Mods Hair Hot Care Intensive Repair Essence

I have been trying to suppress my cosmetic shopping and focus on finishing piles of stuff I have bought… but… sigh… resolution remains resolution…

http://mods-style.com/haircare/product/hotcare05.php

Enter Mods Hair Hot Care line. I need my hair to be more easily managed and tidy… so, I suppose new repair essence wont hurt my wallet… (of course, I didn’t stop with the repair essence, I reached the cashier with piles of other stuff I will review sooner…)

Mods Hair is Japanese line from Unilever, now available in Singapore. This sleek hot pink bottle is designed for dull, coarse, unmanageable, dry and damaged hair. just what I need!

It contains Triple Heat Oil to repair damage while you heat style your hair. This bottle promises me product that is not sticky and spreads easily. Plus… floral passion fragrance to keep me cheerful all day… let’s see if the claim is accurate…

I tried this repair essence with dry hair and towel dried hair during the past two days. I continued both tries with flat ironing and styling as usual.

I have to say I prefer the result when used on towel dried hair. my hair feels smooth to touch, and true enough, it is not sticky at all. Makes my hair straight for longer time than usual… plus it doesn’t have silicone-y feel…

As for the fragrance claim… it is soft and light.. but it doesn’t last all day…

Anyways… I am loving the product and most probably re-purchase! 

Lucido L Hair Wax < Moisture >

Lucido L is famous Japanese hair care brand; it is pretty easy to find their product in local pharmacies such as Watsons in Singapore. Yet, I happened to purchase mine when from Bangkok. Doesn’t matter… since all are made in Japan (I think…), the quality should be the same with the Singaporean stock.

Anyways, I love love love Lucido L for their innovation. Seems like every other day they churn out new products … newer products always seems prettier, more potent, more interesting … which means, I end up with numerous tubes of unfinished hair products but end up getting more. All of that aside…

This is another new one from Lucido L: the new hair wax comes in 6 variants to address different concern from making voluptuous volumes to adding juicy moisture. All packaged in pretty, colorful tubs…  for my fried, chemically processed hair…I got the one to add moisture, of course… and it comes in pretty pink tub!

Lucido L says this tub contains double hyaluronic acid to provide long lasting moisture- creating shiny, lively and smooth hair. it also contains non sticky powder to absorb oil and penetrating hyaluronic acid to add moisture.

The light glossy cream smells of light fruity floral fragrance. The lovely cream is absorbed easily without making my hair feels heavy. But… I don’t feel much moisture from this baby. Of course, directly after application, there is moisturizing feeling, but after it has been fully absorbed by my fried hair, I don’t feel any difference. One thing I love from this wax is it doesn’t feel silicone-y at all! A little dash of silicone in my hair wax or oil is good, but too much of them… I am getting kinda bored with tonnes of silicone laden products out there…   

Anyways… bottomline…

Pretty tube never fails to tempt me to purchase from this range. This might be moisturizing enough for those whose hair is not as fried as mine. For me, this didn’t have any effect. 

Kao Segreta Hair Treatment Essence

Segreta is brand from Japanese beauty company, Kao. This particular brand is targeting hair issues of more mature audience. For me, I will try anything that promises more manageable, glossy, stronger hair. Previously I tried Segreta's Glossy Hair Oil. This time, I grabbed their Treatment Essence. 

(picture from adambeauty.com)

The treatment essence is housed in mist bottle. I dont read japanese, but I do think this is meant to be applied on dry hair, then dry your hair as usual. 

Its texture is just like water... with faint fruity floral aroma. very faint. I sprayed the treatment essence liberally on my dried hair, and wait for my damp hair to dry as usual. 

The result was slightly softer hair. But I am not super impressed by it. I do think this is still a nice spray to add a little moisture on my bone dry hair ends, but aside than that, I didnt see any magnificent difference. 

Bottomline, 

nice add on for my desk, during those bone dry hair days. but I wont repurchase. 

