Does this Clay shampoo range really prevent oily roots?!

4 July, 2017 - 10:56pm by - Head Pixie | 7 Comments

The new L'Oreal Paris ELVIVE Extraordinary Clay range claims to rebalance oily roots while hydrating dry ends. How can one range do both?! We've got two of our crew members, who have super oily roots, to put it to the test. And they're going to be writing a daily diary so we can all find out if these really work!

By BR Kellie and BR Zoe

KELLIE DAY 1: Hair Wash Day.

Not a week goes by where the Queen of BR tells me I have lovely hair and should wear it out more often. The thing is I'd love to wear it out - but not only is it frizz-prone and wavy/curly/straight, the bigger issue is that it's oily as all get out. Mornings are usually a rushed affair so my hair goes up in a bun, and second day hair can be straightened but within 30 hours it's a hot oily mess. I fear for the birds. And up it goes in a bun again. And I go back to washing daily. Here's an example of the post-30 hour hair situation...

Unlike my usual 'shampoo, condition and go' routine, this routine starts with putting the L'Oreal Clay Mask onto my scalp. On opening the tub I'm struck by the scent of the mask. It's quite medicinal, and it doesn't have that earthy smell you usually find in clay masks. Applying this is... well... it feels funny! It's quite sticky and gloopy and you have to massage it into your roots, ensuring you cover your whole head, and it feels like it's drying as you massage. I decided to go a bit at a time doing sections - so front first, then down the centre of my head, around the back edges, and then I filled in the areas I'd missed. Five minutes and a peruse of the Beauty Review forum and I was good to jump in the shower and massage the mask out.

This was an easy process and it didn't do what I thought it would. I expected my hair to feel stiff post-rinse, but it felt soft. Next up - shampoo. It's a thick and creamy-coloured shampoo, with that clean medicinal scent, and you don't need a lot of it. Seriously. I did my usual splodge and my hair lathered up massively, which was quite enjoyable to feel squishing through my fingers - but a waste. Less is more.

The conditioner has a lighter feel than the shampoo, but the scent continues, it goes through the hair easily and once rinsed out my hair felt super silky and detangled.

As usual (because in the name of science I figure it's best to stick to my routine) I chucked it up in a top-knot and went about my day.

What will it look like tomorrow? Will it stave off the oil? Is there a chance I can wear my hair out and feel a bit fancy? Twenty-four hours will tell....

ZOE DAY 1: Clay Play

My hair is two things. Dry through the lengths. (Well, bottle blonde will do that to a girl.) And oily at the roots. Sigh. After one day of not washing my hair, my roots are oily. After two days my hair stands up on end. Seriously, this is my hair less than 48 hours after it's last been washed. I'd just taken it out of my bun. (Yes me and Kellie are typical oily haired girls. Buns are life.)

So I'm stuck. I know its better for my processed, coloured and heat styled hair, not to be washed every day and yet my oil slick roots just aren't a look I want to rock. So if a product can lengthen the time between washes I'm all in. Even if it means putting a clay mask on my head.

So this clay business. The instructions say to apply it to the scalp and massage in, leave for 5 minutes and rinse until the water is clear. