Review: John Masters Organics Shine On

This review will be a very positive one as this product is one of my all time favourite hair care products.

John Masters Organics Shine On Leave-In Treatment for Supernatural Shine & Softness

I love organic products, but for some reason have never tried John Masters Organics before. When I saw this products in my local organic beauty store, I was instantly taken in my the name. Hair with supernatural shine and softness? Sounds perfect.

'Shine On is a natural, leave-in hair treatment that uses organic kelp in place of syntheticsilicone. It smoothes the hair shaft, resulting in supernatural shine and softness, all day long.'

The packaging really appealed to me. The glass packaging gave it somewhat of a luxurious appeal.

The product itself was in a very light gel/pomade form. Though essentially a gel, it did not feel heavy or greasy on the hair. It had a subtle scent that you would find in typical hair gels.

I use a small dollop of this on towel dried hair (in place or hair serum) and let hair dry naturally. Once dry I notice that my hair looks a lot healthier. It has great shine, though a healthy looking shine opposed to greasy looking shine. My hair doesn't feel weighed down at all, though it does feel incredibly soft.

This product can also be used on dried hair. Though I prefer using it on towel dried hair, it does work well on dried hair too. Hair instantly looks smoother and shiny. Though care must be taken not to overload the product on dry hair as in this case, too much product can result in greasy looking hair.

Pros

Great packaging

Lightweight and non-greasy

Gives hair great shine

Makes hair feel soft

Cons

Pricey at ~ £26/ 113g tub (though this product has lasted me ages)
Packaging makes it more difficult to take on travels

New Kerastase Elixir Ultime: Versatile Beautifying Oil Review

I recently purchased Kerastase's Elixir Ultime, and here is a quick review on how I've found it so far.

I've finished my Shu Uemura Essence Absolue and Aveda Brilliant Gloss, and was looking for a new oil that smoothened my hair whilst giving it nourishment. Said to give nourishment, condition, shine and softness to the hair, I decided I had to give this oil a try.

In real life, the packaging is very nice, but not quite al luxurious looking as in the promotional pictures. The oil is housed in a 125ml plastic bottle with a gold coloured pump.

According to Kerastase:

" Our first versatile beautifying treatment enriched with a complex of four precious oils. Maize, Argan, Camellia and Pracaxi oils combine to create a luxurious Elixir for all hair types.
-with a few drops of elixir Ultime, hair is transformed into silky, weightless matter
- applied before cleansing, hair is instantly nourished and visibly regenerated
- applied before styling, hair is incredibly supple and protected."

1. Pracaxi Oil: Celebrated for its rich conditioning properties
2. Argan Oil: One of the rarest oils in the world, famed for its nourishing benefits
3. Maize Oil: A Kerastase heritage oil used in their first ever masque
4. Camellia Oil: A luxurious a fragrant oil extracted from camellia flowers

My thoughts:

Texture
The oil is pretty light as compared to thick and greasy. It also had quite a runny consistency. A little goes a very long way and spreads easily onto the hair, so only a tiny amount is needed.

Scent
To me this oil smells like an exotic beach holiday, with a hint of coconut. I like this scent alot, and so does my husband!

What did it do for my hair?
As a precleansing treatment on dry hair, you have to be careful not to apply too much as it is difficult to wash off and my hair felt a little oily afterwards. I tend not to use this as a precleanse much, and instead use it as a leave in conditioner/serum and finishing gloss.

As a leave in conditioner on towel dried hair, it made my hair feel more nourished, softer, smoother, and less dry looking. It works well as a serum to control fly-away or frizzy hair and to smooth the ends. Unlike alot of serums, this feels nice and really weightless in my hair. Used as a serum, it doesn't affect the volume of my hair.

It works beautifully applied sparingly as a finishing gloss on towel dried hair, leaving it extra super soft and sleek. I like using it this way the most because of the glossy look it gives my hair.

How does it compare to Shu Uemura's Essence Absolue?
Shu Uemura's famous Essence Absolue is a very very good oil, and has been identified as the secret behind Jeniffer Aniston's gorgeous hair. Like other Shu Uemura Art of Hair products I've tried, I absolutely loved it and used up every last bit of it. Both Essence Absolue and Elixir Ultime smoothed my coarse hair whilst providing it with treatment, leaving my hair soft and sleek. The Shu Uemura packaging appeals to me more than Kerastase's. The Essence Absolue is packaged in a sleek bottle which looks ever so slightly of higher quality.