Oriental Princess Cuticle Hair Treatment Leave On Serum for Damaged Hair

This week is going to be Oriental Princess week... I hauled quite a lot of products from this Thai brand during my recent Bangkok Trip. With its pocket friendly price point, I don’t think much when I stuff more and more bottles of potions and lotions plus paints in my shopping cart.

I have to say, currently I am loving the brand... they offer various lines and most importantly... they have specific product for split ends and fluffy hair! This serum promises deep nourishment and easily managed hair. It contains jojoba seed oil and sunflower seed oil too.

This time I am trying the serum. Far from my regular liquid pump bottle serum, Oriental Princess’ serum is more cream in a tub than liquid.

The cream is actually quite thick and glossy, yet easily absorbed when applied on either dry or towel dried hair – Oriental Princess recommends applying on damp towel dried hair. The cream has light aquatic-marine fragrance which dissipates when applied. My hair feels soft after the application. Not surprising, since the product contains silicone based ingredients.

It doesn’t weigh my hair at all too. but I didn’t feel my hair getting more moisture after applying it... just additional softness- which I also highly appreciate...

Bottomline,

If it were more moisturizing, I will repurchase. But this might be just the right product for normal hair. 

Oriental Princess Concentrated Cuticle Hair Treatment for Fluffy Hair

For fluffy hair... that’s a product made for me! Woots!

This baby was part of my haul from a Thai brand, Oriental Princess. Easily found in Thai malls, they are affordable yet offers plethora of products.

The serum contains vitamin E acetate and jojoba oil to strengthen and moisturize. It also promises to strengthen my hair and to give more body – not that my thick hair need extra body, but, I do need stronger hair.

The serum is thick and glossy, easily absorbed and non sticky. It has no fragrance. I can strongly feel the presence of silicone ingredients here – as it feels that signature silicone slipperiness. My hair becomse softer and more shiny after application. Just like other silicone based products, this doesn’t add moisture on my hair at all, just softness.

Bottomline,

I love moisturizing products, this is lovely, but not moisturizing enough for me. I’m not going to repurchase this one... even though I do think it will make great product for those looking for softness and shine alone. 

Ma Cherie Hair Oil

I love hair oil waaaayyy too much. I have a lot, yet I keep on buying more. This time I grabbed one from Shiseido’s Ma Cherie. I tried their hair milk and straight wax before, and am quite happy with the results.

Ma Cherie says this hair oil will provide deep penetrating nourishment to your hair. They also promises light texture. It will protect hair from heat styling and UV rays. Two of the star ingredients are Champagne royal jelly extract to repair damaged cuticle inside out and hydroxyethyl urea and inositol to enhance gloss and shine, plus making hair soft to touch. And as with all Ma Cherie product, the fragrance promises protection against odors and cigarette smell.

This hair oil is colorless and feels very light-almost watery, with light fruity floral fragrance that’s present in all Ma Cherie products. It does feel a little silicone-y, even though the ingredients list doesn’t mention various silicone based stuff. But then again, we never know the proportion of each ingredient from the ingredient list.

Ingredients: c 13-14 isoparaffin, dimethicone, olea europeaea fruit oil, hydrogenated polyisobutene, poly silicone-13, triethylhexanoin, amp-isostearoyl, wheat/corn/soy amino acids, bis-ethyl-hexyloxyphenol methoxyphenyl triazine, royal jelly extract, wine extract, ehtylhexyl methoxycinnamate, isostearic acid, alcohol, water, tocopherol, butylene glycol, bht, fragrance, red 17, green 6.

This product is a pleasure to use. Single pump might appear and feel too much in the beginning, but it does get absorbed easily. It doesn’t weigh my hair at all or make it appear oily. It just adds softness and shine and reduce tangles on my hair ends. This might be the perfect hair oil for those with normal or softer hair. for me, I would want my hair oil to give a little moisture to my split ends.

