A brief tale of woe, to begin.
I had brought in inspiration pics of balayaged brunettes with deep brown crowns blending softly into caramel ribboned ends - and as a newbie to dyeing my hair, I had no idea where in the process things were going wrong.
My stylist proudly told me as she rinsed out the toner, 'Oh yeah, I can see the brightness, this is going to be great!"
Cue to the blow-dry and my growing dismay as I watched my hair transform in the mirror to a light brown almost monochromatic sheet starting about an inch away from my part, with precise thin streaks radiating downward. Gone was any trace of my well loved dark brown hue. No rivers of caramel peeking through the at the ends. It was a 90's color revival.
Unfortunately, I am not Sarah Michelle Gellar, and this do would not do.
Long story short, I went back and asked for my roots to be deepened, the sharp streaks blended out, and the deeper hue blended into the lengths of my hair to contrast with the light pieces. And that's how I ended up with red toned roots and bronde ends. And also when I gave up and decided oh well, at least the bottom looks ok now.
That's also when I tried to make the best of a bad situation and bought Kevin Murphy's Shimmer.Shine Repairing Shine Mist, which is AMAZING (as you'll see below).
The product:
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| All shook up. |
The Kevin Murphy website says:
"Revive shine and repair hair with this finishing mist. Treat your hair as it shines with Vitamins C and E, Baobab, Immortelle and Bamboo extracts. Light reflective technology from high-end skincare adds a brilliant shine to hair with no oily residue. SHIMMER.SHINE contains essential oils and vitamins that treat and repair damaged hair."
How to use: Spray lightly over hair after styling. Twirl me before use.
Benefits: Repairing, Adds Shine, Strengthening, Antioxidants, Moisturising, Applied pre or post styling
Thanks Kevin Murphy. Now back to me.
All that, and just look at that bottle! Swirling eddies of liquid gold shimmer. Gorgeous. One note - the fragrance is strong, and it is unique. I saw one review that described this as smelling like 'vanilla rum', and I can't say I disagree. For me, this is not a dealbreaker - I'm not spraying it on my hair to intentionally get the scent, no, but it isn't overpowering. Just something to be aware of!
On to the important stuff.
The performance:
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| Before, no product (direct sunlight) |
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| After using Kevin Murphy Shimmer.Shine Repairing Shine Mist (direct sunlight) |
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| Close-up after using Kevin Murphy Shimmer.Shine |
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| Close-up, dim lighting |
My thoughts:
I could write more, but I feel like the pictures kind of speak for themselves. My hair feels soft after using this, and the shine is subtle (flecks of shimmer, not chunks of glitter) but very apparent.
I really love this!
If you can get past the fragrance, I highly recommend giving this a try, particularly if you have hair on the dry side, like I do. And if you're blonde, you might want to check out the Shimmer.Me Blonde version, which has lovely lavender shimmer to brighten.
This particular line is sold in salons, so be sure to use the website to find your nearest vendor. Because of this, prices vary slightly, but I paid $27 for mine (3.4 oz).
Let me know what you think in the comments!
- Taylor
