Review: Kérastase Nutritive

Review: Kérastase Nutritive

Prepare for a long and picture heavy post. It's been more than a month since I got these goodies and after some thorough testing, I'm finally feeling comfortable writing a review. Originally, I was going to do a separate post for each, however, I feel the need to put them all in one for a good reason. The thing is that individually these are all great products, some of the best I ever had, however, when all three are used together the magic happens. I swear my hair hasn't never felt this silky, light and soft then when I use all three/four products together. I just can't stop touching my hair and the effect lasts for three days - normally, the top layer of my hair and the ends get dry fast. You know how on L'Oreal or Pantene commercials when they lift the hair, it falls down like a waterfall, well that's how my hair feels after using these (it doesn't look as retouched obviously, it's still normal people hair that feels amazing to the touch). They must have some very high quality silicones too make it this way. The whole Nutritive line is targeted for dry to very dry hair (the description of my hair type is under about).




I tested each individually (with a combination of other products from different brands) and all together. These are all very expensive products and even though I coveted them for a year, I wasn't really prepared to part from my money until a truly fantastic offer came my way. I got the three products 15% off and was given a full size Elixir Ultime, which retails about 35€. A word of advice, salons really overcharge these, so go online on sites like HqHair, Lookfantastic, Feelunique and other similar ones to find the best prices.

Kérastase Nutritive Bain Oléo-Relax Smoothing Shampoo




It's meant for dry, frizzy hair that refuses to be tamed. Other reviewers describe it as the best shampoo for taming frizz - admittedly that was what sold me. Texture-wise it's a regular, gel type shampoo that has an orange hue, it's more on a liquidy side, rather than a thick gel. It foams lovely and lathers to a rich foam. My hair feels quite silky, when I'm rinsing it off and I can easily comb though the knots with fingers. The comb basically just glides though the damp hair. It's a similar effect to using a light conditioner, which is a consequence of the added silicones. It's absolutely not one of those shampoos that leave your hair squeaky clean (a feeling I genuinely dislike) and is one of the best shampoos for dry hair I tried. It doesn't irritate my scalp which is also a plus, however, I do feel the silicones might build up on my hair, so an occasional use of clarifying shampoo or baking soda is needed. As far as the anti-frizz properties go, I must confess I didn't see much of an effect, my hair was equally frizzy than when using other shampoos, however, what I call frizz on my hair are actually individual shorter hairs that get curly because my hair is naturally curly (the longer the hair the less curly it is in my case).



The scent is similar to that of shampoos you get at the chemist's, something like regular soap (aldehydes), but slightly more sharp. I have a slight gripe with the bottle, because the top twists off, rather than having the one that flips. It's more time consuming and frankly a bit annoying, considering I'm paying a lot for it.




If your hair is either normal or oily, you'll probably find it too heavy because of the silicones. It's expensive for a shampoo and I get though shampoos so fast, so it's really more of a luxury to be buying it regularly. It was 18€ on Lookfantastic and the prices on most online shops are about the same.



Kérastase Nutritive Masquitense Épais - Thick






There are three different hair masks in Nutritive line and this one is targeted for thick hair, which mine are. Thetexture is like a medium thickness silicone-heavy cream that just glides on the hair with such ease. Due to that you actually don't have to use much, which is a relief because the pot contains a quite stingy amount of 200 ml. Curiously, there are no instructions as to how long you should leave it on, I do at least 45 minutes. When I'm rinsing it off my hair feels truly silky and it has a lot of slip, it's a very similar feeling to when I use Tigi's Serious Conditioner, but here it's less intense. Once my hair is dry it feels very soft, manageable and moisturised, but the biggest difference is that amazingly my ends stay moisturised for four days. Usually they get dry either on the second day if I use a cheap drugstore conditioner, or on third day if I use a more expensive one and I have to use an oil to condition it. It smells exactly like sunscreen, a scent that I love.





The packaging is a nice simple pot, nothing special but functional. The price is a shocking 26€ for a 200ml - honestly it could a least be 300ml.
A little advice: Be careful not to get any water in it, this applies to all products actually, it can affect the effectiveness of the product. So no sticking your fingers into pots under the shower or with wet hands.

Oh, Honey

Oh, Honey



It's time for one of those post again, when I have a craving for a certain scent and go all bonkers for all the products (previous posts for coconut, chocolate/cocoa, tropical and peach). This time it's honey.

Lush Honey I Washed the Kids 

HIWTK is probably one of the most famous products by Lush. It's a bar soap and honestly, a pretty average one when it comes to quality. Though it's marketed for dry skin, I find it drying as any other much cheaper bar soap and it leaves that (for me) awful stripped, squeaky clean feeling. I got quite a big 200 g chunk of it because that was the smallest piece they had at the time, but I cut it in much smaller pieces to use. The top "honeycomb" part is essentially useless. It smells exactly like Honey Bee bath bomb, Soft Coeur massage bar and the already discontinued Ma-Bar bubble bar. I don't get any honey at all, rather a very gourmand, toffee scent, however, it is not one of my favourites (I do like it and everyone that sniffed it, loved it so far). Though the scent is relatively strong, in my experience it doesn't last that long on the skin, which is a a pity. It is priced €4.95 for 100g.
If you want a shower gel version of HIWTK, it is called It's Raining Men. I didn't get it because I hate Lush's plastic bottles with passion as they are so bloody hard to squeeze.



