Hannah Furst:
Welcome everybody to Beauty IQ: The Podcast.
Joanna Flemming:
I'm your host, Joanna Flemming.
Hannah Furst:
And I am your cohost, Hannah Furst.
Joanna Flemming:
So, I don't know if everybody else has seen this, but Pharrell has released a skincare line. It's called Humanrace, and as someone who has been very intrigued by how the hell Pharrell is reverse ageing, I'm quite pleased that he's decided to share a little bit more about his routine.
Hannah Furst:
Can I just quickly say Frank Ocean once said, before this video came out, "It's been all these years, and Pharrell still hasn't given us the keys yet," in references to the rapper's seemingly ageless complexion.
Joanna Flemming:
Yeah, he had to, I was reading an article that he had to confirm he wasn't a vampire recently. So he's done a Vogue Beauty Secrets video of his morning skincare routine, and he's obviously using his new products, and I mean he's probably used other products during this whole time, but has now just released his own range and he actually has some really quite good advice, to be honest. And he said the routine is the number one thing. You have to be in a consistent routine-
Hannah Furst:
Love that.
Joanna Flemming:
... to get results from your skincare routine.
Hannah Furst:
Love it.
Joanna Flemming:
Which I just loved. And so his products ... and I haven't actually been able to see what's in all of the products, because their website, at the moment ... the range is released today, but by the time this ep comes out, the ingredients should be live, I would assume. But there's a rice powder cleanser, which is a powder that you add water to, and then you kind of mix it in and activate it. Then there's a lotus enzyme exfoliator, and a humidifying cream which is just like a moisturiser. All of the products are vegan, and he developed them in consultation with his dermatologist that he's had for 20 years, so that explains-
Hannah Furst:
He did say at the start of the video, "I started taking care of my skin 20 years ago."
Joanna Flemming:
So when he was 27, he started to focus on his skin. The thing that I did really notice about this brand was that he's done refillable packaging, but he's also put braille on the packaging for anyone who's sight impaired. So I thought that was a really interesting and thoughtful thing to do as well, when developing a brand. But, I'm just relieved now that I know what his skincare routine is. Because I was like, "He's doing something-" you guys have to go and watch this Vogue Beauty Secrets video. He's poreless. He's got no ageing around his eyes, it's miraculous.
Hannah Furst:
For spiritual gals like us though, I really liked his philosophy about your face, and he said, "Your face is only as good as the energy that comes from behind it." I just loved all of the spirituality references as well.
Joanna Flemming:
He's a real vibe, and he does actually have some really good advice, so Pharrell for president. I am going to try and get him on the podcast. I've been furiously trying to find his PR agent. I've sent a few DMs, I've tried to get a few email addresses, so leave it with me, but let's try and get Pharrell on ... I'm still trying to Jlo, so. Although, I'm not going to lie, I've been able to get some pretty good guests lined up, so-
Hannah Furst:
Oh my God.
Joanna Flemming:
Just wait. There's some-
Hannah Furst:
Yeah, just wait, guys.
Joanna Flemming:
... amazing guests coming up. I lost my (beep) last week, I was sending everything in caps to Hannah screaming through Slack.
Hannah Furst:
I was like, "I knew you could do it. I had every faith in you."
Joanna Flemming:
What is on today's episode, Hannah?
Hannah Furst:
So, on today's episode we are talking about the first time that you guys got your periods. You've sent in your stories, we can't wait to read them out. Then we have colorist and educator Monique McMahon from Que Colour in Sydney to talk about how to change your hair care routine in summer, and then of course products we didn't know we needed.
Joanna Flemming:
So Hannah, we, I've actually been waiting to do this segment for ages because I wanted to get our listeners as involved as we did in those waxing nightmares, because they were so funny. And so I did the same thing. I got people to submit their stories on Instagram, and they did not disappoint, once again. There's some great stories here, but I wanted to know if you wanted to share your first period story. Is that too personal?
Hannah Furst:
No, that's not too ... God, Jo. Have we met? Nothing's too personal for me. So, my first ... I have two period stories I want to talk about. The first one was I first got my period story, of course, I was at a friend's house, and I went to the toilet, and all of a sudden there was blood in my undies. So I wrapped up ... I was really good. I wrapped up some toilet paper, a lot of it, put it in my undies, waited until I got home, and then from memory Linda, she just stacked some pads in the bathroom without telling me, just in case, because she's really thoughtful like that.
