Beauty and Fashion Tech

Megastar Professional Flat Iron

The online store Missiko sent me a Megastar flat iron to try. This iron is a decent choice for its price range.

The Megastar iron has ceramic plates and uses infrared, ionic, and silver nano technology, for protection and shine. It runs from 140-420 degrees, for a good range of settings. The controls are also out of the way so as not to be bumped during use—something that is a must for me in a flat iron. It heats fairly quickly and is easy to use.

I found that the iron did a sufficient job straightening and it left a nice shine. I was not able to curl quite as well with it as I am with my regular iron, but to be honest, my iron for daily use (the Sedu Revolution) also runs at a higher price.Tugging and pulling was minimal with this iron, although not non-existent. Much better than some others in its price range though (if you get this one at its sale price). Which also leads me to this: Don’t buy one of those cheap irons for $20 at the drugstore. They usually will pull the heck out of your hair! Generally a decent iron will run over $75 and often will be in the over $100 range. The Megastar flat iron fits its price range.

By Carleenp Posted in Hair Care | 4 Comments

Review: Ojon Try Me Hair Ritual Kit

Ojon makes some wonderful hair care products, but they are rather expensive. If you have always wanted to give them a test drive without spending a fortune on full sized products, here is a great way to do so.

Ojon Restorative Treatment and Ultrahydrating Shampoo Conditioner Kit

The Ojon Try Me , 5-piece Hair Ritual Kit, has five of Ojon’s best items packaged in sample sizes. I went through the kit and loved them all.Ojon’s best product in my opinion is the Ojon Restorative Hair Treatment (pictured below). This product is perfect for damaged or color treated hair, and I find it to be the absolute best deep conditioning treatment available (OK, for some maybe it is tied with Kerastase Nutritive Masquintense ) and well worth every penny of its expensive $55 price tag.

One word of warning, it does smell funny! I think it smells like roasted coffee, and I don’t mind the scent, but others hate it. You also need to set aside some time for this treatment. The thick waxy lotion is warmed between the hands to form an oil and is applied to dry hair where it is left in for at least 20 minutes. The end result is incredibly deep conditioned and soft hair. I do an Ojon treatment every few weeks, usually the day after I do a Joico K-Pak Reconstructor protein treatment.

Also in the kit is a set of Ojon Ultra Hydrating Shampoo and Ojon Ultra Hydrating Conditioner. Both are solid products, but a bit expensive for my tastes when it comes to daily use. The shampoo provides good moisture with a small amount, while also providing decent, but not overwhelming lather. The conditioner is a good detangler and leaves the hair feeling soft.

Ojon Revitalizing Mist reminds me a lot of my favorite Schwarzkopf Bonacure Moisture Kick Spray (read review) and is comparable in cost. This leave in conditioner provides detangling and a bit of extra gloss and shine. It is perfect for using before blow drying and heat styling.

Ojon Shine & Protect Glossing Mist is a nice finishing mist. It adds a touch of gloss and shine, while combating the frizzies.

Overall, the Ojon line consists of all quality products. I definitely recommend the brand to those who can afford it. This kit also provides a nice way to try before making too big of a financial commitment.

Comparison Shop for Ojon Hair Care Products

By Carleenp Posted in Hair Care | 5 Comments

John Frieda Sheer Blonde Lustrous Touch Strengthening Shampoo and Conditioner

I recently tried John Frieda Sheer Blonde Lustrous Touch Strengthening Shampoo and John Frieda Sheer Blonde Lustrous Touch Strengthening Conditioner. Both are welcome and nicely affordable additions to my hair care routine!

It seems like I have developed a taste for expensive hair products. Lately my shampoo and conditions carry names likes Ojon or Fekkai, which is about as expensive as they come. So it is quite a relief to find something that I really like in the inexpensive drugstore brands!

John Frieda Sheer Blonde Lustrous Touch does a nice job of moisturizing color treated or highlighted hair and leaving it in wonderful condition. The shampoo provides more moisture than some of my more expensive items, and the conditioner is a great detangler. Alos, the first few times that I used the products, I commented that my hair was much softer than usual. But the best part about these products is that they are only around $ 6 each. Not bad at all!

The only downside I have seen using the items is that I find the need to add a stronger conditioner formulated for smoothing every few days. Otherwise, even though my hair stays very soft, I get a bit of frizziness.

For the Brunettes out there, there is also a set for you! Just look for the John Frieda Brilliant Brunette Lustrous Touch Strengthening Shampoo and John Frieda Brilliant Brunette Lustrous Touch Strengthening Conditioner at drugstores and grocery stores near you.

I also have a couple of sets of John Frieda products to giveaway. Come back tomorrow for details on how to win!

By Carleenp Posted in Hair Care | 4 Comments

Hair Highlights

Looking for some haircare advice? Take a look at these posts from around the Beauty Blog Network.

Beauty Blogging Junkie tries out a Keratin treatment, gloss, and blowout at the Hiro Haraguchi Salon - and loves it.
Beauty and Fashion Tech reviews the Remington Style and Shine Hair Dryer with new conditioning technology.
Mischo Beauty loves Ted Gibson’s “Glimmering Gold” shampoo and conditioner in her weekly “Beautiful hair needs an expert” post.
Lipstick, Powder ‘n Paint tells us how to keep our coloured hair looking bright and shiny. Check out these products For coloured hair.
Dandruff. Yuk. Don’t worry, Lipstick, Powder ‘n Paint has dandruff solutions that work.
Styles from Fashion Week: Bionic Beauty covers Oscar Blandi’s creations.
Toya shares her hair-washing routine.
StyleBell uncovers What to Expect with Hair Extensions.

