The original Joico K-Pak treatment is lauded by everyone for being able to mend even the most over processed hair and GVP's version, GVP Hair Reconstructor, is said to be just as good.
If you're not familiar with GVP, they're a company that makes generic versions of expensive haircare products and sells them for a fraction of the price. They even go as far as to list the ingredients for both the original and the copy side by side so you can see that it's the same exact formula, down to the last paraben.
I have to preface this review by explaining something very important. For some very odd reason, GVP markets this product as a conditioner, but beware, this is NOT a conditioner, it's a treatment. What's the big difference, you ask? Well, when used as a conditioner, the Reconstructor really dries out your hair. That's because it contains protein and while protein will help make your hair stronger and less brittle, it will also majorly dry it out. That's why you have to use it as a treatment, meaning after you rinse it out, you HAVE to follow it up with a deep conditioner.
ok, now that we got all that out of the way, on to the review.
I have wavy, kind of frizzy hair [I'm convinced if I didn't live in Florida and it's 100% humidity, I would have much nicer hair, but that's a whole other post in itself.] My hair is a little coarse and I don't have a lot of it, it seems like more because of the waves and the frizz, but there's barely a handful. The only real damage I have is that my ends are super dry because I'm overdue for a cut, but I don't have dyed or processed hair and I barely ever use heat tools on it. I'm explaining all this because hair products can vary SO much from one person to the next and I figure the closer we are in hair type, the better your chances!
This is my hair before the Reconstructor. Note: I do have a bit of mousse in it left over from the day before, but this is close to what it looks like without product.
I used the Reconstructor as directed, after shampooing my hair, I left it on for about 4 minutes and rinsed it out. I followed this up with Aussie's 3 Minute Miracle.
And this is the after. My hair looks 20 time bigger because there's no product on it at all.
The Reconstructor made my hair incredibly soft and very manageable, but it severely dried out my ends. However, this is to be expected of any protein product. What I really liked about it was that it made my waves much more defined than usual. I have the kind of waves and ringlets that I've only been able to create before with mousse and hairspray. I imagine if I had used product in my hair, the waves would have been even nicer.
Although I didn't see an enormous difference in my hair, apart from the nice waves, I think it was mostly due to the fact that my hair isn't in dire need of repair to begin with. Someone with processed hair would probably benefit from it a lot more than I did, and anyone who wants softer hair should give it a try.
GVP Hair Reconstructor is available at all Sally Beauty Supply stores and online.
