Reflect Sports Product Review and Give-Away

A few weeks ago I started being followed on Twitter by hooharideglide. I always click on the profile of whoever is following me to see if I want to follow them back, and was intrigued by their Twitter bio: "Custom quality products for women with active lifestyles. Swimming, Cycling, Running and Triathlons. Tri's are what we train for!" Of course, I had to find out more.....I am a woman with an active lifestyle! I swim, bike, run and do triathlons! And I LOVED the name....Hoo Ha Ride Glide!

After visiting their website, I was further intrigued by their products. They offer two main products: Hoo Ha Ride Glide, which is an anti-chafing cream to use while biking (or running), and Reflect H2O hair products (a line of shampoo, conditioner and pre-swim gel, all formulated to protect your hair from the nasty chlorine in the water). I knew I had to try these products. I was especially interested in the hair ones. I contacted the company, and not only did they send me samples of all 4 products, but they are letting me do a give-away on my blog! Please keep reading, as I will have details of the give-away after the reviews.

One thing I LOVE about Reflect Sports is that it's a small company started by two women, Jena Schuster and Laurie Mellott. You can read their story here. It's one of those feel-good stories of two women who followed their passion to develop products that were important to them. Their products are for swimmers and bikers. They also have some other sports gear on their website.


The first product I tried was the Hoo Ha Ride Glide. It's anti-chafing, anti-bacterial, and anti-inflammatory.
Per their website: "Reflect Sports feminine chafing cream, Hoo Ha Ride Glide^® protects your Hoo Ha from saddles sores, chafing, friction burns, irritation and inflammation. Our chafing cream provides healing and prevents saddle sores and chafing from exercise. Focused on the sensitivities of the vaginal area our product is anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory. In addition to having healing agents, our chafing cream is enriched with barely extract, lavender, eucalyptus leaf, tea tree and peppermint oil. These specialized ingredients provide a lasting cool feeling so you enjoy your ride, run or spin class."

I used this cream on two different bike rides over the past week. The first was a hilly 14 miler, and the second was a short, but hilly, 5 miler. I followed the instructions given to me, which were to apply the cream on my inner thighs and anywhere else that may chafe, and to the chamois of my biking shorts. I was also advised to apply the cream to my (ahem) girlie parts, although this is for external use only. I was delightfully surprised by the scent: I could totally smell the lavender, peppermint and eucalyptus! It had a pleasant tingle went it was applied, which only lasted a few seconds.

Full disclaimer here: I have never used any sort of glide or lube during my bike rides before (or my runs, for that matter!) I guess I am lucky in that I have never experienced chafing. Because of that, I did not notice a difference in my bike rides. That said, the farthest I've ever biked has been 25 miles. I don't know how my skin will react when I do longer rides (which I intend to do this summer!) so even though I didn't notice a difference on my shorter rides, you can bet your booty that I will be applying this cream to those longer rides. Better safe than sorry! I would also like to test the Hoo Ha Ride Glide on my next long run. Although I never chafe during long runs, I'd still like to see if it helps.

Verdict: For me, it didn't make a difference because I don't have the chafing issues the product is designed for. But I love the scent, I love the feel, and I would encourage any women bikers who have chafing issues to try it. I love that it's designed just for women.

The second product I tried (actually, 3 products) was the swimming shampoo collection. This is a pre-swim and sun protecting gel, a shampoo and a conditioner.





I was very excited to try this trio, and also very skeptical at the same time. You see, I have very difficult hair. My hair is long (to the middle of my back), thick and color-treated. It's always dry, and I am constantly on the search for the best shampoo and conditioner. My hair gets so dry, however, that I have to use a deep-conditioner AFTER I use a regular conditioner. And ever since I started triathlon training last summer, and am in the pool twice a week (for about an hour each session) my hair has been in even worse shape. I hate the feeling my hair has after I swim; it feels tangly, even though it's only been in a ponytail under my swim cap. It also has a weird texture from the chlorine. And I hadn't found a good shampoo or conditioner to make it feel moisturized after all those chemicals.

