Pantene and 3 Minute Miracle Treatment

I don't normally use Pantene products. Somehow it always caused itchiness on my scalp. Same with hubby. Everytime I tried it again I always ended up regretting it.

For example, back in November I received a full bottle of Pantene conditioner to try. Since it was labelled "new formulation", I decided to give it a try. My hair felt light and smooth for about a week (3 hairwashes), no itchiness on my scalp. The following week, the itchiness started. Itchiness stopped when I stopped using it - definitely something in Pantene conditioner. I gave it away to MIL not long after. I'm not sure whether she has used it since...

With that kind of background I wasn't sure what to expect when I saw a 15ml Pantene 3 Minute Miracle Treatment sample on my doorstep last week. The question is, "To try or not to try."

"Try" wins. Simply because I discovered a few strands of my hair has split-ends. I was desperate, I don't normally gets them! With 130+ boxes to deal with I have no time to waste. So yesterday I tried it. My hair felt super soft afterwards. Must be the silicone working. I survived the whole day without itchiness. Didn't last long though, this morning my scalp started to feel itchy. Why, oh, why, don't I ever learnt anything from the past?! Was the itch worth it? Answer: no.

Ironically, my sister swears by Pantene to keep her hair in good conditions. Perhaps the next time I'm tempted to try Pantene product(s) again I should gave them away to her, without delay.

 

Verdict: good conditioning product if used by itch-resistant people like my sis. As for me, I'm staying away. Far, far away...

 

Ingredients: Water, Bis-Aminopropyl Dimethicone, Stearyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Chloride, Cetyl Alcohol, Fragrance, Benzyl Alcohol, Disodium EDTA, Panthenol, Panthenyl Ethyl Ether, Lysine HCl, Methyl Tyrosinate HCl, Sodium Hydroxide, Histidine, Tocopheryl Acetate, Methylchloroisothiazolinone/Methylisothiazolinone.

Perfume Allergy!

Last week my skin had an allergic reaction to Juicy Couture's Viva La Juicy. There were times when I felt nauseous when I smelled certain type of perfumes, but my skin has never reacted to perfumes before.

At first I thought I was bitten by some midges. Then the pinky spots got bigger and turned into hives. I noticed that the hives were only on those places I sprayed the perfume on. Out of curiosity I sprayed the perfume on again a few days later. Bad move, more hives appeared on my skin!

Good thing it was only a tester vial, I'd be even more upset if I had bought a big bottle of it. I don't really like the scent anyway, I prefer the original Juicy Couture.

Out of curiosity I googled "Viva La Juicy" and "allergic reaction". I'm pleased to say I'm not the only one who's allergic to it. I wonder which ingredient is the culprit...

How A Thief Opens Your Suitcase Easily and Precautions You Could Take

It's horrible to see how easy it is to open a LOCKED suitcase!

As seasoned travellers hubby and I came up with these ideas to discourage the would-be-thief (TWBT) from targeting your suitcase:

1. Use suitcase that has a built-in lock on it and use your normal lock in addition.

This type of suitcase has a fixed point where you can slide the zipper heads into and it can only be opened by keying in the right numbers. The fixed point would make it difficult for the thief to zip it back. On a 3-digit lock TWBT has to try up to 1,000 number combinations before he/she could move the zipper heads in order to do the zipping-back trick, making it more time consuming to make your suitcase appeared untouched.

2. Use luggage strap to secure your suitcase.

TWBT has to cut the strap off before opening the zip = more time consuming = more risk of getting caught = good deterrent. In addition, a brightly coloured/uniquely patterned luggage strap could help you to identify your suitcase better, especially if yours is a generic suitcase that's also owned by a thousand other people. The strap could also help to prevent embarrassing situation like spilling the entire contents of your suitcase on the floor when it accidentally burst (because you have shoved in too many things in there... LOL...)

3. Wrap your entire suitcase in clingwrap plastic.

We've seen this wrapping service offered in some airports for a fee. I think the true intention is to prevent the suitcase from bursting. In this case, TWBT has to rip the plastic off before he/she could do the pen trick = very good deterrent.

That's all we can think of for now. What do you think?

Disclaimers: the above are just "helpful suggestions", so we do NOT guarantee that your suitcase will be totally safe from prying hands even after you follow the above to the dot. Just to make it totally clear, in the event of theft to the content of your suitcase, we are NOT liable (legally responsible) for any loss incurred. :)

Disappointed

In the first week of having chicken pox as I felt too sick and weak to wash my hair properly. So I sent hubby out to get a dry shampoo. He went to Boots and bought Toni & Guy Refreshing Dry Shampoo.

It delivered what it said: "refreshes your style and boosts volume for a fresh, clean look." Though I'm not very keen on the scent.

What was very disappointing was the fact that I've only used it twice (about 4 sprays altogether) when I noticed that the canister has turned very light and empty!

In my opinion a 200ml canister should last longer than that... I've used some T&G hair products to great satisfaction in the past. I've even recommended them to friends when the products were launched in Australia when I lived there. Sadly this time the dry shampoo has failed my expectation. Even hubby was upset as he thought he had bought me an expensive dodgy product.

Personally I can't justify paying £5.27 for a product that's only good for two use/four spray only.

I wrote an email to the customer service department of T&G, attaching the code I found at the bottom of the canister for their info, saying that as a loyal customer I hope this is just a one off case.

Here's the reply I received from someone at their head office:

"WITHOUT PREJUDICE

Dear Music,

Thank you for your email.

I was sorry to hear that you are unhappy with our product and would like to apologise for your disappointment. Please note that this would need to be returned to the place of purchase as we do not handle product enquiries or complaints from this office.

I hope that this information has been helpful and am sorry I could not have been of more assistance."

Not good enough in my opinion. Firstly, we were already 80-100 miles away from Gloucester when we realized that we had a dud product. Obviously we don't want to drive back all the way there just to get a refund. Secondly, I could always try returning it to other Boots store. However, there's no guarantee that we would be given a refund at it has been a couple of weeks since hubby bought it. He can't be bothered going through all the hassle. Thirdly, it would have been nice if T&G were to pass my email on to their special division who perhaps could figure out whether the dodgy product I got came from a faulty batch.

As mentioned above, I used to be a big fan of T&G products. I also used to pay an exorbitant amount of money to have my hair cut by the style director (or whatever they call their top hairdresser). I'm afraid this experience has put me off everything T&G.

Verdict: Sadly I won't be their loyal customer anymore.