Thairapy 365 Restore RX Conditioning Tool

It's been more than a year since I owned this Hair Treatment tool (in late 2012) and I have repeatedly said that I WILL WRITE A REVIEW on it.

BUT.

And it's been a year, but I have yet to write about it. Since one of my goals is to stop procrastinating in 2014, here I am  - even though it took me 1 year.

This tool is called the Thairapy 365 Restore RX Conditioning Tool.

I bought it from a push-cart store located at the basement of Wisma.

I know right? How reliable can it be when there is no proper store selling this - I was doubtful at first too, but this is actually the 4th item I have purchased from this stall over the past 4 years and it's still going strong! I own 2 hair straighteners & 1 curling tong prior to this buy and they are ALL STILL GOING STRONG - I absolutely love using them (and I am suppose to also write about them - haha - this is called "procrastination".)

What is it?

This is a hair treatment tool that's imported from the States, probably California (according to the country code indicated on the contact page.) It IS NOT A hair straightener even though it looks like one. 

What does it do?

It treats your hair and is catered to replenish moisture to it.

  It opens the hair cuticles and breaks down moisture/leave-in hair conditioners, hence encouraging better absorption.(Ultra-sonic technology)

 Who needs this?

People with dry, damaged, dyed hair including those who uses hair heating tools on a daily basis (that's me!), will need this. Basically, anyone who wants healthier hair can use this tool cause it is a form of hair maintenance/protection against the constant damage our hair receives from the chemicals, friction or heat induced by the environment or by us.

How to use it?

After shampoo, conditioning towel-dry you can either:

1. Apply leave-in conditioner/your preferred hair oil and run the tool through section-by-section of your damp hair (as you would with a flat iron hair straightener) till all is covered or

2. Just run the tool through section-by-section of your damp hair till all is covered

Both ways will replenish moisture to your hair and you can use it in the day or night, depending on your preference.

NOTE: This tool is meant as a treatment, hence do not expect it to dry your hair or straighten it. 

(Though I do find it helps tame my sometimes-frizzy hair - possibly cause its healthier and more nourished - it flows better)

 You may also blow-dry, fix your hair for the day with whatever gadget there after.

For more information, read: http://thairapy365.com/restore-rx.html

So as seen here, 1 side is a red plastic light which will light up (infrared) when you turn it on, and the other side is a regular-looking reflective plastic plate.

When switch on, the red lights are intense, so I found it slightly blinding, just turn the tool away so the red-lights doesn't face you and you should be fine.

According to the person (who is the shop manager) who sold me this, when you bring the plates close together, violet rays are suppose to light up. And that's also 1 way to tell it is working well and not damaged.

The moment I ran it through my hair, I felt it became smoother and there was less stray hairs.

This shop manager also demonstrated how it works by spraying some water on the non-lit reflective plate, then bringing the plates close to each other without having their surface touch each other. And the water droplets started to react and "jump". At the same time, it gave off some steam, but there was no heat as he could place his finger there. The plates were not hot or burning.  

 

My verdict?

I have been using this for over a year now, and though I do feel guilty for not using it enough (recommended about twice per week, or as often as you like), I like the effects it has on my hair. An instant hair "smoother-ner". It was a "comfort-gadget" that I relied on whenever I feel my hair is super dry, after a hair dye or just mistreated (you know, sometimes you straighten your hair and then curl it and then straighten it again just to play? or is it just me?) 

It's light, easy to operate, practical and has a lifetime warranty.

Best is you use it after a deep-conditioning hair mask treatment in the bath, and with argan oil leave-in. 

Overall a great experience! 

Opps. Price-wise would be the only "con" here cause it is skewed to the pricier side. I cannot recall how much I paid for it, but it was definitely more than SDG200. And that was after discount because I bought a few other gadgets at the same time. Seriously, take it as an investment cause going for regular hair treatments in salons will also add up to that much - and this - can be achieved at the comfort of your own home, anytime. 

Do feel free to drop your comments/feedback if you have any below. :)

Cheers!  

 

DIY Hair Dye for CNY! (Liese Hair Dye Review)

I like going to salons to get my hair dyed, where all you do is sit there and relax. But there are just some days where I feel like DIY. Save some money and spend it on makeup!

So today, my review will be DIY hair dye - also very timely for CNY.

You see, I was walking around in Watsons (once again!) and thought this liese hair dye thingy looks pretty easy to manage. You don't even need to comb your hair through with the dye (as regular dyes, I always felt that combing step causes me a lot of hair loss, and with my recent hair loss encounter, no thanks!), all you need was to massage the product into her hair as you would while shampooing. Sounds easy enough. So that was it! Decided!

I choose the raspberry brown color cos I wanted something that's not too copper nor too light.

Simple instructions.

