Review | John Freida Beach Blonde

Hi Guys!

I know its been rather a long time since my last post. Truth is I've had a lack of blogging motivation and haven't come across anything that has got me excited in a while.

But fear not! Today I come back with a review of John Freida's returning classic Beach Blonde.

I'm always chopping and changing hair products trying to find THE ULTIMATE products for my hair type but alas its still a searching struggle. I've tried it all from all natural shampoo bars (a dark time in my hair history) to a little more pricey-er chemical laden bottles of promise. I try to pick budget friendly products and if I can pick things on offer I will! This funky fresh little collection caught my eye and it was on offer so I went ahead and picked up the Cool Dip Purifying Shampoo and the Kelp Help Deep Conditioning Masque. In addition to the collection there is a Smooth Seas Detangling Conditioner and a Sea Waves Sea Salt spray to bring out your inner mermaid.

Information |

Brand | John Freida

Product | Cool Dip Purifying Shampoo & Kelp Help Deep Conditioning Masque

Size | 250ml (shampoo) 150ml (masque)

Price | £5.89 each (I bought each for £4.00)

Made in | the E.U

Would I re-purchase | yes! 

Shampoo Ingredients |

Aqua, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Coco-Glucoside Sodium Chloride, Betaine, Parfum, Cocamide Mea, Benzyl Alcohol Polyquaternium-7, Dipropylene Glycol, Malic Acid, Menthyl Lactate, Menthol, Disodium EDTA, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate Benzophenone-4, Glycine, PPG-9 Butylene Glycol, Propylene Glycol Mentha Piperita Leaf Extract, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Sodium Hydroxide, Methylisothiazolinone Fucus Vesiculosus Extract, CI 15985, CI 42090, Limonene, Linalool.

Masque Ingredients |

Aqua, Cetearyl Alcohol, Dimethicone, Behenamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Glycerin, Parfum, Stearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Esters, Isopropyl Palmitate, Benzoic Acid, Benzyl Alcohol, Lactic Acid, Propylene Glycol, Behentrimonium Chloride, Mentha Piperita Leaf Extract, Disodium EDTA, Menthol Menthyl Lactate, Polyquaternium-28, Glycine, Malic Acid, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Benzophenone, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Laminaria Ochroleuca Extract, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Cetearyl Glucoside, Methylisothiazolinone, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil, Cocos Nucifera Oil, Gardenia Tahitensis Flower Extract, CI 15985, CI 42090, Limonene, Linalool

At the time I bought these I was messing around with my hair care routine and washing my hair too frequently so my natural shampoo was leaving a residue. I bought the shampoo to deep clean my hair and the masque just damn tempted me! I use these maybe once a week to clear away any product build up. Lets start with the scent. OMG this stuff smells beyond amazing! Its fresh, its minty, it smells clean and by golly the sent stay in your hair for days! 

The shampoo does a great job of stripping away dirt and grime and leaves hair feeling fresh and clean, I always use it in conjunction with the hair masque; which in turn leaves hair feeling wonderfully soft. I leave it in for about 3 minutes, longer if I'm enjoying a bath and wash it out well. I suspect that this (the masque) is what really leaves its sent behind.

Pricing wise I don't think its too bad a price for the shampoo as it lasts ages. Its quite a thick clear shampoo and you can't squeeze too much out of the bottle so you won't over use the product, but the masque is such a tiny amount for the money, you want to use it sparingly, a little does go a long way but its too costly in my eyes, even if it does smell like heaven!

All in all I have enjoyed using these products and will continue to do so till they are all used up and I move on to my next search!

Jeni xo

Review | J.R Liggett's Shampoo Bar

Happy February!

Sorry for the lack of post's recently, I launched a new blog JENI WREN all about my birding exploits and have been spending most of my days off watching anime and drawing recently, so again sorry for the neglect, but I'm back and as motivated as ever!

