Blonde, blonder, blondest

While I’ve committed to being a blonde, I’m still learning how to take care of the hair nature certainly did not give me. Or, should I say, “trying to be the best blonde I can be“?

It’s been a year of going progressively blonder, thanks to my hair magicians at Spoilt Hair & Nails. I recently took the plunge and got rid of my darker ombre roots, and committed to a full head of highlights. Here we have the “before” on the left, and “after” on the right:

Soon after I made the change to be more blonde than brown, I bought the Kevin Murphy Blonde Angel Wash to look after my new blonde locks. And, while it was OK, I expected more than simply “OK” for the almost R400 price-tag. So, the hunt was on for a replacement. After spending some time getting to know INOAR recently, both through their Keratin treatment and their Flowers range, I thought I should give their Speed Blond range a try.

Before I get into the product itself, the pricing was already a plus – at R245 each for the shampoo and conditioner (or, as a set here), for an effective salon range, I was very happy with the price point.

Now, onto the purple wonder itself. It is well…very purple – but, that’s exactly what you want, if, like me, you’re trying to banish brassiness. While it works fantastically from a superficial toning point of view, it also looks after your hair shaft, treating it and leaving great shine. This is worth mentioning as many purple shampoos tend to dry out the hair, leaving it quite brittle – which is particularly visible in blonde hair.

While the shampoo and conditioner are both purple, it’s the conditioner that’s the more active of the two – I tend to wash my hair as I get in the shower, then leave the conditioner on to do it’s magic while I clean the rest of me. You might have to play around with the timing that works best for your hair – to hit the balance between perfect blonde and light lilac-tinged hair, but I’ve found leaving it on for between 5 – 7 minutes works best for me.

I’ve used about half my bottle of shampoo and am already committed to buying another. INOAR’s Speed Blond simply ticks all the boxes – effective, salon-quality, good value – and, as a bonus, doesn’t test on animals.

Then, in case you have sulphate fears, like all products in the INOAR range, the Speed Blond is Sodium Chloride Sulphate-free, so it’s safe to use on hair that’s had a Brazilian or Keratin treatment.