John Frieda Everlasting Blonde Colour Preserving Shampoo and Conditioner Review

Three weeks ago I had my highlights done for the first time since Holly was born and my goodness it felt good. Not only did I get over 3 hours baby-free on a Saturday but I came out of my salon with a fresh blonde head of hair that made me feel ready for spring!

John Frieda sent me some of their new Everlasting Blonde Colour Preserving Shampoo and Everlasting Blonde Colour Preserving Conditioner to try out on my freshly blonded hair!

I would say that past experience has told me that it is hard to find a shampoo that keeps my colour looking fabulous and within the first few washes after getting my highlights done I notice a big difference in the brightness of colour. The John Frieda Colour Preserving products seem to have slowed that process and although it doesn't look like I'm fresh out of the salon, I am definitely impressed at how bright my highlights still seem several weeks on.

The very first time I used the shampoo I noticed instantly that it seemed to cope well with my notoriously tangly hair, especially given that hair can be very troublesome and dry after a full head of highlights. The shampoo felt good and didn't tangle my hair. The conditioner was even better. It doesn't feel heavy on my hair but it does seem to assist in the de-tangling (I'm always suspicious of a conditioner that eliminates my tangles!!!

I like the fact that the Everlasting Blonde products come in great big 250ml bottles as my hair is getting pretty long now and needs a lot of attention regularly.  You can also buy it in a smaller 50ml bottle too.

The scent of both the John Frieda shampoo and conditioner is delicate and almost imperceptible.  There are natural oils included on the ingredients list (safflower and bergamot) but I think there is a lot of man-made stuff too.

L'Oreal Elvive 60 Second Saviour Review

It pains me to admit that the L'Oreal Elvive 60 Second Saviour is an awesomely effective intensive conditioner. Having spent last month reviewing organic and natural conditioners, this L'Oreal Paris Full Restore 5 conditioner is a massive change and its not all bad. In fact, in terms of effectiveness I really can't fault it.

I'm not someone who preaches about organic and natural food or cosmetics. It just happens to be the way that life has taken me. There are some natural products that rock, and others that suck and the same goes for the big high-street man-made brands. I'm the first to admit that life's luxuries (such as a conditioner that leaves your hair feeling fabulous in less than 60 seconds) have evolved because there's a need or a want. And so, I'm totally open to the idea of a L'Oreal Elvive conditioner, especially if it does the job well.

I guess the thing I object to is the attempts at 'SCIENCE' which I find patronising and inaccurate. The bottle starts well... "60 Second Saviour Intensive Conditioner". Cool. I can cope with that.

It goes on, "INNOVATION - INFUSES ONTO THE HAIR". Err, what? You're just quoting words at me now. And grammatically incorrect words at that. Don't you mean 'fuses onto'? or 'infuses into'? Grrrrrr.

Further down the label (after the name drops of Pro-Keratin and Ceramide) I'm further bamboozled by the statement "INSTANTLY TRANSFORMS - WEIGHTLESS RESULT". Reading the label makes me feel like I'm watching a US shopping channel advert.

Patronising, fake-science label aside, does the stuff work? Well yes. And that's the part that pains me. It's quite incredibly effective and blows all of last month's conditioners out of the water.

I shall leave you with this anecdote to describe quite how good the L'Oreal Paris Elvive Full Restore 5 60 Second Saviour Intensive Conditioner is (that's quite a mouthful)...

I swim every Thursday morning with Lara. It's a rush and due to the time of her lesson at present, I rarely get a chance to wash my hair before I have to go to work. I normally get by until the evening by scraping my hair back into a high, tight pony tail.

Last month, I took the afternoon off work to go to an event at the Savoy hotel in London. Not the kind of place you turn up to unwashed and with greasy, tangled hair. I washed my hair the night before my swimming lesson and used the 60 second saviour. My hair felt properly fabulous from the very moment I rinsed it out. The following day, even after Lara's swimming lesson my damp hair still felt great and was easy to comb. So good in fact that I went straight to the Savoy from swimming and managed to look reasonably respectful and with hair that fell softly onto my shoulders. Awesome.

The Sunday Review – Hair Conditioners by Lovea, A'Kin and Wen

Since the weather got a bit warmer about 6 weeks ago, I've been trying out a few new conditioners on my hair. I have highlighted hair which seems to behave very differently in the sunny summer months than in the winter – often in need of moisture and detangling, but very easily turning greasy if I over-condition.



Lovea Bio Tahitian Monoi Conditioner £5.49 for 150ml at mypure.co.uk

This time last year I reviewed a Lovea shampoo made with Argan oil. I really rated it as an organic product although, admittedly, I never bought more of it, so I can't have been totally won over. I've now tried out the Lovea Bio Conditioner and I feel the same way.

For an Organic, SLS-free hair product I'm really impressed at it's effectiveness. It competes well with the salon and high-street brands I use that are packed full of nasties. The tahitian monoi oil with which it is made has a heavenly, tropical scent and is a natural emolliant so it forms a protective barrier over the hair.

I've found that I have to use quite a volume of the conditioner to make my hair tangle-free but that using a large amount of it means my hair gets greasy quite quickly after use (I'm talking a day and a half). Before that point though, my hair feels really great and keeps a lot of its natural shine.

The product is french and the english translation describes it as a comb-out conditioner which worried me for a little while that I was meant to leave it on my hair and not rinse it out. My rudimentary french allowed me to read the instructions to work out that I DID need to rinse it out – the comb-out refers to the intensive treatment you can get by combing it right through to the ends of your hair before rinsing.



A'Kin Avocado and Calendula Conditioner £10.49 for 225ml at mypure.co.uk

I'm also not a stranger to A'Kin products – I love their natural ingredients and well thought out combinations of essential oils. The previous conditioner of theirs that I tried (Jojoba & Lavender) left me feeling underwhelmed with everything other than the sensational scent.

I chose the Avocado & Calendula conditioner this time for a bit of a change because my hair tends to be a lot drier in the summer and the Avocado oil is intended to combat this. The conditioner is really nice and thick and creamy, but is still easy to squeeze out of the bottle.

I've learned that with A'Kin products, a little goes a long way so I only need a tiny amount of conditioner to make my hair smooth and tangle free.

The scent is largely of calendula and geranium (both essential oils that I really like, which is handy) – it is an almost buttery floral smell. All of the ingredients are natural and come from cold-pressed organic Australian plants.

I'm enjoying using this conditioner as I find it really easy to manage my hair but, once again, it doesn't leave me feeling wowed. Maybe I'm expecting too much from a conditioner?



Wen Re-Moist Intensive Hair Treatment – Sweet Almond Mint £18.95 for 112g

At this time of year, when my highlighted hair starts to dry out for the summer, I like to use the occasional deep conditioning treatment on my hair.

The Wen Re-Moist intensive hair treatment is a thick cream, almost solid (but not quite). It is designed for use on dry, damaged, coloured or chemically-treated hair and claims to bring back your hair's natural shine and strength.

I properly love the smell of the treatment, it is minty and refreshing and very relaxing to sit there in the bath with it piled on your head! The treatment is easy to use – slather on, wait, rinse. Easy.

Unlike many other intensive conditioners that I've used, it doesn't leave my hair feeling heavy or thick the day after – just refreshed.

The downside is that it is pretty expensive unless you want to sign up to the Wen monthly package and as I have yet to try the Wen Cleansing Conditioner (for which Wen is better known) I'm not sure I'm ready to take that step. Another downside is that I rather suspect that the ingredients are not as natural, organic or skin-friendly as the other two conditioners!