Products for Redheads | Revlon 2-in-1 Shampoo and Conditioner for Red Hair

I’m constantly on the lookout for shampoo and conditioner designed specifically for red hair, so when I spotted this little product in the TK Maxx beauty section a few weeks ago, I knew I couldn’t possibly leave without it.

(Aside: is anyone else obsessed with the TK Maxx beauty section? Sometimes I’ll find absolutely nothing, but other times it’s full of the kind of products you don’t normally find elsewhere – this being one of them.)

This is by Revlon, and it’s called – deep breath – 45 Days Total Color Care Revlonissimo Sulfare Free 2in1 Shampoo and Conditioner for Brave Reds.

(SERIOUSLY. What gives with the super-long names, oh beauty-product-manufacturers? Is no one on your marketing team thinking of the poor bloggers who’ll have to type that out over and over again if they want to review it? GOD.)

Anyway, I bought this purely because of the ‘brave reds’ bit, (Because I quite like the thought of being a BRAVE RED. I mean, who wouldn’t?) and in spite of the fact that the BRAVE RED really refers to the fact that this is designed to help prevent red hair dye from fading. Now, I don’t use hair dye, but I do occasionally use my beloved Superdrug Colour Effects, so I decided to give it a go anyway. Well, it’s not often I find something designed for my hair colour, so why not?

This is, as you’ll have divined from the name, is a 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner. I was a bit dubious about this, because my hair generally needs a LOT of conditioner. Like, a WHOLE LOT. If I don’t use conditioner – or if I don’t use enough/the right kind of conditioner – I’ll emerge from the shower with a head full of tangles, which will dry to a fine, flyaway mess, so I wasn’t sure a 2-in-1 product would be enough for my slightly temperamental hair.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, though, so I started using it the next day. It works slightly differently from other 2-in-1 products I’ve tried, in that, rather than just applying it once, and letting it both shampoo and condition simultaneously, you apply it once as a shampoo, rinse it out, and then apply it again as a conditioner. So, you do exactly what you’d do with your normal shampoos and conditioners, basically, but both products are in the same tube.

The first thing I noticed was that the product comes out of the tube bright red, which makes it a fun way to scare your other half into thinking some kind of Psycho incident has gone down in the shower. The second thing I noticed was that it smells gorgeous. (I’m really bad at identifying scents, so all I’ll say here is that it’s sweet, and makes your hair smell lovely, which makes it very pleasant to use. )

The third thing I noticed is that it feels much more like a shampoo than a conditioner when you’re using it: it lathers up in the same way a shampoo does, rather than coating the hair like a conditioner. This made me worry that it wasn’t going to have much effect, but it was actually better than I was expecting: it’s not as good as a separate conditioner would be, and doesn’t leave my hair quite as smooth, but while I don’t think I’d use it as a replacement for my usual products, it’s the kind of thing that’s handy to have around, either to use occasionally, or for travel, when you want to minimise the number of products you have to pack.

As far as the colour-protecting bit goes, I’ve definitely noticed a difference in how long the effect of my Superdrug colour lasts when I use this. I should stress here that the Superdrug product isn’t a dye – it’s a colour-depositing conditioner – so I don’t know what the effect would be on regular red hair dye. I do know that when I’ve used Colour Effects, the colour stays in my hair for longer when I use this, and I reckon that’s probably a positive sign.

The text on the tube informs me that this product is sold “exclusively in hair salons”, but as you know, that should probably say, “Exclusively in hair salons, TK Maxx, and also on this website, which I found after thirty seconds of Googling.” Oh, and it comes in other colours too, so if you don’t have red hair, there should still be one that works for you.

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