Review: Joico K-Pak Essential Travel Kit

As I have perpetually dry ends to my hair, I'm constantly on the look-out for helping hands, and my hair is one tough customer. There are not many products that it tends to absorb very well, so any effects tend to be pretty short-lived. On my hunt for a solution, I recently decided to purchase the Joico K-Pak Essential Travel Kit, which contains a couple of 50ml bottles of the K-Pak Reconstruct shampoo and conditioner, and a 50ml tube of  the K-Pak Revitaluxe. I thought this would be a great way for me to trial the range before investing in full-size bottles, as doing that there is always the risk of disappointment.

Enriched with Joico's unique keratine silicone complex, the K-Pak Reconstructor Shampoo is of  a rich, creamy consistency, designed to begin the reconstruction process. It restores weak and depleted hair to its optimal strenghth and condition by replenishing amino acids and filling in damaged areas of the cuticle, as well as hydrating and protecting with aloe and vitamin E. It smells really lovely - that classic 'just stepped out of the salon' scent, lathers nicely and leaves my hair feeling clean and soft. The K-Pak Reconstructor Conditioner has the same lovely scent and is designed to strengthen, detangle and reconstruct the hair., leaving it bouncy, silky and soft. The instructions recommend leaving this on for just one minute, but that just isn't enough for my long, damaged hair, so I tend to go for the standard three minutes (or more), and used in conjunction with the shampoo my hair is smoother and more controllable.

The real star of the set, though, is the K-Pak Revitaluxe Bio-Advanced Restorative Treatment. This touts itself as a luxurious treatment which is able to correct years of damage, while also preventing future damage - quite a bold claim, I'd say. The Keratine Peptide complex is said to double the hair's resistance to breakage, while protecting against colour fade up to 94% (great for my ombre hair). Revitaluxe has a cumulative effect, meaning that the more you use it, the shinier, stronger and healthier your hair becomes - so it's not a quick fix, but should have lasting results.

 I was quite thrown by this product at first, as it's extremely watery rather than the thick cream I was expecting. This does make it a little bit fiddly to apply in the shower, as it's easy to spill the product after you've squeezed out what you need - you really need to pop the lid back on straight away. It also smells exactly like those little purple Parma-Violet sweets which were popular back when I was a child - does anyone remember them? Personally I like the scent, so it's only a bonus for me. It's to be left on for 3-5 minutes once or twice a week, and I tend to do this in between the shampoo and conditioner stages.

Over time, I've noticed a vast improvement in the condition of my hair after using this - it's stronger, smoother, silkier and shinier. However, it hasn't completely put paid to problems like split ends, which I'm still suffering from to some degree.

Unfortunately the shampoo and conditioner only lasted a few washes, but the Revitaluxe is still going strong after a couple of months as you only need a small amount due to it's thin consistency.

I'm going to be repurchasing all three of these, as when used in conjunction with one another they definitely give the best results, and have made a bigger difference to my hair than anything else I've tried (although I'm still liking the L'oreal Professionnel Mythic Oil mask for in between). I'm also planning on trying out some of the Tigi S-Factor range, as I've heard good things about that too. Have you tried it?

The Joico K-Pak Essential Travel Kit is available for £11.95 from Feel Unique.

What are your favourite remedies and treatments for dry/dull hair?

xx

Rediscoveries Reviewed: Percy and Reed Splendidly Silky Moisturising Shampoo

Percy and Reed is a brand created by celebrity hair stylists Adam Reed and Paul Percival, who developed their own range of salon standard products with the idea in mind that modern, cutting-edge style could be enjoyed by anyone, anywhere, any time.

I actually got this shampoo free with a magazine about a year ago, and was really excited to try it after hearing lots of good things about it. However, after giving it a fair few goes, I was pretty certain that I didn't like it. It didn't lather up at all when I applied it to wet hair, and for me that's a deal breaker - if I don't get a good lather my hair just doesn't feel clean afterwards.

However, I recently rediscovered this little tube and decided I'd give it another go. Perhaps I had been missing a trick before?

Well, as it turned out, yes, I had. You need to make sure your hear is completely soaked through, for a start (although I had made sure of this during my initial experimentation). You also need to use a good old dollop of this - although saying that, it's pretty thin in consistency, so for me it's more of a palm-ful (small hands). The usual amount won't suffice with this shampoo, so you really do need to use that bit extra to get a nice thick lather on the go.

So, what were the results after giving this shampoo a second chance to impress? Well, I actually really do like it. If I'm honest, I rarely say this about a shampoo, as most of them are just 'ok'. Yes, they leave my hair feeling clean, and that is the main thing, after all. But do they give me voluminous/silky smooth/bouncy hair? Bar a select couple, not really. However, the Percy and Reed Splendidly Silky Moisturising Shampoo left my hair looking nice and shiny, as well as thicker, softer and more manageable. My only gripe is that you have to use so much of it to get results, as it does make it somewhat less purse-friendly.

Is it a miracle worker? No. But it does do a lot more for my hair than the majority of shampoos I've tried, and I shall indeed be repurchasing.

Have you tried this shampoo, or anything else by Percy and Reed? 

What were your thoughts?

xx