Empties #47 - Mateja's Beauty Blog

JOICO Defy Damage Shampoo

A shampoo with great ingredients for damaged hair, as it has proteins, aminoacids, peptides, oils, a protective lipid. It foams well, the foam is dense (not like Olaplex n.4, but it beats regular shampoos), it’s a bit nourishing and doesn’t leave that squeaky clean feeling I dislike (because my hair is so dry). I’ve used it as every wash until I bought Redken’s Acidic Bonding Concentrate one.

Repurchase: Done.

L’OREAL Elseve Extraordinary Oil Nourishing Shampoo

One of my favourite shampoos. It feels like a shampoo + conditioner in one because of the silicone high on the list and it leaves my hair feeling silky when I’m rinsing it off, so it’s not annoyingly tangled after I wash it.

Repurchase: Done, though I mostly use Redken Acidic Bonding one because of ingredients.

ILIRIJA 1908 Koprivni šampon

Nettle shampoo

This is an old classic shampoo from Slovenia that our grandparents used and still so many people love it. Even my super dry hair likes it. It’s not drying, it cleans well and it smells nice in a nostalgic kind of way. It’s basic (SLS + a tiny bit of nettle extract), but it gets the job done and it’s inexpensive (less than 2 €). Most of my shampoos are SLS free, so this something like my cleansing shampoo (a gentle version) and I also use it for cleaning brushes.

Repurchase: I have all four versions of these, several bottles and all the shower gels.

L’OREAL Elseve Color Vive Purple Shampoo

A shampoo with a strong purple pigment that combats yellow tones. It does a good job, but using it at every wash makes the hair too ashy, especially if it’s very light blonde. This, Subrina’s Bye Bye Yellow, Inebya Ice Cream No Yellow shampoo and Olaplex n.4P are all equally effective, so if I were buying a new one, I’d buy it based on the lowest price.

Repurchase: I’m not blonde at the moment and I still have a spare, but yes.

PANTENE Pro-V Miracles Purple Shampoo

This is the only purple shampoo that disappointed me. It looked the right colour, same as the L’Oreal one, an intense violet, but it didn’t tone well. Formula was also nothing special and I usually love Pantene products.

Repurchase: No. I used this one as a shower gel.

JOICO K-Pak Revitaluxe Restorative Treatment

Joico is a top brand in my eyes for damaged and dry hair. Usually I use the K-Pak Reconstructor and Hydrator duo, but this one is also fantastic. It has the ability to transform my dry hair into something more normal. It’s one of rare treatments that can make my perpetually stiff ends softer and in better condition (temporarily, of course).

Repurchase: Yes.

SCHWARZKOPF Gliss 7 Sec Express Repair Treatment Ultimate Repair

This one of the best products that was launched in the last years and I’ve tried three versions already. Formula is a liquid that you apply on wet hair (I just squeeze the water out and not towel-dry it like at regular conditioner) and then you emulsify it. I like to spread it all over the hair with a comb after it’s emulsified. It forms a regular conditioner type of texture. It really works in seconds and it leaves the hair feeling silky, like a conditioner with plenty of silicones, even though this has none. It’s excellent for when I don’t have time to leave on the mask/treatment or I use it as a type of co-wash when my hair is dry. These are truly great.

Repurchase: Done, though other versions, but all work the same. This one has more of manly/unisex scent.

K18 Leave-in Molecular Repair Hair Mask

This is a mini from the first try, but I have recently bought the 15 ml version so I could do a proper test with 6 successive uses, like they recommend. It does nothing on my hair. My bleached lengths are no healthier, stronger, hair doesn’t break less nor is it smoother. It did nothing of note. It’s a very light leave-in treatment and you need only a few millilitres of it per use, it also needs to be emulsified between the palms of the hands, something that’s not written in the instructions. Without extra leave-ins, my hair would feel unnourished and like I didn’t use anything. It’s probably the priciest hair treatment available, but I’m not impressed.

Repurchase: No.

OLAPLEX No.9 Bond Protector Nourishing Hair Serum

I use this as the first step after washing off the mask/conditioner/treatment. It’s a clear, light, gel-like liquid that spreads easily to a large area. I find my hair dries smoother when I use this, but it’s not the only product I use after washing (Moroccanoil All-in-one leave-in also helps my hair be smoother). As nice as it is, though, it does nothing to prevent damage. My hair is breaking at the same rate, so Olaplex is not doing what it promises on my hair.

Repurchase: Done, but I’m not sure if I’ll continue buying it.

THE INKEY LIST Glycolic Acid Exfoliating Scalp Scrub

This was utterly useless and I have never experienced a product going bad in a way that this one did. It coagulated or curdled in a way, I had to use a sieve to get the chunks out (and some were big). It didn’t do anything on my scalp, it’s simply too weak for me (7% glycolic acid).

