pixiesnaps: hair

Cost: $21 USD

The Blurb:
"Wheat Protein and organic aloe infused formula expands when hair is wet and contracts when hair is dry to intensify curl or wave.

To use: Smooth generously on damp hair. Dry naturally or blow dry with a diffuser for added volume and curl definition."

First Impressions:

I have actually been using this product for a little while, however I decided to include in my reviews as it can be very useful in the frizz battle.
Widely available in Hong Kong, and globally, Aveda plays upon the natural and organic market that is currently incredibly popular in the beauty world. It is therefore a little surprising to check out the ingredients list...
Out of interest I looked it up on the 'Skin Deep' website and found out that it is rated as a 'moderate' hazard to health! Ingredients can cause irritation to skin, lungs and eyes amongst other concerns. This site bases its' review on the 2005 formula so it may be out of date.
Whilst this is something that I am interested in I will not be giving up my favourite cosmetic products until there is conclusive and widespread proof of ill effects. The main reason that I looked in this instance was due to Aveda's heavy emphasize on the 'natural' which does not ring quite true.

The Test:

As I find with all Aveda products the first thing that you notice is the smell. It is a herbal smell which is slightly sweet. To me it invokes memories of relaxing spa visits and pampering. It is a clean scent that does not overpower, however you do continue to get whiffs through out the day which I find pleasant.
The product is a white cream, it is not sticky. I applied a blob around 4cm by 4cm to my towel dried and combed shoulder length hair. This is a little more that I used to use, however this is what the instructions dictated. I ran the product through my hair using my fingers and then used a hair dryer and diffuser to dry my hair fully. High temperature, low speed. I finished off with hairspray to hold the curl longer.

The Verdict:
This product claims to tame frizz and enhance curl. It definitely does both of these to a certain extent, however in my opinion it is much better at curl enhancement.
Though the packaging instructed 'generous use' I felt as though I had added too much product to my hair, and after drying my hair felt a little dry and stiff. This effect was increased by the use of hairspray, which is necessary to hold the curl and volume in the humidity. After an hour or do outside in medium humidity the frizz was creeping back around my hair line.
Overall I think this product is better for enhancing the curl in shorter length hair, it seems to weigh longer hair down. It is not really a frizz fighting contender...

As the temperature in Hong Kong rises so does the humidity. As a curly haired girl this can be particularly problematic, so short of scraping my hair back for the next six months and doubling L'Oreal's hairspray profits, I need to investigate how to deal with this prickly issue.

When the humidity is high the outer layer of each hair, the hair cuticle, relaxes. This means that water can pass through the normally water resistant layer to the cortex. The cortex soaks up the water and expands, however as the expansion is uneven the hair so varies in width and orientation and it is this which causes the frizzy look.

Other factors that cause frizziness are over drying (using appliances like dryers, curling tongs and straighteners) which causes hair to become brittle and break; unfortunately there are also unavoidable heredity factors (thanks Mum!).

There are a plethora of products on offer that promised to fight that frizz and over the next few weeks I am going to review a few of them. I have curly, fine shoulder length hair that is a fairly dark brown...

These are the products I have selected: