

I’ll pick long-term benefits and short-terms gains in one product For The Win, personally. I hope you find a product and sunscreen philosophy that works for you, dear heart.

Thank you for reading. BAA! ^_^

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L’Oreal: Healthy Look Creme Gloss Color (Cafe Noir)

 Color, L'Oreal  No Responses »
Jul 192010
 

Beloved readers, this is another amazing demi-permanent black shade that I absolutely love.

This color delivers , shimmery, vibrant, SPARKLING black color. None of that black-hole-flat-black-Oh-Goodness-She-Clearly-Colored-Her-Hair-Last-Night color.

It does this with NO chemical smell, just the soft, slightly honey-ish smell that marks this as a L’Oreal product.

Not only does it work in ten minutes (though for this shade the instructions say leave it on for 15 minutes, I left it on for 25 minutes), but does so without drying out hair or contributing to breakage. I type that assuming your hair was healthy before you began, which should ALWAYS be the case with your hair and color, beloved readers.

I adore that this product does not drip or run during application. It came out of the bottle a silvery color which worried me. It developed nicely though, on my hair, leading to fantastically healthy-looking hair.

It spreads easily as well, which is helpful when you must apply a product quickly.

The package itself is also darling with its use of shocking white, hot pink, and classy silver. Very girl-y! I loved it.

This color has one major con, however, which is why I cannot wax totally poetic about it, as I did for Garnier’s HerbaShine 200 Soft Black (read my review here).

The conditioner STINKS. As in, the fragrance, is so sweet it actually stinks! It is foul! It smells like a mixture of unwashed human and geraniums! Have your own DC on hand.

That typed and read, this product has one more redeeming value:

IT IS NOT PERMANENT!

Many black demi-permanent colors will become permanent. Black is a color that can be hard to commit to. I type that as someone born with natural, jet black/blue black hair!

THIS WILL WASH OUT!

Huzzah!

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Q & A: AM/amodimethicone removal

 Q and A  No Responses »
Jul 182010
 

Beloved readers AM asked:

“. . . Can you recommend a neutralizing or gentle shampoo for me? One that is not stripping and kind of moisturizing but still strong enough to remove amodimethicone (that is the only cone I use). thanks”

An easy answer to this, that goes more along the line of teaching one to fish, is look for a shampoo that has coco betaine. Any shampoo with this ingredient will remove amodimethicone. There are many formulations with it more “natural/gentle” and “mainstream”. Choose whichever suits you…just look out for coco betaine.

Happy hunting and thank you for reading! ^_~

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