My hair has been dyed before to a light-brown tone, so I reckon the results to be either the 2nd or 3rd row. So long as you hair has not been dyed black before, this sorta DIY does work pretty well to change the tone of your hair.

Now, this is what I call hair tone uneveness.

Each time I return to the salon to dye the crown of my head, the color just doesn't match up well to the rest of the dyed color and after sometime when new hair grows out, there will be 2-3 uneven tones worn on my hair!

While the product comes with alot of relevant stuff to ensure your hair dye DIY is successful (inc hair conditioner to help repair your hair) 2 other essentials will be:

1. A shower cap- to wear while you wait for the dye to fully penetrate your hair and

2. Vaseline- where you will most definitely want to avoid having ANY dye accidentally dye parts of your face or neck etc. So you want to apply a thin layer of vaseline near the hair line (on your face please, not the hair, cos then the hair cant get dyed!), around your ears, and the back of your neck.

Also, do wear an old t-shirt that you can throw away after the dye cos that will stop you from worrying with the dye touched your shirt (which will certainly be the case especially when you have long hair!)

Start mixing up

Gently tilt bottle upside down and repeat 

(NO vigorous shaking, please. You don't want a mini explosion at home!)

Since the solution comes out in foam form, the mess was really minimised.

Application started from the top of my head, where I coat the foam in a shampoo motion. Brushing the fingers through the hair, right above my forehead, then outwards, with the right hand moving to the right & left hand moving to the left until I reach behind the ears covering the top half of the head by now.

Then from the bottom, back of the head, brushing through from left to right. 1 key point to minimise mess is to keep on working the hair as if you are going to tie it in a pony tail or a bun.

Easy & neat!

Cover with shower cap and go do other things for 30 mins. Then, rinse out, shampoo and condition.

Even after brushing my fingers through the dry hair to coat them all, the hair fall out was minimal!

This is the comparison. 

(After photo was taken 1 day after the day I dyed)

The color was significantly even and hair was darker than my previous tone which was the result I wanted.

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT LIESE HAIR DYE

Thumbs up! for this product. It was fuss-free, gentle on the scalp (I didn't feel any sort of stinging sensation), easy to administer from preparation to application, the solution comes out in foam form with makes it easy to handle, easy to wash out, no entangling of the hair, minimal hair fall out rate and even-colored results.

Definitely a good choice for hair dye DIY!

That said. have a good time experimenting and happy CNY!

Cheers!

The Battle between Hair Loss Shampoos! Klorane VS Natur Vital

Ever since my trial with the Furterer Hair Loss Treatment program , I have been really careful with the kind of shampoo I use because I don't ever! wanna see my hair choking the drainage again!

I have been alternating between both of these Hair Loss Shampoo (i.e. using Natur Vital only after Klorane has finished and vice versa).

I can't recall the price, but they are about $20ish per bottle (Klorane often has bundle prices of $29.90 for 2 bottles at Guardian/watsons)

Left to right: 

Klorane Hair Loss Conditioner, Klorane Hair Loss Shampoo, Natur Vital Hair Loss Shampoo for women, Natur Vital Hair Loss Tonic Treatment.

Let's talk about KLORANE. 

As mentioned in the previous entry, Klorane was a recommendation from the sales staff who was serving me when I made my purchase of the Furterer Treatment Program. She mentioned it being made of plant extracts hence, using it with the Furterer Program was fine (since it was cheaper than using the Furterer Shampoo, THAT Furterer Shampoo was bad - it tangled my hair up in the shower! Hate it!)

Klorane Shampoo was in dark brown in color and it was a very watery consistency. A lot more fluid than the regular hair shampoo, but of course not so watery like...  water? 

The scent was a refreshing herb scent, nothing overwhelming or repulsive.

It doesn't really, lather up or rather, it takes ALOT to lather up. 

After applying the first round to my hair, it seems to just dissolve without lather, and by then I am not even done with working it through all my hair. (Not that I have a lot!)

I would have to pour a second round of shampoo into the palms of my hands while shampooing, just to add to the first round to lather it up. But. At least this doesn't entangle my hair like Furterer does!

One of the ways I noticed was to rub it in your palms, introducing some air to it, then, rub it unto the top of your head before spreading it all over the scalp and hair.

Although it doesn't tangle my hair up, due to the lack of lather, I can't work it too thoroughly through my scalp and hair. Rinsing the shampoo out with water was a tough because there seems to be no "emollient coating" (I don't know what better way to explain that!). I can literally feel the friction between my fingers and the strands of hair when I wash the the shampoo out with water - it feels "squeaky clean", I can't be sure if "clean" was the right word to use, seriously.  

 

So after part rinsing out the shampoo with water, I applied the "matching" Klorane hair conditioner in the hope of softening the hair and removing the "squeaky" feeling so I can have a better, thorough rinse.

Lo & behold! While the application of the conditioner was smooth, the rinsing was like crap!

