Product Review: Redken Smooth Down

I have a confession to make: I've been unfaithful.
Back in April when I wrote my first post, I told you about my Long Term Relationship with Herbal Essences. And it was good, don't get me wrong. LTR was good to me and for me. But it's hard to be monogamous when there is so much out there and I admit that I was led astray.

First there was a dalliance with Herbal Essences Pin Straight. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it didn't really work out. At first I was dazzled by how much it loosened my curl, but over time I realized that I just needed more moisture. I thought longingly of LTR and vowed to go back and beg forgiveness for cheating, but then my head was turned once more. I think this one is for keeps.

My new love's name is Redken Smooth Down and it is the truth, let me tell you.

After that one night stand I had with Redken Extreme, I was more than willing to try it again. But I knew this time I needed something that would give me the moisture of LTR and the straightening of Pin Straight. Mom, I think I've found the one.

Redken's website promises that the Smooth Down family of products is "specially formulated to enrich and tame extremely dry, coarse, unruly hair". Fortified with macadamia oil (which is supposed to be great for hair) and a whole bunch of other stuff, it provides great conditioning and makes your hair visibly straighter, even before you blowdry.

I couldn't afford the whole line, so I went for the Shampoo, Conditioner, and Heat Glide. Let me break them down one by one for you...

The Smooth Down Shampoo was great: it had good lather and rinsed clean, but left my hair feeling a little stripped afterward. Nothing new; pretty much all shampoo does that. One thing that puzzled me though was the smell. Not that it's bad, it just smells clean. But with the colour of the packaging and the fact that it's got macadamia oil in it had me expecting a warm cocoa buttery-type smell so I was a little thrown off when I sniffed it and just smelled...shampoo. No biggie though.

The Smooth Down Conditioner was nice too. Not as thick as I like, but it did the job. I had a hell of a time rinsing it out though, as usual. But that may have been as much because of my method of rinising my hair in cold water whilst trying not to let said cold water touch my skin as because of the conditioner itself. I know I didn't get it all out, but what was left was just on the ends and they need moisture anyway so...

Now the Smooth Down Heat Glide is serious business. It's a thick serum that just glides through your hair. And it really works! I was already ecstatic with the results after putting it in wet hair before blowdrying, but last night I decided to try an experiment: I put it on my dry hair at night just before wrapping (on just one side of my head so I could compare the results) and when I took it out in the morning the difference was remarkable. This.stuff.really.works.

I'm going back next paycheque for the Smooth Down Butter Treat which I'll use as a pre-poo and maybe even the Sleek Obedience anti-frizz solid serum after I run out of my other serums. I'll skip the detangling conditioner as I don't really have a problem with tangles.

Obviously, the wiwfm verdict on this one is hell's yes!

Product Review: The only long term relationship I’m interested in right now

Hi there!
Welcome to "[But] Will it Work For Me?"
That is what I meant the blog to be called but I somehow forgot to add the "but". So "will it work for me" it is then.
I should give you a bit of intro about myself shouldn't I? Otherwise why would you listen to what I have to say about anything? But it's after 10 o'clock which means I should be in bed. So let me quickly give you the 411 on my new life partner...

Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship

According to Herbal Essence's website, this shampoo/conditioner/leave-in trio is supposed to "…lavish every inch of your hair, protecting against damage and leaving it oh-so luscious. for even more protection, slip into my silky conditioner and split-end protector, too. grow your hair as long as you want!"

Sidebar: I really don’t like the way all of Herbal Essence’s packaging pretends as though the shampoo/conditioner is speaking to me. It’s annoying. And maybe I’m slow but I find it confusing…oh, wait you’re luscious? Oh no I’m luscious! Okay I get it now.

Anyway. Let’s talk about the fragrance first. It has extracts of red raspberry and satin. To me it smells like a combination of Elizabeth Arden’s Red Door Revealed perfume with a hint of hubba bubba. When I open the bottle, I get a blast of RDR first (maybe this is the satin) and then it fades and there’s just the gentlest whiff of bubble gum (which would be the raspberry I guess). It’s not bad, but I suspect it’s one of those scents that you either love, don’t mind, or hate with a deep and abiding passion, if you know what I mean.

Okay I’m going to quickly go through the trio one by one.

First the shampoo. It has a great lather, which I enjoy because I don't feel like my hair is getting clean if I don’t get good foam. I’m sure the one has nothing to do with the other, but oh well. It lathers well and rinses off easily enough, but it leaves my hair feeling very dry, matted, and a little straw-like to tell you the truth. This would be a huge problem (for reference, I’m half Black, half East-Indian with fine, super-curly, type 4A hair that NEEDS its moisture) if it weren’t for…

The conditioner. Same smell. A little goes a long way with this, it distributes easily through my hair and quickly takes away the straw-like feeling the shampoo gave. I usually put in on my hair, concentrating on the ends mainly, and put a shower cap over it and continue with my business in the shower so it has time to sit. This can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes depending on how much hot water there is. One thing about this conditioner is that it takes a long-ass time to rinse out. Holy jumping! The worst part is that I rinse with cold water and it’s honestly like torture for me to stand there freezing my tuches off waiting for this stuff to get out of my hair. Honestly I’m sure at least 50% of the time it’s not all gone but I just can’t take it anymore.

The leave in conditioner is optional in my opinion. It has of course the same scent, and again a little goes a long way with this product. I can’t stress that enough. I use the tiniest, smaller than a pea-sized amount on my ends only and that is all I need. (I’m one of those lucky ladies whose hair gets really greasy at the roots and dry at the ends after a few days if I overdo it with product). It does make my ends noticeably softer.

I’ve been using these products for about two months now and my hair has definitely grown which is what I wanted. But I actually think this stuff was meant to keep existing long hair healthy and strong rather than to promote growth. (Those marketing people are too smart to make an ambitious claim like that I’m sure). Either way, I’m pleased with the results I’m getting and at $2.99 a pop you can’t go wrong can you?

The best part about this for me is that my hair still smells good a couple of days after I wash. I’m a stinky smoker so my shampoo fragrance NEVER lingers. Except with this.
So the WIWFM Verdict is…yes!