WOWZA

Ahh I wasn't aware that 3mm was full of cones as I've never bought it.
I am not sure just how fried her hair was, she had quite a bit of breakage and had over processed (I tried to get her to stop dying it but noooo). I asked her if it was gummy or stretchy when wet but she said it wasn't. It was dry and straw like, she'd used other moisturising products to without much relief. So it seems like it was just too fried. It doesn't really matter now because she's had it all chopped off. Just wondering for future reference. Thanks Intempestivity!

Ooh, thats interesting about Joico Hydrator - I know what I'll be buying when I get paid! The Joico reconstructor saved my hair last year when I accidentally fried it...I lost about 6 inches but without it I'd have been sporting a pixie crop!

If my hair isn't damaged now (not stretchy or gummy, dries quickly etc the ends are a little dry but I just need a trim in think) should I still be using reconstructor? Or shall I get the Hydrator to use instead?

It's the hyaluronic acid in the Intense Moisturiser that attracts and seals in moisture.  I can't find any mention of it with regards to 3MM, so I'm guessing that this important ingredient is missing from it.

Regarding using the Reconstructor when your hair is not damaged, it depends on what type of hair you have.  My hair is healthy now, but it's also pretty fine so I use it every few weeks to just give it a bit of extra strength, but using too much protein can make hair feel dry and unhealthy and hair that is coarse doesn't need much in the way of strength.  Hair that is naturally prone to dryness, such as curly hair, can end up in really bad shape really quickly with too  much protein.  If you have some laying around still, do a treatment and see how your hair feels after.  If it feels dry, then it's too much for it, but if it feels soft and smooth then it's fine to continue using it.

Ill get some more then, as my hair is fine and could probably do with strengthening 🙂 thanks

Hi lovely people, noob to the forums, but certainly not to the world of hair dying 🙂

This may be a slightly odd question, but can anyone tell me a bit about the viscosity/coverage of the K-Pak reconstructor? I have VERY long (tailbone length) hair that I'm bleaching up from brunette, and considering that I use up a LOT of conditioner on my hair, I'm wondering how far a bottle of this will go! I get through about 4 bottles of conditioner to one of shampoo in my regular hair washing, if that helps.

I've been babying my hair for the past few years to get it to this length, so it was in super-healthy condition when I started, but I'm at a middling stage now (gingery gold with remnants of old dye) and it's starting to show signs of breakage and dryness, so I want to really build it back up for a bit before I go any further.

If I need to do two or three K-Pak treatments, do you think I will get that out of an average sized (150ml) bottle? Or should I just try to get a big bottle to begin with? I don't want to spend more than I need to, but it's payday this Sunday, so if I have to hammer my purse to keep my tresses, I'll grit my teeth and do it!

^ Lady after my own heart I have really thick hair that was till I cut it, very long (tailbone too) hair now it is to my shoulder BUT I have always been a bit tight with conditioner. Opposite to you I probably use 4 Shampoo bottles to 1 conditioner.

The product itself is quite thick, i'd say not as thick as some (like Tigi dumb blonde reconstructor) but it is heavier than most conditioners. It doesn't hurt thought to get a small bottle, see if it works then buy more? By reading this thread it works for some not others.

Thanks MissMoth, I think that's what I'm going to do. It looks like I'll easily get one or two treatments out of it, and after clarifying and examining my hair today, I think it's as much in need of moisture as it is protein or reconstruction! I've been feeding it coconut oil either side of BBs, and gave it an SMT treatment today which made it feel better - not just smoother and softer, actually stronger  😀 .

I had an Argan oil serum that was doing lovely things to my ends, but today I actually bothered to read the ingredients and it turns out to be mainly a bottle of silicones - it was feeding me SILKY LIES!! I'll be hunting for a good deep conditioner at the same time as I pick up my K-Pak. Oh man, I hope my local hair supply store is open this Sunday...

Just ordered the reconstructor from ebay after reading all the fab reviews here. I've always used Kerastase Bain De Force, Ciment A-Sure and the Ciment Thermique. They work really well strengthening hair but feel I need a bit of extra oooomph after going back to platinum.  Fingers crossed!!!

I just ordered the reconstructor, and I'm so excited to try it after everything that's been said on here!

I got it with a 38% discount and free shipping from this site, if anyone's interested: http://us.strawberrynet.com/haircare/joico/k-pak-deep-penetrating-reconstructor/93825/#langOptions

I've ordered cosmetics off their site before and it always actually arrived and was the genuine product. So I trust that this order will be the same. The waiting has begun! 😀

I am not one to believe in "miracle" products, but I figured all of you with your fabulous dyed hair couldn't be wrong!

Mine should get here some time this week. I only ordered the reconstructor and hydrator ( not the shampoo and conditioner ) but I reckon it'll be enough and I'm really excited to try it out! 🙂

Just used Joico for the first time, and I have to agree, it's amazing! The only beef I have with it is that the reconstructor leaves your hair smelling foul after rinsing it out, but that's just my opinion. The hydrator smells really nice though and it got some of that smell out of my hair! But that's a minor thing, this stuff really is great.

My hair still feels a little gummy, but it is much, MUCH better already after using it only once, can't wait to use it again!

On that note, I have a question. I'm gonna re-dye my hair again some time this week with SFX, so I'm gonna wash my hair beforehand, without conditioning it, would it be okay to use the reconstructor though, straight before dying my hair? Will it affect how well the dye absorbs into my hair?

Thanks! 🙂

Moderator combined posts.

I found a fabulous website that ships free to Finland-hooray! My hair hasn't gotten gummy, but I do use my hair iron daily to straighten my hair, so the texture has taken on a bit of a straw like stiffness at the ends. I'll be trying this out before I bleach my hair again for re-dye. 🙂

On that note, I have a question. I'm gonna re-dye my hair again some time this week with SFX, so I'm gonna wash my hair beforehand, without conditioning it, would it be okay to use the reconstructor though, straight before dying my hair? Will it affect how well the dye absorbs into my hair?

Yes, it will.  You shouldn't have anything coating your hair before using a semi like SFX--even natural oils can block the uptake of the dye.  You can use it after, just not before.

Okay I wasn't sure how the reconstructor actually works since you have to condition after using it, but thank you for your reply, I'll definitely make sure I use it after I dye my hair! 🙂

Basically the reconstructor works by depositing keratin proteins back in to the hair shaft, which can leave the hair feeling a bit dry and why it's important to condition again after, as it doesn't deposit moisture.  It still does coat the hair, though, just with protein and not moisture :).

Okay yeah that makes sense, thank you! 🙂

Just wanted to add a little something to this thread, I ordered my Joico stuff from feelunique.com, because they did have really good prices, however I had to pay a 20 euros (21,82 to be exact ) customs fee when it got there. :/ That's only ever happened to me with items that came from China or places like that, not with items shipped from the UK so it was a bit of a nasty little surprise but oh well, it's worth it I guess.

This info is probably of no use to all of you who live in the UK, but thought I'd put it out there for those of you in other parts of Europe, that feelunique.com might not be your best bet price-wise.