One would have thought a conditioner gives such a smooth and silky coating to each strand of hair that rinsing it off was easy - but sorry, wrong number! Not for this Klorane Conditioner.

The "squeaky" effect resurfaced and you feel like your are rubbing rubber. (That's how much friction and non-smooth it was!)

This - made my hair fall! After 2 uses - I thrashed it. It was almost a full tube left, mind you. But I rather waste the product than waste my hair!

My Verdict for Klorane Shampoo

Despite it being tough to administer, I do find it rather effective because I don't spot alot of hair loss while using this shampoo. (So long as I don't use its conditioner!) And that was my whole objective MINIMISE hair loss.

The not-so-fabulous experience about it:
Takes too long to lather up, exhausting way too much product in 1 use. Tough time rinsing it out because it is soooo "squeaky".

Well, I did improvise the method to using it by pairing it up with a non-plant base conditioner (in the likes of Sunsilk Hair Fall Control Conditioner). And problem with rinsing out the shampoo without that "squeakiness"" was solved.

Let's get started with Natur Vital. 

Natur Vital was a random buy because I spotted a "mohawk" TV commercial which was so hilarious that I remembered the brand - random, I know.

I must say I absolutely enjoyed using this shampoo! Much better than my experience with Klorane.

It is white, silverish in color and the consistency was like that of a regular shampoo. Thicker than Klorane, definitely. 

The scent was refreshing but not so much like a scent of herbs, nor fruits, perhaps a little floral? Nothing overwhelming or repulsive.

It was much easier to work up a lather with this. 50cent coin x 2 is enough.

 

Also, it doesn't tangle my hair up, while lathering/rinsing it out. There's a slight "emollient coating" (you'd get my point b now). Minimal friction felt between my fingers and the strands of hair when I wash the the shampoo out with water. 

 I am not sure if they sold a conditioner alongside this. I just paired this up with the regular Sunsilk conditioner that I always use and it was fine.

Overall, a better choice than Klorane, though I do continue alternating this with Klorane just for the sake of switching between shampoos so as not to develop any form of product over reliance.

After shampooing and towel-drying, I also tried this Natur Vital Hair Loss Tonic as a form of maintenance.

 

It comes in a 60ml bottle with a pointed tip - where you are supposed to administer the solution into the scalp and massage it in. 

I can't quite understand why such products are often sold with a pointed tip instead of a spray head, because the spray head is so much easier when it comes to application. 

With the pointed tip, you need to exercise control in tilting the bottle such that you pour just the right amount, not too little and not too much. But that's the difficult part about it. 

With the spray, the solution dispersed is always going to be consistent and so controllable. Just part hair and spray in different sections and rub it in.

That's why I had to include the 10ml spray bottle (bought separately) in the photo-shoot to emphasize the efficiency of a spray head!

This was a watery texture that had a similar scent to that of the shampoo. Nice; floral.

My Verdict for Natur Vital Shampoo & Hair Loss Tonic

I cant count how much new hair I have grown (who can?!), but I have definitely seen improvements when I wash my hair - lesser hair fall outs.

Overall,  am satisfied with this product - except for 2 ingredients here that I will need to research a little more on: Alcohol Denat (known to be not-good for skincare products) and Retinol (Vit A), Vit A is known as a miracle worker for the skin, but what about pregnant users? Still safe for use?

Yup. This sums up my review on the the 2 Hair Loss Shampoo that I am currently using. 

Cheers! 

Rene Furterer Reactional Severe Hair Loss Treatment Programme

In the recent months leading to this purchase, I noticed an abnormal amount of hair in the drainage when I shower.

Sadly, it has come to a point in time where losing hair is a concern for me. I usually don't bother much about dropping a few strands of hair cause it's only normal, but when I spotted a bunch of hair that almost choked my bath tub's drainage, I AM CONVINCED I need help.

I thought about seeking help from some reputable salons for treatments, but then, I recalled my ultra bad experience with a "reputable" facial salon previously, and decided against it. Brands and reputations are always about how much money is being invested in the marketing and communications to the general public and I am just not ready to put my trust in them.

So happens I was at Khoo Teck Phuat Hospital for an appointment and decided to scan the pharmacy for any possible solutions to help solve this problem and lo & behold - this product caught my eye! They were probably having some promotional activities going on in the store, hence, almost half of the shelf facing the entrance was stocked with Furterer products - it was hard to not notice it and with the persuasion of the designated sales personnel, I was sold!

Rene Furterer Reactional Severe Hair Loss Treatment Programme  

This package cost about $130 or $150+ I cannot recall, except that it was more than $100. It's pretty reasonable for the number of things you get in there. 

(Though I am not sure if this exact package is still available as I heard it was a "limited edition" package and the price of it ala-carte style will cost a lot more - I know, sucha marketing gimmick right! But I still fell for it. *sigh*)

What is in there? 

