Ojon Damage Reverse Treatment, Rare Blend Deep Conditioner & Oil (Plus Giveaway)

If like me you've been living under a rock and didn't realise that the retail giant Estee Lauder had acquired Ojon in 2007, now you know lol!!! However the founder of Ojon, Denis Simioni remains as president, now Ojon sits alongside Origins. Origins was founded in the 90's by Estee Lauder's son William P. Lauder, and is one of the original Lauder companies. I was invited down by Origins to the Ojon Restorative Hair Clinic to get a hair consultation by the fabulous Jennie Roberts, and was given a hair prescription of Ojon products to cater to my hairs needs.

The basis of the Ojon range is 'Ojon Oil', which is included in all their products, and Ojon refer to as nature's golden elixir. It's Palm Nut oil that grows on trees in Hondura, the oil within these nuts is extracted by hand by a local community in Central America called Tawira, Tawira in their native language literally translates to 'people of beautiful hair', Ojon states their products are clinically proven to transform hair back to great health.

Ojon Damage Reverse Treatment, Rare Blend Oil & Deep Conditioning Treatment

First up in my prescription was the Damage Reverse Restorative Hair Treatment, a pre-shampoo deep conditioning treatment for damaged hair. This claims a 64% improvement in dry, damaged hair after just one treatment, when left on overnight, which I'm yet to try this method. It's a highly concentrated balm textured intensive hair treatment, that hydrates and improves the condition of damaged hair. Fortified with pure 'Ojon Oil' that is rich in essential lipids similar to those found naturally in hair, you apply this to dry hair, rubbing the product to transform it into an oil first. I left this on for 20 minutes in conjunction with my Heattreat Cap, my hair felt soft and hydrated following this, I then rinsed my hair and followed with shampoo.

Next is the Rare Blend Deep Conditioner, formulated with potent hair repairing oils, it protects, softens and boosts shine.  it contains two Potent phases;

1. Amber Phase; A restorative blend of 7 rare oils, including hair repairing ‘Ojon Oil’, African Shea, Brazilian Muru Muru and Indian Kokum butters.
2. Ivory Phase; A moisture rich cream infused with deeply nourishng plant derived conditioners.

I apply a generous amount to wet hair, comb through with a wide tooth comb as it has a nice amount of slip it's great for detangling, I leave it for 5-10 minutes and rinse. If I’m not using the Damage Reverse Hair treatment, I would use this as my deep conditioner and leave on my hair with the Heattreat Cap for about 20 minutes. This can also be used as a leave in if you like rocking your natural curls out.

Last but by no means least, is the Rare Blend Oil - Total Hair Therapy, for thick or coarse damaged hair. Ojon gathered potent natural oils known for their healing powers and infused them into 3 hair reparative phases; Amber, Crystal and Red. Ojon state that only one drop is needed for this oil to protect, nourish, repair and transform dull, dry or damaged hair. On my hair type I required more than a drop, this oil is lovely and lightweight, that still left my hair feeling nourished and hydrated.

Ojon Damage Reverse Treatment & Rare Blend Oil Giveaway

You can find all these products and more at Origins.co.uk, but so you can also experience some of the Ojon magic, I am doing a twitter giveaway, where you could win the Damage Reverse Restorative Hair Treatment and the Rare Blend Oil - Total Hair Therapy. All you have to do is go to my profile (twitter.com/aallexxy) and retweet and like the pinned tweet, you must obviously be a follower of mine, the giveaway closes on the 20th May and a winner will be chosen w/c 23rd.  

Good luck

Radiant London Salon Launch

I'm sure my fellow brown beauties know the struggle of finding a good hair salon in London, in fact I'm sure any woman can relate!!! So when I was invited to the launch of Radiant London Salon in Bermondsey, following their refurbishment I knew I had to pop down and check it out.

So what sets them apart?! Well an in house cocktail bar serving an assortment of soft and alcoholic drinks, complimentary to clients getting their hair done, an ultra modern virtual mirror with built in Lumen lighting, controlled through an app, so you can capture your salon fresh do moments after getting it done and share with friends and family instantly through social media. They also have an app you can download that features their pricing, opening times, hairstyle inspiration and much more. The Croydon branch (yet to launch) will also have an in-house DJ on Thursday, Friday & Saturday's, this might be the first salon where you go to get your hair done, rave and then go home lol!!! They also have a great in-house nail technician who did my nails using shellac gel during the launch event (check out my instagram), and even in the rushed environment on the night due to a long list of people wanting to get their nails done, I was impressed with her work.


At the launch event the lovely Brunetta, owner of DemureLashes, was manning the Lash Bar and applying her great mink strip lashes on the night. I also got a look at the wigs displayed on the Wig Bar, Radiant can create these customers specifications, whether you bring your own hair or they provide it for you.

