LiLi
Well-Known Member
Ok, so the past several years I have worn all of the hair underneath my crown area in plaits -- what I call my version of the Crown and Glory Method. Usually I take the braids out every week/every other week to comb out my hair. And usually, I dread doing this. For the past several comb-outs I have been using the Body Shop's Brazilian Nut mask with my Afro Detangler to assist me with combing out. Of course, I have always thought I would always have a hard time combing out my braids just because of the shed hair and the difference of textures (4a/b coarse... last relaxer September 2007; crown area - all natural).so I have just accepted it.
Fast forward to last week, I asked my mother to pick me up the whole Real Control line since she was at the mall (don't worry, she used my credit card). I used it on my crown area and blow dried and flat ironed. My hair was soft but it didn't have that light airy feeling that my beloved Kerastase (light green line) gives me. -- OK ... nothing will top Kerastase when you are going to flat iron your hair... in my book that is. However, the Redken did keep my hair soft until I washed it again (which was two days later) so it definitely gets a big up for that.
I also used it with just air drying and I do like it. It doesn't give me the shine that Kerastase does or even the Redken Extreme line did when I used to use it. However, my air-dried hair was soft and did not stick together.
Fast forward to this morning ... I get up to re-do my braids (I only do two on each side by the way -- I used to do a bunch of small ones) and to use the products that I normally use. What I do is take each braid down and comb out each part of the braid. Well because my hair coils up tight, the separation isn't really there so I have to kind of struggle to make parts. Also, it is really hard and I do admit that I get some breakage because the hair is kind of matted up and stuck together. Basically, what I do is slather the Body Shop Brazilian Nut Masque on my dry hair. Then I wet my hair. Then I mix some Afro Detangler with some water and slather that on top (I do this for each braid). Then I start to comb each braided part.
Now the comb out process is always a pain between the shed hair, the drastic difference between my new growth and relaxed hair, the matting, etc. etc. But I take my time and just keep being as careful as possible. So this morning after about 1.5 hours in to this and still not done with my left side, I looked over at the Redken Real Control Mask. :scratchch ... let me see how this works ... the jar does say to comb it through.
Sooooo ... I tried it on the last section I had to do on the left side. This is the section at the back of my neck that always ... always takes me a long time to do because it coils up so tight that everything is tangled really bad.
So I slather the real control mask on my hair as if it were a relaxer. Then I wet my hair. Then I slathered some more on and worked it throughout the section as if I were relaxing it -- re-wetting my comb frequently. PEOPLE ... PEOPLE (in my best ataaya sp.? impersonation) I was able to comb through that section with NO problem. Of course, I couldn't glide the comb through but the comb-out was a dream.
The real control "put" my strands in line with each other (if that makes any sense) making the combout soooo easy. The shed hair came out without ANY problem. Usually, even after combing through one section many times I still have difficulty getting the comb through again. Not this time. After the third time, the comb just went right through, from the roota to the toota. Then I do the right side of my head and I was done with that side soooo fast.
The mask is still sitting in my hair. I am going to wash it out shortly. What has it replaced? ... definitely not my Kerastase ... it has replaced my Afro Detangler and Brazilian Masque when I am about to take down my braids. Of course, I will still use my Afro Detangler to moisturize my hair but I no longer see myself needing to use the Body Shop masque for anything.
I doubt I will use the Redken Real Control Masque for anything else, but I am MORE than happy with that. You just don't understand what I go through every time I am ready to re-do my braids. This will surely shave off at least an hour of this process for me. I give the Redken Real Control Mask a 10 out of 10!!!
Fast forward to last week, I asked my mother to pick me up the whole Real Control line since she was at the mall (don't worry, she used my credit card). I used it on my crown area and blow dried and flat ironed. My hair was soft but it didn't have that light airy feeling that my beloved Kerastase (light green line) gives me. -- OK ... nothing will top Kerastase when you are going to flat iron your hair... in my book that is. However, the Redken did keep my hair soft until I washed it again (which was two days later) so it definitely gets a big up for that.
I also used it with just air drying and I do like it. It doesn't give me the shine that Kerastase does or even the Redken Extreme line did when I used to use it. However, my air-dried hair was soft and did not stick together.
Fast forward to this morning ... I get up to re-do my braids (I only do two on each side by the way -- I used to do a bunch of small ones) and to use the products that I normally use. What I do is take each braid down and comb out each part of the braid. Well because my hair coils up tight, the separation isn't really there so I have to kind of struggle to make parts. Also, it is really hard and I do admit that I get some breakage because the hair is kind of matted up and stuck together. Basically, what I do is slather the Body Shop Brazilian Nut Masque on my dry hair. Then I wet my hair. Then I mix some Afro Detangler with some water and slather that on top (I do this for each braid). Then I start to comb each braided part.
Now the comb out process is always a pain between the shed hair, the drastic difference between my new growth and relaxed hair, the matting, etc. etc. But I take my time and just keep being as careful as possible. So this morning after about 1.5 hours in to this and still not done with my left side, I looked over at the Redken Real Control Mask. :scratchch ... let me see how this works ... the jar does say to comb it through.
Sooooo ... I tried it on the last section I had to do on the left side. This is the section at the back of my neck that always ... always takes me a long time to do because it coils up so tight that everything is tangled really bad.
So I slather the real control mask on my hair as if it were a relaxer. Then I wet my hair. Then I slathered some more on and worked it throughout the section as if I were relaxing it -- re-wetting my comb frequently. PEOPLE ... PEOPLE (in my best ataaya sp.? impersonation) I was able to comb through that section with NO problem. Of course, I couldn't glide the comb through but the comb-out was a dream.
The real control "put" my strands in line with each other (if that makes any sense) making the combout soooo easy. The shed hair came out without ANY problem. Usually, even after combing through one section many times I still have difficulty getting the comb through again. Not this time. After the third time, the comb just went right through, from the roota to the toota. Then I do the right side of my head and I was done with that side soooo fast.The mask is still sitting in my hair. I am going to wash it out shortly. What has it replaced? ... definitely not my Kerastase ... it has replaced my Afro Detangler and Brazilian Masque when I am about to take down my braids. Of course, I will still use my Afro Detangler to moisturize my hair but I no longer see myself needing to use the Body Shop masque for anything.
I doubt I will use the Redken Real Control Masque for anything else, but I am MORE than happy with that. You just don't understand what I go through every time I am ready to re-do my braids. This will surely shave off at least an hour of this process for me. I give the Redken Real Control Mask a 10 out of 10!!!
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Trust me, I don't like feeding the PJs ... because I am a serious PJ. But you have GOT to try this. Buy it from a salon or any authorized Redken distributor and they have to give you your money back if you don't like it ... no questions ask. You can't lose. But you know, I thought the same thing when LilChocolateMa posted a review and a couple of other people posted their review. But I knew, I HAD HAD to at least give it a try. After I saw that I liked it, I threw away 10 bottles of other products that I can't even remember using more than once. 