Todays post is a review of the J.R Liggett's shampoo bar. If you read my last post you'll know I quit no poo, it wasn't really my bag and you know thats ok, I'm currently really happy with the quality of my hair at the moment on regular shampoo and conditioner and it seems to be growing really long now! (yay!) but I still wanted to review this bar and let anyone wanting to try it, know what to expect,

Information

Brand | J. R Liggett's

Product | Old Fashioned Shampoo Bar Virgin Coconut and Argan Oil

Size | 3.5 oz / 99g

Price | £8.99

Purchased from | Amazon

Made in | Doesn't say

Would I re-purchase | no

Ingredients 

Olive oil, Coconut oil, Castor oil, fresh pure New Hampshire spring water, sodium hydroxide (a binder), Organic Virgin Coconut oil, Organic Argan Oil and Vitamin E added, with natural Coconut fragrance.

First look at the ingredients list every thing looks really good, it mostly just nutritious oils and spring water. As for the natural Coconut fragrance, I wouldn't say I could actually pick that up, it smelt just of unscented soap.

The bar its self is tiny and very hard and square, so the first few times I used it, it was with difficulty. It was hard to roll the bar around in my hands to get a lather going because the square edges wouldn't allow for roll-ability. But after a few washes it did begin to take on a rounder shape and use was much easier. 

I found the easiest way to use it was to get a good amount of product on to my hands to start with before applying it to my hair. Surprisingly enough this lathers extremely well even with a lack of a lathering agent. I would focus all my lathering just on my scalp and leaving the ends of my hair alone. 

After rinsing this out of my hair will feel super, squeaky clean  and  it does feel very very different than it would do with regular shampoo.

A lot of reviews I read said that people gave up using this pretty much straight away, as they were used to brushing out their hair once it was washed and found they couldn't get a brush through their wet hair. Which would be very true I feel had I tried to actually comb my hair, I did run my fingers through my hair and it does have an odd sticky feeling and feels snaggy. But my advice is, if you do try this bar DO NOT BRUSH YOUR HAIR WHEN IT IS WET! Leave it till its mostly dried then brush and I promise it will be fine.

After my first wash with this my hair was horrendous and stringy and gross. But after approximately 3-4 washes everything evened out and my hair was fine. While using this I did notice that I had an awful lot of build up on my combs and brushes but no poo forums said that was normal and its just your hair sort of detoxing. I didn't use a conditioner but followed with an ACV rinse and over the course of my months use my hair did eventually start to feel softer.

I used this for just over a month and in that time, the molecular structure of my shampoo bar changed, it went from looking like shampoo bar to a weird sticky, jelly mess, which I later found out was due to storage. As this bar is oil based, after use it really needs to dry out. Forum advice said to use a wooden soap dish and leave it to air dry well other wise it will turn to a sticky, unfortunate mess like mine. It still worked okish but kept falling apart with more use. 

Hope you found this review helpful if your planning on trying this out. Just remember that its not normal shampoo and there is an adjustment period where your hair does look shit for a while till it gets used to what you are doing.

Jeni xo

Review | The Body Shop's Rainforest Nutrition

Hi guys! Hope everyone is doing well! If you read my last post you will know that this will be my last 'Regular Shampoo/Conditioner' review (I also have a Lush hair mask review to come) because as of the 5th of December I decided to go No Poo. Its been two weeks and going well! I will do a full up date I think in the new year.

Information

Brand | The Body Shop
Product | Rainforest Moisture Shampoo & Conditioner
Size | 250ml
Price | £4.50 each
Made in | UK
Would I re-purchase | Yes (if I wasn't a no-pooer)

Shampoo Ingredients

Aqua, Sucrose, Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Lauryl Betaine, Laureth-5 Carboxylic Acid, Mel, PEG-55 Propylene Glycol Oleate, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Chloride, Glycerin, Parfum, Polyglyceryl-4 Caprate, Sodium Benzoate, Sucrose Laurate, Isopropyl Alcohol, Polyquaternium-6, Salicylic Acid, Citric Acid, Schinziophyton Rautanenii Kernel Oil, Pentaclethra Macroloba Seed Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Tocopherol.

Conditioner Ingredients

Aqua, Cetearyl Alcohol, Distearoylethyl Hydroxyethylmonium Methosulfate, Cocos Nucifera Oil, Orbignya Oleifera Seed Oil, Citric Acid, Cetyl Esters, Sodium Benzoate, Parfum, Hydroxypropyl Guar, Schinziophyton Rautanenii Kernel Oil, Salicylic Acid, Mel, Pentaclethra Macroloba Seed Oil, Tocopherol.

