I was shopping at Trade Secrets the other day and the cashier asked me if my hair was relaxed. I explained to her that I was trying to grow out my relaxer and she offered me samples of Redken Extreme. She said “these are really good products for hair like ours”. Not sure exactly what she meant by that but I never turn down samples. I took them home, stuck them in my sample box, and promptly forgot them. That is until Monday when my hair was so overloaded with hairspray from the MMVA’s that I couldn’t drag my fingers through it. I reached for my Long Term Relationship and remembered that I ran out and haven’t bought more because I'm looking for the specially-marked bottles so I can get a free mani-pedi. Thanks be to G-d I remembered I had this stuff and decided it was as good a time as any to try it out and then blog about it.
Sidebar: Now that I have a blog I can’t stop thinking in blog-speak. Instead of zoning out or daydreaming about crushboy while I do things, I'm now constantly trying to commit every experience to memory in vivid detail to share with you all. My daydreaming time has been seriously reduced as a result of this.
Anyway on to Redken Extreme. I’ve never used any Redken products so I'm a complete novice. I did go on their site the other day to have my hair “profiled” but the guy talking to me on the site was so strange and the results so vague it immediately vanished from my mind.
The site describes the Extreme line (which includes Shampoo, Conditioner, Reconstructing Treatment, Anti-Snap treatment, Rescue Force deep conditioner, and something called a Deep Fuel treatment) as “repair for distressed hair. For hair that is up to 4 times stronger. Extreme strengthens and resurfaces chemically and mechanically distressed hair. Redken's exclusive Interbond Conditioning System delivers a unique 3D Repair Complex to fortify hair so it looks and feels healthier with increased manageability and shine”.
Because I'm reviewing just a sample I obviously can’t comment on the long term effect of the claims, but I’ll fill you in on my experience and you can decide whether to give it a try.
The Extreme Shampoo was a treat. The first thing I noticed was how rich and creamy it was and how great it smelled. Kind of like a vanilla milkshake. It lathered up really well, which I love, and there was enough in the packet to wash my hair twice and still have some left over. It rinsed out easily and my hair felt nice afterward. Clean, but not dry or strawlike. I was instantly impressed.
The Extreme Conditioner was a bit of a different story.
I was nervous as soon as I opened the packed because the formula was quite lightweight, as opposed to the richness of the shampoo. It also had the nice vanilla milk-shakey smell, but there was a chemical undertone to it as well. Although it was thin, it distributed easily throughout my hair. On the site it promises to smooth and detangle your hair and that is definitely true. I noticed right away how easily my fingers slipped through my hair and I don’t even have a problem with tangles. As usual I let it sit in my hair under a shower cap while I did my business and then rinsed it out. It rinses out very easily.
When I came out of the shower my hair just more glossy and shiny than normal, but for me the test is always how my hair looks after I’ve blown it dry and flat ironed it. I won’t bore you with the intricacies of my routine because it’s too tedius to even get in to, but suffice it to say I did notice some key differences in my hair. It was straighter and a lot less frizzy than it usually is, which is good. But it had a little less body, which is not so good. It feels stronger but less soft. See a pattern here? There’s good news and bad news with this. Ultimately I think this shampoo is great if you have damaged hair, but I don’t really so for me the benefits of using it don’t outweigh the loss of body and softness. Still I give it a verdict of yes because it does what it promises.
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1 comment:
I too got a sample of Redken Extreme. I've been using the same shampoo and conditioner for about 10 years, one I buy through the beauty shop. I was blown away at how little hair I lost during my comb through after applying my conditioner. my hair looks super shiny, and feels amazingly soft and really straight. This product will cut out several leave in conditioning products that I usually use after shampooing to make my hair soft and shiny. I immediately ordered the biggest bottle of this conditioner I could find on the internet for more experiences with perfect hair than I've previously experienced. Really excited to use it again and again for these amazing results!!!
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