Sampler Platter: Frederick Fekkai Brilliant Glossing Cream

This is horrible.  I mean, this is an absolute catastrophe.  I really, truly have no idea what I'm going to do.  This morning, as I was getting ready to blow dry my hair, I opened up a drawer and there they were--just sitting there, mocking me.  I have two more bags of samples.  Oh. Dear. God.

This is getting out of hand.  I thought, instead of pulling out something random from the magic bag o' samples, I'd use some of this glossing cream I'd gotten a while back.  Instead of tossing it in a bag, or on a counter, or on the kitchen table, I'd actually (I know, God forbid) put it where it was supposed to go, in the drawer next to my bathroom sink.  Of course, I forgot about it.  I mean, it was put up.  Nothing in my house is ever put up.  It's been in that drawer for months, and I've even acquired a few more identical samples since then.  Anyway, something triggered my memory, and when I reached in the drawer to get it out, I noticed something was sticking, keeping the drawer from opening all the way.  The something was two plastic "airline" bags, each brimming with samples.  I need an intervention.  Heck, maybe this is the intervention.

Oh well, there's no use whining.  I'm stuck with them, for better or for worse.  On with the review!

According to Sephora, Frederic Fekkai Brilliant Glossing Cream is:

An antifrizz, shine-promoting finishing formula for all hair types.  This superstar formula delivers shine-boosting olive oil spheres that create seriously soft, reflective shine for all-day-stunning strands.  The Glossing Collection uses breakthrough encapsulation technology to help deliver brilliantly reflective shine from root to tip, all day long.

Well, I'm in!  Down here in the ninth circ--I mean, Deep South, we're doing happy dances if it's "only" 90-degrees outside with 100% humidity (and, though I am prone to exaggeration, these are actual measurements.  Seriously).  That's actually considered "pleasant".  As I have mentioned, I have long, wavy hair that does whatever it feels like, and rarely is "what it feels like" what I want (Boy, I'm big on quotation marks today).  I'll take all the help I can get.  This retails for $23 for 4oz. at Sephora.com.

Currently, I'm using the Fekkai Technician Color Care system, so I figured this should fit in nicely.  I shampooed and conditioned my hair, as usual, then broke out the sample.  Now, I'm going to be honest here:  I don't like the scent.  It smells, to me, like perm solution, which, of course, just takes me back to the late 80s when my Mom and Grandma had the scathingly brilliant idea to perm my bangs.  Yeah.  That went about as well as you think it did.

Scent aside, I squeezed a pea-sized amount of the green goo into my palm, rubbed my hands together, and tried to evenly distribute the gloss to my damp hair, beginning with the ends, and working my way up to the crown.  Considering my hair was wet, it didn't surprise me that I didn't notice any difference right off.  I noticed the difference when I blew my hair dry.  A definite, albeit very slight difference.

My hair was slightly shinier.  It's extremely soft, but I'm not sure how much of that I should credit to the gloss.  My shampoo and conditioner leave my hair really soft all on their own.  The Color Care system I use helps some with frizz, but I didn't notice this gloss helping any more.  All I can really say is that my hair is slightly shinier, but my results are inconclusive.  I'll have to use it a few more times to really tell if it works.  Each packet has more than one application, and I have a few packets, so I can give it a solid try-out and follow up in the future.  I'm sorry, folks, but I don't want to give you the wrong information.

If you want to try it out yourself, you can get a 1.6oz. travel-sized version at Sephora.com for $9.  If you're only using a pea-sized amount, that 1.6oz. will last you for freaking ever.  Who knows?  Maybe it'll work wonders.  It certainly seems to have impressed the customers at Sephora.  It has an almost 5-star rating, with 1,357 reviews at time of posting.

Photo by Sephora

Now, before I go, I would like to mention another blog that I frequent, Epbot.  It's written by Jen Yates (of Cakewrecks fame), and it really brightens my day.  I bring up her blog because she wrote a lovely post yesterday that pointed out that being a geek doesn't mean you can't still be girly, and that you shouldn't feel pressured to hide your femininity just to fit in.  Hear, Hear!  I love my Doctor Who, Comic-Con, X-Files, MST3K, B-movies, zombies, musicals, Joss and Bruce.  I've never been a gamer, but I'm still a geek, and I know that it's not always easy to find that cool design on a girl's shirt (I now know that I wear a men's small, thank you), or have an non-condescending conversation with the salesperson at [insert favorite collectibles store here] about Daleks and K-9.  I'm a girl.  I have polished toenails and curls in my hair.  I proudly wear sparkly leopard print shoes with my Star Wars t-shirt.  I am a glamorous geek.