I'm having a break from dying my hair over the next few months. My midwife assures me that using my normal semi permanent hair dye is fine however my sister-in-law who is my wonderful hairdresser has simply refused to dye my hair. Not because it is a risk to me but because it is a risk to her mental wellbeing as she couldn't take the stress of my hair colour turning out a strange colour, which sometimes occurs with pregnant women's hair. I'm really fussy when it comes to my hair and therefore have been searching frantically for a product which I can use on my hair to revive it as I am really missing the glossy multi tone brown hair effect that I get with newly dyed hair.

My sister-in-law suggested that I try L'Oreal Elvive Nutri-Gloss Intense Masque. As it's a deep conditioning treatment specifically aimed at medium to long hair, it all started good.


***Packaging***

The Intensive Shine Masque comes in a bright pink pot. The pot is plastic a 200ml in size. The pot has a screw off lid. I particularly like the design of the packaging as with wet hands it is very easy to open and rather than have to squeeze out an amount of product you just scoop out the quantity of product needed.

You do have to be careful when the pot is open if you are a bit clumsy, as if you knock the pot over with no lid on the product inside could tip out.

The L'Oreal branding is on the front of the tub. On the back are a list of ingredients and directions to use the product.


***Price***

I recently paid £4.20 in Boots for a 200ml tub of the L'Oreal Intensive Shine Masque. I later have seen this in Superdrug and also in Asda for £3.20. Moral of the story is shop around as there are often special offers on the L'Oreal products.

I think that this is a very good value for money deep conditioning product even at the higher price of £4.20 that I paid. I have very long thick hair and I use a reasonable amount of product. The amount of product needed is not a vast quantity therefore from a 200ml tub I will get 10 uses per tub. For someone with shorter hair they will get more uses. In comparison to other deep conditioning treatments this is a lot more reasonable.


***Application***

The L'Oreal Intensive Shine Masque should be used after the hair has been washed and rinsed and applied to damp hair. About a 50p size piece of product should be applied to the roots then brushed through they hair with a wide tooth comb. My advice would be not to brush this right to the roots of the hair as on the first occasion I done this and ended up with really greasy roots. About an inch away from the roots is fine. Then leave in the Shine Masque for about 5 minutes and then rinse fully.

The product is a light white colour with a pink hint to it. The conditioner is very thick but not as thick as some of the deep conditioning treatments that I have used. This makes applying the product very easy and a little spreads a long way. The conditioner does feel quite greasy so when applied to the hair, your hair becomes very soft.

You do need to rinse the hair very thoroughly because if you do not get all of the product out of the hair, you will find that your hair is quite greasy and lank. With the conditioner being quite greasy this also makes rinsing quite difficult. Once all of the product is out of your hair, you will notice an immediate difference to the feel and texture of the hair. Wet hair is tangle free and feels very soft. As my hair is dark I noticed almost a shimmer to my wet hair, those with lighter hair may not be able to notice this.

The scent of the Intensive Masque is quite strong. This is a fruity yet floral scent which I find very pleasant. When applied to the hair it is very strong which some may find overpowering if they do not like the scent. When hair is rinsed the scent is still apparent but not as strong.


***Results***

When drying my hair I immediately noticed my hair felt a lot softer then after I had used my usual products. After I had finished drying my hair immediately felt very soft and very silky but did not feel flat it still had volume.

The scent of the product was also still noticeable. I found this lasted for most of the day and Mr Lools even commented that my hair had "a lovely fruity scent to it". I personally like products that have a lasting scent as it reminds me of when I have just stepped out of a hair salon.

My hair did look noticeably shinier and glossier. There was almost a mirror like sheen to my hair which I find I rarely get with products at home. The sheen to my hair gave my hair more depth and you could actually notice the natural highlights to my hair. I was actually quite surprised by this as I always believed that my natural hair colour was one flat mid brown colour.

The adverts for this product range actually show a woman with very long hair that has an amazing sheen to it . Until I tried this product I never believed the product claims. The results are not as glossy as in the adverts but my hair did look a lot more shiny than it did previously and had achieved that newly dyed glossy effect that I had been longing for but with my own natural hair colour.

Even at the end of the day my hair still looked and felt fantastic. The only negatives to point out are that you really need to ensure you rinse all of the product out of your hair. I have once been in a rush and I didn't rinse this out of my hair and ended up with lank, greasy, sticky hair.

The other point to make is that if you suffer from greasy roots (I sometimes do) make sure that when you comb this through your hair when wet you avoid the roots. Otherwise the results are that after a few hours you will end up with your roots getting overly greasy quite quickly.


***Overall***

This is a fantastic product which I will continue to use although it will never beat the feeling of newly cut, newly dyed hair. It is a brilliant pick me up for your own natural hair colour or in between visits to the hairdresser. The result is shiny glossy hair and is definitely best used once a week for maximum results. Just remember to rinse hair fully and for those of you that have greasy roots, do not use this product near your roots. Otherwise it will be less glossy and gorgeous and more greasy and gruesome. A bargain deep conditioning treatment.


~~~Also posted on ciao 2011~~~