TheFoundationDirectory; DemureLashes/Radiant Salon Launch

Now of course all this means nothing if they are no good at doing hair, or if the customer service is not on par, Rita Balogun (please note female, brown beauty owned and to boot she's Nigerian, yes I'm bias lol) takes pride in delivering an excellent customer experience and wants to take this to a new level, ensuring all customers receive star treatment and have a 'radiant' experience. I am yet to get my hair done in this newly refurbishment salon, but they have been nominated for several awards by Black Beauty/Sensational Awards and L'Oreal Professional Awards and have a celebrity clientele that includes the likes of Laura Mvula and AJ Odudu.


Just check out their instagram (radiant_salon) for examples of their work, the Bermondsey branch will open its doors to the public on Tuesday 2nd March, I look forward to having my first 'radiant experience' in the newly refurbished establishment.


Will you be paying Radiant a visit?


Alex

DECIEM; Grow Gorgeous, Hand Chemistry and Inhibitif

I'm so intrigued by Deciem released products, it's a collection of brands launched under the Deciem umbrella, they wanted to release a host of products that will change the beauty industry and have been doing so one launch at a time. I've tried a range of items from the brand, so thought I'd give an overview of what I've tried to date, also see the Hair Molecule review from Fountain.

First up is the Grow Gorgeous Hair Growth Serum; Designed to give lethargic hair follicles a kick up the behind, this will not work on dead follicles. It's an ultra concentrated formula with a blend of 21.5% (that's really high apparently) active complex, that includes hyaluronic acid (of course) with 7 technologies working together to make hair visibly longer, thicker and fuller (same thing?!). It comes housed in a glass bottle with pipette dispenser, for accurate application to the scalp, it's recommended to apply 20 drops daily and the 60ml bottle at £30 should last 2 months. I absolutely loved this, I mainly focused on applying this to my hairline, as this is my main area of concern, so it lasted longer than 2 months. I definitely noticed a thickening of the hair along my hairline and will definitely return to using this once I'm done testing another hair growth product (stay tuned).

The next product is the Hand Chemistry Intense Youth Complex hand cream, designed to improve the 8 signs of hand ageing with visible results promised in 11 days, it also had the tag line of 'Making hands look 10 years younger in 10 days'. Being in my 30's I'm lucky to not be so worried about wrinkles on my face, but they do say your hands can give away your true age and with very dry hands I'm always on the search for the best hand cream. However my hands did not look younger, and I did not find this hand cream moisturising enough for me, at £19 for a 100ml I used the product up, mainly at night before bed underneath another hand cream, but I will not be repurchasing. I did not give up though and decided to try another hand cream from the range, with a 20% discount code I decided it was worth the risk for the Triple-Function Hyaluronic-Rich Hydrator (what a mouthful), at a more reasonable £7 for 60ml. Promising to offer above and below surface hydration, while forming a protective invisible glove to help prevent moisture loss and boasting ingredients like mango butter I was sure onto a winner. This faired better than it's predecessor, it hydrates and absorbs quickly with a light citrus scent, but was still lacking a little in the moisturising department on my very dry hands. Again it seems the hand creams are not for me, I will use this up, but not repurchase.

Also part of the Hand Chemistry range is the Retin-oil, multi-vitamin dry body oil that's said to target scars, stretch marks (joys of motherhood), ageing, dehydrated skin, surface irregularities and discolouration in just 2 weeks. I've been using this for approximately that amount of time and have to say the smell is not that pleasant, but it does dissipate, I didn't find it moisturising enough on it's own (blame the cold weather) so have been mixing it with another moisturiser, but am yet to see any fading discoloration or stretch marks. I'll use up this small 100ml bottle, but unless something great happens before it's empty I will not be repurchasing this at £20.

Finally is Inhibitif, a range of products designed to minimise hair regrowth so you don't have to shave/wax as often (yes please), I tried the Deodorant, which I loved. However it's probably one of the most expensive deodorants I've used at £9 for 50ml, but it definitely reduced hair regrowth, within the claimed 2 week timeframe. Being an anti-perspirant girl at heart and using this during the summer months I still sprayed my usual anti-perspirant over the top, but this didn't affect it's efficacy. I would definitely repurchase this, in fact writing this post is reminding me that I should have bought it when I had my 20% discount code (sigh).

Have you tried anything from the Deciem branded ranges? On the website you can pick items across all the brands into one basket with free P&P, and it looks like they have no plans to stop with more brands in the pipe line.

Thanks for visiting the blog today

Alex.

