Redken Satinwear Blow-Dry Lotion

This is a product I was very curious about, because lots of beauty gurus on YouTube raved about it.  I read reviews on MakeupAlley, saw that it had mostly positive reviews so finally bit the bullet and purchased it from a salon in Doncaster for about $26 AUD.

Prior to using this, I was using the Redken Smooth Down Heat Glide (review here), which I was really happy with.  However, I wanted to try something different, because I always like to switch it up and try new products in case it's even better than the last.  I was getting bored of the heat glide...

Initially, I hated the Redken Satinwear blow-dry lotion.  Absolutely hated it!  It was too runny, the pump was difficult to open each time I tried to use it, it made my hair frizzy and hard to blow dry.  The only thing going for it was the scent, which is really fresh.  It's kind of a sweet, citrus like scent.  I used it for a month, even though I hated it.  I wanted to give it a fair trial.  I guess I was just waiting for a miracle to happen, and that one day it would just work beautifully like how it seemed to work for everybody else.

After a month I finally gave up and threw it into the back of the bathroom cabinet.  I was sick of dealing with the frizzy hair.  I went back to the Redken Smooth Down heat glide and decided to give the Satinwear away to my sister to try (she is a big beauty lover, like me).  However, months went by and I completely forgot about it.  Not that long ago I wrote a review on the heat glide, and said I would write a review on a similar product that I had tried that hadn't worked for me (which obviously was the Satinwear blow-dry lotion).

Before writing this review, I decided to give it another go, just because it was so long since I had last used it.  I've been using it for about 3 weeks now.  My thoughts on it have totally changed.  The miracle finally happened: it works beautifully!  I think I was using too many pumps (I used to use 1 and a half, or 2 full pumps), and it was laying a thick coating on my hair which made it frizz during blow drying.  I now only use half a pump (if that!) and the results are on par with the heat glide.  My hair is frizz free, smooth, not sticky to the touch (in fact it feels like nothing in my hair) and, of course, my hair has that lovely fresh scent to it.  Plus my hair looks shiny, which only usually looks that way after straightening.

The thin, runny consistency.  Looks a lot like... well, I'm not even gonna say!  LOL.  I use only a tiny amount, as that gives me the best results.  Keep in mind that I have extremely long (to my butt) hair!

Look at that shine!  This is after a rough blow dry using just my fingers.

How I use it: After washing my hair, I towel dry it.  I leave my hair wrapped in a towel for five-ten minutes, then let it out.  Using just half a pump, I apply the Redken Satinwear Blow-Dry lotion to the lengths of my hair, focusing on the ends.  Any remainder gets applied to the roots (there is barely any product when I do this).  Then I proceed with blow drying my hair.  I never use a brush, only my fingers.  I don't aim for a sleek, straight look.  I just want to get my hair dry!

I blow dry my hair twice a week, and using the Redken Satinwear Blow-Dry lotion makes me feel at ease about using heat on my hair, as it protects your hair.  It certainly makes my hair silky feeling and shiny looking, and the best thing about this product is that it cuts my drying time by half.  It usually takes me ten minutes to blow dry my hair, but when I use this, it only takes 5 minutes.  I'm so glad I held onto this bottle and decided to give it another chance!  While I'm not loving that it's not a natural product and is in fact laden with chemicals and silicons, I justify it by telling myself that the majority of the products that I do use are natural.  A little chemical here and there won't hurt.  Plus, if it's making my hair manageable and nice, and cutting my blow drying time, that's a win-win right there!

The only annoying thing about this product is that the pump does not twist to close, so I have to keep it open.  If I attempt to close it, it kinda gets stuck and I can spend about five minutes trying to twist it open again!  And also, because I only use this twice a week, some dried product gets pumped out when I next use it again, so I have to pick it out to chuck it away.  Very annoying.  However, I will use this bottle until it runs out.  Afterwards, I would consider repurchasing if I can't find a similar product that is natural.  Any recommendations?