Hannah Furst:
But to be honest with you, I'm really bad with my period and I don't count when I'm getting it, and I don't know when I'm getting it. And do you remember, we were at work one day and I came back from the bathroom, I'm like, "Jo, I've got blood on my favourite jeans." And she's like, "Turn around," and I turned around, and there was a little patch on my jeans, and I was like, "What do I do?" So I think I tied a jacket around my waist.
Joanna Flemming:
Yeah, you did. Yeah.
Hannah Furst:
This is how close we are, guys.
Joanna Flemming:
I just remember your face when you walked in, you were like, "Jo."
Hannah Furst:
So what about you?
Joanna Flemming:
I was a late bloomer. I didn't get my period until I was about ... I think I was 14 or 15, and I was on holidays with my family in Queensland. My cousin and I were staying in the same room, and she listens to this podcast, so she'll be laughing as I tell this story. But we were just like, at night, we were hanging out, I went to the bathroom, and I yelled out to her, and I was like, "Soph, I've got my period, do you have any pads?" And she didn't realise it was the first time I'd gotten my period, so she was all chill about it. She was like, "Nah, I don't have any." And I was like, "It's the first time I've got my period."
Hannah Furst:
Oh no.
Joanna Flemming:
And so then the whole time, the rest of the trip in Queensland I was wearing these bulky, massive pads that my mom had. So I had to wear board shorts, and I just felt so daggy. But yeah, it was pretty late on to be honest. I think, a lot of the stories that were coming through, and I was mortified reading some of these, because these girls are so young, and to the point where they hadn't even had a discussion with their moms yet about their periods, and so there's girls that have sent through their stories and they're like, nine or 10? And haven't even, they don't even know what's happened to them, which would be so scary as a little girl, so I'm kind of glad that I was older.
Joanna Flemming:
So, I'm going to jump into the stories, because a lot were sent through. And actually, there's a really common theme here that a lot of people when they got their periods though they'd shat themselves. So I just want to put that out there now, that you are not alone. Some of these stories that came through honestly were really funny, but I'm going to start with this one. So, "Got my period while on a family camping holiday. I firstly bled through my pants and sleeping bag on the first night, because I felt embarrassed in front of my family. Mom pretty quickly found out, and brought me some tampons from a fuel stop. She explained how to insert it, but I couldn't do it, so she ended up having to come in and insert it for me. Truly embarrassing."
Hannah Furst:
Oh no.
Joanna Flemming:
I think a few people have gone through that to be honest.
Hannah Furst:
I still can't insert-
Joanna Flemming:
Tampons? I know, you still can't do it. Maybe Linda needs to come down and help.
Hannah Furst:
So the other day I wanted to wear a see through dress, so I wanted to wear a flesh coloured g-string, but I had my period, and I was like, "Ugh, dammit, I have to put a tampon in." So I put a tampon in, and I was like, "Nah." And I just pulled it out, and then instead of wearing a dress I had to wear jeans. How sad is that? I'm 32 years old almost, and I still have trouble putting tampons up.
Joanna Flemming:
What about a ... you haven't tried a cup?
Hannah Furst:
Absolutely not. If I can't use a tampon, what makes you think I could use a cup?
Joanna Flemming:
That was a stupid question, sorry.
Hannah Furst:
It's stupid. Keep going.
Joanna Flemming:
I've got another one. So, "Got my period while at the movies with my mom, wearing white tights. Bled everywhere. Mom sprung into action, put me in a toilet cubicle while she cleaned my pants, and went to Willy's on the corner to buy me new underwear and pads." How cute.
Hannah Furst:
Oh, God.
Joanna Flemming:
Yup. Okay. This one, just broke my heart. Okay, "So it wasn't my first period, but when I was 13, in school, I unexpectedly got my period in the middle of class. When I stood up, there was blood all over my bum and legs, and all over the chair I was sitting on."
Hannah Furst:
No.
Joanna Flemming:
I just feel so bad reading those stories.
Hannah Furst:
But look, the thing is that this happens to everyone at some point in their life. This is just, it's normal. This is a really normal experience.
Joanna Flemming:
Yeah, this one I really loved, and this just shows that there is nice men out there. "My best friend got her period in the middle of science class. She got up and ran out of the room, and her lab partner, a guy sitting next to her, saw all the blood on the chair and quickly put a textbook over it so no one else saw."
Hannah Furst:
Oh my God. Marry me. How old is he now?
