Hair-care after colouring

I previously wrote on colouring my hair in JB. After colouring my hair, I did notice that it was drier than before and more frizzy which is like TERRIBLE!! And so for the first few days I used samples from Rene Furterer for their Okara shampoo and conditioner which is formulated for coloured hair. After that, I researched a bit more for products that are suitable for coloured hair and smoothening at the same time. Marc Anthony's Bye Bye Frizz series caught my eye as reviews online were quite good and they were still wthin affordable range, although it is still more expensive than the Essentials shampoo and conditioner I used.

(x)Rene furterer's Okara:
It is not a bad product honestly. When I first used it I though it was not bad in the sense that no colour was stripped off an my hair did not feel drier. But for those who don't know, Rene Furterer's hair products are really expensive! Like one bottle of shampoo is around SGD$40 or slightly lesser. For such amount of money I would think my hair should feel awesome, smooth, much less frizzy and should be radiant as the Okara line promises, which did not happen. Hence with that in mind, my verdict is a nono!

But if you still want to give it a go, cos it may work for you, look out for offers to try them. Watsons, John Little and I believe other departmental stores sell these products. There was also an offer at John Little for 3 products at ~$65 instead of the usual ~$30/product so look out for these offers!

Marc Anthony's Bye Bye Frizz:
I am loving this shampoo. No it isn't some miracle worker than miraculouly made my hair smooth and frizz-free. But! When compared to other products, bye bye frizz makes my hair smoother and less frizzy. For example when I used Okara, my hair will become quite wavy and frizzy in the morning. But when I use bye bye frizz, my hair in the morning is smoother, straighter, and less frizzy. No it is not my imagination! I did use them in 2 consecutive days to compare and there is the difference! Hopefully with prolonged usage my hair will really become smoother and less frizzy. Bye bye frizz is not exactly cheap for me. They retail at SGD$17.90 at watsons per shampoo or conditioner. I bought it at 20% off which means around $28 for both the shampoo and conditioner. This is more than what I am used to spending for shampoo and conditioner hence the effectiveness of the product will really determine if I continue buying it. So far, I can say that I will definitely re-purchase after I have finished it. Oh! This line of product is also sulfate-free and protects colour so it's a really good buy for those of you with coloured hair but would like to tame that frizzy mane.

Apparently this product is exclusive to watsons so just keep a lookout for watsons' storewide promo!

Shiseido's Fuente Vita Voltage:
I have been using this line of products for quite some time now, even before I coloured my hair. This line is mainly focused on improving the scalp, which I never believed helped until it relieved my irritated scalp which probably came about due to colouring my hair. I actually stopped using this line for a while to try out bye bye frizz, but after colouring my hair I found that a certain area of my scalp would be itchy regardless of whether my hair was freshly washed or whether it's a day old. Initially I thought perhaps I have to focus more on cleansing that area of the scalp, but when that didn't work, I used this line for the scalp and roots of the hair and my scalp was much less itchy. Perhaps it was dry and irritated from the colour job but anyway, Fuente was effective in relieving that irritation. The price however is really steep. I didn't buy this, it was given to me by my god-sis, but I'm pretty sure it retails for around SGD$40 per shampoo or conditioner. One thing to note is that the conditioner is better than the shampoo. Hence for those who have irritated scalp and really want a solution for it, you could perhaps try out the conditioner. If you are only using it for the roots and the scalp, you should not need much and hence you could use it for a long time, justifying the price if it does provide relief for your scalp:)

I seem to only see this line at salons or beauty product shops so do verify the authenticity before buying as there are a lot of fake ones out there.

I am also using essential's leave-in hair serum for before blow-drying my hair and in the morning to smooth it out, as well as their treatment milk for the night to protect my hair from all that friction against the pillow.

I just realised that it may seem like I am using a crazy amount of products, but I don't actually use a lot of each product. A key thing I have learnt is that a little goes a long way. Also, 1 line of products may not be suitable for your whole head and hair, hence you can consider using 2 lines to target different problems. Finally, it is really all about trial and error. Some products work and some don't. If you really want to have manageable and fuss-free hairstyling in the morning, spending a little more effort on hair care should provide great help.