A New York City Health and Beauty Blog

Review: Salon Series by Ouidad

Salon Series by Ouidad bloggers event at Sephora.

Last week I attended the Salon Series by Ouidad event at Sephora in NYC. The event was a launch of 3 new hair products from Ouidad- debuting exclusively to Sephora in a few weeks! Over fresh fruit and coffee, members from the Ouidad team educated us bloggers on the new products that have been in the making for years. The line consists of 3 products- Omega 3 Replenishing Hair Treatment, Biotin Lightweight Reparative Hair Serum, and lastly the Mediterranean Bay Leaf Exfoliating Hair & Scalp Treatment.

I see The Omega 3 treatment as more of a deep conditioning masque- it is made with flax seed oil, passion fruit oil,  acai pulp, as well as organic Macroloba oil, found in the Amazon rain forest, which helps to completely repair dry damaged hair.  I used this treatment after shampooing my hair, and kept it on for about 5 minutes while combing it through. The bottle says you may apply heat (with a blow-dryer) if you want. The consistency of the conditioner is amazing- lightweight, smooth and feels like silk. Immediately after I washed out the treatment I could feel a difference. After letting my hair air dry, it was SO soft!

The Biotin hair serum I applied at night before bed a few times this week- and I’ve really noticed a difference in my texture and health of my hair. The forumla is amazing, it is a serum that is unlike any serum I’ve used before. Unlike Biosilk, or drugstore serums this one is is not goopy or thick. The serum has been formulated without silicones, sulfates, parabens and waxes. The treatment is very complex in vitamins, and just sort of melts into the skin. The end result of using this product is to have stronger, healthier, fuller hair. Also, using this treatment claims to improve hair growth!

The last and my personal favorite of the Ouidad trio- is the Exfoliating treatment. I think Ouidad could sell this product on the scent alone! It’s infused with sugar cane, lemon and apple extracts, as well as Bamboo and the Bay Leaf oil for exfoliation. This is the first scalp exfoliator product on the market, and it’s amazing. It is used for oily or dry scalps, excessive product build up, dryness, etc. Think of this product as a face wash with exfoliating beads- for your head! Right after shampooing, I used a quarter-sized amount and massaged it into my scalp. This product keeps the roots of hair clean and inspires hair growth. After using this treatment just once, my scalp felt clean, fresh and hydrated. I think this product will be Ouidad’s best seller!

All 3 products are at home treatments, giving hair that TLC it deserves! We are constantly coloring, cutting, styling, using heat and damaging our hair, we never really think about the things we put out hair through! These treatments help to bring our hair back to its original state- healthy, shiny, soft, nourished, hydrated and strong. After testing out these new treatments at home this week, I am very impressed! All 3 treatments are unique, effective and simple to use.

Will you be trying out these Ouidad Salon Series products at home?

Disclosure: The products featured in this post were provided for editorial consideration. Receipt of these products did not guarantee a review and all opinions are my own.

Review: Is Moroccan Oil an Option For Fine, Frizzy Hair?

When everyone and their shampoo girl started talking about Moroccan Oil, my baby-fine hair and I immediately tuned out. I’d long ago given up on working with its limp fineness coupled with its tendency to either lay flatironed into boring submission- or when air-dried, paradoxically make me look the bassist of an spandex-clad metal band circa 1986. Even when carefully styled, my hair always seems to have a bit of unwanted frizz that really suggests I am inept with styling tools and belies its lightweight texture. Clearly, this miracle Moroccan Oil would be better suited to my girlfriends, all of whom were blessed with luscious locks they don’t color into crackliness every six weeks.

Or so I assumed. My sister, a master stylist, included a massive bottle of the much lauded Moroccan Oil with my Christmas gift this year. Despite my skepticism that Moroccan Oil and my hair texture were destined to be enemies and that the treatment would cause my locks to separate into difficult to define clumps, the big apothecary style bottle and fancy box won out over my impulse to swap it. (It was Tiffany blue! Like a Tiffany box!) I worked the exotically-scented potion into my hair starting with the cotton-candy like ends, smoothing it out over my breakage-heavy roots and all the while convinced it wouldn’t work.

Miracle! After a few uses, my formerly unruly and sparse coif has been transformed. It’s not thicker, alas, but a simple blow-dry results in smooth, shiny, cohesive style. Top-knots and chignons fall effortlessly into place with no errant crimped half-ringlets, and even after using a shower cap, my hair remains smooth and most surprisingly, not greasy or weighed down. I’ve tried every possible defrizzing potion, and as anyone with fine hair knows, most of them are a bit too intense for thin hair. If you’ve struggled with limp, fine hair that doesn’t do anything, Moroccan Oil might just be the secret ingredient to avail yourself of breakage, frizz and hairnemia.

Do you have any desert island hair potions? What products have drastically diminished the number of bad hair days you wake up to?