Joanna Flemming:
Yeah. Where are you? This one's quite funny. "I was 15, my whole family was camping, and we just found out that I had a dairy intolerance, so I only thought the cramps were from my ice cream. Later that day, we were on a boat with white seats, and I bled all through my clothes and onto the seats. Mom tried to get me to jump into the water so I could wash it off, but I was too scared sharks would smell the blood, so I had to sit on a towel until we got back."
Joanna Flemming:
Another one. "My best friend from year seven got hers on year seven camp." Oh my God, that would be traumatic in itself. "I'm not talking like she bled through her pants or anything, I'm talking her mattress was soaked, and it leaked through to the girl underneath her. We all woke up to someone screaming, then the lights went on. We thought someone had been murdered."
Hannah Furst:
Oh.
Joanna Flemming:
Oh my God. That is hectic.
Hannah Furst:
I feel like, so you had a lot of people, so you had a lot of this coming through.
Joanna Flemming:
Yeah. I had heaps of people send stuff through. This one's pretty funny. Okay, "It was grade six, morning tea break, and I'm sitting on the loo trying to figure out how to put the pad on my knickers. Bloody hard work. The wings were sticking together, I really had no clue, and I was panicking. My friend yells out, 'What are you doing? Hurry up.' And I reply, 'I'm doing a big poo, go without me,' because apparently doing a big poo is less embarrassing than having your period at 11 years old."
Hannah Furst:
By the way, talking about getting your period in awkward moments, do you remember we were out for dinner recently and I was going to meet a guy that-
Joanna Flemming:
Yes.
Hannah Furst:
... I'd already-
Joanna Flemming:
And you were all excited about it-
Hannah Furst:
... I was all excited about it.
Joanna Flemming:
And then you went off to the toilet and came back, and you go, "Do you have a tampon?"
Hannah Furst:
I was like, "I got my period."
Joanna Flemming:
And suddenly, your mood changed.
Hannah Furst:
I literally got my period five minutes before a D date. And-
Joanna Flemming:
It was like the universe just did that for you.
Hannah Furst:
The universe was telling me that it wasn't right. Yup.
Joanna Flemming:
And speaking of missing out on the fun because of a period, someone else said, "I got my period at Lunar Park. I didn't want to miss the fun, so I ignored it until I got home." There's like a theme with getting them on rides. "Got mine on the [inaudible 00:11:28] at the local show." Another person thought their appendix had burst, and a number of people go their periods on sleepovers.
Hannah Furst:
My appendix almost burst, and that's not how it feels. And that's not what happens.
Joanna Flemming:
I want to thank everybody for sending in their first period stories. It's a very vulnerable time-
Hannah Furst:
It is.
Joanna Flemming:
... but I'm glad that we can all look back on it now and be like, "Oh, that was a fun time."
Hannah Furst:
And I still get surprised, so I'm in my 30s and I still get period blood on my jeans, so. You're not alone.
Joanna Flemming:
It never ends.
Hannah Furst:
It never ends.
Joanna Flemming:
So today's guest joining us is colorist and educator Monique McMahon from Que Colour in Sydney. Welcome to the show, Mon, it's nice to have you here.
Monique McMahon:
Thanks, Joanna. Hi, Hannah, how are you?
Hannah Furst:
Hello, good to see you.
Joanna Flemming:
We thought this was a very timely chat, because Hannah's decided to escape up north, and we thought this was the perfect time to discuss the havoc that sun, and sand, and salt can have on our hair over the summer months. So can you tell us exactly what effect summer can have on our hair?
Monique McMahon:
Oh. Wow. Okay, so we love summer. I love summer, I'm a summer girl for sure, but it can definitely cause havoc on our hair on a few different ways. The sun can literally be a bleach on hair. It can remove pigment, it can cause discoloration, create sensitive ends, brittle strands, and all of those kind of things lead to split ends, which we all absolutely hate. So, it's not the best season for our hair, and yeah, I think we need to be mindful of what it's doing to our hair.
Hannah Furst:
I personally, I don't know if this is just me, but Jo, we've spoken about this before, I love my beach hair. Beach hair's my favourite hair, with the sea salt, and the sand.
