Drunk Elephant JuJu Bar

If the name alone wasn't cute enough, the brand information video made me fall in love with them before I even tried it. Everything is made with quality and really unique ingredients without all the chemicals other brands often use. When I was researching some of their products on Sephora's website, they all had really great reviews which made me feel like the price range of the products were completely justified. However, I've been using this bar for weeks now and I'm sad to say I'm disappointed :(

The way this product has been described made it seem like it was a groundbreaking revolutionary product that would finally save my skin. Unfortunately, this was not true. First off, it's incredibly harsh; the granules inside the bar are so fine it literally felt like sandpaper on my face. I'd strongly advise using a tool like a Clarisonic or sponge to lather it up instead of applying the bar directly to your skin.

This product also says it's supposed to clear acne and improve redness, hydration, and overall condition. I didn't have any of these results. It gave me a purge phase which caused my face to have several little breakouts that took over a week to clear. Since then, I don't believe it's caused anymore breakouts but it certainly hasn't helped them. I also haven't felt any added moisture; if anything, my face has felt dryer.

I know everyone's skin is different so you may experience different results than I did, but for me it just wasn't worth the hype or the money. I still want to love this brand so much so I'll be trying out some of their other products soon, but so far we're not off to a great start. If you're interested in trying Drunk Elephant, I'd really read as many reviews as possible and make sure you pick the right product for your investment.

*this post wasn't sponsored and all pictures are my own*

Paul Mitchell Awapuhi Wild Ginger Keratriplex 2-Step Repair Treatment

I made a post a little while back about my struggles as a redhead dealing with color maintenance problems- if you didn't see it, click here! Since then, I've continued my search for products to help my sad, damaged hair, and I've found some things here and there that are alright, but nothing that truly wowed me.

Luckily, I have an amazing friend named Margaret who is currently working at the Paul Mitchell school. I started picking her brain about what I can do to help prep my hair for the upcoming process of going lavender again, and as I started asking her about keratin treatments, she brought up something called Awapuhi. I had seen this before from Organix, but as I've learned, that stuff is far from the real deal. If you do a quick search online, Paul Mitchell is pretty much the only brand using real Awapuhi right now.

Paul Mitchell has an entire line of Awapuhi products out but only the treatment can be professionally done. Usually because this treatment is so rare it's crazy expensive, but because Paul Mitchell has a school where everything is significantly cheaper, the treatment was about $30. I usually never go to salons to get my hair done, especially since most salon keratin treatments run over $150, but this was an AWESOME experience- I couldn't believe it was only $30.

Here's how Paul Mitchell's website explains the 2-step treatment:

"KeraTriplex® Treatment transforms weak, broken and brittle strands into pillars of strength and protects from further damage. Step one of the KeraTriplex® 2-step Repair Treatment, the single-shot vial of isolated proteins is virtually identical to the keratin found in human hair. Keratin Intensive Treatment® is applied as step two to hydrate and add healthy, silky shine."

I couldn't agree more with that description! Not only did my hair feel amazing, but I knew I had serious results when I was washing my hair for the first time after getting the treatment and I had ABSOLUTELY NO COLOR WASH OUT OF MY HAIR! No joke, no matter how faded my hair gets, it always looks like a crime scene in my shower; this is the first time I was ever able to have water run completely clear after washing it. I'm completely thrilled with the results and how affordable it was! If you're able to find a Paul Mitchell or a Paul Mitchell school in your area, I couldn't advise more that you go get this done. You pretty much can't find the ingredients anywhere else and the results are more than worth the trip.

IF YOU LIVE IN VIRGINIA: I absolutely 10,000% recommend you make a trip to the Tyson's Corner Paul Mitchell School and ask for Margaret! Her skills are unreal; she's only 19 but could basically be teaching that school! You will not regret it, BOOK WITH HER! :)

*this post was not sponsored; product photos are from the Paul Mitchell site*