Sensationnel UK Bare and Natural Brazilian Lace Wig

So I attended my first Keziah Connections event in July that teamed up with Fashion Fair and Sensationnel UK. I happened to win one of the prize draws, which was for a Sensationnel UK Bare and Natural Brazilian Virgin Remi Lace Wig in the natural wavy style and a 1B colour. I love the box packaging, but it doesn't say what length the hair is or how many bundles it's made up of, guessing I'd say 18-20inches. It doesn't have a lace closure as you're suppose to cut it and leave a bit of your own hair out.

Sensationnel UK Bare and Natural Brazilian Lace Wig

I had this wig sitting gathering dust for a while, as it didn't quite meet my requirements, since I won it I had no say it what it looked liked. Firstly the bare and natural range is for those who want a very natural looking finish, also as my hair is natural I didn't want to constantly have to apply heat to blend my leave out with the wig. Also I currently had a wig I wore daily that met my requirements, but I was in the market for a shorter, ombre coloured style. 

Sensationnel UK Wig Transformation Before and After

Eventually I got the idea to adapt the wig to my specifications, rather than buy a new one and leave this one gathering dust. First thing I did was add some extra tracks to give the wig more volume, using some braziliain hair I had around the house from previous weaves. Then I cut it to shoulder length, dyed it to a blonde ombre and tweezed the parting a little so I didn't have to cut it and leave any hair out.

I absoultey love this as it now gives me variation and I'm slowly building up my wig collection to offer me a nice variety. Sensationnel UK don't sell the wigs online, but you can go on the website to find your nearest stockist, and obviously buy a wig more suited to your requirements, so no adaptations needed. I would definately look at purchasing a Sensationnel UK wig, I've got my eye on the Empress Lace wig collection, as some of them can be worn in a ponytail or an updo. There are no prices on the website, but at the event we were told these wigs are very affordable, they also sell bundles of hair if you prefer a weave.

Check out the website sensationnel.com, check out my instagram (Aallexxy) for pictures of me rocking this unit.

Thank you for visiting the blog today

Alex

Ojon Rare Blend Moisture-rich Cleansing Conditioner.

Here's a review I wrote for brownbeautytalk.com, enjoy.

Co-washing, the art of using conditioner as shampoo, has gone commercial and is no longer reserved for the natural haired girls. With all the talk of sulphates being bad for your locs, companies have not only been churning out sulphate free alternatives, but are now dipping their toes into the idea of using conditioner as shampoo.

 

 

Ojon have released their take with the Rare Blend Moisture-rich Cleansing Conditioner, the founder of the company discovered the native Ojon tree in the tropical rainforest in Central America. In one year each tree produces less than 8,000 nuts, which only produce 3 cups of ojon oil. As you can imagine it is not cheap (£18.50 for a 250ml bottle), but not that expensive either, considering the oil is extracted using traditional eco-friendly methods and referred to as nature’s golden elixir. It is said that this potent and pure oil have a natural affinity with hair, restoring radiance, suppleness, bounce, body and volume to even the most damaged hair.

As you can imagine I was intrigued to see how it would work on my kinky, natural and dry hair. To start with it smells amazing and contains a blend of 7 oils including pure ojon oil, palm kernel oil, kukui seed oil, coconut oil to name just a few.  It’s sulphate and glycerin free and is geared towards those with curly, wavy, dry breakage prone hair. I was surprised at the gentle lather this produced, despite containing so many oils. This walked the fine line between cleaning my hair without stripping it, despite it being overloaded with product come wash day, but not weighing it down. Ojon also state there is no need to use a separate conditioner when using this, so great if you’re short on time, washing in between wash days or washing more frequently than usual.

As my first dip into the Ojon brand I was definitely impressed with how my hair felt even after only one use, my hair felt clean, hydrated and nourished. I have definitely incorporated this into my hair care routine, and am intrigued now to try other products from the range. I will of course still be including sulphate free clarifying and hydrating  shampoo’s intermittently to prevent product build up, especially on the scalp.

Have you tried anything from Ojon? Are you happy that co-washing is going commercial and no longer reserved for brownbeauties with natural hair?

 

The post Ojon Rare Blend Moisture-rich Cleansing Conditioner appeared first on Brownbeauty.

Knot Extensions!!!

Hi all,

I first found out about knot extensions from Soraya of styleismything fame, I follow her on instagram and noticed how her hair always looked so nice and full. I then discovered that a guy call Ozzy (email: ozzytudo@hotmail.com) does her hair, he has a salon in manchester, but travels the UK to do knotextensions. He has done my hair previously, but just a brazilian blow dry/keratin treatment (info here), I redid the keratin treatment, but also decided to get the knot extensions this time.