Monique McMahon:
Yeah, yeah. We have a funny term at the salon that we use in summer, and we kind of love and hate it, and it's called chewy ends. And when the hair, when the ends of the hair get a little bit chewy, and they're a bit chewy from the salt water wearing it down, and the sun sort of bleaching it out a little bit. And then you get that grit from the salt, and I got to agree, Hannah, I love that feeling as well. It's a nice, easy, low-maintenance texture that you get from the sun and the salt water. But, at the end of three months of it, your hair needs some serious love.
Hannah Furst:
UV protection haircare is becoming almost as popular as heat protection. Why is this so important to the integrity of the hair?
Monique McMahon:
Oh, good question. The integrity of the hair can be damaged, as I just mentioned earlier, from all the sun, salt, and water. But I tell you something, especially on finer hair types, or especially on hair types that are lighter in colour naturally or lighter in colour from hair salons, these are the hair types that are really going to be affected by UV rays. The strands will release more colour, they'll get more colour fadeage. The paler the hair, the finer the hair, it doesn't have a natural protection or, I don't know, you might call it a natural barrier against the sun. So, it's really important to use products, and there's so many out there now. It I as real trend, love that. Use products in your hair daily that has a UV filter in it.
Joanna Flemming:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). And what kind of products can we find UV protection properties in? Do you have any faves? I use the Pureology Colour Fanatic at the moment, but do you have any faves you can share with us?
Monique McMahon:
Yeah, amazing. I love that one too, Jo, I think that's really cool. I think there's some really good ones out there, just double check the ingredients on your products before you put them in the hair. You don't want any nasty sulphates, or any nasty silicons in the product. So just be mindful of those two things. UV filters are really important. One of my favourites is the Daily Leave-In Moisturiser by Christophe Robin. He has got the natural sandalwood oils in it-
Joanna Flemming:
That smells like hot man, Hannah. You need that one.
Hannah Furst:
Ooh. Hot man smell.
Monique McMahon:
Hot man, sexy, sexy hot man.
Hannah Furst:
Wait, I've got to write it down. What's it called?
Monique McMahon:
It's called Daily Leave-In Moisturiser with Natural Sandalwood. It's got an SPF of [inaudible 00:15:52]. It's very sexy French man, we love it.
Hannah Furst:
It has an SPF, and it's a hair cream?
Monique McMahon:
Yeah. So, it's like-
Hannah Furst:
That's interesting.
Monique McMahon:
... you know when you go outside and you put on your sunscreen before you go to the beach? It's exactly like that, but for your hair.
Hannah Furst:
Amazing.
Monique McMahon:
So every day, use a friendly product. It's super lightweight, it's a cream formulation with a natural oil, so the hair absorbs it. The hair literally drinks it actually. It's so good. Something like that is definitely my favourite one. But there's so many out there. Just be mindful of those two things. No sulphates, no silicons.
Joanna Flemming:
In terms of colour, I've just lightened my hair. Aside from chlorine, does the sun and the salt water, does that affect the colour? Is that worse, or is that better for your hair?
Monique McMahon:
So they're two different elements, and they're both, they're doing two different things. The sun's rays can act like a bleach, as I said earlier. So it's pulling pigment out. It's going to cause discoloration, it's going to leave the hair slightly brittle, and bring on split ends. Chlorine is going to go into the hair, so it's not removing. So the chemical goes in, and sits into the cuticle, and that's how you get your discoloration, so it adds that sort of chemical green-y colour to the hair.
Hannah Furst:
Do you remember, Jo, when you used to buy that stuff from the supermarket?
Joanna Flemming:
Yeah, Sun In.
Hannah Furst:
And you used to spray it ... Sun In.
Joanna Flemming:
I used to use that flat out.
Hannah Furst:
Oh my God. Everyone used to have orange hair at the end of summer.
Joanna Flemming:
Yeah, mine used to go relatively blonde, but my brother started using it and his went bright orange.
Monique McMahon:
Oh no. I think we've all had disasters with that product, but yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Joanna Flemming:
A lot of us alter our skincare and our makeup in the summer. But our haircare pretty much remains the same. Should we actually be using different products in different seasons?
