Grafen Edge Finger Review

Purpose

How to use

Packaging

Silicone brush

Grip

Storage

Function/purpose

On scalp/hair

Types of shampoos

Is it really worth the hype?

Rating: 8.5/10

Will recommend but Jov is more neutral tho, she needs to observe longer. 

Wild hair colors are so in trend right now. They are very pretty but more often than not, the colors do not last very long before they turn into some nasty brown, well unless you bleached your hair.

Hi I am back with yet another (two) Essential new products. Are you excited too?
I've wrote so much for them; here's some if you are new around here!

Essential sleeping hair mask + Day serum
Essential volumising series




The sleeping hair mask is one of my favourite hair care products and my sister approves of it as well. Thank you Essential and Samplestore for sending this over for me to try. :)


P/S, just wanna say sorry first because this batch's of photos turned out a bit more blur than usual! My camera is failing me? And blogger scale down the quality of my photos (anyone knows how to solve this?) so it is erm bad.

Promises:

Ingredients:

How I use it:

Packaging

The new sleeping hair mask is now called 'Night Care Milk'. Pump dispenser makes it easy to use but there can be some wastage at the end. Fret not, just store the bottle upside down when the time comes and pour it out when needed. The new packaging is bigger than the previous one.

Scent

Essential products always smell good. The smell lingers longer than other Essential products on me, not sure why.

Consistency

Not a fan of cream products but this is not as bad as I thought it will be. Not greasy on hair!

On hair

Let me summarise all the points I wish to point out here.

1. It is not sticky nor oily on my hair but it leaves an oily feeling on my hands. Not a big issue as I can wash my hands after use.

2. Hair is moisturised and super soft~ I touch my hair too much after using this. This is because Essential Night Care Milk contains hair supplement oil, smilier to hair's natural oil.

3. Not a product that will give you shiny hair. Anyway, it is meant for night time use so this is not that important to me as well.

Ingredients

Essential is not using parabens as preservatives but BHT, Phenoxylethanol... Even after researching, I am still not very sure... Is BHT a good replacement? I guess I will leave all that ingredient discussion to another post. Thus, I will keep this portion as it is until I am confident and knowledgeable enough to comment. I have included a snapshot of the ingredient list above - you can check them out if you want to.
PS, feel free to reach me if you are interested to discuss anything about cosmetic chemistry. I am all ears.

Manageable Hair

I feel that I wake up with nicer hair these days. Not sure whether it is really doing its job or its all psychological. But definitely less styling needed (though I don't really bother that much hahaha) as my hair is more manageable in the morning now.

Here, for you.

Before using Essential Night care milk

After using Essential Night Care Milk (The next morning)

Pardon my sleepy face. It is very early that day @_@


Honestly, this is not a good comparison as my hair was messy and ugly (in before photo) because I went to bed with semi-dry hair, but well you get the drift. The latter was taken when I have the luxury to shower and dry my hair completely before zzz (and of course treated with Essential night hair milk)

The Verdict

So far I am loving what I see. If I am not wrong Essential Night Care Cream is a replacement for the previous Essential hair sleeping mask I have been talking about all the time, please correct me if I am wrong. Pillow friction arises from sleeping and this nasty thing can do a lot of damage to your hair. Been there, done that. Hence, it is very important to use something that can give sufficient protection to your hair. I have not come across any other similar product so far, do let me know if you know of any though!

And if you know me well enough, you will know I am super lazy, and clueless, when it comes to styling my hair. Most of the time I will just part my fringe according to how I feel that day, finger comb through my hair and off I go. Thus, this bottle of lazybum saver is so important to me - at least my mane looks more presentable now.


Essential included a very informative paragraph in the press release so I thought it will be nice to share with all of you.



What is Pillow Friction?
- When you toss and turn at night, there is friction between your hair and the pillow, causing the cuticles to be misaligned
- Misaligned cuticles creates frizz, resulting in the fabulous lion’s mane the next morning
- Washing your hair will ‘reset’ the mane, which is why many women have no choice but to wash and blow dry their hair in the morning before going to work

o These women may not have the habit of bathing in the morning and is only doing so just so to fix their hair
o They would rather have more time for their beauty sleep than go through this hassle and routine of washing and blow-drying in the morning

Rating: 9.5/10
Repurchase

Next up is.....

make up for your hair.


Essential, you are doing this right ^^



Don't get me wrong, I am not talking about the hair mascaras or hair chalks etc, I am talking about the new Essential CC oil. Ok... it's not really make up for hair lol. It just sounds like CC cream (aka lighter/more natural version of BB cream). Essential named it CC oil because it is 1 product, protection against 5 stress factors - blow drying, combing, dryness, breakage and split ends.

FYI

Essential CC oil

Promises:

Ingredients:

Ingredients for CC oil

How I use it:

Packaging

Essential CC oil comes in a clear plastic bottle with a pump dispenser. Again nothing to complain about the packaging. It is also a good size to carry around; thus it can be reapplied anytime anywhere when needed.

Scent

Fresh floral, does not linger too long nor come out too strong on me. Different people react to the same thing differently - I have friends who smell like walking Essential products.

Consistency

More fluid and light compared to many brands out there in the market. Perhaps so, it is absorbed the moment I spread it on my hair. Thus, I find myself pumping slightly more when I am using the Essential Hair CC Oil. Just saying.

Ingredients

As above.

On hair

1. Moisturised, soft ends. The effect is better than the night hair cream. That awesome hair supplement oil~

2. Not excellent in controlling frizz.

3. Does not make hair nor hands greasy after use.

4. Absorbed very very quickly

The Verdict

CC oil is very light and does not leave an oily film on my hands after use. I personally feel that it a bit too light for my hair (read use 5-6 pumps each time). Other than that, I am pretty much loving this hair oil. It is the everyday stress on le hair that leads to long term damage. Who would have thought harmless act like combing can stress your hair?

It makes my hair more moisturised and soft than the night hair cream. My hair ends are nicer too. However, the night hair cream is better at taming and managing my hair.

Rating: 9.5/10
Repurchase

Conclusion is, you need both of them together to achieve pretty, manageable hair. I don't style my hair on a day to day basis, in fact I only bother if I've something really important/CNY/date. Thus, this is really great for me as the night care milk makes sure I wake up with decent hair (read: if you want fabulous hair you still need to style ah) and the CC oil ensures my hair is in good shape throughout the day. They do not make my hair extra greasy but don't use it continuously if you don't have the habit of washing your hair daily.







PS, cannot open zip files so the official photos are screenshots :x
PS/S, lost the photos I took for stress brothers! I also too stress!
PS/S/S, will update the broken links tomorrow or the day after. I have others things to settle right now~

Good hair salons in Singapore often come with a hefty price tag. Hence, more and more people are heading to Johor Bahru, especially with our strong exchange rate and close proximity.

There are a ton of hair salons in KSL City. However, we decided to try one from City Square JB because I don't feel secure travelling too far on our own. Don't worry! It is generally safe! Just be vigilant and take care of your belongings etc.


Walked around a bit before handing my hair, and heart, to Jantzen, JB.
It is probably one of the cheapest salons in City Square JB. I checked with another salon and the package was way out of my budget.



The package I took comprises of cut, dye and treatment.
Environment is comfy and clean; though I almost slipped because they didn't clear up the cut hair immediately.

Got a cup of hot tea and some magazines when I settled down in my seat.




My stylist was Kenneth. He didn't initiate much conversation, which is great btw. I wasn't in the mood to talk much that day.


I got my waist long hair cut to bra strap length. He is quite attentive and did a good job shaping my hair. I got a curved cut, thinned at the ends but it still looked really nice and thick.

Photos! But please pardon my messy hair!



The cut works well with my natural hair (since I cut away all my perm!) and my ends fall nicely curled in. It is not super obvious but I still like it.





Kenneth is one of the most gentle stylists I have ever met. I've horrible experiences with many as they tend to tuck and pull my hair so hard.
He on the other hand was comparatively gentle when he tried to untangle the mess on my head (LOL), and also while he blow-dry, cut and wash. No massage during wash anyway.


However, he did not manage to give me the fringe I want. It's okay! Ever since I got the bowl cut fringe from Monsoon, nothing surprises me anymore. Except maybe if someone snip all my fringe away.



Also, I expected him to trim again after colouring but he didn't. I did not ask because he had another customer waiting for him. I like how my hair looks but I wanted something shorter. He did not drop me halfway despite someone was waiting. Instead, he asked the person to wait and finished my hair completely on his own (another stylist briefly helped me blow dry my hair).

Another thing I want to point out is that Kenneth was the one who applied the colour for me. Many places will just ask the juniors or assistants to do it you know. Well, I am not sure what his position is there but I am glad he handled my hair like 95% of the time. I panic a little when someone without prior knowledge touches my hair. Appreciate the personal touch and service!




This is the colour he mixed for me. My sis said it's brown red under certain lighting but it just look brown to me. At least it's visible enough so I'm fine.



Colour is very even and it didn't change much after washing.


My hair still feels smooth after all the chemical treatment, doesn't feel frizzy as well. I find the condition of my hair really great #whatsorceryisthis There were more flyaway but I managed to tame them after adding a new conditioner in my haircare routine.







My whole package cost me RM 255. It worked out to be around SGD$100. Considering the fact that my hair is long (bra strap) and I went to a pretty reputable place, it is really affordable. A cut, dye and treatment will probably set me back 200+ or more in Singapore.

I'm not sure when, or whether there'd be, new year's surcharge will start so check with the salon itself if you're interested!




My current Haircare routine:
Essential light volumising shampoo/dove nourishing care shampoo
Miss en scene treatment
L'oreal sulphate-free conditioner
Liese argan oil/natural Republic aloe Vera gel/Essential hair sleeping mask


The only thing I've added is the sulphate-free colour protect conditioner, which happens to be one of my Jan favourites~




Everything is great and I like my new look very much. The only sad thing is.... my hair is growing too quickly! Less than 1 month and I can see black roots already?!




Anyway if you're looking for a cheap and good place to fix your mane, consider Jantzen salon in City Square JB. Or if you have any other good hair salons in Johor Bahru to recommend, comment down below ^^