John Frieda Full Repair Review

Normally I'm going on about trying to find the perfect haircare for greasy hair, but there are occasions when my hair has just needs an injection of moisture and shine to it because it's over processed.

Because my hair is blonde I find it really difficult to get a decent shine on it and I often end up with really damaged ends to the point where you can really see how split they are if I don't use loads of product on it to smooth it down when straightening... and then I end up with a vicious circle of dry to greasy from too much product. 

This is where John Frieda Full Repair comes in.*

I've known about John Frieda for ages, I used to use the brunette range when I hard dark hair aged 15/16 so I was looking forward to trying the new full repair range; I was sent the shampoo and the deep conditioner. Full repair should help over-styled hair to look more radiant and healthy without the build up; sounds like the perfect remedy! I think it's important to review the items in their own right as well as together because lets face it, we haven't always got time to use a deep conditioning treatment because it does need a little while to work properly. 

Full Body Shampoo

I dont always like to use conditioner so this is great for me, my hair felt really clean and smelt great without any weighty feel of product build up which is pleasing! It also made brushing after washing a little easier too; usually when I just use shampoo without conditioner my hair goes into some sort of rats tail mess before I brush it but this shampoo seemed to sort that out a little bit, it was still a bit of a pain to brush but didn't take as much effort as it normally does. Definite thumbs up from me!

Deep Conditioner

I love a good deep conditioner, I don't know many people who don't... that feeling when you're just washing it out after 5 mins of relaxation and your hair running through your hands feels like silk! (went off on a bit of a mills & boon-esque tangent then, sorry!). This full repair one really isn't any exception, in fact I'd say that it was slightly better than some I have tried; usually deep conditioners are really thick and quite frankly difficult to rinse out of your hair properly without getting that 'ohhh no' moment when you feel you're hairs still slimey in one part when you've got to the drying stage. 

Full repair is quite thin in consistency and a little difficult to get a decent amount onto your hands but when you get it onto your hair it glides through effortlessly. I tend to only put it on the bottom 3/4 of my hair just because my roots don't need the intense moisture with them being oily already. I left it on for 5 minutes and rinsed it out really well and dried it... my hair felt beautiful, so manageable, shiny and smooth. Exactly what I expected from full repair, and it seemed to hold my straight style for longer than usual. 

Overall Verdict

As you can imagine using both products together gives you double the repair but given my hair type I won't be using the deep conditioner overly regularly not only because I don't think it'd be good for my hair but also because you really don't need to use it for any reason other than a hair treat when you really need it. The tub will last ages I reckon, so definite value for money there and the tube of shampoo is also pretty sizeable! 

Deep conditioner is £5.99 from Boots

Full Repair Shampoo is £5.69 from Boots

If you have issues with damaged hair or you find yourself tugging at your hair and snapping it by brushing, I definitely recommend trying something from this range, even if it's just the conditioner but I honestly think it's a fab range! If you want to find out more about this range and other ranges just head over to the John Frieda website.

High Street vs. High End Pressed Powders

Todays post is for the benefit of those of you who really think about where you spend your money, what you spend it on and the benefits of said products. There's the age old argument in the beauty blogging world about whether or not high end makeup is worth splashing out on; today I'm going to compare two pressed powders; Rimmel Stay Matte (Pink Blossom) and MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural (Medium Plus). 

As you know I have major issues with oily skin so I really need a good mattifying powder just to set my makeup and reapply during the day without it looking awful and cakey. Also instead of using liquid foundation I'll often use a powder alone when I'm on holiday abroad because I find that liquid is just too heavy when it's so warm.

Price

MAC: £20.50 from Debenhams

Rimmel: £3.99 from Boots

A massive £16.51 difference in price so it's really important that you know whether it is worth buying MAC or not!

Packaging

MAC: A classic flip top pan, one issue being that the clear plastic probably wouldn't take much pushing out, one drop at the wrong angle and I'd imagine it'd be out, I've never had an issue with it but it's worth noting the potential for breaking!

Rimmel: Pull off lid, very much a budget design but doesn't impact the product in any way. 

Product Performance: 

MAC: In the pan the powder is so unbelievably soft and easy to get onto your brush, if anything I'd say it was bordering on a bit messy because it is so soft. You don't need much on the brush to get a full face of product on. 

If I apply this in the morning it gives me confidence that I'm going to be shine free for at least 2/3 hours after which I usually apply some more if I have it with me. What I will say is that if you are someone who constantly reapplies during the day, do be careful that this doesn't make you look cakey because it will build up fast on your skin. I'd recommend a spritz of a makeup refresher before you dive in with this for the 3rd or 4th time in the day just to see if that makes a difference. 

I'm NW18 and the shade medium plus seems pretty perfect to me, Light would be too light I think but any darker and it'd look orange.

Rimmel: I found this really difficult to get onto the brush and after a few uses the product like clumped up to form shiny patches in the pan which do need scraping off if you want to get some product onto the brush; this might be something to do with the fact that it's flat rather than domed, or maybe it's just the product, I'm not sure. However, because not much product goes onto the brush it is less likely to look cakey on the skin so quickly.

I didn't think that this was as good for use alone without any foundation underneath, I really did feel completely bare. However I would say that this would definitely be worth trying if you don't have spots and you are just looking to even out your skin tone and mattify your skin. 

Overall which one am I most likely to rebuy?

For what I use it for and how often I use it I'm definitely going to rebuy MAC Mineralize Skinfinish because it just totally does the trick for me whereas Rimmel just doesn't do enough, even though there's a massive price difference, in this case it's worth it for me to splash out. 

What I will say is that if your skin isn't too oily and you only have a slight shine after maybe 4 hours,  try Rimmel first before you jump in with MAC but unfortunately for those with darker skin tones you might not find a Rimmel shade that suits your colour because they all seem very light ('beige' is their darkest shade) whereas MAC's shade selection seems to suit a wider range of skin tones; definitely go to a MAC counter if you can and get matched.