Hair from Dry to Revived with L’Oréal Paris Elvive

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of L’Oréal® Paris Elvive.  The opinions and text are all mine.

Over the last several years I’ve been on a roller coaster ride with my hair.  I got in line for the ride in 2011, buckled up and started to go in 2012. Since then, it has been up and down (and sometimes off the track).

My hair is naturally very dark, brown and curly.  I’m Puerto Rican so I do have a little texture to it, but truthfully not too much.  I wanted to go blonde *stylists insert cringe here* and I knew it wasn’t going to be an overnight change, but I wasn’t ready for all that coloring every 6 weeks entailed.  My curls were ruined from the bleach, my ends were splitting, and my hair was so dry it looked like I stuck my finger in an electrical socket.  I finally got to the color I wanted but my hair didn’t look good because of the condition it was left in.

And so began the hunt for holy grail products.  Oils, leave-ins, balms, in-salon treatments, department store versus drugstore and even homemade remedies.  I’ve tried it all.  Some served their purpose but didn’t “wow” me, and some did shock me… but in a bad way.  My hair was dry to the point where it was pulling color from my shampoo.  I used a purple shampoo to banish the brass in my blonde and woke up with lavender hair.  Let’s call that a “low” on the roller coaster, shall we?

After years of the up-and-down, I can’t imagine going back to my natural color and starting this whole process over.  Now, I have a routine with my salon and do my roots every 6 weeks and a trim every 8 weeks.  But I was still looking for products I could use at home to maintain my hair between salon visits and to repair the damage from years of coloring.  That’s when I tried the L’Oréal® Paris Elvive line.

When choosing which product from the line was right for me, I didn’t just go into the hair care aisle at Walgreens, read the description on each bottle and see which best matched my current hair condition.  I started with L’Oréal’s online hair diagnostic test.  This was a super quick, 3 question test to determine the level of damage to your hair and get product recommendations specific to your hair’s needs.

I was a level 4 out of 5 with 5 being the worst.  Not so surprising considering I straighten my hair several times a week and have been coloring for years.  The test recommended the Elvive Color Vibrancy Repair and Protect Balm for me and the entire line claims results in just 1 use so I went to Walgreens as soon as I saw my results.  Seriously, I’ve been damaging my hair for years and if there’s a product out there (and for less than $6) that can revive it in one use, sign me up immediately.

Of course when I got to the Walgreens I still wanted to read about the rest of the products in the line.  Let me save you the trouble of standing in the haircare aisle and reading them all: pick up the line the test recommends and add on the Elvive Total Repair 5 Protein Recharge. The Elvive Total Repair 5 Protein Recharge is a leave-in product that protects from heat tools up to 450 degree heat.  I typically turn my straightener up to 350 so this was perfect for me. You can see results in just one use. Some of the other products were:

• Elvive Total Repair 5 Damage Erasing Balm – For women with naturally dryer hair looking for manageability and shine who likely do not use heat tools regularly.  Stronger and healthier hair in just 1 use.
• Elvive Extraordinary Oil – A non-greasy and lightweight product that leaves hair soft and silky with just 1 use.  For women with a lot of hair damage (could be years of coloring, heat styling, etc.) who definitely struggle with split ends.

The Elvive Color Vibrancy Repair and Protect Balm had a texture similar to a whipped body butter.  As soon as I opened the jar my shower smelled amazing.  My hair soaked it right up and after the 5 minute wait time I rinsed it with cold water.  I always rinse my hair with cold water to seal the hair cuticle and help it lay flat.  As I was rinsing my hair I could already feel the difference in smoothness.  I used my hair towel and wet brush to comb it out before applying the Elvive Total Repair 5 Protein Recharge.  After using just the balm, I could tell there was a difference in how strong my hair was even before it dried because as I was brushing my hair I noticed significantly less breakage.

The Protein Recharge also smells amazing and I used about a quarter size amount on towel-dried hair.  It has the consistency of a conditioner and I applied it roots to tips, and then a little more on the tips because… split ends.

Once my hair dried it looked healthier.  I have white pieces in my blonde from the highlights and they were more vibrant and less brassy, which is not easy to do between salon visits.  It revived my color and my hair feels thicker when I run my fingers through it. You can spend thousands of dollars on coloring your hair but unless it’s healthy, it just doesn’t look good.  These products made my salon color look even more expensive and they were among the most affordable I’ve ever tried.

Ready to revive your hair?  After you take your diagnostic test you can either head into the haircare aisle at Walgreens to purchase any of the products or shop them online here.

Of course, if you shop online you’ll miss out on the in-store event April 7, 2018 at the peel and reveal event.  Beauty consultants are going to be present to help you find the right product for you and give you a special offer to shop in participating Walgreens stores.  The event will also be showcasing large scale reveals of before and after images of damaged to healthy hair results after using L’Oréal Paris Elvive hair products. Find your nearest location here!

No matter how you shop it, you’re going to end up with fabulous hair when you use these products. You may not go from black to blonde in 1 night, but with the L’Oréal Paris Elvive line, you can go from dry to revived with just 1 use.