Hair Care

 I've often been a "cheaper is just fine" when it comes to haircare products.  Trying various products and general brands over the years, I never quite found anything that caused significant improvement in my wavy/slightly frizzy hair.  I'd find short term fixes but nothing that made me confident in how my hair would look towards the end of the day. Enter, Olaplex. 

I'd read about Olaplex from bloggers for a while before I decided to try it out. I ordered the trial pack from sephora.com. It's $25 for trial sized products 3, 4, 5 and 6.  After trying them all, I really like products 5 and 6 the best. 

Olaplex 3 is a hair mask. It says to dampen hair (pre-shower) and leave on for at least ten minutes, so definitely try to meet the time requirement. Sometimes I leave it on for an hour. Then I hop in the shower and rinse it off. 

Olaplex 4 is a concentrated shampoo. I don't like this one as much. Since it's concentrated, I only have to use a small amount, then get a splash of water on it before lathering it into my hair. I just feel as though it's not slippery enough to reach my whole head of hair. I don't want to keep adding extra product to my hands because I know that's not the point of a concentrated product. I also feel like my hair can only go for 24 hours before needing another cleaning when I use this shampoo. I prefer to make my hair go two days between washes. Over time I've realized that it's okay to not like all of the products in a set. I think the Olaplex products work slightly differently on various hair types & the shampoo just doesn't jive that much with my hair type. So I'm fine using my Redken All Soft shampoo instead. 

Olaplex number 5 is a conditioner and I LOVE it! I feel as though my hair is much smoother and combs out well after showering. I liked this product so much that I ordered the full size which they carry on a variety of websites including Amazon! (It's also found on sephora.com, Nordstrom, and even Zulilly from time to time.) 

The 6th product is a hair smoother & I love this one just as much as the conditioner. I use a small amount & rub it through my damp hair right before I blow it dry or if I air-dry my hair then I'll rub this through before I straighten my hair. I concentrate it on the bottom half of my hair but when I'm finished rubbing the majority of the product through my hair, I'll run my hands quickly over the top of my hair to tame some of my fly aways. This product really helps smooth out my hair & it stays smooth all day. To be fair, I began using these products in the late fall when we weren't having 100% humidity. So my hair has stayed nice & smooth during these winter months, and the real test will be this spring & summer as our humidity rises. I love this product so much that I ordered it in its full size since the trial size was almost gone, and I don't want to run out. 

Here is my hair after air drying it, before the smoothing cream. 

Here's my hair after smoothing cream & straightening. 

Here's the way I normally wear it for work- half pulled back into a silk scrunchie with three bobby-pins keeping my fly aways laying flat. 

I use the conditioner & smoothing cream every time I clean and style my hair. I use the hair mask about once a week or so. I'll probably end up ordering the hair mask in the full size once the trial size is gone. Al of the products smell light & clean, and I am pleased that I've found the products that work the best with my hair type. I'm excited to see how they hold up in the impending southern humidity! 

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba