A Review Of Some Schwarzkopf BC Bonacure Smooth Shine Hair Products

I was recently contacted by the lovely Lisa from Immediate PR offering me the chance to try out some Schwarzkopf products. As you know some of the range before but the products I was sent this time come for a brand new collection. Schwarzkopf BC Bonacure Smooth Shine is a new line for people with coarse, unmanageable and dull hair, which is exactly my problem -I'm prone to annoying frizz and waves, and an annoying lack of shine due to constant heat treatments (yes straighteners I blame you), and an obsession with the bleach bottle. Using an innovative "Ionic Polymer Shield Complex and the Amino Cell Rebuild technology that features in the rest of the range" the smooth shine collection promises "24 hour smoothness, long-lasting frizz protection and a beautiful mirror like shine", by repairing the hair internal structure. OK that sounds pretty technical but the gist is this range promises me personally better hair - well we'll see

BC Bonacure Smooth Shine Shampoo

Step one in most haircare regimes usually involves the shampoo, and this was the first product I tried from the range. Like all the Bonacure shampoos.It comes in a sleek designed white bottle,this time with purple branding.

With a flip cap the product dispenses easily, it has a milky colour, and a slightly runny texture. It has the same fresh floral, "hairdresser" fragrance as the rest of the Bonacure range.


It foamed up easily, with a little agitation and a little bit of water, and it rinsed out easily, I tended to do two shampoos, just out of habit I suppose but my hair did feel pretty clean even after one. What surprised me most about this product was how good my hair felt. After rinsing my hair was left with virtually no tangles, and it felt super sleek and smooth even without a conditioner. There is a conditioner in the range but I didn't receive one so I didn't use any conditioner during the period of this review. To be honest though I really didn't feel I needed to use one, even when my hair was dry it still felt smooth and free from tangles. I have to say using the shampoo alone didn't eliminate the frizz from my hair but they do recommend that you use the shampoo alongside the Smooth Shine Smoothing Milk, which as you will see I did - more on that in a moment though ;) I have to say that this is the best Schwarzkopf shampoo I've tried to date, it left my hair very soft, and with no tangles, and I also felt that I didn't need to use a conditioner. My one complaint again is the use of Sodium Laureth Sulfate(SLS). This can be drying on the hair and although this product didn't feel drying in the slightest, I feel it's important to mention this as some people especially eczema sufferers can be allergic to SLS, and an increasing number of people are now choosing to avoid this ingredient in both hair and body products. Schwarzkopf BC Bonacure Smooth Shine Shampoo retails at around £8.85 for 250ml.

BC Bonacure Smooth Shine Smoothing Milk

OK I hinted at this a little earlier but I was also sent the BC Bonacure Smooth Shine Smoothing Milk. Designed to be used alongside the shampoo, Schwarzkopf claim that this product will "smooth hair, whilst providing protection against frizz and leaving it with lasting shine".

In a squeezy tube in the same white and purple colours as the shampoo, the product dispenses easily, and has cream/gel texture, and again a milky colour, and the same fresh/floral hairdresser type smell.

As per the instruction I applied this product to damp towel dried hair. I then either blow dried my hair or used my wet to straight hair straighteners. I have to say I am super impressed with this product, the frizz was nearly completely diminished, my hair looked straight and shiny, and felt soft and free from build up -the smoothness easily lasted till my next wash (normally 2-3 days later)- result :) I have to say though I also tried on my hair before leaving it to dry naturally and I have to say it didn't work nearly as well it obviously needs some sort of heat treatment to activate it?
After Pic :)

All in all a big thumbs up for me this is one of the best anti frizz treatments that I have used. Schwarzkopf BC Bonacure Smooth Shine Smoothing Milk retails at around £9.95 for 125ml

BC Bonacure Smooth Shine Leave In Treatment

The final product I was sent was the BC Bonacure Smooth Shine Leave In Treatment. Especially coarse, dry and unmanageable hair this product is not only a leave in conditioner treatment which can help to repair the hair, it also acts as a styling product to calm and smooth hair and too add shine.

It comes in a 200ml jar with the same salon type smell, and has a thick creamy texture, very similar to some of the BC Bonacure Hairs Masks I've used in the past

You apply a small amount of the cream to washed and towel dried hair, you then massage it in from root to tip, and combed through before drying. One of the hardest things with this product was judging how much to use, too little and nothing happens, and too much as you hair feels too full of product, and a little stiff. It took a few goes to get the amount right but as you can see for this picture the hair was left generally in a better condition than before and with a fair degree of smoothness, not perhaps as shiny and smooth as the smoothing milk but still not bad

It also mentioned on the packaging that you could use the smoothing milk alongside the leave in treatment so I gave that a go, I took a small amount of the leave in treatment and a small amount of the smoothing milk and applied it to my hair before heat styling - the result was a tiny bit better than with the smoothing milk on it's own initially but my hair was definitely left feeling softer and more conditioned. The Schwarzkopf BC Bonacure Smooth Shine Leave In Treatment retails at around £11.20.

I have to say of all the Schwarzkopf products I have tried this range has to be the one that has suited my hair the best. All the products did pretty much what they promised my hair was left a lot smooth and lot less flyaway without feeling too overloaded with product. For more information on this and the other BC Bonacure ranges and stockist details you check out the Schwarzkopf website If your interested specifically in the Smooth Shine range I have found a few sites which sell the products often under RRP including Fragrance Direct ,and Cheap Smells. Any questions please ask.

(I was sent these products for review purposes - this hasn't altered my review in any way and I haven't been compensated for this review)

A Review Of OSIS+ Styling Products

I was recently sent some OSIS+ styling products by the lovely Lisa & Co at Immediate PR - It was strange how it happened my bestie had recently changed her hairdresser who had used OSIS+ products on her hair and she asked me had I tried them - I hadn't but the next day I got an email offering to send me some OSIS products so it was obviously fate lol
Recently relaunched OSIS is one of the styling brands under the huge Schwarzkopf Professional banner, and is a top salon styling brand. The products fall into 3 main categories Style, Texture and Finish. In the Style range of products there are products for Sleek, Curl and Volume - I was sent a product from the Sleek range.

OSIS+ Soft N Straight - Smooth Straightening Emulsion

As you all know if you've followed my blog for sometime one of my biggest hair issues are frizz, flyaway, and generally unmanageable hair. Without my straighteners I am nothing, my hair has such flyaway tendencies it untrue and I'm always looking for something to tame it. This product from OSIS+ makes big claims - "sleek smooth hair all day", "light movable hair", "works to prevent spit ends and hair breakage", and "protects from mechanical heat" but what did I think?
First of all the packaging itself, in a 150ml bottle it comes with a rubberised button press flip top cap - the product dispenses easily by squeezing the bottle

The styling emulsion itself is a slightly runny lotion type consistency

It has a really interesting but pleasant smell sort of fruit, floral and violets, which lingers slightly on the hair. To use it I applied it to damp (freshly washed), hair and styled as normal.

I found the product applied well through the hair, with very little stickiness, or hardness even when the hair was dry you could still run your fingers through it (this is a 2 Medium hold product) My hair did stay pretty frizz free, and pretty sleek as you can see here but I felt my end needed something a bit stronger - I did find though that the product worked better when I dried my hair either by blow drying, or drying with my Remington Wet to Straights. Would I buy this product probably not - as much as I loved the smell, and the lack of stiff and sticky texture it probably didn't do enough for me and the lack of frizz probably didn't last as long as I would have liked. The OSIS+ Soft n' Straight Sleek Smooth Straightening Emulsion retails for around £10.50 for 150ml.

OSIS+ Dust It

I was also sent a product from the OSIS+ Texture Category, the OSIS+ Dust It Mattifying Powder. Designed to texturise, separate, and mattify this product comes in a sweet pepper pot style shaped dispenser and applicator I have to say I have never used or seen anything like this before


This product is in essence a white powder that you sprinkle into you hands - it has no discernible smell but the real magic is when you agitate the powder you get an almost liquidy feel,


I used this product on dry hair, rubbing it in to my roots and in particular into my fringe - I found that this product helped to lift up, texturise and volumise my fringe, as well freshening the roots - you can't really see any difference here unfortunately
Before

After

On the right hair type I think this would be a quirky, and really useful product - on a choppier, layered, shorter or more textured hair style I think would be ideal. On my longer hair however I couldn't really get much use out of it bar using it on my fringe so unfortunately I wouldn't repurchase. The OSIS+ Dust It Texture Mattifying Powder retails for around £11.70 for 10g

I was sent this products for review purposes but this hasn't affected my opinion in any way. For more information including stockists of OSIS products please check out their official website here. OSIS+ products are also available from Adrian Allens online store here. Any questions or comments please let me know xx

Schwarzkopf Silhouette Ultimate Shine Extreme Gloss Spray - A Review

A month or so ago I was contacted by a PR company asking if I would like to try another Schwarzkopf hair product 0f course I agreed especially when the word shine was mentioned! As I've said on numerous occasions I have a major issue with shine or lack of it on my hair - when my hair was darker it was so glossy and shiny but since I have had so much blonde put in it it can look quite brassy and dull. Sprays, serums you name it I've used it! Anyway the product they sent my was the Schwarzkopf Professional Silhouette Ultimate Shine Extreme Gloss Spray. The product comes in a 300ml can which reminds me of a hairspray can

This is a super generous size for a shine enhancing product -the majority I've had are a 100ml maximum ! The product dispenses in a super fine mist exactly what you would expect from an aerosol - pump action and self propelled sprays may be better for the environment but there is a tendency to get clumps of product - not with this! you get a super fine mist that covers your hair evenly.

The product itself smells amazing - it has a gorgeous fruity type scent which lingers on your hair but at the same time isn't overpowering -so I like the practical packaging and the smell but how does it perform? Schwarzkopf claim that their "Shine Boost Formula" which helps the hair to reflect light "leaving hair sparkling with radiance and vitality" I have to say I think I agree with this - I don't know how well you can see it in these pictures (they are a bit blurry Mummy LouLou is no photographer lol) but my over processed hair certainly has a gloss / shine to it but without the feeling that it's greasy or waxy.

Another thing I like about this product is that it gives an "invisible hold" - it helps to keep your hair in place to some degree but more importantly it doesn't leave it dry, crispy,tangled or full of product build up - you can't actually feel that you are wearing anything on your hair no matter how much you apply, and believe me in the course of using this product I have layered it on for your benefit :)
Would I buy this? Yes without a doubt I have used more cheaper and more expensive products and I have been way less impressed. I love how it performs and I love the smell, oh and my salon uses it :)! This item is available from all Schwarzkopf stockists for around £3.75 for 300ml. For more information and stockist details please check out the Schwarzkopf website
(Just to add I was sent this product for review purposes I haven't been paid or compensated in any way for the is post - this is my own opinion yours may vary)

Schwarzkopf Professionals BC Bonacure Color Save Treatment Review

A few months ago I was lucky enough to be sent some Schwarzkopf hair products to review (you can see my review here),well I received an email from their PR about a month ago asking me if there was anything else from the range I would like to try and she mentioned this product from the same range the Schwarzkopf Professionals BC Bonacure Color Save Treatment - you know me intensive hair conditioners bring it on!

As you know me hair is coloured, super flyaway and super crispy so I was an ideal candidate to try out this product.

The product from the BC Hairtherapy Color Save line comes in a 200ml screw top jar which makes it super easy to use. The product is a super thick white cream - yes it's so thick you can tip the container upside down and none comes out!

Carrying on the Schwarzkopf Bonacure Hairtherapy philosophy of "rebuilding the hair from within" this product also contains Schwarzkopf's amino acid technology to rebuild the hair cells, as well as Schwarzkopf's exclusive colour save technology to protect colour treates hair, a QCA complex to reduce frizziness, and UV filters to protect your hair and it's colour. Big claims there I am sure you'll agree so how did it perform?

This as I said is an intensive type conditioner - you wash your hair as normal, then towel dry it before applying the products to the ends and mid lengths of your hair, you then leave it for 5 - 10 minutes before rinsing. As I said the first thing you notice about this product is the texture - it has a super thick body cream type texture with a pleasant fresh smell - despite it's thickness it spreads easily through the hair and feels pleasant whilst it's on - again surprisingly for it's density it washes it really easily. The first thing you notice when you've washed it out is how nice your wet hair feels, silky and knot free. Drying the hair as normal (naturally , with a swipe of my straighteners)I was left with nice feeling hair, which wasn't too frizzy, and it certainly wasn't weighed down, or greasy - that was my biggest fear with this that it would weigh my hair down. My hair also appeared to be quite shiny and my blonde colours looked less brassy. Despite the fabulous texture though I don't think that this product provided as much moisture and nourishment as I expected - don't get me wrong the condition of my hair has improved a little since I started using it (for around 4 weeks )I think that I just expected more due to the lovely feel and density of the product. I will definitely continue using this product but if I was to repurchase I would probably look to try the corresponding product in the Schwarzkopf BC Hairtherapy Repair Rescue range which hopefully would be a more moisturising / repairing product. If you would like more information on Schwarzkopf hair products please check out their website This product retails for around £10.95 from Schwarzkopf retailers including HQ Hair,  and look fantastic Any questions please let me know x

(Just to add I was sent this product for review purposes but that has in no way influenced my review xx)

Schwarzkopf Bonacure Hairtherapy Review

A month or so ago I was lucky enough to be sent a few products from the new Schwarzkopf BC Bonacure Hairtherapy range to try - having used Schwarzkopf products before in the past I was keen to try this new range. I have consistently used these products for over a month to give you an honest balanced review :)
Schwarzkopf is a salon professional brand with over 111 years of hair and hairdressing experience and the BC Hairtherapy Products are one of their newest launches.
The whole concept of the BC range is to "rebuild beauty from within" by treating not just the surface of the hair but to use amino acid technology to rebuild the hair from within thus restoring it to its natural beauty - a bit complicated I am sure you will agree but restoring natural beauty I am certainly up for a bit of that:)The BC range is comprised of 5 separate range of which deal with 5 different hair types - damaged hair, colour treated hair, normal to dry coarse and curly hair, fine hair, and for specific hair and scalp needs.
I was sent two products from the colour treated hair range and one product from the damaged hair range. My hair is quite long, it's coloured I have a mixture of blonde and caramel highlights, and I use a lot of straighteners and heat treatments on my hair - oh and its also needs cut and coloured desperately!!!

Color Save Sulfate Free Shampoo
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"cleanses and protects colour-treated hair from fading even after 30 washes. For hair full of long lasting vibrancy and healthy shine"

This shampoo from the color save family came in a sleek looking 250ml bottle. The slightly thick liquid was pearlised in colour and non sticky in texture - it didn't take much shampoo to produce a decent lather which was surprising considering it doesn't contain sulfates. This was one of the major things I liked about this shampoo the fact that it doesn't contain sodium laureth sulphate - I won't go into why this isn't a good ingredient there is plenty of info out there on it but this shampoo proves you don't need it to produce a foam. It was easy to rinse out and didn't leave the hair tacky or tangled. The smell was hard to describe slightly musky, slightly floral, my mum probably described it best when she said it smells like a hairdressers :)I must admit I didn't get my hair coloured during this trial but I did notice my blonde highlights looked a lot brighter, fresher and less dull
This shampoo retails for around £8.65 for 250ml

Colour Save Spray Conditioner

"detangles and protects colour treated hair from fading. For smooth manageable hair full of long lasting colour vibrancy"
This was another product from the color save range. I must admit I do use leave in conditioner sprays on regular basis anyway so the concept wasn't new to me. This product came in a 200ml pump action spray bottle which gave a nice fine spray. You had shake the bottle first and then spray it on to towel dried hair. It didn't feel sticky or heavy on the hair and had a similar fragrance to the shampoo. It did help to detangle the hair but I have used sprays that have felt more conditioning on the hair than this one. Again my blonde lights appeared to be brighter but I don't know if it was this product or the corresponding shampoo
This product retails at £9.85 for 200ml

Repair Rescue Sealed Ends

"mends split hair ends and prevents them from reforming. For smoothed ends full of suppleness and shine"

This product was from the damaged hair range. As I said my hair does have some heat damage and split ends. This is a non sticky white cream which I applied to the ends of my hair. It didn't make my hair stiff or tacky and felt weightless. Again it had a similar fragrance to the previous products. Whilst I felt it smoothed my hair and made the ends and the frizz less noticeable I didn't feel that it actually mended my split ends - I am a firm believer that the only way to get rid of them is to cut them off
This product costs £10.95 for a 75ml tube

Summing Up
I enjoyed trying these products but I have to say the only one I would repurchase would be the shampoo - I liked the effect, and I liked the fact it was sulfate free. To be honest I have used leave in conditioners and serums that I prefer to the ones for this range so I wouldn't repurchase either of those products. If you want more information on the range please check out the Schwarzkopf website These products are available from your local Schwarzkopf salon or from online retailers including HQ Hair and Look Fantastic. . Any questions please contact me