COMPLEXE 5: Pre-shampoo solution

FORTICEA ANTI-HAIR LOSS SHAMPOO: Shampoo

RF 80: Post-shampoo leave-in treatment

 

You may read the description in the below pictures 

(and you will understand why I bought it - sounds too good to be missed!)

The key here is, it doesn't just STOP hair loss (they don't even bother using the words "prevent hair loss", they use the word "STOP" -how confident?), it strengthens the hair and PROMOTES hair growth.

Now that is what caught me!

Many hair loss products always focus on how it prevents the hair from falling but I have not quite notice those products claiming it stimulates hair growth. So I just need to get my hand on it. 

And to top it off, its compounds are made of Plant Extracts which I felt safe to use given that I AM ALREADY losing hair and I DON'T want any more chemicals applied to what's left of my beloved, precious hair. 

*sob*

Using the words of the Sales Person who sold me this, a hair loss shampoo can only prevent hair loss, it doesn't cleanse the scalp, hence absorption of any nutrients (that may be applied thereafter to the scalp) is minimal, but with this full set, the treatment is complete. 

Complexe 5 cleanse and tones the scalp, making it ready for the nutrients (RF 80) of the treatment to be maximized and fully absorbed, hence more effective.

My Verdict?

Just to get the record straight, I purchased this sometime in April, started the programme for 3 months from May to July and truly, my hair fall quantity in the shower has lessen a fair lot! 

(Update in Dec'13: In fact, I noticed a lot of stray hair falling from my pony tail whenever I tied my hair up. I can only say they are new hair that's grown out not too long ago, hence too short to the caught by the hair tie *relief*)

What I think about COMPLEXE 5?  

I quite like the slightly citrus scent it has. Not repulsive to me, in fact, it was quite refreshing to the nose. 

I did feel some form of a warm sensation when being applied it to my scalp, but it was not stinging, just a light warm sensation which was bearable. The fluid seemed s little greasy to touch but it was not oily.

What I didn't appreciate was the applicator - this pointed opening for pouring the fluid to the scalp. It wasn't convenient to apply and I would much prefer it as a spray head. (But, since it works! No complaints!)

   What I think about FORTICEA ANTI-HAIR LOSS SHAMPOO?

Nope, I completely DO NOT LIKE this shampoo's texture, nor the shampooing experience. 

It is a thick gel form which wasn't quite fluid enough to be worked thoroughly through the hair. I was under the impression that this shampoo isn't going to tangle my hair up in the shower, but it did. So I had to be extra careful in not tugging the hair too hard, fearful that more hair would fall due to the entanglement. I even had to use a conditioner to detangle it.

Thankfully, the Sales Person did also recommend me to another shampoo which was made of Plant Extracts - (KLORANE anti-hair loss range). And said so long as the shampoo was made of plant extracts, it was going to be compatible. 

But. I have my own set of comments to the KLORANE range as well, and will pen them down when I have the time to, in short, the shampoo was better than this Furterer's one but the conditioner was a nightmare, and I have not touched the conditioner since! (I have since been using a regular conditioner (in the likes of Sun Silk and Organics etc.) being mindful of not having the conditioner come too close to the scalp since that was not "Plant Extract". 

Anyways, it all worked out well, with me finishing 1 tube of Furterer, a few bottles of KLORANE anti-hair loss shampoo and Sun Silk Conditioner in that 3 months of treatment. 

What about RF 80?

This post-shampoo leave-in treatment comes in an ampoule form, where you need to break it open in a piece of tissue  and work it into the clean scalp after shampooing and towel-drying your hair.

(I can't quite comprehend why it has to be glass! What if the bits of glass fall into the liquid and I ignorantly rub it into my head? *kiasu Singaporean*)

It was lightly scented, but I can't put a finger to the scent, it's not as strong as the Complexe 5, just a slight fresh scent. More fluid than the Complexe 5 and felt like ""thickened" water (like glucose water?) 

Frankly, this RF 80 works! BUT (and there's a but!) the ampoule form of packaging really sucks because, how do you start applying that into your scalp after you have just broken off the top part? *sigh*

So I poured bit by bit of that solution into my palm of 1 hand, and using the tip of my fingers from the other hand - I patiently worked the whole tube to cover my entire scalp. Tedious process that takes about 5 - 7 mins. I would have much preferred a spray head form! Oh well - the results are most important! 

 

In Summary 

Although the application part and shampoo part sucks, this product DID DELIVER what it promised to deliver over that 3 months (for me, that is). So it was well-worth the effort! In fact, I continue to maintain a clean scalp by using the Complexe 5 without the RF 80 (though I ought to be more diligent and use it once to twice a week). 

Please feel free to leave your comments and share your experience on your personal hair fall solutions. :)

Cheers!