This week’s healthy hair post is a collaborative review of a few different products, all of which fit under the ‘masque’ category. I am a huge fan of hair masques and have been an avid user (and purchaser) of them for several years. If you’re into having ‘pamper’ nights once a week, they are the perfect thing to pop on your hair, leave for an hour or so and rinse off – for instant, shiny and soft results. However, if you have more specific requirements – such as growing your hair, or at least maintaining it’s condition so that it thickens up and restores any damage done, then you need to be looking and trialing certain masques, rather than ‘all rounders’.
Structure Renovate Restorative Hair Treatment
In a handy ‘tub’ packaging, this is very easy to use and perfect for a ‘quick fix’ since it only needs between 3-5 minutes to work its magic. Free from artificial colours, preservatives and sulfates, it is suitable for even the most sensitive of scalps and it leaves your hair feeling instantly hydrated, refreshed and restored. If I had to be picky and choose one fault, it would be the very strong, pungent smell which although isn’t unpleasant, does linger on your hair for at least a day after using. Available from Beauty Bay, it is priced at an affordable £8.25 and also helps to protect against colour and vibrancy fade. Certainly worth a try if you like an instant hair ‘pick me up’ and hydration boost.
Richard Ward, Silk Protein Masque
Out of all of the masques I trialed for this feature, this one was my definite favourite. I know ‘packaging’ shouldn’t necessarily be a factor, but I feel the need to express how chic and expensive this product looks from the outset, giving it a very luxurious and pampering feel – which luckily, is maintained through the effects of the masque also. Formulated especially for thick, dry or coarse hair, the masque is best left for a good 25 – 30 minutes, before rinsing, to enable frizz free, sleek and silky smooth hair. Ideal for combating drizzly weather (which we seem to be experiencing A LOT of recently) it locks in hydration and keeps humidity, which plays havoc with hair, out. The scent is also very luxurious and I even took to applying it twice a week as I love the effects so much. At £23, it’s not the most cost effective masque of the lot, but in my opinion – it’s definitely the best.
With a delicious scent, reminiscent of sweet watermelons, as weird as it sounds – trialing this masque really was a pleasure. Using Palmeira Tucuma, a Brazilian Fibre palm to act as a humectant to radically improve the condition and moisture levels in the hair, the instant effects (after just 5 minutes) were very impressive, leaving locks feeling full of life. I find you do have to use quick a generous helping in order to achieve the effects you desire, which is a little troublesome since the product only comes in 100ml tubs, however it is certainly worth it if you are prepping your hair for a big event – or really want to improve the condition dramatically. At £25, it’s not cheap but it’s worth it. If you are guilty of over-bleaching or heat treating your hair, and find it now has a very straw like texture, this will give it the moisture ‘pick me up’ it needs.
Joico’s K-Pak Revitaluxe Bio-Advanced Restorative Treatment
Although the official ‘title’ of this product is a bit of a mouthful, it is more than worth it. Initially I wasn’t overly impressed by the effects – but it was the day after, when my hair usually looks horrible and frazzled, that I really began to notice the difference. It really strengthens and moisturized damaged hair, thoroughly rather than just masking (excuse the pun) the problem. I love the chic black and gold packaging and at £13.39, it’s a really affordable, effective solution.
UberHair Intensive Hair Repair Treatment
With ingredients including Manuka Honey, Japanese Silk Extracts and replenishing hair oils, this masque really does contain everything you could possibly need for silkier, smoother and more hydrated hair. Although I wasn’t entirely blown away in comparison to the other masques (I think a week of trialing them was beginning to take it’s toll) it is a really affordable option (£15) and certainly lives up to the more expensive versions. Best for hydrating the scalp (if you get dry, flakiness from time to time) it works well locking in moisture and preventing further damage. So if you’re a heat treatment fanatic – this is one to try.
Next week, I will be trialing Uniq’s All In One Coconut Hair Treatment, Orifluido’s Super Shine Light Spray and Revlon’s much loved Keratin Shampoo.
