Tame your mane with hair oils

One of the most frequently sold hair care products in the world is hair oils and you can't open a magazine without there being some promotion about the latest miracle in oils. The reason oils are so great for your hair is that they contain essential fatty acids, vitamin e and anti-oxidants from various types of oil. Essential fatty acids help to control your hairs hydration and elasticity, vitamin e helps to heal damaged hair and anti-oxidants helps to reduce discoloration. Most hair oils are multi-tasking and can be used on both wet and dry hair; as a pre-cleanse, intensive conditioning, heat styling product or for finishing touches but regardless of how you prefer to use a hair oil it will sink into your hair, treating it and conditioning it at the same time.

There are so many types of oil available so I wanted to do a comparison to see if there was much difference between them, and how they worked on my hair. Most oils target different types of hair so it's definitely worth while doing some research beforehand to make sure that you get a product that is right just for you, and the products I've tested are all aimed at dry and/or damaged hair. As usual when I do a product comparison, I have a selection of products from different price ranges so let's get started - bring on the oils.

First out of these oils is Kérastase Elixir Ultime which contains ingredients that actively repair and nourish damaged hair. It comes in a large plastic bottle with a pump, and for me it's always a bonus when a product has a pump, so it's easy to get exactly the right amount of product - particularly important when it comes to oils since we don't want greasy hair! I use about two small pumps of oil - no more, heat it up between the palm of my hands so it absorbs better into the hair and comb it through my hair with a detangler, but never anywhere near the scalp. Elixir Ultime is a very light oil and it has the most amazing, sophisticated scent of exotic moringa which luckily stays on your hair for a while. Since the consistency of it is so light, it works great both as conditioner, treatment, detangler or as a styling product without leaving any greasiness or dullness at all. When I've used a tiny drop of Elixir Ultime, my hair feels silky and smooth and more well behaved, and it stays that way for several days afterwards. 

 

The second oil in this line up is a product you'll find on the high street, and I had some high hopes for it - it's the L'Oréal Elvive Extraordinary Oil, which is suitable for all hair types. Reading about it before I tested it, it sounded like a more affordable alternative to the Kérastase Elixir Ultime. It's marketed as a 5-in-1 "miracle hair perfector" which is supposed to give hair a glowing shine, nourish, make your hair silky and soft, smooth and perfect your hair. It comes in a stylish and heavy glass bottle which looks very nice, but may not be very practical and I'm worried it'll break on the floor of my bathroom at some point... Anyway, it comes in a very generous size and with a pump that dispenses exactly the amount you want, which is great. Another bonus for me is the gorgeous warm and floral scent of white flowers. So far this oil is reminds me a lot of Kérastase, but this is where the similarities end. The texture of L'Oréal Elvive is quite strange - it's definitely an oil, but to me it's much more like a serum with its gooey, syrupy consistency. I've used this as a conditioner and a detangler and it feels lightweight on the hair, distributes easily and it does add shine. Unfortunately I don't find it non greasy at all - it makes my hair look matte and unwashed and I just can't get used to the texture. Out of the oils I've tried this was the one I least enjoyed using, and to be perfectly honest I doubt that I will use up the bottle.

Next up is a product from one of my favourite hair care ranges - Macadamia Natural, and it's the Healing Oil Treatment which I got in a Macadamia Get Hooked package. This is a wonderful rich oil with quite a strong, but lovely nutty and slightly masculine scent. Because it's so thick I really enjoy using this particularly as a nourishing treatment before shampooing or added to a masque for that extra boost of hydration. I absorbs beautifully into the hair without leaving a greasy feeling and it's also light enough to use it as a styling oil for some extra finishing shine. Using this makes your hair feel silky and light and I've even surprised myself with how much I enjoy using it. The travel size also makes it very practical to bring in a handbag for any touch ups when you're on the go.

The last oil I've tested is the Body Shop Coconut Beautifying Oil which is a multi purpose oil, so it can be used both for your hair, face and body. It's a fairly light dry oil, which means that it absorbs straight into the skin so you don't have to worry about staining your clothes if you use it as a moisturiser, and it has an amazing warm soft authentic scent of coconut - delicious. I must admit that I find it difficult to understand how one oil can be multi purpose since at least my hair, skin and body need different things, and this is why this product doesn't work for me. As a body care product this is a lovely hydrating oil that illuminates your skin and I will definitely continue to use it like that, however I really don't like to use it either on my face where it feels far too heavy and almost fatty or my hair. I tested it using a tiny drop of oil at the ends of my hair and also to smooth down fly aways and kinks, but I felt as if it made my hair greasy, matte and weighed down and unlike the other oils this doesn't work for me as a product to perfect your styling. I still think it's a gorgeous body care product that I would buy again, but I wouldn't use this for hair care when there are much better options available.