By Carleenp Posted in Hair Care | No Comments

Frederic Fekkai Glossing Shampoo, Conditioner, and Styling Cream

I have heard many good things about Fekkai hair products, but I kept putting off trying them because of the cost. Well, I finally broke down and bought a kit containing several items. I had mixed results with the shampoo and conditioner, but I think part of that was because I purchased the wrong items for my hair type. The glossing cream, however, rocked!

Frederic Fekkai Glossing Shampoo Conditioner Cream

I decided to try out the glossing formula instead of one of the repair or moisture formula because I have been looking for ways to tame frizz and gain shine this winter. But I failed to note that these are really for generally normal hair, meaning that the conditioner isn’t super intense.

The Frederic Fekkai Glossing Shampoo worked out fine. The shampoo had OK moisture and OK lather. I didn’t love it to the extent that I loved my other recent try, Kenra, but I found it to be serviceable. The Frederic Fekkai Glossing Conditioner was also OK. I like conditioners that provide a lot of detangling power, and found that while Fekkai did an OK job generally, it wasn’t so great in the detangling department. The upshot was that I had to use quite a bit of it on my long hair. Considering the price, I likely would not choose this one again simply because I can get better results with less product elsewhere. But I think it would be great for shorter hair or hair that does not need a particularly intense moisturizer the way mine does.

At this point in testing, it would seem that things were getting pretty mediocre for me, but wait — I absolutely love the Frederic Fekkai Glossing Cream! This olive oil cream does a great job at adding shine when used in small amounts. I stress “small,” because if too much is used it will weigh your hair down and feel oily, but in small doses it, it imparts a terrific shine and leaves the hair incredibly soft. Price is also less of a factor for this one because of the small amount used.

On another note, my overall experience with the Fekkai products seemed much better once my hair was dry. While I found myself using quite a bit of conditioner in the shower, the results dry were quite stunning. My hair was indeed very shiny and extremely soft. So much so, that I was a bit sad that I needed to use so much conditioner to get there. I just can’t afford to buy that much. I will definitely keep purchasing the glossing cream though.

If you would like to test Fekkai products without buying a bunch of expensive full size products, take a look at the Frederic Fekkai Glossing Travel Faves (pictured).

Comparison shop for Fekkai hair care products

By Carleenp Posted in Hair Care | No Comments

New Hair Technology: Remington Style and Shine Hair Dryer

Remington has long been a respected name in beauty and personal care appliances. They also have generally been a good source of decent quality, yet affordable, hair dryers and flat irons. That is an area that has seen quite a bit of new technology over recent years, with ionic and ceramic technology becoming the standard. Now the company is bringing out some additional new tricks.

Around the end of February, Remington is releasing the Style and Shine Hair Dryer and Style and Shine Flat Iron Straightener. Both of these products include the ability to infuse the hair with a very fine mist of shine enhancing moisturizers such as avocado oil with vitamins A, E, and D to help tame the frizzies and condition the hair.The idea is wonderful. When the hair is heated, the cuticle expands and will absorb products better. Heat also isn’t the best thing for your hair. So combining treatment with heat styling allows for the best use of the conditioning product, while also helping to protect.

Here is how it works: The dryer comes with a cartridge containing the conditioning and shine enhancing treatment. The cartridge snaps into appliance and a button is used to control when it is applied, and how much. The dryer can also be used without the cartridge in place. It comes with two approximately 30 use cartridges which will also be available for sale in two cartridge packs.

The straightener is a bit different. It has ceramic plates with porous properties that have been infused with a blend of conditioners and avocado oil that evenly emit during styling.

I gave the hair dryer a try and have so far been pretty happy with it. First off, all new tricks aside, the Remington Style and Shine Dryer is a good basic hair dryer. It uses ionic and ceramic technology, and has three separate speed and heat settings. Without using the oil mist, it did a perfectly fine job of quickly drying my hair without causing any serious frizzies.

When the oil most is added, then things get interesting! Before you get worried about an oil slick, rest assured that the mist is very, very fine. In fact, it is nearly impossible to detect unless you spray some on a tissue to verify that it is working. So as long as it is not overused, it won’t leave the hair greasy. With that said, it is possible to overuse it and it takes a bit of experimenting to find the right amount–something the product literature makes note of. I found that if I sprayed it on each strand while round brushing, that my hair got too weighed down. I also decided to keep it away from my roots which can get a bit oily on their own. But when I mist the oil on my ends when my hair is almost dry and run a brush through a few times while misting at that stage, I end up with wonderfully shiny and soft hair. It seems to tame my winter frizzies very well when used that way.

Overall, the Style and Shine Dryer is a product that I recommend. Even as just a basic dryer, it is a good value and if you have dry hair that could use some taming and shine, the oil mist feature is a neat addition.

Remington’s Style and Shine products will be available in February 2008 in select stores and at mass retailers by April. Each appliance retails at $49.99, cartridge refills are $9.99.

Shop for Remington hair care appliances