Month: February 2017

Leave-In Conditioner Review: Tigi vs O-Pro

I bought these two hair products, Tigi Sleek Mystique and O-Pro Leave In Conditioner Detangler, from Amazon several months ago and it’s taken me a while to get around to reviewing them. I suppose it’s because I wanted to make sure I’d used them enough, and it’s hard to tell during winter whether the conditioner is doing a great job or not.

Tigi Catwalk Leave-In Conditioner (left) and O-Pro Leave-In Conditioner Detangler (right). review
Tigi Catwalk Sleek Mystique Hair Prep Spray (left) and O-Pro Leave-In Conditioner Detangler (right).

Firstly the Tigi Sleek Mystique hair primer. I had really high hopes for this one, but in the end it was a spray bottle of hair goo. It was never going to change my life and I shouldn’t have expected it to. It did make my hair slightly smoother but the effect only lasted for a few hours. My hair is normally very dry, and this means that I usually don’t skimp on conditioner. I thought using this as well as my normal conditioner would leave my hair silky, shiny, and like one of those girls from a shampoo advert.

It didn’t come close. It made my roots hella greasy, even when I only sprayed the ends of my hair. I do wonder whether it was being pulled up the hair shaft by osmosis, but the truth is I really don’t know. Then there was the fact that none of the damn product seemed to stay within 4 inches of the ends of my hair, where my tresses needed the most help. Even when I sprayed some of the Tigi Sleek Mystique into my hand and ran it through the tips of my hair, I still didn’t have any success. I think this was supposed to actually be a hair primer but I don’t really know what that is, and it had very similar ingredients to the O-Pro leave-in conditioner, so if it looks like a horse and smells like a horse… beauty companies will still stick a label on it claiming it’s a unicorn.

Then it made my neck itch after a fortnight, so I gave up on it. It’s been discontinued by Tigi since I bought it so I can only conclude it was a fad product that never lived up to customers’ expectations. That’s gotta be harsh, I mean, what expectations does anyone even have of a hair prep spray?? What, exactly, was it supposed to do? As a sidenote, if you want to prep your hair properly for hair chalk, use dry shampoo like I did in this video.

The O-Pro leave-in conditioner and detangler fared better. It stayed where I put it and it made my hair feel less dry at the ends. I liked the fact that it made my hair softer and more manageable, and this feeling lasted for two days before my roots started osmosising the product (technical term), at which point I washed my hair and the whole thing started again. Two days seems a respectable amount of time for a spray-on product to behave itself. Allegedly, it contains “organic protein” and the cynical side of my brain wants to know if they mean protein from organs (e.g. sausage… EWWW) or from some mysterious rainforest plant. Who knows? It’s not really something I’m super-curious about, but if you are, it has this feature.

Overall, I’d say the O-Pro Leave-In Conditioner Detangler left my hair in better condition and it seemed to be working for a little while longer than the Tigi. There was the added bonus that it didn’t make my neck itchy either, which was nice. I loved the scent as well, and the spray nozzle was easy to use, unlike some I’ve tried where they start to leak liquid down the bottle while I’m using them.

Out of these two, I would definitely recommend the O-Pro Leave-In Conditioner Detangler, as it was noticeably better.

Review: ROC Retinol correxion sensitive night cream

I’ve been trying a few different face creams recently and two have stood out as phenomenal. I don’t use the term “Holy Grail” usually, because I think it’s a bit of an exaggeration about most things, but when it comes to skincare, ROC Retinol Correxion Sensitive Night Cream and Olay Three-Point Regenerist day cream are now my Holy Grail products.

ROC retinol correxion sensitive night cream for sensitive skin.
Packaging of ROC retinol correxion sensitive night cream for sensitive skin.

I bought ROC retinol correxion sensitive night cream from Amazon back in December and I’ve been using it ever since. It’s been a great addition to my usual skincare routine!

How the box says to use it: The instructions on the back say to use ROC retinol correxion at night, going two nights with cream then taking a break for two nights before using it for two more nights, and so on, until your skin gets used to it, then to use it nightly.

How I use it: I’ve been using it two nights on, two nights off for the last 6-8 weeks and I don’t feel ready to use it every night yet. Why? Because it’s effective! It’s working perfectly for me so why go overboard?

ROC retinol correxion sensitive night cream tube review how to use
ROC retinol correxion sensitive night cream tube.

The immediate effect: When I first used this on my skin, it seemed to enlarge my pores and make my whole face look dry for about two days, then it completely settled down again and now my skin looks better than ever.

The long term effect: After about three uses, my skin got used to it and I found it seemed to be re-drawing my skin (I honestly don’t know what the word is, it was like an IRL photoshop airbrush) smoothing over all my fine lines and making my skin look more vital. It’s been completely amazing! It contains retinol which is drying to the skin so make sure to use a good day cream and maybe even face oil as well!

Negatives: Retinol increases your skin’s sensitivity to UV light, so make sure to use a sunscreen during the day when you use ROC retinol correxion night cream at night. I try to always use SPF-30 or above anyway, so it’s another reason to wear sunscreen. Also this stuff does nothing against blue circles, but that’s fine because the Olay Regenerist 3 Point day cream does.

The scientific bit: It contains Retinol which is a form of vitamin A that stimulates collagen production in the skin.

The packaging: It comes in a box with a clear window so you can see the tube of cream. Inside, there’s a plastic tray to hold the cream in place. I’d like to know if the packaging is recyclable or not.

ROC Retinol Correxion Sensitive Night Cream is available on Amazon.

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