KMS is a classic hair care line in the beauty industry. It has been around a long time and has a reputation for excellent products. Having never used them, I bought a couple of things and got samples of a couple things and decided to try them out.
Let me preface this review with telling you about my hair. I have naturally curly hair that I used to blow dry to death to get it straight. Finally I accepted its curliness as an asset and have stopped killing it with the paddle brush and blow-drying within an inch of its life. I also used to color my hair a lot: I have been every shade under the sun except green, but that was many moons ago. I do occasionally color it-usually during the summer when the sun bleaches the hair to a sort of coppery shade when my natural color is dark brown. So I need a shampoo that will put up with some abuse. My hair is rather fine and I need a shampoo to be gentle and refine my hair texture, putting back in the moisture and nutrients that my hair loses. I live in California; I don't stay in doors all the time
NEFA Shampoo
NEFA Shampoo is a shampoo of essential fatty acids necessary for healthy hair. This particular blend became popular back when Jhirmack was a salon only line. EFA type shampoos are great for color-treated or otherwise damaged dry hair. Having used lots of EFA-type products before, I wanted to try this shampoo because I blow dry my hair daily. My hair takes a beating despite a diffuser to soften the harshness of a blow dryer . At first I thought this was a great shampoo. The first 3-4 days I used it, my hair was nice. Gradually over a 2 week period, it stoppped being so effective and I found that I needed to use more conditoner to soften the hair after being washed. I still had to use the alternate shampoo system to get the residue out of my hair. I quickly became disenchanted with this product. It was not meeting my needs for a great shampoo for fine, curly hair. It does have a pretty nice smell though. I liked that much about it. Eventually I got rid of this shampoo before I even finished the bottle. That is really a drastic measure for me to dump a bottle of shampoo! I usually try to use it up as fast as I can and then throw it away; but I couldn't stand this one.
RATINGS:
NEFA Shampoo--2 STARS
REplace Hair Reconstuctor
Along with the NEFA shampoo, I tried the Replace hair re-constructor. I selected these two items in combination with the advice of a friend of mine who has fabulous hair and she swears by them.She colors here hair all the time, blows it dry all the time; does all kinds of things to her hair and she always looks great. Well I found that this conditioner was only ok from the first. In the beginning I thought maybe I was using too much, so I reduced the amount I used. My hair was not combing out nicely. So I increased the amount. As the shampoo started to fail, I found I had to use more and more of this conditioner and it just wasn't worth the effort. It is probably better if you leave this conditioner on 10 minutes. I have done that and had very limp hair . The more I used and the longer I left it on, the limper and less curly my hair became. What a disappointment!! This little combo was not cheap either. If you have thick abundant hair, use this product. If you have fine, sensitive hair-think twice- or three times. Get samples and try it, but don't buy the large bottle until you've had a chance to try it a for a few days!
RATINGS:
REPlace conditioner-- 1 1/2STARS
KMS Styling and Setting Gel Maximum Hold Gel For Finishing.
I used a lot of gels in my time for my curly hair to just get it to hold the curl. I thought what have I got to lose in trying this on? Nothing, actually. It was a nice gel. it did what it was supposed to do. I used a smaller amount than I thought was reasonable, but I was unsure of the product to begin with. I am of the "less is more" school.
It worked quite nicely in setting curls and holding them all day: a bit crunchy, but not bad. The crunchiness was not really tacky or brittle, just a bit stiff. That's ok once in a while, but not on an everday basis. I don't like the smell though-- too medicinal.
So if you need a gel that has good hold and nice styling capability, try this one. Also it would probably be better for a non-curly head. It might work much better on slicking down the straight tresses into sculptured "do's" that I can only dream about.
RATINGS: KMS Styling and Setting Gel Maximum Hold Gel For Finishing-- 3 STARS (but you could do as well at a lesser price point)
KMS ACTIVATOR CURL ENHANCER
This is a new product from KMS. I got a sample of it and liked the sample a lot. The poor little sample lasted 3 days and that's not a real trial for me. I just threw the thing away to be forgotten unless I found a way to try more. Someone had this on their swap list and I got it to try for this review. I love this product. It is nearly as good as the Ouidad products and not nearly as expensive! I do use a bit more than the Ouidad product, but it costs less. I am very careful to meter out just the smallest amount because it does go a long way. Use too much and you get crunchy hair or even worse!!-limp hair. Too little and you wind up with little frizzy curls.
The smell is rather nice too. It smells like popsicles or Ludens cough drops: sort of a sweet cherry smell to me. I might be wrong about the smell but it reminds me of those kids' lollipops that the doctors office gives out and my daughter loves them (the lollipops, not the curl enhancer). This is a nice product. I definitely recommend this if you have curly hair. It is very nice and well worth the money. It doesn't require the entire line to be effective and it works well with other brand products-such as Ouidad- my standard hair care now!
RATINGS:
KMS ACTIVATOR CURL ENHANCER--4 STARS