Nowadays I’m using it to complement my regular Vrai oil, just after I towel dried my hair.

Bottomline,

Pleasant to use, light hair oil. It adds softness and shine, but doesn’t weigh down my hair. might be a perfect hair oil for those with finer or normal hair. Personally I wont repurchase, as I would want my hair oil to supply more moisture to my fried our hair ends. 

Kanebo Ichikami Hair Treatment Oil

Hair oils… I am in love with them right now. Previously, I tried Ma Cherie’s Hair Oil, and now I am trying Ichikami’s version. I am so intrigued with this one, as this baby promises tsubaki oil. I have been dying to try the buzzed up tsubaki oil. In fact… I purchased this one because of the tsubaki oil content.

As with other Ichikami’s products, they uses ingredients that’s used since ancient Japan for haircare; such as black rice extract, tsubaki oil, hiougi (a kind of iris), mukuroji and walnut. Ichikami says this oil prevents and repairs serious hair damage.

I do love the packaging, small plastic pump bottle with small nozzle. Making it a breeze dispense small amount of oil at a time.

The light clear oil has no discernable fragrance. It is not sticky and get absorbed easily. This oil doesn’t add any weigh on my hair, it just add softness and sheen. I don’t notice any stark result difference when I applied it on my damp towel dried hair or fully dried hair.

Bottomline,

Another pleasant to use light hair oil. I love the small plastic bottle and tiny nozzle for easy dispensing. It is light and makes my hair feel so soft, I think this would be nice for finer hair or normal hair. I won’t repurchase as it doesn’t add moisture as much I want my hair oils to. 

LUSH R&B Moisturizer

Here in the tropics, as we welcome rain and humidity… I welcome… even frizzier hair. not fabulous at all.

But… with a little welcome from LUSH, my ever-frizzy hair is way more manageable. Beauties and handsomes, please meet my current favorite… R&B Moisturizer!!!

(picture from lushsg.com)

When I first picked this off LUSH online shop, I was amused by the fact that LUSH says it works for African American curly hair. Actually, that makes me grab the tiny 100gr jar instantly. As usual, LUSH always has stories behind the product… which in this case, was 3 store managers with problematic hair.

Well, now the product… LUSH promises: dry no more, vegan and work out for out-of condition hair. all these three, I can say, I totally agree!

This moisturizer is innocent looking pastel yellow cream in LUSH black plastic jar. Don’t be fooled. It looks innocent, but do apply with care… as it is super moisturizing. Even for me, I always pick a little product at a time, massaged in, then pick a little more when needed. Else, you will end up like a wet rat.

Now, I tried both methods of application as LUSH suggested. On semi-dry / towel dried hair, it doesn’t moisturize as much as when I applied it on fully dry hair. I recommend using it only on your dried ends, not too near to your scalp… again, oily scalp aint pretty.

My favorite way of using this is to apply on my hair ends after straight ironing and leave on Vrai Argan Oil. When I do this at night, I wake up with easier to manage and less frizzy hair. lovely.

Ah, yes… the fragrance. I enjoyed the fresh floral scent of R&B. but bear in mind, this is not your watered down fruity floral colognes… this is jasmine. Not as jasmine-y as LUSH Jasmine and Henna Fluff-eaze. When applied over night, I wake up with softly scented hair. pleasant, but not too strong that it competes with my perfume of the day.

Bottomline,

Definitely repurchase for me! Dry hairs, frizzies… this is your heaven-sent moisturizer! Those with fine and normal hair… remember to apply with care on towel dried hair. 

Kose Cosmeport Salon-Style Precious Head Spa Secret Knight Repair EX

I’m always up to fun treatments or anything that promises hair repair. Kose Salon Style Secret Knight Repair EX fits the bill.

It promises no stickiness when applied. I agree with Kose, sticky hair during sleep is no fun. The product will moisturize your hair deeply and maintain it.

