Monday 12 March 2012

Kerastase Bain de Force & Ciment Anti-Usure

A word of advice - never, ever buy your salon brand shampoo when you have your other half in tow.  Nipped to Leeds yesterday and spotted an open Regis Salon, OH followed me in and handed me three pound coins to pay for my shampoo, he was joking, sort of!  When we got outside after I had parted with £15.90 he said in a rather horrified voice "did you just pay SIXTEEN POUNDS for SHAMPOO?"  I didn't think that telling him I had got the conditioner for £14.90 instead of £18.90 because where I bought it had priced it incorrectly was going to help!

So yes, it's expensive.  But is it worth it?  I have dry hair that's prone to frizz that I wash, blow dry and straighten (a little) every single day and which is home coloured every 3 weeks, if I can be bothered.  It's had started to look pretty damaged and dry and I had some pretty serious split ends happening.  Anyone that has read this blog for a while will know that I am a bit hair obsessed, usual fat girl thing - I control rigidly the stuff I can control; hair and nails and try not to think about the other stuff I "can't". (Slimming World sorting that out tbh, update post coming soon).  So a bad hair day takes on epic proportions and a bad hair cut quite seriously is "the end of the world I'll stay in til it grows out don't tell me it doesn't look as bad as I think what the hell do you know" cause for a total meltdown.  As a result of a dire cut back at the start of November I haven't had my hair cut since then, see I wasn't kidding.  I am going to have to go back soon but I will be holding my hairdressers bollocks in one hand with a pair of scissors in the other whilst he tells me back exactly what I have asked him to do and promises to do that and that alone.  


So, my hair needs some love. For years I used Paul Mitchell Super Skinny shampoo and conditioner and for a very long time it worked really well but then it just didn't seem to be giving me the same effect.  I then tried Aveda smoothing shampoo and conditioner and whilst the results were a marked improvement I didn't think the additional cost was getting me much better results and it was a total pain to have to order on line as nowhere near here stocks it - I do all my really serious spending in cash, from the secret stash, on line shopping comes out the bank account and has to be "discussed" ahem!  So I decided to try Kerastase.  I started out using Bain Satin 1 which made my hair feel dry and coarse until I applied the conditioner, which wasn't quite what I had hoped for and I felt perhaps my hair needed something more nourishing.  I decided to give the Ciment Anti-Usure conditioner a go - this is designed to reinforce weak, damaged and hair and right from the word go this worked brilliantly.  



My hair looks fantastic and feels much healthier, its soft, glossy - I look like a celeb from a Pantene advert to be honest, if you squint, quite a bit.  I have now added the Bain de Force, which is the shampoo for weak, damaged hair and combination of the two is working wonders, I am really pleased with how much better my hair looks.  



With regard to price, I bought the Bain Satin and conditioner around the 15th December and they have both probably got about a weeks worth left in them (which I am going to have to force myself to use up!) So my £34.80 hair care lasts about 3 months, so works out at £11.60 per month - which you could easily spend in Boots on something that wont give anything like this kind of result.  Did that sound like I was frantically justifying my appallingly spend thrift behaviour?

Hair pics - sorry didn't have time to take these yesterday!



Swishy & glossy, that's me!
 


I have just had a look on Look Fantastic and you could buy both of these for £29.55 from them, conditioner here and shampoo here, if you can purchase on line without having to explain every penny to your other half I would recommend this for the huge saving!


So, what's your absolute holy grail hair product?  Or what is the one thing you'd love to try if you had no budget?

11 comments:

  1. Oh, these sound fabulous. I really need some seriously nourishing haircare at the moment. Well, what I really need to do is colour my hair and visit the hairdresser. Both of these ideas scare me though and I'm much more comfortable with the idea of spending some money on nice hair stuff :D.
    Jane x

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    Replies
    1. I know exactly what you mean! Rather chuck something at it than actually do anything major to it! Am thinking about just letting mine grow and see what happens! There is also a Kerastase leave in conditioner from this range that I know WANT! xx

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    2. Debbie, that is some might fine hair! I really like your hair at this length. Swishy swish xx

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    3. Thanks Janes - me too if I am honest, you can imagine just how short it was when it was cut back at the start of November, it looked pretty much like this then too! I think I'll keep growing and see what it turns into, always a bit scared though that I'll have lovely swishy hair and from the back will look young and fecund and then when I turn round the hordes of admirers following behind me will get the most almighty shock! Steve always calls those seriously older women with very long, uber swishy hair "the melted face brigade" which is mean but rather accurate!

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  2. Holy Grail product - Montagne Jeunesse hair masks. Organic and unbelievably inexpensive. Don't weight down your hair, smell great. Their face masks, in fact most of their stuff, is amazing.

    Budget no object - definitely want to try Kerastase! I've heard so many good things about them.

    "the melted face brigade"? Charming. Sheesh! From your photos you look great from the back and in profile, so the full frontal can't be too bad.

    Ali

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Ali - sorry for long delay in replying. I will definitely have a look at the Montagne Jeunesse masks - have heard good things about the face masks but I seem to recall using a warming mud one (??) years ago that made my skin freak out so have avoided but prob worth another look now.

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  3. These sound fab and I will be buying some, I have a Regis Salon next to me so I hope they stock them.

    Moroccanoil is my holy grail product. I use it almost every day especially when blowdrying my hair as it quickens up the process. I think Hairtrade is the cheapest place you can get it at the moment.

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  4. Hi Kate, I hope you managed to get hold of them. I keep hearing good things about Moroccanoil, have always been concerned that the oil would weigh my hair down too much though? Have also heard that it does great things for your nails if you rub it in once you have done your hair so it sounds like a great multi-tasker!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi,

      Honestly ir does not weigh your hair down at all - it is great for drying your hair as well, twice as fast with a hairdrier. It is well worth buying some x

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  6. If you want to keep up with today's hair fashions going to the International Beauty Salons Miami is a great Idea. There is an enormous amount of information available at the show, including new products, new styles and new ideas that make it worth going.

    ReplyDelete

Would love to hear from you, I always read comments and reply and I love not feeling like I am talking to myself! dx

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