Monique McMahon:
I love this question, because I'm a massive believer in when you change your lifestyle slightly, you got to change your products that you use to match your lifestyle. So, for me, in summer I'm really lazy. I'm low maintenance. I won't be doing my hair as much, I won't be putting on as much maybe makeup, and so definitely change it up, change it up. So when I talk to my clients about the season, the differences are that in the summer the air is a lot heavier, whereas in the winter the air is a lot cooler, it's a lot cleaner, it's a lot crisper. It's very different in summer as well, being a colorist in a colour salon, I'm really all about the light, and I find the light in summer very hard on the hair and quite yellow as well, quite a golden light. You want products that are going to manage the humidity, or the frizziness in the hair. You want products that are going to protect it from the sun, and the UV, and the daily outside activities that you might do a bit more of, and you want easy, user-friendly products in summer. You don't really have a lot of self care, full on Sundays in the summertime, because you're out and about, and you're at the beach. So, haircare definitely changes for the season, 100%.
Joanna Flemming:
And if we find our hair isn't behaving over the summer, which I think a lot of people experience, they might get a flaky scalp, or dry ends, or oilier roots, what should we do? Should we go and see our hairdresser, should we just buy a different product, like you said?
Monique McMahon:
I think these issues can pop up with us any time of the year. I don't think they sit with a season. So it's always good to have in the bathroom cupboard a couple of things. One is my very, very, very favourite product ever, by Christophe Robin, called the Smoothing Sea Salt Scrub. It's a gentle exfoliation for the scalp to remove excess oil, flakiness, and any irritation that you have on your scalp. It's a definite number one product that you need, but before you start anything at home, if you're having a little flareup or you're having a, or you're noticing something change in your scalp, definitely visit the salon first. Visiting the salon and having an in salon protocol treatment, something that's designed and prescribed for your hair and scalp, is the best way to start.
Joanna Flemming:
I thought you were going to say the Christophe Robin scrub, because that's what I reach for if my hair's playing up. I'm like, "Nope, I'll just do the scrub," and usually it just calms down and it starts behaving again. And again, that product is another hot man product, so I feel like we need, Hannah, we need a sound effect on these podcasts that's a siren or something.
Hannah Furst:
Matthew, can you find us a hot man smell-
Joanna Flemming:
I know in my head I've sent it to him, wow chicka wow wow, is that how you do it?
Hannah Furst:
Oh, yes. Chicka chicka wow wow.
Joanna Flemming:
Oh, yes. Matthew make it happen. We'll put that on products that have a hot man smell.
Monique McMahon:
Yeah, that's a really good idea, you should definitely incorporate that. I love it. Love it.
Hannah Furst:
So we definitely put less effort into styling our hair in summer, so I am so bad. When I go on holidays, I literally put, because I can't be bothered, I just put coconut oil in my hair so that it looks so greasy. I just don't want to have to deal with the frizz from the humidity. So, what are some of your favourite products, please, to get me off the coconut oil, for simple styling shortcuts when it comes to long or short hair?
Monique McMahon:
Hannah, babe, you're definitely on the right track here. It's a bit of an old-fashioned remedy to put the oil in the hair before you shampoo, or before you do a coloration. It's a very old-fashioned technique, so Hannah, you're over it, babe.
Hannah Furst:
See, I do that in really humid climates where nothing you do helps the humidity.
Monique McMahon:
Yeah. Yeah. The great thing about doing something like that is when you dive in the ocean, or dive in the pool, or shampoo it out afterwards, the ends of the hair will dry really smooth, and they won't have as much frizz to them, which is great. I mean, lavender oil is a mix of, it's a 96% natural oil, you can put that through the lengths and ends of the hair before swimming, or just leave it in a topknot all day long, shampoo it out. It's beautiful-
Joanna Flemming:
That Christophe Robin one is so nice.
Monique McMahon:
That's the Lazy Girl Treatment, Joanna, I love that one. Love it. So it has things like almond oil, [inaudible 00:22:36] oils, wheat germ oils, lavender. That's the lazy girl's treatment. So Han, I think that's got your name all over it.
Hannah Furst:
Yeah.
Joanna Flemming:
Yes. Hannah, you need that for your Byron life.
Hannah Furst:
You've totally said what I wanted to hear, which was that using the oil was the right thing to use, because I was like ... I wasn't sure. I was like, "I just don't know what to do with this frizz ball on holidays."
Monique McMahon:
Well, it's just old-fashioned. Going back to the old Italian roots, with the good old Italian oil. I love it.
Joanna Flemming:
I think we've covered everything to do with summer hair care, so thank you so much for joining us today Mon, that was a great chat.
Monique McMahon:
Thanks for having me.
Joanna Flemming:
Product we didn't know we needed. Hannah, you have a good tip, which I was there for, so let's explain it to the people from the lord himself, James Vivian.
