GVP Joico K-Pak Review

In the past, I've written about how much I love Sally's line of Generic Value Products and what a great steal they are, and this time it's no different.

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.

Common Beauty Mistakes

Nobody can be perfect all the time [I manage to be perfect five days out of the year and it's usually during holidays when I'm asleep for most of them.]
Everyone makes beauty mistakes, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to correct them asap. Especially because some can end up hurting you in the long run. 

1. Going to bed with your makeup on
Everyone has heard this a million and one times, and yet we still keep doing it! When you wake up in the morning and your makeup has all but melted off, look at your pillow and you'll notice it's not all on there, so where is it? that's right, it's in your face, clogging up your pores and making you look dull.
No matter how tired you are, force yourself to get out of bed and wash your face every night. You don't have to do your entire skincare regimen if you're too tired, just make sure you wash all that stuff off.


2. Putting conditioner all over your hair
I only stopped doing this about a year ago when I realized it was wrong. Nobody ever told me any different! Conditioner should only be applied from your ears down, otherwise it can create buildup on your scalp and make your hair limp. This is especially true if you have wavy or curly hair or if you have fine hair.

3. Washing your hair everyday
People always seem a bit put off when I say I wash my hair twice a week. I don't know how dirty everyone else is getting, but I don't work in a farm or tend sheep in my time off so that I need to wash my hair everyday. Over washing can strip your hair of its natural oils and it can leave you with dry and dull looking hair. If you have extremely oily hair, try using a dry shampoo in between washes. If you use a lot of products in your hair [hello my fellow mousse addicts,] you can rinse your hair out with water when you shower, just don't use shampoo.

4. White Eyeshadow
This one is purely an opinion but seriously, white eyeshadow is horrible. It looks good on NO ONE. Unless you're a celebrity on the cover of a magazine that will get photoshopped to death, you're going to end up looking ridiculous. Dark skinned girls especially, white eyeshadow is the death of us. Just don't do it.
** White or light colored shadow on the inner corner of your eyes is absolutely a must, I'm talking about all over the lid.

5. Biting your nails
I bit my nails from the day I was born until about six years ago. I know how hard it is to stop, but now that I have long, healthy nails, I also know how important it is to stop. Not only because nubby fingers are unsightly, but because your nails can get infected from all the bacteria being passed from your mouth to your hands, not to mention the infections from all the germs on your hands going into your mouth.
How to stop nail biting.

6. Not wearing sunblock/tanning
You know those old ladies who have really leathery skin that kind of looks like a Chloe Handbag? Stop them one day and ask them if they liked to tan when they were younger. Actually, ask them if they still tan on a regular basis. Yes, tanning looks good and I'm of the opinion that it looks healthy but oh my God it's NOT. Tanning is the worst thing for your skin. I finally came to terms with this a few months ago and invested in a daily moisturizer with sunscreen and a couple of bottles of sunblock for when I go to the beach. Maybe I won't look as golden as everyone else in Florida, but I'm lowering my odds of skin cancer and premature wrinkles. I win!

7. Matching your makeup to your clothes
This is one of those that don't hurt you but are just terrible to look at. A purple dress does not mean purple eyeshadow. Rather than wearing the same color, go for one that complements your outfit. Purple dress? Gold and brown eyes. Blue shirt? Grey eyes.

Makeup and beauty are fun, and I hate talking about "rules", but these aren't so much rules as just guidelines to not looking crazy. I've pretty much done all of the above things several times..I still do some of them, but it's important to know what these mistakes are and how to avoid them and just TRY. Nobody wants bad hair!

Suave Captivating Curls Whipped Cream Mousse Review

I love mousse; Ever since I discovered there was a way to keep my hair from frizzing and my curls to come alive, I've been a die hard fan. I've tried literally every brand of mousse at the drugstore, and by this point, it's hard to impress me.

I'm impressed.

I've used Suave's mousse before and it's been fine, nothing special. But this new Captivating Curls Whipped Cream Mousse is something else. Captivating Curls is Suave's answer to Redken's Fresh Curls. It's part of their Suave Professionals line designed to imitate expensive salon products.

oh, how I LOVE when companies do this. There's nothing better than getting salon products for $3.
Anyway, on to the review...

Texture-wise, Captivating Curls feels like a regular mousse, not as creamy as some, but not liquid at all. And it smells fantastic, it's fruity/citrus-y without being overpowering.

The directions say to squeeze the mousse into wet hair. I wasn't entirely sure what they meant by "squeeze", so I just did what I usually do with mouse and scrunched my hair [I think they might have meant scrunch.] They also say to use a thin towel to blot out excess water [which I did with a regular towel] and to blow dry hair using a diffuser.

After doing all that, I was left with the curliest hair I've ever had. Seriously, ever. I had what can only be described as a full head of ringlets. And the best part is that they weren't crunchy at all. These were soft curls that felt like actual hair. The picture really doesn't do it justice but wavy hair is so hard to capture and dark wavy hair is even trickier. But believe me when I say that there are definite curls there and it wasn't as dull as it looks.

Everyone knows that the true test of a hair product is what happens the morning after. You either have to refresh the hair, or wash the product out altogether. Not this time. My hair this morning looks as springy and nice as it did yesterday, and the smell is still there.

I think this is a great product, not just because it's $3, but because it works amazingly well.

Suave Captivating Curls is available at drugstores.

There's an equally glowing review of this on Nouveau Cheap.


**** EDIT ****
After using this mousse for a few more weeks, I discovered something important.
If I don't dry my hair with a diffuser, I don't really get the beautiful ringlets, instead I get regular waves. My hair still looks nice and smooth and there is absolutely no frizzing, but it's no as curly and bouncy as it is without the diffuser. At first I thought it was common sense that with a diffuser hair will dry differently, but when I've tried it in the past with other mousses, nothing has happened. This is the first time a mousse actually seems to work with the heat from my dryer. Extra points for Suave!