This might sound a bit odd, but I’ve never previously had much loyalty towards haircare brands. As long as they do the job I’m as happy with a L’Oréal as I am with a Kerastase. This Han ain’t loyal! But recently I discovered The Merlin Professional range and I was intrigued…
My big no-no is spending lots of money on a shampoo/conditioner combo that lasts all of five minutes when I don’t know it’ll have a positive impact on my hair. It’s literally throwing money down the drain! But luckily for you gals, I’ve done all the trying and testing aleady for you in this case…
When Fabriah got in touch just before Christmas and asked if I’d like to try their Merlin Professional range I was intrigued as I hadn’t heard of the brand before. It turns out that Merlin Professional products are normally only supplied to hairdressers but luckily you can also get them from Fabriah.com. They have a range of hair care products that are aimed to cleanse and rebalance your hair to help it cope from Summer all the way through to Winter.
You better call Hannah with the good hair
As you may or may not know, my hair isn’t exactly homegrown. So with that in mind, I have to be careful with what I put on my locks, anything too moisturising could be damaging to my bonded extennys. And could cause them to slide on out, which would be a big old waste of money… But luckily the Fabriah range includes products suitable for extension wearers. Win.
I’ve been using the products all over Christmas and have noticed a marked improvement in my hair. To give you an indication what my hair is like (my real hair that is) it’s fine but there’s lots of it, it’s curly in places and wavy in others, sometimes it behaves itself but most of the time it doesn’t – basically, it’s an ongoing challenge.
So the things I look for in a shampoo (aside from smelling nice), is help with controlling my challenging mop. I also am trying to train my hair to last as long as possible between washes. Not only does this help keep those all important natural oils locked in it also saves me from having to plan in an everyday hair washing slot (we’re talking two hours a day, kids!)
The Merlin Range
Caltron protein daily body support power shampoo – the first product that I tried from the range was the protein shampoo, the protein hype has moved to haircare! This shampoo aims to give limp and lifeless hair a boost, can a girl ever have too much volume? I don’t think so. This shampoo doesn’t lather up the same way a moisturising shampoo would, but I think that is because it’s so highly concentrated to target dry, chemically processed hair, yes, pretty much my hair in a nutshell. My hair felt squeaky clean after every shampoo, and I felt it did a good job of removing any product build up from my hair (dry shampoo, hair spray etc) whilst at the same time leaving it shiny and soft.
Raspberry plus equalising daily conditioner power sealer – as the name suggests, this conditioner is to be used daily, or as often as you wash your hair. First up this stuff smells AMAZING, which if I’m totally honest is one of the major selling points of any new hair care product, so a big tick there. It also felt nice and thick when applying it to lengths and ends so you can practically feel it working straight away. Once I’d washed it out my hair felt silky soft and it retained the essence of raspberry which I was pleasantly surprised with.
Botanical plus treatment – this is a spray to use as a weekly treat that you pop on after your shampoo. It’s best to leave it on for five or so minutes so it can work its magic, so you can use this spare time to exfoliate/ sing/ do a face mask, plan world domination – whatever you fancy. When I washed this out, my hair didn’t feel immediately different but as soon as I started drying it, I noticed how soft it had become as well as being a lot easier to brush!
The Verdict
I’m a fan. Ok, I guess you’ll need a little more of a round up than that… I’ve noticed that since I started using the Merlin range (it’s been just over a month now) my hair is less brittle and much more manageable. To find a range of products that help with dry ends and control the moisture at the roots is a game changer! I’ve changed my hair colour multiple times over the last year before coming full circle and going back blonde again after realising, you guessed it, blondes really do have more fun. So, in summary, I would definitely recommend the Merlin range and would purchase from Fabriah again!
Have you tried any Merlin products before? Leave me a comment and let me know what you thought! If you’d like to give the Merlin range a try you can check out their range here.
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*The products shown in this post were gifted, but all opinions are my own