hair oil

Snobgirls Curalign Ultra-Smoothing Control Hair Oil Capsules Review

~ Michele Raiyne ~ 2 Comments

I recently purchased a few hair products from Snobgirls, a Canadian professional line of products specifically for color-treated hair with their “100% free series,” banning over 40 harsh ingredients commonly found in skin care and hair care products. Each product contains their TruColour Guard antifading system. One of the hair oils I got are the Curalign Ultra-Smoothing Control Hair Oil Capsules, a leave-in treatment for dry, unruly, frizzy and/or coarse hair. These oil capsules are said to provide weightless control, tame frizz, smooth hair, provide protection from heat and UV light, soothe irritated, dry or itchy scalp, preserve and prolong color, diminish drying time by 55%, help hot tools glide through the hair, add shine, keep moisture in and humidity out and provide lasting results until the next shampoo.

Directions: Twist or cut open stem of capsule. Rub into palms to activate. Glide through clean, towel-dried hair and/or scalp. Do not rinse. Blow dry hair straight and follow with flat iron if desired. To be used after each shampoo and condition. To add shine or control static, apply one drop to dry hair.

Ingredients:

The hair oil contains a few silicones, vitamins, amino acids, hyaluronic acid, plant extracts and oils and proteins.

I have thin, frizzy and dry hair and have used the Curalign hair oil capsules a few times when doing a quick blow dry and flat iron on the hair.

The capsules themselves do not smell good, however, the oil has a slight perfume type fragrance that I cannot smell once applied to the hair. The oil is quite thick, the capsule contains a lot of oil and it seems like it would be heavy, but I used a whole capsule on my collarbone length hair and my hair was not weighed down or greasy and had no residue or stickiness. I also added one drop after flat ironing to smooth some flyaways and static. Using more than a drop or two on dry hair would for sure weigh the hair down and it would feel oily. Rubbing some of the oil onto my hand made my skin feel so smooth and this feeling lasted until I washed my hands.

For each of the above photos, I added the respective oils to the hair when damp, blow dried and then did a quick flat iron (still using this one). These are perhaps not the most accurate for the look of the hair because I used minimal heat and large sections to minimize heat damage; I am getting my hair colored next month and want it to be as healthy as possible (I am so looking forward to covering all this grey hair). The Curalign oil provided the best results in terms of smoothing and straightening the hair and adding shine and a sleek feel. The next day my hair was still straight, felt very smooth and had no poof (I usually get poof on my flat ironed second day hair).

The Snobgirls Curalign Ultra-Smoothing Control Hair Oil Capsules add shine and give the hair a smooth, sleek feel without adding heaviness or residue and I will continue to use this when blow drying and flat ironing the hair.

Thanks for visiting.

Briogeo Strengthening Treatment Hair Oil Review

~ Michele Raiyne ~ 1 Comment

Briogeo’s Strengthening Treatment Hair Oil is from their Don’t Despair, Repair! line and claims to be lightweight, to provide shine and smoothing to the hair and to hydrate, reducing frizz, damage, split ends and breakage, citing an 88% repair of damaged split ends after two uses.

Ingredients: Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride*, Hydrogenated Castor Oil/Sebacic Acid Copolymer*, Ethyl Macadamiate*, Rose Flower Oil*, Ceramide NP, Squalane*, Rose Extract*, Fragaria Ananassa (Strawberry) Seed Oil*, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil*, Undaria Pinnatifida Extract*, Panthenol, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil*, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Prunus Domestica Seed Oil*, Tocopheryl Acetate, Dicaprylyl Ether*, 1,2-Hexanediol, Dicaprylyl Carbonate*, Malic Acid, Tocopherol, Fragrance (Parfum). *Coconut, Vegetable, Plant, or Sugar Derived.

The Strengthening Treatment Hair Oil is silicone-free and contains a number of oils and triglyceride, ceramides that help strengthen the hair and hyaluronic acid to help lock water in the hair shaft. Dicaprylyl Ether is a fatty acid. Fragrance is the last ingredient. The product is pretty, with a real rose inside.

Directions: Apply a few drops to wet or dry hair, focusing on midlength to ends of the hair.

My hair is thin, dry, frizzy and has a number of split ends that are just starting. I ran out of the Olaplex hair oil I had been using and wanted to give the Briogeo oil a try; I have used for 3 months about 3 times a week. I’ve used the hair oil on dry hair and wet hair after using a leave-in conditioner. The oil has a similar scent to other products in the Don’t Despair, Repair! line with more rose fragrance. The scent is relatively heavy but dissipates pretty quickly.

Just trying the oil on the skin, it leaves a shine and feels moisturizing.

The left photo is the oil applied to dry hair after blow drying, and the right on dry hair after air drying. I shake two drops in my hands, spread on the palms and apply to the hair. As above, the oil is good when using to control frizz and fly-aways, however, with just two drops, my hair looks and feels a bit heavy and is more greasy than silky. Once the oil absorbs a bit, about 10 to 15 minutes, my hair feels oddly dry, so I prefer to use on wet hair. After the 3 months, my hair is not particularly improved; though some say that once hair is damaged, there is nothing that will improve it because the hair is dead. Also, once the hair is split, the only thing to do is cut it as no product will mend a split end together; products like creams or oils may stick the splits ends together, giving a temporary fix.

For comparison, the Olaplex oil is much lighter, more repairing and the hair feels very silky (likely due to the silicone). Another oil I have been using is the Fable and Main HoliRoots Treatment Oil; this is a scalp oil, but I use it on the lengths of my hair as well. HoliRoots is silicone-free, lightweight and makes my hair feel silky, and I also prefer this over the Briogeo oil.