The product contains wonderful ingredients such as orange essential oil, safflower oil, jojoba oil, olive oil, hot spring water and herbal extracts.

I washed my hair, air dry it and apply. Salon Style specifically mentions to make sure your hair is dry when used. Oh, don’t make my silly mistake – shake the bottle thoroughly before dispensing. Else, you wont get mousse, but milky liquid mess instead. When shaken properly and the bottle held upright, the soft mousse will be dispensed nicely. Somehow the mousse expands in volume a few seconds after dispensing. So, I highly suggest dispensing small amount, ping pong ball sized mousse at a time.

The product was easily absorbed, leaving no residue behind. My hair was soft and silky to touch afterwards. I applied it in the evening after shampooing, leaving it on overnight. The next morning, my hair is still nice to touch, but I don’t feel it as moisture as much as I liked it to be. When I did this test, I skipped my usual leave on hair oils/ LUSH R&B moisturizer during drying process. Nowadays, I am applied Salon Style Secret Knight Repair EX after my regular hair moisturizers.

Bottomline…

Nice to have, but not essential at all. But this might be a wonderful product for those who just want silkier hair. For me and my fried dried processed hair, won’t repurchase. 

Segreta Glossy Hair Oil

Segreta line is hair care range for mature women by Kao, a Japanese cosmetic producer. Kao consider loss of shine and less luster to be of 40s ladies concern… little do they realize that I also have that concern! Ha! My dried fried processed hair is always lackluster… therefore, I am grabbing stuff from Segreta!

(picture from adambeauty.com)

One more surprise (at least for me…) Segreta is Italian for ‘secret’. And Christy Turlington was the first model for this brand!

Segreta Glossy Hair Oil promises lively gloss full of texture, it also protects your hair from damage caused by dryer and UV rays. Kao recommends applying it after towel drying before blow drying.

The bottle is standard clear plastic bottle with pump. The bottle looks like glass, where it is actually sturdy plastic. I love the color and the design of the bottle. I find it looking more luxurious than other hair products.

What can I say… I love this hair oil. The oil is super light and smells fresh too. The fragrance is not too sharp that you can smell it miles away, though. It just add a nice whiff of fresh smell when I smell my hair.

It does get absorbed easily, without leaving my hair heavy or oily. Wonderful thing is, it doesn’t feel silicone-y at all. I can feel my hair ends getting softer with this baby applied.

Bottomline…

Light, lovely, easily absorbed hair oil for my dried ends. I am definitely going to repurchase this one!

Blue Ocean Hair Care Oil

Got this during my trip to Turkey few months back. I am not sure if Blue Ocean is Turkish brand or it comes from neighboring countries.

This is one of those pre-shampoo treatments. You are supposed to apply and massage the oil to the hair and scalp, then wait for 30-45 minutes. Shampoo and condition as usual after that.

First, the packaging… plastic bottle with spray nozzle to dispense the oil. But since the oil is of cooking oil consistency, I do think the spray nozzle is not so helpful. Yes, it does eliminate the risk of the bottle tipple over and spilling its content… but I just don’t like the idea of spraying 2-3 times before getting enough oil for my thick and coarse hair. But hey, this might be a godsend for those with shorter, finer hair- who wont need as much oil as I do.

Here’s the list of ingredient: sesame oil, sweet almond oil, pine oil, nettle seed oil, chamomile oil, lavender oil, myrtle oil, eucalyptus oil, wheat oil, castor oil, rosemary oil, coconut oil, olive oil, vitamin e, vegetable oil.

While the ingredient is full of fragrant oils, the oil itself is not as wonderful smelling as I imagined in the beginning. It smells faintly of something I cant point my finger on… not nice, but not repelling… just strange smell-which dissipates quickly after application.

The oil rinses easily if you massaged your hair thoroughly during shampooing. I just wash my hair as usual then condition. It does make my hair softer and more manageable, But not extraordinarily so.