Hannah Furst:
James Vivian, who is a good friend of Adore Beauty's. We, Jo and I obviously in Melbourne now, you can get facials. So we went to see James, and got our first facials.
Joanna Flemming:
Wasn't that a treat?
Hannah Furst:
Yeah, it was so good, and I was chatting to him about my impaired barrier, trying to figure out what had happened, and he's like, "What are you using?" And I said, "Well I think it might have been Cosmetics Refine Plus." And he was like, "Why the hell did you start on Refine Plus?" He's like, "You meant to start on Cosmetics Define, then you move up to Refine, and then you move up to Refine Plus." And I was like, "Oh."
Joanna Flemming:
He doesn't know you well enough. That's not the way Hannah Furst rolls.
Hannah Furst:
That makes a lot of sense. So if you are looking, like Cosmetics do incredible retinols, but if you are looking to start somewhere, start on Define, then go to Refine, and then Refine Plus. But, I said, "Well what am I going to do with the Refine Plus now?" And he had a really good tip for me, because I've got ... not bad, but I've got chest pigmentation from back in my days when I used to sun bake. Do not recommend that at home, and he recommended, which I thought was such a good idea, he said, "Use the Refine Plus, it's a really high potency retinol, use that on your chest," and he's like, "Just go for it on your chest until you get this retinol reaction, and then once you've got that kind of reaction, then you can add the Skinceuticals Epidermal Repair over the top." And he's like, "Do that a few times, and it really will significantly improve the texture, and the ..." what's it called, the texture, and the pigmentation that I've got on my chest.
Hannah Furst:
So, I am going to give that a go.
Joanna Flemming:
Well, I've been using that Alpha H serum on my chest, and I feel like that's making a difference. Yeah, I feel like it's really important to bring things down your neck and chest, which a lot of people are like, "Do I need separate skincare for my neck and chest?" And you don't necessarily, but if you've purchased, you might've purchased from products from The Ordinary, and you've decided that you're now going to use stuff from Alpha H or ASAP, use up the rest of your Ordinary products on your chest. There's no reason why you can't.
Hannah Furst:
I thought that was a really good idea, that if you are trying to refine, because a lot of women you'll see, they'll have been in the sun, and they'll have quite bad pigmentation on their chest, but their faces, because they've worn hats and sunscreen, and they'll have quite bad sun damage on their chest, which is what I've actually got. I thought that was a really good idea to go for it with the retinol on your chest, and then use a repair serum-
Joanna Flemming:
He did say, Hannah, don't forget this part, not to do that while you're [crosstalk 00:26:19]-
Hannah Furst:
Yes, he did say that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I-
Joanna Flemming:
So wait until you're back in Melbourne.
Hannah Furst:
Although to be honest with you, I have been putting 50 plus on my body, and you still do get ... it doesn't completely, 100% protect your skin-
Joanna Flemming:
Exactly. You still do get a tan. That's why it's really important to wear protective clothing as well as sunscreen. Sometimes, especially during summer. It's probably not as relevant in winter, especially in these southern states, but in summer absolutely, a shirt, and a hat, and something that's going to cover you up a little bit and still be breathable is the best option.
Hannah Furst:
Anyway, I haven't tried the Skinceuticals Epidermal Repair, but James could not speak of it highly enough. And it actually says here it is specifically formulated for skin compromised by cosmetic procedures, so if you've had laser, or microdermabrasion, but also skin sensitised by retinoid therapy, which is exactly what I need at the moment. And that's actually what I needed when I was going through my skin issues.
Hannah Furst:
What's your product this week?
Joanna Flemming:
My product is a bit rogue, because I have not used a mousse since I was literally 13, but I saw Nadia Bartel use this in her hairstyling IGTV recently, and I happened to have a sample of it that I had received from Nioxin, and I thought, maybe I'll just give it a whirl. Because normally, I wouldn't even bother using it. I'm a bit like, "Meh," with hair care, because my hair's so fine, and I can never get volume in it that I just don't really bother with products that promise volume and stuff. I'm just like, it's not going to do anything.
