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: Redken Extreme Shampoo & Conditioner

Hah guise!
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.