L’Oreal Professionnel Paris Liss Ultime Reflexium Serum Review

This is a review for the L'Oreal Liss Ultime shine perfecting hair serum - conditioning, styling and shine, all in one.

UPDATE Aug 27, 2013: Please do not buy this serum as L'Oreal has changed the formula. It is now just watery and performs very poor as compared to the older formulation I have reviewed below.

Product	Unisexual Hair Serum – Professional Hair Care Range
Quantity	125ml / 4.2oz
Price	Rs 580 for 125 ml. Also available in 50ml transparent glass bottle packing (Price Unknown)
Packaging	Comes in a Purple transparent bottle with a pump mouth. The pump can be locked to avoid spillage during travelling
Fragrance	Smells really nice
Consistency	Slightly thicker than water
Speciality	Leave-in serum, adds shine to hair, manages extremely unruly hair
Brand Claims	*Contains Reflexium technology – a mixture of active shine ingredients and taming agents designed to coat the hair surface with a light protective film.  **Designed to nourish, smooth and add shine to curly, frizzy or unmanageable hair. It’s a non-greasy, lightweight formula which will promote softness and control without weighing hair down. ***Featherweight conditioning leave-in serum that works on the most difficult frizz-prone hair, leaving a perfectly polished finish. Makes hair controlled, soft and shiny.

Liss = Shine, Ultime = Ultimate. Reflexium= extreme shine that reflects light. This product truly lives up to its description. While I had been using the L’Oreal Professional Hair Care range since 2005, I was introduced to this lovely product in Dec 2009 when I got my hair rebonded. It made my rebonded hair all the more silky and manageable.

I have used this continuously from Dec 2009 and finished my second big bottle in Jun 2012. I could not manage to buy it online after that, so am currently not using this serum. It kept my hair quite straight even after 2.5 years of rebonding, without any hair spa. Chemical treatment to hair does cause damage and this product is fine to be used on both chemically treated and virgin hair. 

I have color treated hair and my permanent color used to wither off very quickly, which I guess was because of the oil in this product. So I have decided to move on to something for color treated hair. But for virgin as well as rebonded hair, this is a great product, except for the extremely bad packing.

If you have dry, bad, unruly, frizzy, unmanageable hair that you can barely comb through, this IS the product for you.

THE PLUSES:

1. The pump helps in avoiding wastage. Depending on how hard you press, you can take out the required quantity. The pump can be locked to avoid accidental wastage.
2. The transparent packaging helps see how much quantity is left.
3. The fragrance is pleasant and does not bother even the sensitive nose.
4. This product is watery, light and non-greasy. Does not make your hair heavy. You don’t even feel you have applied it except for beautiful hair everyday.
5. Just a small quantity is enough even for very long hair, though it depends on hair length. I have very long hair and have used only 2 bottles in the last 2.5 yrs of daily use.
6. Instantly smooths hair like magic and gives beautiful intense shine to the hair ( the Reflexium technology).
7. It is leave-in. You just apply it and leave it on your hair, without having to wash it.
8. This is also a styling serum. You can use a small quantity on your hair daily and just style your hair as you like.
9. This prevents hair breakage by smoothing frizzy hair and helps in running the comb easily through them. Even the worst of hair tangles are untangles within a few seconds.
10. Good value for money as one bottle lasts very long.

HOW TO USE:

Use it after shampooing and conditioning, when the hair are just slightly moist or use it immediately after blow-drying. Works perfect in both the conditions and I have used it both ways.

Pump a small quality on your palm, rub both the palms together, including fingers, expand your fingers like a claw, and run down your hands through the length of your hair a few times, one by one, till all the serum is gone into the hair length. Do not apply to hair roots. This is not hair oil.

If your hair are damaged at the ends and badly tangled, pour another pump on your palm and apply again to the tangles to untie them. Comb and style as usual. You can feel the silkiness on your palms later. The fragrance stays on the hair for some time and makes you feel good.

If you have oily scalp, apply only to the middle and lower length of your tresses.

For daily use, pump on wet palms to make it more watery and apply as described above. If you apply to unwashed hair without slightly wetting your palms, you will end up using a lot of serum, and your hair may look weighed down or heavy.

THE MINUSES:

While most people feel it is a costly product, I think it is value for money for the salon perfect hair you get at home, and also because one bottle lasts really long. So I won’t say price is a minus. If you have short hair, go for the smaller bottle. The best before date I think is 3 yrs from mfg, though it is wiped out on my bottle now.

My only complaint is with the packing. The pump stops working after some time. For my second bottle, it was broken right from the beginning and later stopped working altogether. I discovered later. Just check the pump before buying. The second bottle also cracked after a few falls. The crack was so small, I couldn't discover the leakage till the whole storage shelf became greasy. If the pump stops working or breaks, you will need to open the cap every time which delivers more serum than you may need.

Availability:

This is a salon product and is supposed to be used by L’Oreal certified professionals only in their salons. But many local shops, beauty parlours and hair salons sell this and the other variations of this serum. There are many other variations depending on your different hair needs. This one is to soften unruly hair and boost hair shine.

At salons you can even negotiate with them to give you the dealer price which is Rs25-40 off on MRP. Available online on Slassy.com, Purplle.com, Iwasugly.com and a few more online stores.

Update on Feb 24, 2013: I recently bought from a local established outlet and was horrified to find that the serum was mixed with water. I have returned it and got my money back. I recommend buying online only as even most reputed salons refill their empty bottles with duplicate cheap serum and sell to customers.

Indulge yourself and add shine to your hair and personality!