Joanna Flemming:
Anyway, so I tried this Nioxin 3D Density Defend Lightweight Strengthening Foam. It's a bit of a mouthful. Had no idea what it did, I just was, I got influenced by Nadia, and I just thought, "I'm going to try this out and see what happens, because her hair always looks beautiful." And I've started this new thing where I'm trying to air dry my hair whenever I can. So I'm washing it in the morning, which I normally don't do. I never, never wash my hair in the morning, it's always at night, and I always have to dry it off, because my hair just takes hours to dry, and it's still the same during the day. I could wash it at 8:00 in the morning, and it won't be fully dry until after lunch. So, my hair takes so long to dry. But I decided that I would put it in when I was washing my hair in the mornings, so that I could see the full result, because obviously once you've slept on your hair it's obviously going to be flatter and stuff.
Joanna Flemming:
But I didn't necessarily notice volume from this product, but more that my hair is so soft. And it's almost like it's taken a little bit of the frizz out of the ends as well, because my ends are a little bit dry, so when I do dry my hair off, it tends to get a bit frizzy and dead-looking on the ends. But I've noticed that, and when I was reading the description of the product it made sense, because it's actually meant to protect your hair colour and add vibrancy to your colour tone. So I've worn my hair straight the last week, and usually I hate wearing my hair straight because I don't think my colour looks as good. But I've been wearing it straight, and it looks really quite good. A bit shocked, I don't know if it's this product or not-
Hannah Furst:
I did see you on a call, and your hair was straight, but it looked really nice. Your hair, I think your hair always looks nice.
Joanna Flemming:
No, it doesn't. It doesn't. I prefer to have it waved, but I think this product did add something to my colour or something - I don't even know what exactly it is. I can't put my finger on it, but I'm going to keep using it, and also I kind of like squeezing out the mousse.
Hannah Furst:
Yeah, yeah. Yup.
Joanna Flemming:
So I'm going to continue to use it. I don't know exactly what it's doing. It says it's meant to reduce breakage in the hair, so if you've got really fine or thinning hair, and you're prone to breakage, this probably would be a good product for you. It's about $34, so it's not super expensive, but I'm using it in conjunction with my Pureology Colour Fanatic. So I put the Colour Fanatic in first, comb through my hair, and then pop this in and then just leave it to air dry, and I've had no issues. My hair looks shiny, I'm pretty happy with it. So-
Hannah Furst:
Nioxin is for thinning hair.
Joanna Flemming:
Yes, it is. Yup. So they've got, this is a standalone product, but I'm pretty sure it comes in some of their packs as well, so if you've got fine or thinning hair, you might want to check out the Nioxin range, because they've got a few different packs for different kinds of hair. This is a product that you can buy by itself, so yeah. That's my product I didn't know I needed today. Sorry I can't give you more defined information, but that's just my take on the product. Don't really know what it does, but it seems to be working.
Hannah Furst:
so, I had a little bit of a full-circle moment, Jo.
Joanna Flemming:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Hannah Furst:
So I did an interview on my kind of career change from corporate to creative, and I posted it to my Instagram story, and it said, "I was so terrified, as I was putting so much of myself out in the public domain. I talked about my bum hair, chin hair, getting Botox, and admitted to using pantyliners every day in those first few episodes. I definitely couldn't go back to a corporate career once that was all out there." And then I wrote on the comment on Instagram stories, "Reckon KPMG would have me back now, lol?" Because my first job was at KPMG, which is a big four accounting firm. And I actually had quite a lot of messages that either used to work, or still work, at KPMG, and one girl wrote back and she was like, "Hell yeah." She's like, "We all listen to your podcast in the office, and we were in the lunchroom the other day and they were all discussing the bum waxing stories and the Brazilian waxing stories."
Joanna Flemming:
Oh, love that.
Hannah Furst:
And I was like, this is so nice that I left KPMG, and then like years later I'm on a podcast talking about my bum hair and about ... we were talking about how to shave your bum hair before your laser hair removal appointment, and then all these professionals are sitting around the lunchroom discussing it.
Joanna Flemming:
Well shoutout to the girls at KPMG.
Hannah Furst:
Thank you so much.
Joanna Flemming:
Thanks for your support. But also, a lot of our own brands and people that we work with in a professional capacity at Adore Beauty listen to this podcast, and I often forget that. So, it's a humbling experience to know that yeah, people we're working with professionally know about our anuses. But it's all fun.
Hannah Furst:
Yeah. I love that.
Joanna Flemming:
We enjoy it.
Hannah Furst:
Yeah.
Hannah Furst:
Thanks, everyone, for joining us today.
Joanna Flemming:
Don't forget to subscribe and tell your friends. It helps other people to discover us, and also we really want to know what you thought about this podcast, so if you can leave us a review, that would be much appreciated.
