Hair Care - Treat, Repair, Maintain.

Today I want to share with you some of my current favourite hair treatment products. To briefly touch on my hair type and history: I have dark black/brown hair that is quite healthy despite me using hot styling tools on it almost every single day for the last decade. I have neglected to use any form of conditioner in the past and possibly because of this (and the use of  hot styling tools), my hair has begun to thin and fall out quite significantly.

So now I am on a mission to reverse the effect of heat styling and putting a lot more efforts with my hair care routine. I have tried quite a few different products in the last year or so but the four products I'm about to mention have just been amazing in giving me back healthier, shiner and stronger hair. 

Clockwise from left to right: Live Clean - Argan Oil Leave-in conditioner spray, John Frieda - Root awakening healthy boosting leave-in conditioner, Jarrow Formulas - Extra virgin coconut oil;  and Macadamia Natural Oil - Deep repair masque.

Live Clean - Argan Oil Leave-in Conditioner Spray

I picked this up on a whim at David Jones. I believe it is a Canadian company so you can search for their products from here: live-clean.com. This product is paraben free, petroleum free, phthalate free. It contains argan oil, grapeseed oil, olive oil, and castor seed oil and is 95% plant derived. I spray this on after I shower and it leaves my hair really soft without any sticky residue. 

John Frieda - Root Awakening Healthy Boosting Leave-in Conditioner

Contains castor oil, peppermint oil and eucalyptus extract. I alternate this with my argan oil leave in conditioner and it gives me the same soft hair without weighing it down. As it contains peppermint oil which is known for stimulation of hair growth, I found this to really help with strengthening the hair roots and reducing hair fall out and breakage. The nozzle gives the most perfect fine mist which distributes the product so evenly over the hair. This product does contain paraben so if that's something you wish to avoid then this may not be for you. 

Jarrow Formulas - Extra virgin coconut oil 

Where do I even start? Coconut oil is amazing for the hair and it costs so little. A whole jar of coconut oil last me for months and the benefits that it provides are endless.  I may need to talk about this in a separate post. I heat up the oil so it can liquefy from its solid form and distribute this all over my hair especially massaging in the scalp. I use this as a weekly deep conditioner and cover it in cling wrap and a hot towel so it traps in the heat which allows the oil to penetrate deeply into the hair follicles. This leaves my hair so shiny and smooth I cannot stop raving about it. Better yet, it is 100% natural!

Macadamia Natural Oil – Deep Repair Masque

This contains macadamia and argan oil and I use this once a fortnight as my deep conditioning treatment. The product smells beautiful and comes in an easy to use tub. This is definitely pricey but if you need some deep repair for your hair then this is the product for you. I smooth this all over my hair and leave it on for about an hour or two. Some people do leave this on overnight but I don’t like the sticky feeling when I go to bed. This product has really put the moisture back into my hair and the ends are looking less dry and frizzy. 

So that's it for my current favourite hair products. I hope you found it useful and let me w your thoughts if you have tried some of it or have other recommendations. 

Clarasonic Mia 2

For those of us living in Australia, the Clarasonic have just recently hit our shore. Very late to the bandwagon but it is here nonetheless. 

I have purchased mine from the US thanks to my sister who was residing there at the time. I got mine for $119 which was on sale at skinstore.com. Unfortunately the website does not deliver overseas. For those of you residing in Australia, online I have seen them in stock at online stores such as westfield.com.au and adorebeauty.com.au. 

Now on the how Clarasonic works. For those of you that watches YouTube, you would have heard all the hype about how amazing this product is. The Clarasonic is essentially a skin cleansing system (brush) that claims to provide deep cleansing to the skin without causing abrasion and tugging to fragile skin. It is gentle to enough to use twice daily and claims to reduce wrinkles and fine lines, enlarged pores and oily skin. 

I have ordered the Clarasonic Mia 2 with a two speed system. I chose the colour passion fruit which is a deep magenta and I loved upon first sight. The brush is powered by an internal battery which you can charge without plug ins - and by this I mean the charger attaches itself to the brush through a magnet which is very nifty indeed. The Mia 2 is an improvement from the Mia 1 which I think  has only a one speed setting. 

Clarasonic Mia 2 - Passion Fruit

Rather than viewing this as a cleansing system, I see it more as an ex-foliating system. It scrubs my face clean and removes all the dirt and grime of the day. But like any exfoliator, must we use this daily? Our skin is so fragile that it is not made to be tugged at pulled at (no matter how gently) on  daily basis let alone on a twice a day basis. Like any ex-foliation system, because of the scrubbing and pressure applied to the face, the skin will react to this with more blood flowing to the surface thus creating a redness, which will clear to brighter 
more beautiful skin. This effect I think can only be temporary and in the long term, all the tugging and pulling from the brush can only lead to accelerated ageing. 

Don't get me wrong, I think the Clarasonic provides a very deep clean and as such I have opted to use this once a week or twice a week as I normally would with a face exfoliator. I am now using this in place of my regular exfoliator. In the first two weeks, there will a be a purging process where all the dirt are pulled from beneath your skin and as such there have been cases of severe breakouts for some people. I was fortunate enough to not have experience any major breakouts. There were a couple of acne here and there, but nothing some spot concealing won't cover during the day. 

Now on to the use of the brush. You can use any cleanser with the Clarasonic brush. I would advise not to use anything that also have an ex-foliating effect (i.e include micro ex-foliating beads) as this would only double up the scrubbing and abrasion on the skin. I use my Clarasonic with the Estee Lauder Cyberwhite Brilliant Cells Full Spectrum Brightening  cleanser which is a gentle creamy cleanser. 

I don't see any drastic improvement to my skin from using the Clarasonic but then again I have yet to acquire any wrinkles or have any major skin concerns. I however like the clean feeling after using the Clarasonic. I felt that my face has been scrubbed clean and the skin is prepped and ready for my daily skin care products. This I find also help with the product absorption which could only increase its effectiveness. 

So that's my thoughts on the Clarasonic Mia 2...have you tried yours and what are your thoughts?