I've always quite liked the look of Japanese manga but apart from Pokemon & Digimon I didn't know much. That was until I met Justin. He turns into a 5 year old in Disneyland every time he sees anything manga related - he can spend hours browsing through the manga section in Waterstone's, his car keys are heavy with manga character key-rings, the only cats he likes are manga cats. This little obsession of his tends to go beyond manga though - all things Japanese are the coolest apparently. When I showed him my new Yuko Kokoro G Shampoo & Treatment*, he confiscated them straight away, haha!
Although Kokoro means 'heart' in Japanese (feel free to correct me Japanese people, I might be totally wrong on this one!), the name reminds me of My neighbour Totoro - one of the movies from Justin's collection I fell in love with (& if you feel like starting a long discussion on what animal Totoro is, feel free to tweet me @cityscapebliss). Now moving away from the sentiments of Japanese culture & my boyfriend's slightly juvenile interests.. to the actual products.
Yuko Kokoro G Shampoo & Treatment are a part of Yuko Yamashita's hair care range which she created in cooperation with Phiten in 1996 in Japan. Yuko wanted to address the issue of unruly Asian hair without the need to spend hours and hours on straightening and using loads of softening and anti-frizz products. I've always thought that my difficult hair had a bit of an Asian character to it (which was confirmed to me by a number of people assuming I was Asian by seeing my hair from the back - dead straight, thick & I used to dye it dark dark brown), so a product specifically developed to treat this kind of hair plus focusing on moisturizing & detangling it seemed just right for me. Yuko Kokoro G Shampoo (£12.50 for 300ml) contains hydrolyzed silk, keratin, sericin & algae which makes my hair squeaky clean without drying it out (it's paraben-free apparently, but you only need the tiniest amount - which is always a winner for my long hair - I used up a bottle of Aussie in about week's time *oops*), soft & pretty manageable without weighing it down. Yuko Kokoro G Treatment (£12.50 for 240ml) contains also collagen & vitamin E which helps with detangling and moisturizing the hair. It's like a frequent use deep repair mask rather than a conditioner, I'd say. Also, these products have no scent to them whatsoever and you really do need just the smallest amount for one use.
Overall, I have to say I'm really impressed - it's hard to find a brand in the Western market that would cater for thick unruly hair as effectively as Yuko's range does! You can get the products online on Yuko London website or in a number of salons all over the UK.
Although Kokoro means 'heart' in Japanese (feel free to correct me Japanese people, I might be totally wrong on this one!), the name reminds me of My neighbour Totoro - one of the movies from Justin's collection I fell in love with (& if you feel like starting a long discussion on what animal Totoro is, feel free to tweet me @cityscapebliss). Now moving away from the sentiments of Japanese culture & my boyfriend's slightly juvenile interests.. to the actual products.
Yuko Kokoro G Shampoo & Treatment are a part of Yuko Yamashita's hair care range which she created in cooperation with Phiten in 1996 in Japan. Yuko wanted to address the issue of unruly Asian hair without the need to spend hours and hours on straightening and using loads of softening and anti-frizz products. I've always thought that my difficult hair had a bit of an Asian character to it (which was confirmed to me by a number of people assuming I was Asian by seeing my hair from the back - dead straight, thick & I used to dye it dark dark brown), so a product specifically developed to treat this kind of hair plus focusing on moisturizing & detangling it seemed just right for me. Yuko Kokoro G Shampoo (£12.50 for 300ml) contains hydrolyzed silk, keratin, sericin & algae which makes my hair squeaky clean without drying it out (it's paraben-free apparently, but you only need the tiniest amount - which is always a winner for my long hair - I used up a bottle of Aussie in about week's time *oops*), soft & pretty manageable without weighing it down. Yuko Kokoro G Treatment (£12.50 for 240ml) contains also collagen & vitamin E which helps with detangling and moisturizing the hair. It's like a frequent use deep repair mask rather than a conditioner, I'd say. Also, these products have no scent to them whatsoever and you really do need just the smallest amount for one use.
(source)
Overall, I have to say I'm really impressed - it's hard to find a brand in the Western market that would cater for thick unruly hair as effectively as Yuko's range does! You can get the products online on Yuko London website or in a number of salons all over the UK.
What's your favourite shampoo & conditioner at the moment?