Showing posts with label WEN by Chaz Dean. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WEN by Chaz Dean. Show all posts

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Products that changed my life Pt. 3

Hair product edition. A girl born with ultra frizzy, coarse, curly, violently thick, plentiful and long hair that winds up damaging it to the point of no return with coloring and heating, yes, winds up trying a lot of hair products. Here are my super stars.

Image courtesy of sephora.com
Ah, my beautiful beloved GHD. I have waxed poetic about it many many times now, but let me say it once more. I LOVE this thing.


Image courtesy of sephora.com
I am the undisputed frizz queen. There are very very few who outfrizz me. So when I FINALLY after years of lust, dropped the sum on this, I found it to be even more than I expected. I did expect it to dry my hair quickly, which it does, to minimize damage, which it does and to cut down on frizz to some degree. Not only did it cut down, it cut down entirely. I can now go on a humid day, all day, just blowdryed (even without the assistance of GHD) and not have to carry serum with me. This thing is THAT amazing.

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Image courtesy of sephora.com
A small detail that should never be overlook in the fight against split ends, is what we use ti tie our hair back. Now if you're like me, the vast majority of time, work, casual, whatever, you've got a ponytail in. In fact my hair is so violently thick, I can't use bobby pins when doing updos, etc, so I sub with these. These little buggers stretch to three times their size, without breaking, slide straight out of hair as if in a Pantene commercial and I have not noticed a single split end from them (I have become so sensitive to breakage I can actually feel and count when I get new split ends. It chills me to the bone).


Image courtesy of sephora.com
Frederic Fekkai glossing cream: Probably the ultimate styling multitasker. Leave-in when hair is airdrying. Check. Styling cream when heating. Check. Detangler for emergency 100 brush stroke sessions. Check. Post styling finishing cream. Check. Emergency de-frizzer. Check. One of modern beauty's greatest products, adds shine and softness without weighing hair down. MIRACLE!


Image courtesy of aveda.com
Aveda Damage remedy intensive reconstructor: This stuff made me a believer in protein. When I started blonding my hair (I would go from a level 2 to a level 9 ladies) my stylist would leave me under the bonnet with this for an hour each time afterward to help regain some health to the hair after such abuse. I would walk in with softer, bouncier more manageable locks than before, even if I had bleached and toned. And let's just say, that when I stopped using it, the split end count multiplied exponentially. If you chemically process your hair, protein is a must. I also love Kerastase's Ciment Theramique and Frederic Fekkai's proteinRX lines.


Image courtesy of viewpoints.com
Well, I am a sulfate free believer. When hair is not subjected to the ultra foamy shampoos of days of yore, it comes out feeling so much healthier, with much less frizz and it's so much easier to brush (in fact, I of the ultra damaged curly hair, can brush wet when I use this, hat is saying something). As the company says, it also makes a fabulous leave in. And yes, it REALLY does clean (but you must rinse like a maniac!).


Image courtesy of oscarblandi.com
The shampoo of those in a hurry, those who love foaming shampoos but know it's bad so they have to cut down, the styling trick of the fine haired or ooily scalped, Pronto dry shampoo. A few spritzes of this and even the lankest locks spring back to life, bounch, movement volume all that good stuff. And nothing even approacing a powdery finish or dulled locks. This stuff is amazing. I use it even on clean hair when blowdrying in order to get amazing lift at the roots.


Image courtesy of folica.com
All Kerastase products: It's too hard to pick a favorite from this ultra pricy ultra effective line. Masquintense, changed my life. It healed my hair from a bleach from black situation. MIRACLE! Same goes for Ciment Theramique, it's like a fake it for split ends. Plus there's nothing I love more than being bale to heat style my hair and calling it a treatment. Voile nuit cream is my hands down favorite deep moisture treatment and makes an AMAZING detangler. Nutri sculpt serum gave me hope when I had none. It had been years since my hair had felt elastic, bouncy and truly healthy upon heat styling (plus, BLINDING shine) until my stylist had used that stuff. It seems like every Kerastase product I try, I LOVE. If the pocketbook allows and you have truly hard to deal with hair, bolt for this line.


Image courtesy of amazon.com
Frederic fekkai shea butter hair mask: When hair just plain needs MOISTURE, not silicones, not proteins, not hot oil treatments, MOISTURE this is the stuff to go for. Many many products say they use shea butter but usually it's like a 5% concentration which is nothing. It is one of the first imgredients on the label in this potion, and the hair can tell. The softness and luxuriousness that happens afterward is immeasurable.


Image courtesy of amazon.com
Biolage detangling solution: This is my hands down, never has been beat favorite when air dyring my hair and letting it go curly. This lovely smelling blue gel says it's just to detangle hair without weighing it down, but it provides almost as much conditioning power as many masks, yet really does let curls go into Shirley Temple formation and BOUNCE. My hair feels incredibly soft when I use this.


Image courtesy of matrix.com
Biolage hydrating shampoo: The old standby in my books when just NEEDING the suds, but still wanting gentleness. This was one of the first shampoos I used where I could actually run my fingers through my hair when wet. It was my first salon shampoo too, so I think that may be a contributing factor in my ongoing love for it. One of my favorite products ever, for just plain straightforward gentle moisturizing washing.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Product Review: WEN by Chaz Dean cleansing conditioners


This is to review all the different scents/formulations of the cleansing conditioners.
The ones I've tried are fig, tea tree and lavender.
I must say there's really no difference between the three except the scents -none of which I liked by the way, I find them too cloying and artificial smelling-.
The only other thing I didn't like about these was how they weighed down my curls, but since I rarely let my hair go natural, that's a small price to pay.
Everything else well let me start:

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-Cleaned very well, it takes a while to rinse but if you do it properly hair will be squeaky clean, so don't be afraid of the no-foam
-Definitely keeps and preserves color
-When air-dried I found myself suffering very little frizz (and I didn't leave any in as a hair cream just as a test)
-My hair turned out INCREDIBLY soft and shiny compared to the level of crunchiness and strawlike-ness I otherwise suffer if I stray from Kerastase
-I really feel like it ACTUALLY moisturizes hair rather than coating it or overproteining it.
And here goes the ingredient analysis for the tea tree version:
water - obvious
aloe vera - moisture, film former on hair
glycerin - humectant, slip-creator, moisture
cetyl alcohol - emulsifier, emollient, thickener
rosemary extract - cleansing, astringent, stimulating, oil-reducing
wild cherry fruit extract - no cosmetic benefit, filler for making the ingredient label look better
chamomile extract -useless on hair except to lighten naturally blonde hair
calendula flower extract -also useless on hair, again good for the label
behentrimonium methosulfate -best and highest quality conditioning ingredient on the market, very detangling, no buildup, very very mild for sensitive people
cetearyl alcohol - same properties as cetyl alcohol
panthenol - very well known conditioning ingredient, smooths and helps remoisturize hair shaft
primethylsilylamodimethicone - conditioning additive that helps detangle wet or dry, adds softness, helps minimize damage
stearmidopropyl dimethylamine - emulsifier, hair softener
polysorbate 60 - emulsify essential oils with water products
menthol - cooling effect, and even though it's this far down the list, you still really feel it cool the scalp
essential oils - I wish it was illegal not to specify which ones, consider how many people may be allergic to a certain extract and it's not required to be specified on the ingredient label
peg60 almond glycerides - helps create mildness, conditioning, emulsifier
hydrolized wheat protein - when used with heat, helps temporarily repair some split ends (the less horrible ones) however at this concentration it would be a very small difference
methylchlorisothiazolinone - preservative
methylisothiazolinone - preservative
citric acid - preservative