**Key Factors | No Silicones, No Parabens, No Sulfates, No Colourants

What I love about these two products is that they are Eco-Conscious, which means that they have a much less damaging affect on the environment, they use less harsh chemicals as other shampoo's and conditioners by cutting out silicones, sulphates, colourants and parabens which means they are better for you body also, and they contain Community Fair Trade honey which makes them smell divine!

Cutting out the sulphates mean that you don't get the usual lathering effect you would do normally meaning you have to work at it. It says to mix the shampoo with water in the palm of your hands and then work in to hair and scalp. I found putting a little puddle of water in your palm first then adding a reasonable size dollop of shampoo in and rubbing well in between my hands gives the best foaming result. With the conditioner you don't have to worry about doing this.

The consistency of the shampoo itself is very runny and clear, while the conditioner is a little thicker but not by much. As I mentioned earlier they both contain Community Fair Trade honey, and its the honey that gives these two an amazing scent. They smell so delicious and the scent really stays in the hair. As for general cleanliness and moisture-fullness my hair feels clean, soft and not stripped.

In general I have really enjoyed using these two products, and for £4.50 they are a great buy if you wish to try products that genuinely have no sulfates. When picking up a 'Sulfate Free' shampoo always check the ingredients list and look out for * as I've seen many brands use the * to say 'Sulfate Free*' and then it still contains a type of sulfate, just not the obvious ones.

Jeni x

Review | Chill* Shampoo and Conditioner

I picked these two up from my favourite place to find cheap random buys, Discount UK, for all of 99p. The bright colour attracted me plus I'm an immense hair care whore. There were several different shampoo's but I picked up the Deep Cleansing Shampoo, Clean Ed and the Reconstructing Conditioner, Repair Ed.

As a brand I hadn't actually heard of I did some googling and found their WEBSITE. I think the products I found may be discontinued as they were not listed on the website. Although I did come across them on Amazon, the shampoo for £7.99 and conditioner for £7.95.

 Chill* seems to focus most of its products on colourful dyes, Ed Stain (I think Ed is a synonym for head, the clever watsits!) as well as styling products.

Shampoo Ingredients |

Water (aqua), Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Coccamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Chloride, Sargassum Filipendula extract, Hypnea Musciformis extract, Gellidiela Acerosa extract, Hydroxypropyltrimonim Honey, Fragrance, PEG-18 Glyceryl oleate/cocoate, Styrene/scrylates Copolymer, Benzophenone-4, Limonene, Propylene Glycol, Tetrasodium EDTA, Sodium Hydroxide, Magnesium Chloride, Magnesium Nitrate, Benzyl Alcohol, Methylchlorisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Blue 1 (CI 42090), Yellow 10 (CI 47005).

" Clean*ed contains blends of surfactants to gently cleanse the hair."

"using this stuff: its simple, whack in the shampoo / get frothy /rinse and repeat until chilled. Clean*ed is a deep cleansing shampoo that removes all the nastiness built up in your barnet. So use it and stop that dirty feeling. Mmm..."

Conditioner Ingredients |

Water (aqua), Cetearyl Alcholo, Cetrimonium Chloride, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Stearalkonium Chlodride, Hydroxypropyltrimonim Honey, Panthenol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Phytantiol, Fragrnace, Benzophenone-4, Benzyl Benzoate, Limonene, Citric Acid, Sodium Hydroxide, Phenoxyethanol, Benzoic Acid, Dehydroacetic Acid, Ethylhexylglycerin, Polyaminopropyl Biguanide, Orange 4 (CI 15510).

"Repair*ed contains a honey derivative with excellent moisture binding properties to penetrate the endo cuticle region and repair split ends"

"using this stuff: apply in a chilled way. Let the treatment work it's loveliness fir a few minutes then rinse the stuff through. Repair*ed is a deep reconditioning cream that will sort out your hair's nourishment needs. Use it when you want to give your hair a fix. The deeper the better."

The shampoo comes in a squeezey bottle with a pull top lid at 350ml. The scent is like a watery bubblegum with under notes of old soap, sounds delightful non?

The consistency of this stuff is unlike anything I have ever used, its so strange. Its like a weird jelly texture that when rubbed between the hands it sort of turns in to a slime. So not a fan.

It cleans the scalp/hair well leaving it feeling squeaky clean but not too stripped and dry.

The conditioner is a 100ml less at 250ml's, (why is that? conditioners are always smaller?!) with a screw top lid. The scent is bland and unappealing to me. I really dislike it. The consistency of this is much nicer, like you would expect a conditioner, nice and creamy. And it does help to leave the hair feeling nice and soft.

When used together they work well, my hair feels clean and is fluffy and soft but with an unappealing soapy/detergent scent, which really turns me off of these products. 

I wouldn't buy them again purely because I don't like the jelly like shampoo and the blah scents, I like my hair to either smell fruity/floraly/fresh or of nothing at all, soap scent just ain't my thang y'all. But I do like the packaging! I think its young and fresh, and as I only paid bargain basement prices of 99p each I don't feel like I've wasted my money.

Have you ever tried any Chill* products? What ya think?

Jeni x

Review | ORS Olive Oil Shampoo & Conditioner

Hi guys!

Sorry I've been a bit MIA, had a lot on my plate the last 2 weeks and with Christmas coming up + working in a shop = less time, que sad face :(

But with any luck I'll be back on track for a while!

So what are we looking at today? ORS's Olive Oil Creamy Aloe Shampoo and Replenishing Conditioner. 

Information

Brand | ORS

Product | Creamy Aloe Shampoo & Replenishing Conditioner

Size | 370ml (Shampoo) & 362ml (Conditioner)

Price | £3.49 (Shampoo) & £4.07 (Conditioner)

Purchased from | Boots

Made in | USA
Would I repurchase | Yes

A little bit of info on the brand.

ORS formally known as Organic Root Stimulator is 'the #1 brand in the ethnic hair care market' mainly targeting ladies with afro-caribbean hair. So you might be thinking why did you try this if its not designed for your hair type? Because I like trying new things and this has olive oil in it! Simples.

Creamy Aloe Shampoo

This unique shampoo which includes Olive Oil, Aloe Vera, Panthenol, and Lecithin, provides the hair with maximum moisture. Olive Oil’s natural Vitamin E imparts sheen as it helps protect the hair and scalp during shampooing. Aloe Vera helps to soothe the hair and scalp while Panthenol, which contains Pro Vitamin B-5, penetrates the hair shaft and provides the hair maximum moisture.

 This shampoo has a fresh scent that does smell like aloe. It lathers up beautifully and and feels really creamy. It cleans my hair and scalp well, leaving it feeling really soft, silky and moisturised. With some shampoo's, they have left my scalp feeling dry and itchy but this makes my scalp feel like its been moisturised and taken care of and my hair doesn't feel stripped. I can honestly say I love this shampoo.

The directions say to wash your hair with the shampoo once then apply a second time and leave for 2-3 minutes which I don't really have time for but I do shampoo with it twice before following with a conditioner.

Replenishing Conditioner

Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner™ is a deep-penetrating conditioner that contains olive oil, marine proteins, and sweet orange oil. This conditioner conditions the hair and restores moisture to the hair and scalp.

Olive oil and marine proteins moisturize the hair and scalp while imparting sheen to the hair. Sweet orange oil helps to soothe and condition the scalp.

First off, OMG this smells devine! The sweet orange oil adds a serious oomph to the scent of this conditioner. Its very thick and creamy. Its also very heavy and a little sticky. I have tried to use it several times with the creamy aloe shampoo but as the shampoo its self is very moisturising, combining it with this conditioner on my hair doesn't work sadly. Its much to much for fine hair and doesn't seem to wash out very well. However when used with a regular shampoo (with out any added moisturisers) it works much better, I guess all that moisture is too much. Although I can see it working well with the creamy aloe shampoo on hair that's thicker and coarser than my own. 

The directions state to use after shampooing with the Creamy Aloe Shampoo, apply a generous amount, comb through and place a plastic cap over the hair and sit under a dryer for 10-15 minutes or leave on the hair for 45 minutes with out heat. I use this just as a regular conditioner in the shower leave it in for a few minutes then wash out. Any longer for me and it doesn't wash out well. But a quick few minutes is enough to leave my hair soft and smelling of oranges.

All in all I have enjoyed using these two and was glad I gave them ago! I will definitely repurchase the shampoo in the future but am a little undecided on the conditioner.

Jen x