The Body Shop Honeymania Body Butter
I'm a fan od TBS body butters, actually this is my seventh so far and it is another great quality product. Texture-wise it's similar to the shea butter, grapefruit and passion fruit versions from TBS, which in my opinion is one of their best kind - properly buttery, not too hard and easy to apply. You might be surprised at how freshly floral the scent is when you smell it in the pot. I certainly was concerned at the lack of honey, however, applied on the skin, the proper honey note finally appears. It's a nicely blended mix of soft honey note with a fresh wildflowers scent. It may not be a warm, sweet scent that L'Occitane excels at, but it's a well made floral interpretation, which I find quite lovely.
By the way, we need TBS in Slovenia. Just sayin'.



L'Occitane Honey Foaming Gel
If there is one company that makes their honey scents perfectly, it's L'Occitane. So far all the products I tried from their various honey lines were amazing. Unfortunately, they have all been discontinued or LE, including the Honey Foaming Gel, which has a gorgeous sweet honey scent and jelly-gel texture. It is basically the same thing as the discontinued Honey Harvest Foaming Jelly from their old honey line. This is the best honey scent I've found so far.


Fame eau de Parfum by Lady Gaga
Fame became my favourite scent mainly because it has honey in it. However, this is not a full-on honey scent, but rather a lovely honey-floral fragrance with a strong fruity note in the beginning represented by apricot and a hint of smokiness from the incense. I did a full review here.



Burt's Bees Honey Lip Balm
A lip balm that smells like soft honey mixed with beeswax and I also detect a hint of rose (it's an earthy, natural scent). The texture is quite waxy for a lip balm, therefore not my favourite, yet it's still an okay product. What I like about it is how small the tube is, so I carry it in my overstuffed makeup/essentials mini zip bag that's in my bag. However, I doubt I'll ever repurchase it since I've had it for a year and rarely used it.
I stumbled upon Burt's Bees products in Müller and almost every product has a tester there. I was sadly disappointed by all the scents, it's not what I expected by a brand with a honey tradition.


Rosal Lip Balm Milk & Honey
Another lip balm, but this time in the milk and honey version. The scent is more of a honey and milk meet plastic and beeswax, but not in a bad way. It's pretty much just a run-of-the-mill lip balm. Basic is the best way to describe it and most like petroleum jelly in a sense that it feels like it's just coating the lips rather than nourishing them. It's really similar to Labello (Nivea) lip balms in texture. I wouldn't repurchase since I already found my HG lip balm (Palmer's cocoa butter formula Swivel stick). This is Croatian brand and mine is a bit old now, so I don't know in which countries it's sold, but's it's inexpensive and comes in a lot of flavours. Labello has a honey and milk scented lip balm as well, but I have never tried it.



Milka Milchcréme & Honig
I found this on my recent trip to Müller. Milka often has fun new editions and honey is one of the current ones. It's can get quite sticky if you're not careful because the drops of honey ooze from the chocolate, but the taste is surprisingly good. It's mostly regular Milka with cream, but that bit of honey gives it that bit of extra yummy sweetness.



Some more honey based products
I've been eyeing the Lavera Body Spa Organic Honey Moments line that is available in a local Müller but I never took the plunge as my previous experience with this brand was not that great. It sound interesting though, especially since it has a eau de toilette in the line.

Whilst researching for best honey scented products I came across a recommendation for Kings & Queens Nefertiti Honey Body Butter (a part of Korres brand), which supposedly smells like very sweet honey. But since I can't see it in person, I doubt I'll go as far and buy it.

As an affordable option there is always Balea and their Milch & Honig line of products. I recall having a hand soap, but I believe I was unimpressed by it and switched to by favourite Peach & Nectarine version.

The amount of rave reviews Antipodes Aura Manuka Honey Mask got is good enough reason by itself to include it here. It's described as a deeply moisturising, cleansing and anti-oxidising treatment, but it is not the cheapest face mask.

Though Marc Jacobs Honey eau de parfum has honey only in it's name, I included it here solely because I find the bottle adorable. I tested it yesterday and it smells like fruit punch. Why name it Honey then, right? At least Daisy smells like daisies.

NUXE's Reve de Miel line with it's famous Ultra-Nourishing Lip Balm, is a line of products for all dry and sensitive skin types. It consist of several products and I've read some great reviews for most of them. They are quite expensive, though.

Tigi Catwalk Oatmeal & Honey Conditioner is an old favourite of mine. I used it for years before it was discontinued and now it's finally being relaunched with an addition of a hair mask to the original shampoo and conditioner. It doesn't smell exactly like honey, but it does smell like Christmas cookies: vanilla, cinnamon and gingerbread - all the goodness that make washing your hair a special treat. Once I use up my stash of hair masks and conditioners, I'm definitely buying it again.


That's quite a lot of honey based products. Most brands use honey in at least a few of their products, but there are rare ones that actually smell like honey. I still use honey as a face mask when my skin gets super dry (it was my saviour a few years ago, when my skin became dry) and I even used honey as a face wash for a few months, though I wouldn't recommend it because it's very difficult to completely wash it off.
If you have any recommendations for products with a good honey scent, write them in the comments.