Are you a greeny? If so you'll love this! (Boots Botanics 3 Min Deep Conditioning Hair Mask)

Member Name: xxfoxyredxx

Product:	Boots Botanics 3 Min Deep Conditioning Hair Mask
Date:	30/06/08 (151 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Softens hair a little and it's economical

Disadvantages: Stinks vile, doesn't strengthen hair in my view

I've never really took alot of care of my hair in the past. Since the age of 18 (I'm 33 now) I've permed it, bleached it, darkened it, back combed it, straightened it, highlighted it, oh you name it I've done it! Yep like most women (in particular) I'm guilty of sinning against my hair on a regular basis. At the moment I dye it every month, use hair straighteners most days and blow dry it every day without fail.

I never worried about it and continued to abuse my locks. Until I noticed that my hair is falling out. Now don't get me wrong I don't mean by the handful or anything but my hair is everywhere like malting hair extensions. I don't know if its just because my hair is now raven black (according to the box) and I just see it more or whether all the stuff I do to my hair is just making it more fragile in general. Either way I'm not happy and getting moaned at when another hair is found in the spag bol or in our prized yorkies water bowl (boy did I get yelled at for that one lol)!

Also my hair is acting up. Regardless of the malting season being upon me which is troublesome enough my hair goes through stages. Last week the ends felt dry and brittle this week my hair is greasy the day after washing it and nothing has changed in my hair routine. One minute my hair is shiny and the next it's dull. It wont make up its mind how it wants to be.

Now I am a fan of hair treatments. I use them regular and change the type and brand often to keep it fresh. I like hot oils, mud treatments well you name it and I'll buy it! Looking around Boot's one day and it looking like I may leave the store empty handed if I wasn't careful I decided to look at the Botanics range. I must point out that ages ago I wrote a review on a soap from this range that made me feel physically sick but the effects on my skin were amazing and since then I have repurchased it on numerous occasions using one hand to wash myself with and one hand to hold my nose with. You think I'm joking? I'm really not I hate the smell.

So I knew this would smell the same or similar and it wasn't a happy purchase for me but as I say I was thinking well the soaps amazing my hair is feeling frizzy and dried out and a complete nightmare so needs must type of thing and I grabbed a pot and ran to the checkout, paid for it and left before any chance of changing my mind!

The Packaging....

Large round 450ml see through plastic tub with a silver screw on/of lid. On the front there is a green and white sticky label which tells me 'Active plant extracts, 3 minute deep conditioning hair mask. Rice bran protein conditions grapeseed oil hydrates'. Then there is a little symbol that tells me it is Boot's and 'the power of plants, Botanics' and a scribble of a flower is on there too. On the back the label is green with small white writing on in that tells me what it is and what it's meant to achieve, how to use it, warnings, size is stated (as I've listed already), ingredients, and contact details for Boot's are on there as well. I can see my white almost shimmery looking conditioner through the tub.

What Its For And What It's Meant To Achieve....

Plant extracts at levels that really work, combined and formulated for unbeatable product performance. Naturally.

Brushing, styling and environmental pollutants can damage your hair. This intensely hydrating 3 minute mask conditions where's it's needed most, to leave hair shiny and strengthened. With added protection from environmental damage.

Rice Bran Protein: This extract contains high levels of protein, which can bind moisture on to the hair surface
Extracts authenticated by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

To Use....

After shampooing, rinse thoroughly. Distribute in hair from root to tip and leave for 3 minutes. Rinse thoroughly. Dermatologically tested.

Warnings....

Avoid contact with eyes
Colour may vary due to natural ingredients
Do not not store in direct sunlight.

Actually Using It....

Well I've almost finished my pot off and that's due to a couple of reasons! Firstly lets talk about the smell! My god is it awful! Greenies and natural living bean munchers would adore this I'm sure. It just smells green. It smells fresh and light, sure. You can't smell loads of chemicals or anything but as I say it just smells of a garden or something. Vile. Sickly sweet and smelling this is repulsive to me and makes me feel quite sick after a couple of minutes of being able to smell it. Now this is my personal experience with this and I know others may like it. It's just to sweet and 'green' for me. The other reason it's took ages to use this is because it's a huge pot! You only need a small amount to cover hair so this really is economical one way or the other to use lol

So...

Wash hair, rinse and repeat is the method I use. When finally rinsed I either towel dry it or slap it on wet hair. I've found no difference in the results whichever way I do it but do find towel drying and then applying this uses more product but by drying hair I don't get water trickling down my face as I sit in the bath at least! Again the recommended time states to leave this on your hair for 3 minutes, myself I have left this on for almost an hour (holding my nose all the time of course lol) and I have rubbed this through my hair as I would a normal conditioner and had it on my head for a minute or so.

So the conditioner is as I mentioned before white in colour and in consistency it's runny in the pot but not like a thin liquid though you could pour it on head out of the tub if you desire I guess. In texture although white in colour it goes kind of translucent in your hand and you can feel the grease content but also a 'skin' kind of forms on the top after every time you use it so when you do take some out of the pot it isn't as liquid as the rest. It does appear to have a slight grain type of texture but really only very slight and that is the bran however again you cant feel this in your hands or when applying on your head. It feel very soft and velvet like.

Applying it is easy. Make sure hair is damp or wet but it must be applied to clean hair! It goes on really easily as it is as greasy as it appears so alot goes a long way. I use alot of this to saturate my hair of course making the smell even stronger but it doesn't matter how much I plonk on shoulder length hair, my hair simply drinks it in and absorbs it. As I said earlier I leave it for as long as I want to and I've found no difference in the results at all.

Now if this product worked brilliantly then 'd over look the smell as at the end of the day it's results that count more than packaging and amazing smells after all. The bottom line is it works a little but not enough to go through using it and I feel the results are no better than using an ordinary every day conditioner. Hair even when rinsing this out doesn't feel less tangly. Yes it does feel softer in places but I really struggle to get a wide toothed comb through my hair when hair is still damp or wet which doesn't actually happen to me with any other product I use. I find using this I'm losing more hair than I did previous through the combing process. It is easy enough to rinse out though and that's the only really positive thing I can say about this.

Drying it is no different and when styled hair is no more shiny or controllable than usual. It still feels a little more soft and hydrated in places but this doesn't help with fly-aways or frizz or anything else.

Over time of using this product I don't feel the overall health of my hair has been improved at all and hair is certainly no stronger and that's with using this 3 times a week. Please note that on the packaging I'm not told how often to use this and most of the intensive hair treatments I use state to be used once or twice a week. My guessing is because there are no indications on how many times you should use it that you could (if you wanted to) use it everyday if you want to.

In a nutshell it really doesn't do alot for it' £5.00 price tag and the worse part is the smell. Even when dried the smell really lingers on the hair for hours. If you like the smell (and some may) it's a real bonus but for me it's a drawback and a huge negative and I'm aware it mingles with perfumes and stuff that I use and is far too overpowering for my nasal passages.

Not recommended and not just because of the smell but because it hasn't done anything at all for my hair and I shan't be buying it again. Sorry Boot's you dropped a clanger with this!

Summary: I cannot warrant a fiver on this product!