Hairlicious Inc.: June 2012

Affirm 5 in 1 Reconstructor

Product Review Thursday, June 14, 2012

Promises: Affirm 5 in 1 Reconstructor, for damaged or fine, limp hair, is a unique blend of micro- and macrofibrous conditioners that normalizes hair as part of Affirm Conditioning Relaxer treatment. As a reconstructive treatment it : - repairs damage, minimizes breakage and shedding, re-aligns, seals and smooths cuticles, minimizes porosity, detangles, volumizes fine limp hair, imparts body and shine.

Directions: As step 3 of Affirm Conditioning Relaxer System: Apply immediately after rinsing creme relaxer from hair and leave on for 5 mins. As a reconstructive treatment: Apply liberally after shampooing. Cover the hair with a plastic cap and leave on for 30 minutes.

Ingredients: Water, cetearyl alcohol, glycerin, urea, hydrolyzed wheat protein, mineral oil, dimethicone, C12-15 alkyl lactate, dimethyl stearamine, PEG-3 tallow aminopropylamine, citric acid, polyquaternium-6, polyquaternium-11, isostearyl ethylimidonium ethosulfate, polyacrylamide, ceteth-20, glyceryl sterate (and) PEG-100 sterate, stearalkonium chloride, imidazolidinyl urea, fragrance, tetrasodium EDTA, methylparaben, propylparaben, FD_C yellow #5.

The Truth: I was so excited to try this conditioner. I heard good things about it so I decided to give it a try. I've been using this conditioner over the past 4-5 months and I regret to say that I have mixed feelings about it. I've tried it on both freshly washed hair, and on dry hair as a prepoo treatment. I used it once every 2 weeks and occasionally once a month to see how my hair would react. For me, the conditioner worked better on freshly washed hair. It seemed as though the reconstructor penetrated better with moisture that was already in the hair. The conditioner provided a TON of slip which is always a bonus as it helped with detangling. Because of the slip, rinsing out the conditioner was a breeze!! My cuticles were flat. My hair was buttery smooth and silky. I always followed up with a moisturizing deep conditioner, with heat, to balance out the protein.

My breakage was never cured/minimized when using this protein conditioner, in fact, it seemed to increase a tad bit, immediately after use. After close observation, I came to the conclusion that it's not my hair being out of balance, but the conditioner itself. It was just too harsh for my hair. No matter how I used it or what I used after it (to soften my hair), it was too concentrated/potent thus leaving my hair somewhat dry, rough and continuously breaking. I think my hair thrives best with weekly light protein treatments followed by a moisturizing deep condition. It works! I would consider Affirm 5 in 1 to be a medium protein (since protein is high on the ingredient list) which should be used once every 2 weeks or monthly. Overall, this conditioner is good, however, it failed me as it did not meet my expectations and as a result, I will not be repurchasing this product.