KillerStrands – Thriven

3 Reviews

1. 

   fondGranola8

   Reply

   I’ve purchased and repurchased Thriven pretty much since it first was available.I LOVE it!

   I have long fine hair that breaks easily and the way I use it is as a leave in conditioner. Just a teeny tiny amount on damp hair and it keeps my hair looking fabulous. Used so sparingly a tub lasts forever.

   I’ve also used it as directed but using as a leave in saves me a step in the AM.

   When I first discovered this I literally kept it a secret, because it was so magical on my hair that I didn’t want the price to go up any more due to demand. In a way I’m glad to see the negative reviews but for some desperate lady I do want to give the tip that this stuff is pretty magical for those of us it works for (my guess is many people are used to a lot of fakey, low quality ingredients that look good temporarily but don’t REALLY benefit the hair).

   As for Dakota, she is my go to info source and I’ve never had a single problem. I am a small business owner and all I can say is some customers can literally drive you nuts. She was (is?) dealing with serious health issues and that can sometimes cause a short fuse–especially if dealing with a “PITA” customer.

   Basically, I think her service and products rock, despite the small business limitations (I mean come on, she’s not a major corporation).

2. 

   ardentLard9

   Reply

   I think this product wears off after the first few uses. The best results I ever got from this product were the first 3-4 times I used it. Afterwards, it loses its effectiveness, or it has done its job and my hair no longer needs the conditioning elements it has. So I give Thriven a 5 for initial use, but now I give it a 3. Mind you, I have moderate damage to my hair right now from too much flat iron and color – my strands are shy of straw-like, but still pretty bad. If your hair is in better shape, it may in fact work better for you, I really can’t say..

   Having said that, I won’t be purchasing this product again. Not due to the price, but simply because it doesn’t work as well as it did anymore. I would not encourage anyone to buy the 8oz tub for fear of having the same problem. But if you can get a 2oz or 4oz tub, I say try it – you’ll probably see a difference.

   I actually kind of like the smell of Thriven – it has kind of a fresh tone to it that I like. Gleam is another story – I absolutely loathe the smell of Gleam.. And I agree with another poster about the “Secret Supplement” – I would NOT recommend taking that.

   As for the owner herself, I spoke about this more in my other review, but I do have to agree with many of the sentiments expressed here. She does know her stuff, and some of her recommendations are just brilliant, you’re not going to find the information she presents anywhere else, and she’s patient with people who have clearly not done their homework and go nuts with the color/bleach.. but her energy is also crazy, quite manipulative at times, untruthful at others, and overall she misleads people through her marketing.

   While I did not have any issues with refunds in the past, my last order I did have a problem with refund and shipping costs. I was charged 2x for shipping and was charged for 2 items when I only received 1 (she ran out of stock of a product that I ordered 2 of and could only provide me with 1 container). When I called about it, I was given some excuse including her saying that she had given me store credit for the missing item, she was quickly rude, and gave me the line “it’s not our policy to refund” (up until this point, I had just witnessed a lot in her blog/group/store. Now I have seen what others have experienced happen to me). Furthermore, she tried to short-change me on the refund I was owed when she finally acknowledged I was owed one. This type of behavior is just not normal, nor proper. It was clear to me that she is more into making money and that once she has your money, she’s all too quick to blow you off or subversively try to keep it even when she hasn’t “earned” it. It’s sad, I’ve learned a lot from her blog and do appreciate it, but still, teaching people doesn’t give you the right to be disingenuous or manipulative, sick or no. I know a lot of sick people who don’t feel entitiled and who are not manipulative. Even people who are dying or who have died.

   Not refunding $$ for an overcharge is fraudulent; trying to short-change a customer from a legitimate refund is fraudulent, and no amount of a “I’m sick” mentality can excuse it. I have decided, even though there are a few products that I can only purchase from her store, that I cannot condone her behavior, she does not care about her customers the way a proper merchant does, and so I will no longer purchase anything from killerstrands. I have never witnessed anyone attempting to charge me for things they could not account for in an invoice until now.

3. 

   ardentTruffle9

   Reply

   Thriven itself is wonderful. So far I’ve used it twice and I can really see how regular use of Thriven and Gleam (killerstrands hair oil) would really do alot for the health of my hair. Unfortunately, I WILL NEVER repurchase from killer strands again because of the rudeness of owner/operator Dakota Ellis. She is quite possibly the rudest person I’ve ever had the displeasure of working with. I was asking some questions on the google group and she actually accused me of lying saying I had never purchased anything from her. In actuality I spent over $200. I’ve never been so offended! Thriven is a good product but definitely not worth the abuse you’ll take from Dakota.