I have since stopped using the Briogeo oil on my hair, but I really like mixing it into body lotion, adding extra protection and ceramides to my skin. I also use as a cuticle oil and layered over hand and foot lotion.

While improving frizz and fly-aways short-term, Briogeo’s Strengthening Treatment Hair Oil is heavy and leaves a greasy yet dry feeling on dry hair and I will not repurchase for use on the hair, however, may keep using on the skin.

Olaplex No 7 Bonding Oil Review

~ Michele Raiyne ~ 14 Comments

The No. 7 Bonding Oil is the newest addition to the Olaplex line. This is a lightweight, concentrated oil that claims to increase softness, shine and manageability, repairs damaged hair, strengthens and protects hair structure and improves color vibrancy while minimizing frizz. It also provides heat protection up to 450 degrees.

Ingredients: Dimethicone, Isohexadecane, C13-14 Isoparaffin, Coco-Caprylate, Phenyl Trimethicone, Bis-Aminopropyl Diglycol Dimaleate, Propanediol, Zea Mays (Corn) Oil, Beta-Carotene, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Moringa Oleifera Seed Oil, Punica Granatum Seed Oil, Water (Aqua), Morinda Citrifolia Fruit Powder, Fragrance (Parfum), Hexyl Cinnamal, Eclipta Prostrata Extract, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Limonene, Tocopherol, Citral, Linalool, Melia Azadirachta Leaf Extract, Citronellol, Pseudozyma Epicola/Camellia Sinensis Seed (Green Tea) Oil Ferment Extract Filtrate.

The first ingredient is dimethicone which, from what I’ve read on different sites, is a cheaper silicone that is not water soluble and is hard to remove. However, Olaplex says they use a high quality, low molecular weight, water soluble dimethicone that easily washes away and does not build up in the hair. I was surprised to see corn oil listed, as this is not an oil I think of for use on hair, but corn oil prevents dryness by locking in the hair’s moisture. It contains vitamins K and E and omegas 3, 6 and 9. In addition to other oils, this has propandiol, a conditioning humectant. The Bonding Oil also contains Olaplex’s bond builder that helps repair disulfide bonds that are broken down during a chemical service.

Directions state to tip the bottle upside down and tap on the bottom to dispense a few drops to damp or dry hair. This can be mixed into the No. 6 styling cream (or leave-in conditioner or other styling aid) and/or applied after using Olaplex’s new No. 8 moisture mask.

As a side note, I’ve been using silicone-free products in my fine hair for about a year mainly because, if I use a silicone-containing conditioner, the silicone seals moisture in the hair, but doesn’t allow other treatments to penetrate the silicone (apparently), so anything I put on my hair after using that conditioner would be useless I gather. Over the last few months my hair has gotten so dry and looks quite damaged despite my best efforts (though I do need a haircut; I haven’t gotten anything done with my hair for about 8 months). I’ve also had breakage. I’ve been thinking about adding silicone back to my hair and thought this bonding oil would be a good place to start.

The oil is easy to get out of the bottle. It has a light scent that doesn’t really linger. This feels like a dry oil that is not heavy. Above, I rubbed it on my arm for a couple seconds and it doesn’t leave an oily residue, but leaves a smooth-feeling sheen.

Above, in the before photo, I air dried my hair and combed through it a bit, then added about 8 drops for the after photo. There is an immediate smooth feeling to the hair (due to the dimethicone) and it looks a bit less frizzy and less poofy with a bit of shine.

The before photo above was after using a clarifying shampoo and moisturizing treatment and after, 8 drops of the Olaplex oil. Again, the hair feels smoother in the after photo. It’s harder to see results on this curlier hair.

I’ve used the oil on towel dried hair as well to see if the hair detangles with a wide tooth comb and the Bonding Oil on it own. It’s better than combing with wet hair and no product, but using a leave-in conditioner detangles and combs through better.

My flat iron glides through the hair much nicer and with less friction with the application of the oil.

I wash my hair about every 5 to 6 days and can use the Bonding Oil morning and night with no buildup or heaviness on the hair between wash days.

Again, my hair is quite dry, damaged and poofy and my hair seems to absorb this quite fast, so there aren’t really amazing visible results in the photos (of course, I haven’t been using this for long). I can only assume that the hair is getting repaired from the inside due to the bond repair technology. My 4-inch grown out hair with no color feels better than my colored hair with the Olaplex use.

I’ve used the oil for about 3 weeks, morning and evening, and my hair is softer and more manageable. I apply after using a leave-in conditioner and/or heavier hair oils on towel dried hair to seal in moisture. I’ve been getting breakage at the back, underside layers of my hair when I wash it and I think, with the use of the Olaplex, there is less breakage.

I’ll try and update the photos here after I get my hair cut and colored in a couple weeks to see if there is a more visible difference using the No. 7 oil after I get a few of those dry, damaged inches off my hair.

Update (October 26, 2019):

The above photos are a couple weeks after a color, cut and keratin straightening treatment. For the first photo I blow dried my hair and applied Olaplex No. 7 after. The second and third photos are air dried hair with the after photos showing application of the hair oil. The hair looks smoother with less fly-aways and a more “finished” look.

I like that the Olaplex No. 7 Bonding Oil creates an immediate smoothness and softness on the hair and I can feel results rather than see a dramatic difference at this point. My hair might be too dry and damaged and this product is so light, I feel like I could use a lot of this oil before my hair would actually feel moisturized. I’ll likely continue to purchase for the bonding technology, heat protection and smooth feeling on the hair as a nice last step in my hair routine to seal moisture in. Time will tell if there is long term improvement.

Thank you for reading.