Out of the different oils I've tested there are two products that stand head and shoulder above the others; Kérastase Elixir Ultime and the Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment, and I would repurchase both of these products faster than you can say follicle, however if I had to pick just one favourite it would be Elixir Ultime. 

It's a gorgeous, light and beautifully scented hair oil with just the right consistency for you to use it both on wet and dry hair. I have used Elixir Ultime since Spring time, and even though I found it difficult to get my head around all the different ways I could and should use it, it is now an essential item in my hair care routine. I also feel as if it's made a real difference to the quality of my hair and it's more nourished and tamed. As you may know I have long hair that gets put through a fair bit of wear and tear, but I have fewer split ends than before and it looks less frazzled after heat styling. I thoroughly enjoy using this oil and for me it's definitely the Ultimate Elixir.

Get hooked on Macadamia hair products

As a self-confessed beauty junkie there are certain products that are on the MUST TRY list e.g. Bioderma, Alpha H Liquid Gold, Origins Drink Up Intensive Overight Mask and Macadamia hair products. On one of my recent visits to amazing Beautybay.com, I saw the Macadamia Natural Oil Get Hooked pack and thought - what an excellent way to try this out since you get two travel size products to test - the Deep Repair Masque (yeeeaaay!) and the Healing Oil Treatment.

The Macadamia products contain natural oils from Macadamia Nuts and Argan Fruits that help to deeply nourish and rejuvenate your hair, leaving it smooth and shiny and let's start with the Deep Repair Masque, which might be one of the most talked about products from the Macadamia range. It's a very intense hair treatment that's supposed to do miracles for dry and damaged hair by rebuilding it and adding lots of nourishment, but it's so potent they recommend that you don't use it more than twice a week. The masque has a luxurious, rich and creamy texture and you massage it into your hair, comb it through and leave it for about 10 mins before washing it out again. For some reason I thought that the masque would actually smell of nuts (maybe that's just me), but it definitely doesn't - instead it has a light, fresh and lovely scent with a faint apple note that stays on your hair for a while afterwards.

I tend to be very generous with the amount I use for hair treatments because I like to feel that it's doing something, but with this masque I only needed an amount a little bigger than that of a 50p coin to get enough, and in total I got 3 and a bit uses out of the sachet. Afterwards my hair felt so soft and nourished just as if I had just been to the hair dresser, and this feeling lasted for days - I was a very happy bunny. 

The other product in the set was the Healing Oil Treatment which again is particularly great for dry or damaged hair and this can be used in several different ways - either to help style your hair or you can add it to the masque to give it some extra boost. I've mainly used the oil for styling - adding it to the ends of my hair, and also to control fly aways. It's a really lovely thick oil, much thicker than other ones I've used before that have been very thin and fluid, so you only need very little of it. Despite being a thicker oil it feels surprisingly light on the hair and it blends in very well, so you don't have that greasy feeling that some hair oils can leave. This actually smells very nutty and spicy - definitely more perfumed than the masque, but it's not overpowering in any way and overall it's so lovely to use, leaving your hair feeling protected and amazingly smooth and groomed.

It has to be said that neither of the Madacamia products are budget buys and they are pricier than most hair care ranges. However, since you don't need to apply very much of them and you won't use the hair masque more than twice a week - they will last a while. So if you can afford it, it's an amazing product, definitely worth the hype. 

I also got myself a Macadamia Natural Oil No Tangle Brush, after having heard so much about this type of brush. Since I always get a big kink on the left side (it's a bit strange because I don't get it anywhere else - Him Indoors calls it crazy hair... nice of him), I use a detangling spray to make my hair behave as it should, and also to make the whole disciplining part less painful. What's so great about these brushes is that they are specially designed to sort out your hair with minimum pain and hair breakage. I know you probably won't believe this until you try it yourself, but the brush just glides through your hair with minimum effort - it is absolutely fantastic! If you don't have a brush like this, you HAVE to get one and it'll probably be one of the kindest things you can do to your hair to help it stay strong and healthy. I know you can get Tangle Teezers from Boots for about £12, but if you go to Beautybay.com you can get the Macadamia one for half the price.

So the question is, am I hooked on Macadamia? - You BET I am, and I will definitely be investing in the full size products, all in the name of strong shiny hair - after all, it's the one accessory I wear every single day!