Nearly a year ago I had one of the worst hair experiences of my life, to this day I’m not entirely sure what went wrong other than neglect on the salons part; they used a really high volume of bleach, left it on too long and really didn’t care that they snapped off around 30% of my hair in the process. Cool. I’m still utterly wary of hairdressers; for the record I know so many are talented beyond belief, and truly take care of their client from start to finish but, every now and then something like this happens and on the most part it will – and did – leave anyone’s faith in hair salons a little shaken.

I’m the past I wasn’t that precious about my hair (its long, thick and can typically take a “beating”) but washing it, for the first time after that fateful day and having masses of it snap off in my hands, I will never take me tresses for granted. However it is not all bad, two life-slash-hair lessons have since come into play…every cloud and all that.

1, Please speak up: if you ever feel uncomfortable in the salon chair be it with what is happening and/or if you feel physical pain please, please for the love of god tell someone. It will save you heartbreak and most likely your hair – remember you are paying for the treatment, therefore you are welcome to voice your thoughts and feelings.

2, You can not beat a word of mouth recommendation from someone you know and trust; online reviews can be manipulated (not that any reputable salon would as much as consider doing this, nor is this something I have personally encountered but worth noting all the same). Just because one salon and/or hairdresser has their own techniques and ways which might not necessarily for you or your needs.

If you do find yourself in a similar state of disarray – although not comforting in the midst of the chaos – do remind yourself that hair does grow and there are some great and often affordable deep conditioners out there that can help to repair the damage, none more highly recommended nor reached for by my chubby paw, than L’Oreal Elvive Full Restore 5 Cica-Masque.

I’ll level with you, my local 24-hour supermarket is skimpy on haircare and this was the only masque type product they sold on that fateful night my snapped off hair began to clog the shower drain – fate, a mere confidence or sheer luck, however you see it my hair has never need happier post-bleach trauma.

The great things (yes plural) about the L’Oreal Elvive Full Restore 5 Cica-Masque is that it is cheap (never more than £5 but forever on offer somewhere), readily available and it works. Man does it work. This is not your everyday conditioner, it is thick, intense, of salon standard and really should only be used on dry and/or damaged hair to prevent normal or fine hair from becoming overwhelmed and weighed down – bleach woes aside this would also work a treat on hair that has perhaps seen a little too much sun?

As with most L’Oréal hair products this does smell great but as I said the real magic of this product is that it works. The intense nature of L’Oreal Elvive Full Restore 5 Cica-Masque, instantly smooths, hydrates and instantly nourishes the hair making it feel at least ten times better to the touch and imparting a gentle sheen to the hair that is not damaged in my case. It also helps to easily de-tangle and eradicate frizz in one quick application, with continued use, I have noticed that it is slowly butt surely nursing my hair back to good health: it contains cicamide (a restoring complex that penetrates the hair and fills it with micro fibres to build stronger hair) and pro-keratin (strengthens weakened hair.

Comments

• Comments