Repurchase: No.

FARMASI Keratin Spray

A light leave-in spray with nice ingredients, mostly water + silicones + hydrolysed proteins & aminoacids, so great combination for damaged hair. It lacked slip for me, meaning it didn’t detangle well, but it did help make the hair softer.

Repurchase: No.

MOROCCANOIL Mending Infusion

This is a type of protein treatment, though it’s designed to hide split ends. While I don’t find it makes my hair as nice as the oil Treatment, its ingredients are more impressive. It has lots of proteins and aminoacids, so it’s a product that helps strengthen the hair. It’s a lightweight lotion for the ends that instructions say to use on dry hair as a finisher, but I use it both on damp and dry hair, and it nicely smooths it down and hides the look of scruffy, dry ends.

Repurchase: Done.

KÉRASTASE Resistance Serum Thérapiste

I’m disappointed by this. Not by how it works, but the fact you get 15 ml of product in each of the two sides (the bottle of course states 30 ml, but you can only squeeze out both serums at once). It didn’t last many uses and for the price, it’s just not worth it. It’s a repairing hair serum for weak, over-processed and damaged hair that is also a heat protectant. I like this more on dry hair either as heat protection or as a finishing serum cream, since it has a type of texture that’s like mixing something like Olaplex n.6 with an oily serum. It makes the hair look more polished when applied on dry hair and it has a nice list of ingredients filled with ceramides, aminoacids and hydrolised protein, but I can make such a serum myself by mixing Moroccanoil Mending Infusion with any silicone oil.

Repurchase: No.

LAZARTIQUE Huile Des Reves

One of my most used and favourite hair products. It’s a hair oil with no silicones and it’s got a dry oil texture, meaning it’s the lightest such oil I’ve tried, so I can use more often than other regular oils before my hair starts feeling like it needs a wash. It also doesn’t it start smelling rancid on the hair in the following days like some other oils do (like coconut).

Repurchase: Done.

SUBRINA Color Refresh Mask

Cold Brown, Orange, Warm Brown, Violet

Tinted hair mask that I’ve tried every colour of. These three shades are the ones I’m using to hide my blonde hair, since I’m giving my hair a time off from bleaching and colouring. Cold Brown has green tones that counteract red hues on washed off brown shades, so it’s not suited for hair that is blonde, as it lacks the yellow/orange/red tones, so when it’s washing off the hair is blue (pick this shade if you’re a brunette colouring your hair a couple of shades lighter). Warm Brown has orange tones, so the colour is a reddish brown and on blonde hair it washes off towards orange. Orange is a yellow-orange shade that you can use to refresh orange coloured hair or if you want a temporary ginger hair (only if you’re a blonde). I mix orange into brown shades (Wella’s mask in Chocolate Touch and Moroccanoil Cocoa) to add the much needed warmth. People say these leave their hair so soft, but they are not nourishing enough for my thick hair and the hair is stiff after use. These wash off the easiest of all such products I’ve tried.

Repurchase: I have every shade and many boxes.

WELLA Color Fresh Mask

Chocolate Touch

Another tinted hair mask. As far as nourishment goes, this one is the same as Subrina Colour Refresh, so not enough for my hair and I hated how stiff my hair felt after using this. The colour though is the best deep brown I’ve tried so far and it washes off towards warm tones, so with every wash the colour looks decent and presentable, however, it is bland and lacks shine. Still it’s better than Moroccanoil Cocoa, which washes towards purple and later grey (meaning it’s a better shade for those that colour their brown hair and when the colour washes off, they are left with red tones). Both Subrina shades are lighter. By the way, none of these temporary hair masks cover greys.

Repurchase: Likely, we’ll see. I love the nourishing formula of the much more expensive Moroccanoil, though.

SCHWARZKOPF GOT2B Oil-liscious Spray

This is so old, but I was saving it only for special occasions because it’s so good. It’s a light silicone-oil in a spray and it added so much shine to the hair, it smoothed it down and help fake healthy hair look. I used it often for adding shine before taking pictures. Looks like got2b discontinued not just this, but also its replacement, so I guess I’ll have to save that one too.

SCHWARZKOPF GOT2B Hoch karäter Volumen + glanz soufflé

This has been discontinued for years and I have backups, but it was one of the best hair styling products. It’s was a type of whipped wax that I use to make curls last together with hair spray. I haven’t found a similar replacement, probably no one makes such a unique texture anymore. I have, however, been testing Nivea’s Soft Touch Mousse and it’s great. So light, yet holds.

Empties #47 – Mateja’s Beauty Blog

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Search

Ignite Your Style

Never miss a beat when it comes to fashion