Sometimes this snowy weather takes an extra toll on my hair. I like to think that I take good care of my hair, but the fact of the matter is that it isn’t in perfect condition. I’ve been blonde for the past 8 years (and I hope to never go back), and while I keep the heat styling and and powerful chemicals to a minimum, I still deal with some frizz here, breakage there, and extra dryness during the cold seasons. So I try to sprinkle in some extra love into my haircare routine every so often.
I’ve never used PHYTO products before, but Team PHYTO said that it was safe for colour-treated hair (maybe not RIGHT after getting it done – I gave it 2 weeks post-dye job), as well as hair dresser-approved (she liked the fact that it had replenishing oils), so why not give it a try?
“The PHYTOELIXIR Intense Nutrition Subtle Oil Pre-Shampoo ($45 CAD) is a fine, lightweight and easy-to-rinse formula effortlessly penetrates into each strand bringing ultra-dry or damaged hair back to life. Particularly rich in vitamin E, ultra-nourishing oil yolk blends with camellia and karanja oils to regenerate and protect the hair fiber from external aggressions.”
I ran two pumps of the pre-shampoo through my hair and left it in for 10 minutes, right before I showered, twice per week. There were some things I liked about the pre-shampoo, and some things I didn’t.
I’ll start out with my favourite part of the shampoo – it smelled great I’m someone who is allergic to scented skincare, so I really do it up when it comes to shampoos – the stronger the smell, the better! Fruity and right up my alley.
However, I just don’t think I’m someone who would use a pre-shampoo. I like to take quick 10-minute showers, get in and get out, so adding an extra step 10 minutes before I hop into the shower just adds onto the bathing process, which is something that I don’t like to spend a lot of time on. It just seemed like unnecessary work. Beyond that, I found myself actually forgetting to do this step, because it’s not something that I see as part of the showering process – it doesn’t stay inside the shower next to my regular shampoo and conditioner, but on my counter near my toothbrush – and I don’t take a look at my counter when I go to shower, because everything I need is in the tub! It becomes an “out of sight, out of mind” situation.
“The PHYTOELIXIR Shampoo ($30 CAD) is a gentle foaming shampoo that blends narcissus flower wax with encapsulated macadamia oil , unleashing a potent wave of nourishment to renew ultra-dry hair with beauty.”
Unfortunately, this shampoo was a big miss for me. Before I start telling you why it didn’t work, I should note that my hair has very specific needs, due to being coloured, and therefore any of my dislikes might just be in regards to MY hair, and may not apply to the masses. All that being said, the shampoo just didn’t agree with my hair. I found myself having to use a lot of product just to get the shampoo to actually cover all of my hair. I have thin, shoulder-length hair, and it usually doesn’t take much product, however I needed about double my normal amount of product to actually get all my hair, and lather up. Beyond that, and the big deciding factor for me was just the simple fact that it did not keep my hair clean. Normally I’ll wash my hair two times per week, and that’s plenty. However, with this shampoo (and pre-shampoo), I had to wash my hair every other day, because it was either oily, flat, weighed-down, or just felt dirty.
While these products didn’t work for me, they might work for someone with a completely opposite type of hair – maybe a shorter, thicker, not coloured type of hair.
You can find these PHYTOELIXIR products at Murale and at BeautyBOUTIQUE.ca, starting March 2017.
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