Knot extensions are when an elasticated thread, colour matched to the hair colour of choice, is used to attached your hair extension to your hair. No glue or sewing, you can wash your hair, colour it, put it in a ponytail etc. I used 10' and 12' brazilian hair that was attached to the weft, which Ozzy just cuts off, but you can buy the hair loose from Ozzy (or elsewhere if you know where to get it). I bought the 10' hair from Beyondhairuk and the 12' from essyvirginhair, the 10' I had previously bleached and the 12' is the natural 1B colour in came as. I had the 10' from previous sew in weave installs and decided to get the 12' to add a bit more length, I used just shy of 3 bundles, but my hair is fine. Ozzy states on average people use between 3-4 bundles, Soraya who likes extra volume uses about 6-7 bundles. So you can individualise it to your needs, also longer length hair, tends to be shorter in weft length, so you may require more bundles.

You don't have to get the brazilian blow dry done if your hair is relaxed, if your hair is natural you may want to get the treatment so the extensions blend better with your hair, or buy hair extensions that have a closer texture to your hair. This method can be used on most hair types though, even caucasian hair, search Ozzytudo instagram for pictures. The extensions can last between 3-4 months with good care, I have heard some people keep them in longer than this, but ensure to care for your hair appropriately to prevent breakage. This method of extensions itself is very safe and doesn't break your hair, but you need to care for your hair and the extensions. Mention this blogpost to Ozzy for a great price.

Have you ever tried this method of extensions or are you interested? Any further questions you have please leave in the comments section below.

Thanks for visiting the blog today.

Alex

Brazilian Blow Dry Keratin Treatment!!!

Hi all,
Hope you've been enjoying the good weather we've been having recently.

I had heard of this treatment a while ago, but never really gave it a second thought, until recently. I'm always on the look out for new ways to best manage my hair, after a youth of abuse, I've done it all. Numerous colours ranging from the average black to shocking purple, relaxer, buzz cut, braids you name it. Currently I tend to hide my very dry hair away in the winter with the use of weaves and leave it out and relax it in the warmer months, with a trim or cut and weekly deep conditioning, I try to aim for something low maintenance being a working mum.

Being that I love to try new things I did a bit of research, sourced a reliable hairdresser Ozzy Tudo via Soraya of style is my thing fame and decided to take the plunge into getting a brazilian blow dry, also known as keratin treatment or brazilian blowout etc. To give some background my hair is relaxed, I do it every 3 months when my hair is not in a weave, prior to this treatment my hair was last relaxed in July 2012.

So what is a brazilian blow dry? It is somewhat controversial as it contains formaldehyde, but the one used on my hair does comply with EU regulations of containing less than 0.2% and seeing as it only needs to be repeated every 3-4 months exposure for myself is minimal. I was informed it also contained argan oil and Ozzy was adamant that this treatment is much better for the hair than a relaxer, obviously it also contains keratin a protein naturally found in hair, skin and nails. It is also not permanent like a relaxer, so if left your hair will eventually revert to it's former texture, good for anyone wanting to go natural and manage two different hair textures. The process involved washing my hair with a sulphate free clarifying shampoo, then having the treatment applied to my whole hair section by section, blow drying my hair with a round brush and then straigtening it. In all it took about 2 and a half hours, but this can depend on the length and thickness of your hair, once the blowdrying starts some fumes are emitted that can sting the eyes (window were opened and a fan was on to reduce the discomfort). This was bearable for me and stopped once the blow drying section was complete, you would need to ensure the area you are doing this in is well ventilated though. The worst part for me was actually the blow drying, it was extremely hot and kept burning my scalp, but all in all the fumes were not as bad as I was expecting.

Following the treatment my previously very thick roots and frizy ends were straight, my hair felt soft albeit lacking in volume, but my hair has never been known for being volumous.

(Double pictures are immediately after treatment, single picture is on the third day, prior to wash)

I was told not to wash my hair for at least 3 days following the treatment and ensure any kinks left by hair bands etc are straigtened out at the soonest convenience, some might find this difficult, but I did have my hair in a ponytail one of the days (very loosely) and found it not to be a problem. I was then informed that sulphate free shampoos are to be used to prolong the treatment and to at least blow dry my hair after washing to activate the keratin.

I used Keracare sulphate free hydrating shampoo and mask as a conditioner, colouring my hair in between with a semi-permanent colour, which I was informed was fine to do after having the treatment 3 days prior. My hair feels extremely soft, my roots seemed to semi revert back when wet, but I used the babylis big hair air styler. I'm loving my hair even more after washing, as it now has some volume, it is soft and shiny.

Have you ever had a brazilian blow dry or are intrigued about getting it done? Please share your experience in the comments section, any further questions do not hesistate to ask and I'll do my best to answer.

Thanks for visiting the blog today.

Alex