saying good bye to my straightener & hello to keratin complex.

(this one is for Kimberly at fab finds under $50! ;P)


i've said it once before, and i'll said it again.

the sixteen year old me was STUPID. i thought that having perfectly, pin straight hair meant i had perfect hair.

and if you don't believe i was stupid, let me just remind you that i would straighten my hair multiple times a day. especially if we were going to the mall...yes, i am a jersey girl.

my hair is naturally pretty straight to begin with. it has one occasional wave throughout it. but try telling THAT to me when i was sixteen. i couldn't go out of the house with my hair looking anything but perfect. and that resulted in a LOT of straightening my hair...which eventually lead to heat damage.

luckily, i noticed the heat damage pretty early. i think it's the fact that my mom has her hair dressing license (that's what it's called right? beautician's license? you get the point, lol) otherwise i probably still would be straightening my hair. i learned to embrace my natural hair. i really do love my natural texture, but sometimes i sleep weird and i'll wake up with nightmare hair. that's when head bands come in handy..and OMG i found this amazing clip for your hair, but that's for another day ;o)

i started REALLY taking care of my hair again last november. i raved about moroccan oil here, and i still stand by that. however, i'm one of those people who has hair that gets used to things really easily, so i have to change it up every so often.

i was hesitant to try this new system because i LOVED the moroccan oil products that i was using. i'm glad that my mom did buy these for me (thanks mom!) because i really do love it. i honestly can't tell you which is my favorite.

below are my reviews on the products that i use. i'm linking to their actual website, but you can find them other places online if you look.

for reference...

- i have long, non-chemically treated hair. i also have a LOT of hair, it's pretty thick overall but my actual hair is fine

- i'm european and i don't have textured hair - so i don't know how this would work on other ethnicities, etc (if you have experience with it - please share!)

- like i mentioned, my natural hair is pretty straight with a bit of a wave

- before i stopped straightening it, it was starting to get very frizzy..

- and damaged, yiiiiiikes.

keratin complex shampoo (pictured) found here

& keratin complex conditioner found here

the shampoo and conditioner have a great smell, but it took me a while to get used to. i'll admit, at first i wasn't the biggest fan of the smell but i grew to really like it. i was used to the island-tropic smell that i think morrocan oil has. i think the shampoo lathers so much better than the morrocan shampoo. you really feel a difference when you're rinsing it out of your hair.

something that i read recently was to rinse your conditioner out with cold water. i know, i know..this is not a new beauty tip. i'm a sucker for a hot shower, so i've only recently been doing this. i've noticed SO much of a difference that it's almost unbelievable. rarely i'll skip the infusion treatment and my hair is still SO soft and bouncy the next day.

keratin complex infusion found here

the infusion treatment is my favorite. again, i'll admit at first i didn't like it. i was used to the liquidy texture of the morrocan oil. but i really began to LOVE this product too. you can't really compare it with the morrocan oil, they're both a bit different.

you can use this on dry hair but i never have. i always put it in my hair while it's still pretty damp. you only need like two small pumps for your entire head. well, that's what i use and i have a LOT of hair and my hair is long lol. don't overkill it with this product, you don't want your hair crunchy either. as the bottle says and from experience, for best results blow dry (even just a bit) if you want "straight straight" hair. i usually just let it dry - sometimes it dries pin straight and other times a bit wavy..which doesn't really bother me either way.

the online price is much more expensive than i thought it would be..weird..i know i didn't pay THAT much. but the bottle does last you FOREVER. i could take a picture of my bottle (which i've had since december) for reference, if anyone wants to see it. it looks brand new..and i wash my hair like every day.

keratin complex vanilla bean deep conditioner found here

if you're going to treat yourself to one product, GET THIS. i can't even begin to explain how amazing it smells. like...a very very very vanilla cupcake. it's amazing. i use this as a leave in conditioner. it says five minutes on the bottle (i think) but i've already left it in a few hours. what i'll do is wash my hair, then put this on when i know i'll be up late anyway and let it stay on for as long as i can tolerate it. with the amazing smell, you won't WANT to rinse it out.

keratin complex clarifying shampoo found here

this is one of my favorite clarifying shampoos. i used to have a different one .. i think it was paul mitchell .. but this has replaced it. the bottle says to use it twice for best results but sometimes i do it just once and it does the job (fantastically, may i add. lol)

my mom, again she's a licensed beautician, bought me everything mentioned above. she gets the products a lot cheaper because she's able to shop at the actual beauty supply. i realize that these products aren't exactly cheap, but you will see a difference with your hair. i'm willing to dish out a lot to keep my hair healthy..but i'm sure there are cheaper alternatives that work just as good out there.

overall, i feel this system does WONDERS for my hair. i like how my hair feels/looks with this a TINY smidge better than the moroccan oil. also, i can skip washing my hair for a day if i really have to compared to the moroccan oil, which sometimes makes my hair a teeeeny bit oily if i use too much (my fault, but still). 

my hair is VERY smooth after i use these products. there is literally NO frizz, even when i give in and blow dry it (i try to stay away from anything with heat). my hair used to be a frizzy mess because it was damaged. i'm not sure if my hair isn't frizzy because i stopped straightening my hair december 2009 or the fact that these products really help. i think it's really a bit of both. since i'm not one to get a permanent treatment done, this also fits the bill for me.

if you have any other questions that you're wondering about, leave it below & i'll see if i can help!

but, i want to hear from YOU...

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE PRODUCTS FOR YOUR HAIR? WHICH ARE YOUR GO TO PRODUCTS TO FIX DAMAGE? HAVE YOU EVER TRIED THE KERATIN CARE PRODUCTS?