However, the Shu Uemura oil has a thicker consistancy than the Kerastase Elixir and thus was much easier for me to apply too much and be left with slightly too greasy hair. The Kerastase Elixir is a lot lighter, and easier to apply & spread throughout the hair. I felt that when comparing the two, the Elixir made my hair softer and shinier than the Essence Absolue did. I also preferred the scent of the Elixir. Shu Uemura's oil is also slightly more expensive at £39 for 150ml.

I much preferred both these oils to the Morrocanoil which contained a lot of silicon and weighed my hair down.

Would I recommend it?
If you don't mind spending a little extra for shiny, sleek hair, then I would recommend it. However, there may be cheaper products out there that do the job just as well. What I especially like about this oil is that it is silicone free and does feel weightless on the hair.


Pros:
- silicone free
- multi-functional: can be used before shampoo as a precleanse treatment, on towel dried hair as a leave-in conditioner/serum, as well as on fully dried hair as a finishing gloss
- left my hair feeling nourished, shiny, soft and sleek whilst not weighing my hair in the slightest
- a little goes a long way, so the 125ml bottle would last quite some time

Cons:
-pricey at ~ £32, though I have seen it sold for ~£26 online

My Haircare Routine

Hi everyone, I thought I'd do a post about my current haircare routine. My hair was pretty dry and damaged before switching to this routine, so I wanted to share it with those who may have similar hair type to mine.

Brief breakdown of my hair type:

I know alot of oriental girls (my sister included) have beautiful, silky straight hair. I'm not one of these girls. My hair is naturally extremely thick (bushy?), wavy and can get quite coarse if I don't look after it properly. Hairdressers in Malaysia would complain about how long it takes them to dry my hair, and my dad would forbid me to buy any hair products with the words 'volumising' on it.

In the past year, I've dyed my hair a few too many time. My hair is quite long (~2 inches above the waist), and was damaged from all the colouring, so I needed changed my haircare routine in order to redeem the look of healthy hair.

Products in my current routine:

Shampoo/conditioner - Liz Earle Botanical Shine Shampoo (for all hair types)
- Liz Earle Botanical Shine Conditioner (for dry and damaged hair)

Occasional use: serum and shine spray - Aveda Brilliant Emolliant Finishing Gloss
- Morrocanoil Glimmer Shine Spray

Liz Earle Botanical Shine Shampoo and Conditioner

I bought these after reading numerous glowing reviews about this from British beauty bloggers.
'High performance, colour safe formulation with innovative, naturally derived cleansers for a rich, creamy lather'. It's SLES (sodium lauryl ether sulfate) free, using naturally derived gentle cleansers. (SLES has been shown to cause skin and eye irritation).

Natural active ingredients includes:
aloe vera, west African shea, sweet orange essential oil, rosemary essential oil, vitamin E and apple fruit extract

I LOVE the shampoo! It has the most heavenly, gorgeous scent that I would describe as sweet and fruity. It doesn't lather as much as traditional shampoos, so it takes a bit to get used too. Only a little amount is needed, so I get more from this 200ml tube of shampoo than other formulas.

The conditioner is really rich and moisturising. Again, only a little conditioner is needed (with other conditioners, I usually have to use a lot of it to achieve smooth hair). After using the shampoo and conditioner, my hair is very shiny, super soft and smooth, and smells delicious!


Aveda Brilliant Emmolliant Finishing Gloss
I use this on clean, towel-dried hair whenever I want my hair to look extra polished an smooth. This gloss smooths ends and imparts a great glossy shine. The gloss is very thick and can be a bit greasy, so only a very small amount is needed.

Morrocanoil Glimmer Shine Spray
I really love this product. It gives my hair an amazing shine. To limit the amount of product I use, I try to use this product as little as possible, so end up only using it on special occasions. The scent is a little overpowering, so am not too keen about that. (I was not using this shine spray in the above pics of my hair, and it makes my hair a whole lot shinier than in the photos).