When I tried the products, I first used the Reflect H2O Pre-Swim and Protecting Gel. Per their website, "REFLECT H₂O^TM Pre-Swim & Sun Gel prevents chlorine damaged hair. This pre-swimming gel can be used on wet or dry hair prior to swimming or activity. Our pre-swim gel will coat and seal the cuticle locking in moisture, protecting your hair from chlorine, salt, other impurities and the sun. By using this pre-swim gel you will prevent the adherence of chlorine, salt, other impurities including copper deposits that cause green hair from chlorine. Our pre-swim gel also prevents sun damaged hair and tangles during physical activity." I applied as directed, coating my hair before I got in the pool. The scent was heavenly, and the gel did not feel at all greasy. Once my hair was thoroughly coated, I put my hair in my ponytail, stuffed it under my swim cap, and went out and did my 2000 yards.

After my swim, I came home and combed my hair out. IT WAS TANGLE FREE! It felt so smooth and glossy, even while wet! I then took a shower and used the Reflect H2O Swim Shampoo and Reflect H2O Swim Conditioner. Per their website, "Reflect Sports swimming shampoo has been precisely formulated to prevent green hair, get chlorine out, strengthen and promote the growth of distressed and damaged hair and protect your hair color while keeping it healthy, hydrated, shiny and smelling good." and "Reflect Sports swimming conditioner prevents chlorine hair. It is formulated to moisturize, strengthen and promote the growth of distressed and chlorine damaged hair, leaving it shiny, silky and smooth. REFLECT H₂O^TM Swimming Conditioner is a salon quality conditioner that hydrates, replenishes and restores damanged chlorine hair. Reflect Sports swimming conditioner will leave your hair shiny, smooth and smelling good."

I LOVED how my hair felt after washing it! I purposely didn't use my deep-conditioner after using their conditioner to see how it felt on my hair. I was impressed that my hair was tangle-free, soft, manageable, silky and smelled delicious. I did not use any additional products on my hair, and later that day my hair still felt good after air-drying and sleeping on it.

Verdict: I love, love, LOVE these products, and will definitely be buying some full-sized bottles (all I have are samples right now) to use after my swims. As a brunette, I can't speak to how it prevents green hair (I think that only happens with blonde hair) but I really feel like these products not only protected my hair, but washed all the chlorine out. Yeah!!

Reflect Sports is being generous and letting one of my readers win a product of their choice! A lucky winner will receive a full-size bottle of one (1) product of their choice: either the Hoo Ha Ride Glide, the Reflect H2O pre-swim gel, the Reflect H2O swim shampoo OR the Reflect H2O swim conditioner. Even if you are a man, please enter! I am confident the hair products will work very well on male hair, or you can win and give a product to a lady athlete of your choice!

You have 6 ways to enter, and the contest will end on Wednesday, June 22, 2011 at 5:00 PST. Please leave me a separate comment for each of the following ways you can enter:

1) Follow my blog via Google Friend Connect by clicking on the "follow" button on the left side of my blog. Leave me a comment telling that you are now following me. If you are already a follower of my blog, you can leave me a comment telling me that too. This will give you one entry.

2) Follow me on Twitter (@sugarmagnolia70) and leave me a comment telling me that you are now following me. Again, if you already follow me on Twitter you can leave me a comment telling me that as well. This will give you one entry.

3) Follow Reflect Sports on Twitter (@hooharideglide) and leave me a comment that you are following them. This will give you one entry.

4) Tweet the following: "check out the #giveaway @sugarmagnolia70 is doing with @hooharideglide products. Go to http://is.gd/MpICp4 for details"! You can tweet this once a day, giving you one entry per day, until the contest ends. (No need to leave me a comment about this, I will see your tweet on Twitter).

5) Become a fan of Reflect Sports on Facebook (click "like") , and leave me a comment telling me you've done so. This will give you one entry.

6) Visit their website and then tell me which of the four products you would like to win, and why! This will give you one entry.


The contest will end on June 22 at 5:00 PST. Good luck! And thank you to Reflect Sports for letting me try their wonderful products and allowing me to do this fabulous give-away!