I’ve talked before about my ongoing battle with my poor, over-frazzled hair, and how I’m constantly searching for the Holy Grail of hair products; the one thing that will transform my twisted tangles into a gleaming, gorgeous , glossy locks. When James Foward, top notch hairdresser, offered to let me review his collaboration range with Maison D’Anu, I jumped at the chance. I’ve previously been extremely impressed by Maison D’Anu products, so I had high hopes.
James Foward for Maison D’Anu: Product Range Review
James was kind enough to offer to send me a wide selection of his range for testing. I sat down a few days ago with a cup of tea for a very enjoyable read of James’s blog at www.jamesfoward.com. It wasn’t so much the wildly impressive client list (Alexa Chung, Rosie Huntingdon-Whitely, Diane Kruger) or even the stonking list of editorials he’s been involved with (British, French, Japanese and Russian Vogue, POP magazine) but his real passion for hair that shone through. In other words, this guy really, REALLY knows his stuff.
I’m a hair obsessive. Since the first glob of peroxide was stroked onto my hair when I was 18, I’ve been fanatical about hair. I pull out endless photos and am rendered practically senseless when I watch Gossip Girl. Seriously, chaps. Blake Lively’s hair is genius. Anyway, as I read James’s blog, I was fascinated. All the inspiration photos he put in were of hairstyles that I loved! And he talked about the pioneering technique of balayage; where highlights are cleverly painted on to give a natural effect. James likes clever colouring, innovative techniques, and avoiding the vile ‘stripy blonde’ look. A few pages into the blog, I was convinced. ‘This man is like a hair OVERLORD’, I thought to myself.
I was impressed hugely by James’s philosophy, and intrigued to see how this would translate to the hair products. Maison D’Anu are one of those brands who just seem to get everything right. Packaging, natural ingredients, gorgeous smells, high performance. When I’ve reviewed their products before, I’ve actively tried to find something bad to say, and failed. Well, James’s range was no different. I got sent 5 products, and I was only planning on talking about a couple of them. Sorry chaps, but I’ve got to mention them all, they’re that good.
Cherish Keratin Infused Shampoo, £18 The first thing you notice about this shampoo is the gorgeous smell. It’s soft, not overpowering, and feminine. It lathers up really impressively, considering it’s lacking the ‘nasties’. My hair was quite literally squeaky clean after using it! Perfect creamy consistency (ooh, I feel like Gregg Wallace), wonderfully moisturising, and left my hair feeling strong. It has a very ‘high end’ feel to it, reminding of some products in the Frederic Fekkai range that I used to use. Praise doesn’t get much higher than that.
Cherish Keratin Infused Conditioner, £23 Readers, I’m actually sitting here and sniffing this as we speak. I think I’ve got a problem. Want to know why? It’s because – and I’ve never seen this before in a product – it has REAL FLECKS OF VANILLA IN. Plus a lot of nourishing botanical extracts. But seriously, I’m absolutely charmed by the vanilla. If you want a real treat for your hair, and to add some luxury to your hair routine, definitely get this. I will definitely be repurchasing, because it made me feel so happy. An absolute delight to use, and again, extremely moisturising and left my hair strong and silky. Just how I like my men.
Cherish Keratin Infused Hair Mask, £28 I was initially a little freaked out by this, as it felt very rich. But my hair needs all the help it can get, so I left it to work for a good 10 minutes. And what a good 10 minutes it turned out to be. It didn’t weigh down my hair, but rather left it feeling soft, looking almost luminous with health, and it performed a wonderful jobby on my nightmarish split ends. It also made my hair feel really full and, for want of a more technical term, swooshy. This might just be my new Holy Grail hair product.
Cherish Keratin Infused Treatment: Leave-In & Blow-Out, £18 Again, this smells outrageously yummy. Unlike so many ‘leave-in’ treatments, it didn’t feel heavy or sticky, and I couldn’t feel it at all after I’d blow-dried my hair. Usually when I blow-dry, my hair starts yelling at me to stop, and ends up looking frazzled and straw-like. Not so after this. It actually dried smooth for once, held a shine, and felt like proper hair instead of a fright wig.
Diamond Dust Light Reflecting Dry Shampoo, £11 As if I was ever going to dislike something called ‘Diamond Dust’. Proving his ‘genius’ credentials to me once again, James has tackled the main issue with dry shampoo – it makes your hair look HORRIBLE. Who wants matte hair? Not me. So here’s the solution: a pearlescent powder that absorbs oil without a ‘dusty’ finish, AND adds Vitamins and amino acids to the hair and scalp. I didn’t believe it would work, so I tried it. Turns out, I was wrong. It made my hair look shiny while taking away the grease. If you’re a party girl and you’re pushed for time, then upgrade to this stuff, for goodness sake.
My hair after using the range
What’s not to love about this range? The packaging is gorgeous, it smells heavenly, the ingredients are fantastic, and most importantly? It gets the job done. Plus I love the names – Wall Street Moulding Wax or Claymation Texturising Styling Clay, anyone? So it’s a big thumbs up from me, and I’d strongly recommend it as a huge hair saviour. Buy the products at www.maisondanu.co.uk. I also highly recommend you read James’s blog, if purely because there’s someone out there who likes Blake Lively’s hair even more than I do. You can also book an appointment with James at Real Hair, Chelsea (www.realhair.co.uk) or follow him on Twitter @JamesFoward.