Bottomline,

Not a necessary addition in my hair care routine. It does make my hair softer and more manageable, but no extraordinary result here.

Vrai Argan Oil

I tend to shy away from argan oil products since I consider it too expensive and my experience with argan oil products hasnt been satisfactory recently.

So, when my parents brought me Vrai Argan Oil from Fragonard Paris last month, I just tried a shy single pump on my skin and leave the bottle on my desk. Pretty much untouched, since I have other body oils on rotation.

But yesterday, I was running out of my regular Etude House hair essence, which I always apply prior to straight ironing. at times combined with Ma Cherie milk. In desperate effort to find replacement, I stumbled upon white minimalistic Vrai Argan Oil bottle. I applied it on my towel dried hair then go on straight ironing (no Ma Cherie milk here). To my delight... it worked very well. My hair feels less dry and more smooth to touch.

Vrai Argan oil is fragranced with fresh citrusy fragrance. It is not as thick as other argan oil products I tried. Clear, light (but not as light as dry oils) and fresh oil. It got absorbed easily. Those who dont like fragrance, dont worry, the pleaseant smell pretty much disappear in few minutes upon application

According to the bottle, this oil can be used on body also. But I find exceptional result when used on my hair, not skin. On skin, I still prefer dry oils like Nuxe.

Unfortunately, I cant point to you where to get this in other countries outside France, since I dont think Fragonard has shop outside France. Prior to Vrai, I know Fragonard for their fragrances.

Bottomline,
I would highly reccomend this for those with dried, fried, baked hair. This one is my staple now.

However, I dont think I would reccomend this for those with oily hair...might be too sticky/oily.

Shiseido Ma Cherie End Cure Milk

Japanese giant Shiseido certainly has specialized brand for every single beauty lover! This line, called Ma Cherie, is hair care range with lovely and fresh light fragrance. Totally caught my eye because of.... the pinky winky pretty sweetie bottle design! ha!

End cure milk is pretty much a non-wash conditioner. light lotion -textured and lightly fragranced. this baby got absorbed easily to my ultra dry-super processed hair.

I used it before and after my daily flat-ironing, and I find the product helps keep my hair feel softer all day long. The fragrance is gone by the time I massaged the milk in my hair.

Bottomline,
helpful addition in my haircare box, but not essential. I can replicate the result with other more readily available products.

I got mine in Sasa Taiwan.

Kao Essential damage care rich premier hair essence

Kao is another Japanese cosmetic company which makes various hair care and skin care products. The Essential brand is one of them.

The last time I checked, this rich premier line from Essential features shampoo, conditioner and hair essence. The rich premier is targetted to this with damaged hair, with treatment focused on last 15cm of your hair. Which the brand believe is to be the most damaged section of your hair. I do agree with this, just ask my split ends...

 The hair essence is supposed to work as hair lotion. Just apply it on clean hair, dont rinse off. Honestly, this stuff is not potent enough for my regularly straightened hair. My hair still feel dry and coarse after few application. Just not to throw it away, now I am using it after I used wash off conditioner. Just to add little extra moisture for my hair.

Etude House Double Repair Hair Essence

I tried and hated other hair essences or serums. They tend to make my hair feel... heavy and some time oily. I dont usually get my hair care products from Etude House, Korean brand which offers alot of cute cosmetics... but hey... I did...Honestly, i don’t know why i picked this one up ...

Great news is... I don’t regret this purchase! I even grabbed another bottle the next day!

First ... I like the packaging. Simple transparent plastic pump bottle which is air-travel friendly is perfect! One squirt dispenses perfect amount of product for my ultra dried hair ends.

The serum has thin gel-like consistency, but becomes liquid enough to coat my hair easily. Feels siliconey and a little oily at the same time. Totally makes my hair feel so smooth and much more manageable! Instant love...

Slightly fragranced with soft fruity floral notes, very light. It is gone within first hour of application.

Have I told you I am totally in love with this one? LoL...