Month: December 2018

Six Month Results – The Ordinary Multi-Peptide Serum for Hair Density

~ Michele Raiyne ~ 8 Comments

I’ve been using the Multi-Peptide Serum for Hair Density from Deciem’s The Ordinary for 6 months now. I first noticed thinning hair toward the front of my head probably about 4 or 5 years ago and used the system from Stemm, (shampoo, conditioner and hair serum) when they launched, I believe, in 2016. Stemm was discontinued and “replaced” with The Ordinary hair serum. Please read my first impressions, product claims, my use and information about The Ordinary’s hair serum here, and my 3-month results here.

Below are photos from before, 3 months and 6 months of use of The Ordinary hair serum.

Below are before and 6 months of use.

A couple of other photos after 6 months.

I saw some initial improvement in the 3-month photos and it looks like more improvement in hair density at the center part of my hair, but as far as the edges of the hair, general thickness and growth especially at the front of my head, I hoped for more improvement.

Here is a photo before and after using Stemm for comparison (which is why I had higher hopes for The Ordinary hair serum).

The above is the only photo I have of my Stemm use, but didn’t post a review as it was being discontinued. I wish I took photos from other angles as well. I think the results are quite good especially for only 3 months of use.

The time lapse between my use of Stemm and The Ordinary hair serum was about 2 years, and I can only assume that the cause of my thinning hair is the same as it was 2 years ago (though I am not sure what that is), so I would also assume that I would have gotten similar, if not better, results when using The Ordinary. If the cause of the thinning hair is hormonal or autoimmune, a hair serum may not work. I should also take into consideration the fact that I had been getting my hair bleached and then colored while using The Ordinary hair serum and perhaps that is why it may not have worked as well as it could.

I had been using the serum on my eyebrows to 3 months and forgot to continue use (apologies). I didn’t notice any results on my eyebrows in my 3-month update, and actually haven’t gotten results on my eyebrows with lash and brow growth serums thus far either.

While I can’t say for sure, I should also add that this hair serum may have stained my bleached hair a bit yellow. Here are a couple photos of my newly bleached and toned hair after one week’s use of the hair serum. While this is a scalp treatment, it is unavoidable to get some on the hair as it is massaged in.

As it stands now (while I got some result), I don’t think I would repurchase The Ordinary Multi-Peptide Serum for Hair Density, however, I got another bottle during their 50% off sale and will finish that. If I find that there are significant improvements in hair thickness and density, I will post an update.

I was able to disguise my thinning hair a bit by getting an ombre balayage with dark brown roots fading to blonde ends and got bangs/a fringe so now my hair is not parted in the center where the thinning is noticeable.

Thank you for reading.

My Hair Story in Photos

~ Michele Raiyne ~ 9 Comments

I wanted to document my hair story, starting from a photo in 2016 to now, taking a look at the health and color of my hair (a part 2 of sorts from my post “Brunette to Blonde“).

2016 – Dry and damaged hair. This is how my hair looked for years; I didn’t pay too much attention to it and continued flat ironing my hair every day to get rid of the frizz, leading to more damage.

Grew out color and most of the damage.

Cut out some heaviness and brightened with a color melt. Done at Style Theory in Calgary.

2018 – Grow out from the previous cut; the healthiest my hair has looked in years.

Caramel highlights; I don’t like how this turned out. Done at Style Theory in Calgary.

Going blonde; session 1. Done at Style Theory.

Ashy blonde; session 2.

Every root touch-up and tone, the shade of the hair was slightly different; I could never get it back to that ashy shade.

I left purple shampoo on my hair too long; there are about 4 different colors in my hair at this point.

Old color showing through on the bottom; ashy on the top and yellow on the bottom.

Attempt to blend the top half to match the bottom. My hair has started to look quite thin, damaged and dry at this point, despite my best efforts to keep it looking healthy.

Air dried; looks dry and damaged. Comparing the health and look of my hair to the before and after blonde photos, it looks drier more frizzy and thinner, not to mention the stiff, dry feeling after getting it wet in the shower still after 5 months. The light hair against my scalp made it look thinner as well.

Have had thinning hair for a few years now.

Ombre balayage with chocolate brown roots. This is my favorite technique so far, but could be blended better. I decided to get this color and let my hair grow out (I’ll still need to get grey coverage). It looks much better and is lower maintenance without the damaging lightening sessions. Also, the darker roots fading into the lighter color makes finer hair look a bit thicker.

Cut in bangs to disguise the thinning hair.

New color line at the salon (Max Eli); more brown than I wanted and has a green tinge. Done at Style Theory by a Max Eli color educator.

The above brown hair faded quite quickly. I decided to leave my hair alone, just let it grow and try to heal it. It is dry, thin, breaking and looks quite bad. After numerous treatments, oils and conditioners, there was nothing I could do except cut the damage off.

I went to a different salon to get a cut and color (Industry Hair Salon); I wanted a chocolate brown, but the hairdresser said he was going to go a bit darker as it would look better. This color is darker than my natural color. The cut is just okay; the color is too dark. I will not be going back to this salon.

Back to my regular hairdresser (Style Theory) to get a keratin straightening treatment. This process lightened my hair. I will post a review once the treatment fades.

It took 7 months for the keratin treatment to fade from my hair.

2021 – Most recent photo after growing out my hair for a couple years.

October 2021 (photo by styletheory.ca) – My first hair cut in about 2 years (shown above air dried) was done at Edges Salon in Calgary by a level 4 stylist. The hair felt heavy on the bottom and did not have much shape. The cut dried in an uneven frizzy triangle around my head. I went to Style Theory to get it fixed 2 weeks later.

First two photos by styletheory.ca (now at Curious Hair Salon). The last photo is the 2-month grow out air dried.

September 2022 – Not much new with my hair. I had grown it for about a year and have continued to use the K18 hair mask. At my last haircut a couple weeks ago, my hairdresser said my hair felt really healthy, I expect because of K18.

I will continue to update as I get my hair to where I want it to be.

Thank you for reading.