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Belle Toujours: Joico 4 Step K-Pak treatment

 A few weeks ago I was invited to a beauty forum event at the new incredible salon/spa in Cardiff called Belle Toujours. At the event, myself and a few other bloggers were treated to two  treatments and asked what we thought of the prices, the actual treatments, the salon and the experience. It's not often that I rave about these events unless I feel that they thouroughly deserved it but seriously, I have to say this was one of the best beauty events I've been to. The salon/spa itself was incredible. It's set on the elegant and breathtaking Cathedral road in Cardiff in a £1million Victorian Townhouse and features a female salon, a barbers and a spa room. For a more detailed post on the event visit: By Mimi

One of the treatments that I decided to try was the Joico 4  step k-pak treatment which is supposed to help weak and distressed hair become more nourished and glossy. 

Now, even though I dye my hair, the actual condition of it isn't too bad. Although, like many of my red headed friends, I also suffer with those pesky little split ends which seem to haunt my locks! 

The treatment itself, which lasted around 45 mins including the lovely blow-dry, consisted of 4 stages:

Step 1 – clarifying shampoo which removes any build up impurities and unwanted minerals from the hair.

Step 2 – cuticle sealer – which squeezes out excess moisture in the interior of the hair – (Not part of the DIY kit).

Step 3 – deep penetrating reconstructor which works deep in the cortex of the hair to rebuild and strengthen the protein and bonds with the hair.

Step 4 – hydrator seals in keratin protein and closes cuticle, hydrating the hair and promoting shine.

The treatment aims to leave your hair stronger than ever before with increased maneability and shine and I can honestly say that it did. This exclusive treatment can only be carried out by a salon authorised by Joico, meaning you're always going to get highly skilled professionals doing it, although there is a DIY kit available for you to use in-between treatments which retails at Belle Toujours at £38 for approx 30-40 treatments.
 
I was told by the salon assistant that you if you have the treatment done regularly, then you can highly reduce the number of split ends that you have. 

After the treatment, my hair did look noticeably shinier and glossier and I'd say around 80% if the split ends had disappeared. It felt strong and looked healthy which is really important to me and, despite the fact I'd just had a lot of products put onto it, it didn't look greasy or weighed down, which is also something I struggle with having fine hair. 

According to Joico: 

"K-PAK’s multi-action formulas feature megadoses of our revolutionary Bio-Advanced Peptide™ and Quadramine® complexes—the most powerful reconstructive technologies known to hair—to repair and strengthen hair precisely where it needs it, when it needs it." 

  

I'd definitely have the treatment done again as it didn't take long at all (just felt like an extra long rinse...) and also because I could clearly notice visible results. Plus, the prices of the treatment only start at around £15, but this is obviously dependent on how long your hair is etc...

If you want to find out where you can have the treatment done or if you want to know more about Joico then click here

 

Red x

  

Review: Organix Moroccan Argan Oil

 

  

"This rare formula has a centuries-old history of providing natural vitamin E and antioxidants while renewing your hair’s cell structure, sealing in shine, and creating lush softness".

- Organix

I may be a little late on the bandwagon with the love of moroccan oil products, but I recently bought the Organix Moroccan argan oil shampoo and conditioner to try out my red hair. I've read quite a few articles on argan oil and the benefits that it has for dry hair, but as my hair seems to get greasy fairly quickly, I was a little worried that there would be too much moisture with the oil element. However, dying my hair red does leave it a little more damaged than usual so I really wanted a rich shampoo and conditoner that really looked after it.

I thought I'd try these two little bottles first of all as a kind of sample test. Despite them being very small (travel sized) I've managed to get quite a few washes out of them and I think I'm currently up to wash 6, which is impressive considering how long my hair is. 

The first thing I noticed when using this product is the texture and smell. Unlike many other shampoos and conditioner, the thickness in these allows you to use small amounts but still manage to cover all of the hair. The gel like formula means that when you use it, it foams and froths and easily manages to cover all of the head. 

The smell was also quite appealing! I mean, everyone loves that after wash wiff of newly wash hair don't they?! With organix argan oil, that fresh smells stays with you for a good few days after use. It kinds makes you feel a bit like you're in an advert. Y'know the one? Girl walks down street passed hunky guy and he gets a wiff of her gorgeous hair and then they fall instantly in love? Yeah, that. 

Now, I'm not one to use a lot of styling products on my hair, purely because my hair is a little bitch when it comes to doing what I want it to do, so I just quickly used the hair dryer to dry the majority of it and then let the ends dry on their own. 

As I mentioned before, my hair has a tendency to go quite greasy, quite quickly but as soon as my hair was fully dry, I noticed that it felt thick, healthy and incredibly soft. It's now been 2 days since I washed it and it still feels exactly the same. 

I'd definitely recommend you trying this product and I think it would be a perfect "after dye" shampoo and conditioner as it leaves your hair in such a good condition. There's not many shampoos/conditioners that I tend to get on with but this one definitely blew me away. Definitely love my morroccan oil hair!

I'll post a picture as soon as I can.

How I used it:

- applied a small amount of shampoo and washed the roots of my hair

- washed out

-applied another small amount of shampoo and applied from the roots to the tips, making sure I thouroughly washed the hair

- washed out

- applied a small amount of conditioner to the hair- from half way down to the tips. 

-left in for 2 mins then thouroughly washed out. 

Red.

       

Using red hair dye products

So, you've made your decision. You want to dye your hair red but now you're faced with the decision of which hair dye to try. 
To add to that, there's also the decision of whether you're going "au natural" and using henna, or whether you're going to stick to the brands you know and try foam or liquid dyes. 

Over the years, I've tried all three and now I've settled on the newest dye trend to hit our stores- oil dye. 

Personally, I found the foam dyes quite messy and despite it allowing you to have more of a coverage, the foam/mousse still ended up falling onto to the floor! I think they take far too much time and they don't allow you to get into the roots and therefore I ended up with little parts that weren't covered. Although you may be better than me at this!

I've also tried henna quite a few times and found it very difficult to use due to its substance. The sticky, muddy product dries very quickly and so becomes quite messy when applying and if you have long hair, it can become practically impossible to get it through all the hair before the henna completely dries. Although, this can be changed by adding water, but I found it way too messy.    

I've been using Garnier Olia Intense red for about 3 months and after a a bit of a rocky start as I left my other much loved hair dye, I think I finally fallen in love with it. The two pictures on the left show my Garnier Olia coverage.

I'm going to be dying my hair next week so I'll write a how-to and a little review on what I think of it. I do love this product so I will be showing you why I think it's one of the best out there but like any product, it does have its good and bad points. 

What are your favourite hair dye products for red hair?

Keep yours eyes peeled m'dears!  

Red Hair

Hello, 

I'm guessing you found my little redheaded baby by visiting my main lifestyle and fashion blog: By Mimi 

I've been wanted to write about the life of a redhead for a little while now so I decided to start this little spin off blog so that I could share thoughts and tips on being a red head and looking after your red hair. 

I've been dying my hair red since I was 16 and I'm now 21, so that's a good 5 years worth of red head knowledge there for you. Over the years, I've used many products for red hair including shampoos, dyes and serums and I've learnt what works well and what basically doesn't. 

I've also learnt how to make my red hair last longer between dyes, which helps keep it in good condition. 

So, be gentle to me readers, this is a new venture and I hope you all enjoy reading. 

Red x

(My mother's affectionate nickname for me)