Saturday 26 November 2016

Monat Volume System Review: Revive Shampoo and Revitalize Conditioner - Post #1

Back story on my hair:

My hair is extremely healthy. I have fine hair strands, but lots of hair. Except for right now... I'm 5 months postpartum with my second child and ALL of my hair is falling out. I have bald spots on my hairline right next to my temples. I've lost about 50-60% of my hair density in the last two months. When I shower, I have to put clumps of hair on the shower wall to wipe out when I'm done.
Oh! And I have an incredibly sensitive and itchy scalp - it isn't dandruff, it's just insanely itchy. This has become a problem since I had my first child back in 2014. I use Denorex shampoo to counteract the itchy scalp occasionally, but try to use as natural of cleansing agents as possible to avoid irritants on my already irritated scalp. I barely use styling products, except for Living Proof's hairspray.

I wash my hair once every 3-5 days, which is as often as I heat style it as well. Usually my heat styling consists of blow drying my hair on medium to high heat, and high speed. Occasionally I'll use a round styling brush to increase volume. After my hair is 80-90% dry, I'll straighten my hair on the highest heat setting. Anything lower and my hair refuses to cooperate.

I was recently introduced to Monat hair products. My sister and I decided to bite the bullet and split a bottle of shampoo and conditioner to trial the product. Because this shit is freaking expensive.

So I purchased the Revive Shampoo and Revitalize Conditioner at a Christmas Craft Market in Calgary for 50% off because the products were in the "old" packaging. Whatever, I'll take it!

Here are my before pictures (taken November 25, 2016). I had washed my hair in the morning and blow dried it, and this was about... 8 hours later. To be honest, it doesn't look at all different from being freshly washed and blow dried.

From the front: with flash (left), without flash (right)

My thinning/balding hair: left side, top, right side

Hair from the back: with flash (left), without flash (right)


Here is my hair freshly washed and blow dried (November 26, 2016) with the Monat products the next morning - no additional product.


With flash, haha

Without flash
After flat ironing my hair

The experience of washing my hair was extremely pleasant. And I can say that, because I've used a lot of natural hair products that smell... herbally in a gross way. The shampoo and conditioner both had a strong, but not overpowering, clean floral scent. And trust me, I am in no way a fan of anything that smells like flowers, haha. We were warned by the consultants we spoke to that the shampoo wouldn't lather well, and to use only a dime-sized amount of the products and work your way up to more as needed. I used only a dime-sized amount of the shampoo, but a nickel sized amount of the conditioner (accidentally, haha). I shampooed twice, just to see if there would be any difference in the amount of lather or the way my hair felt in the process, but it didn't. The products were very smooth and worked through my hair easily, and came out easily sans any greasy residue. My hair wasn't nearly as tangly as it usually is straight out of the shower, which was nice when having to comb through my hair. I didn't lose as much hair brushing as I have been either.

When I blow dried my hair, I felt that my hair was lighter and softer. After drying, my hair LITERALLY FELT LIKE BUTTER. And fluffy... but not poofy, like... air light. Moisturized but not weighed down. All right... I'm liking this so far. OH! And volume. Have I mentioned that my hair is always flat? Like it won't hold hairspray or backcombing to keep lift and height at the roots...

So why am I trying Monat? To see if it'll help my freaking itchy scalp, to keep my hair moisturized in our exceptionally dry climate, and to hopefully help with regrowth from postpartum hair loss. I honestly don't have any expectations for this product. I imagine it'll clean my hair and be a decent product, but I am not expecting serious hair growth or anything miraculous. Call me a skeptic or a pessimist. I just don't have much hope for these MMM products/companies. Not to say they're gimmicks, but I don't think their "miracle transformations" hold much weight. And so this is my honest, unbiased review and experience with their product.

Looking forward to keeping you guys posted with my results, and to hopefully see some changes with consistency and time. And perhaps, if I see significant changes, I'll try some of their other products - styling products and the Rejuveniqe Oil Intensive (super intrigued by that product because it's so multipurpose!!).

**All the photos, content and material of this blog are property of Rebecca Ulmer. Please do not use my photos or testimonial without my consent. Thanks!!**

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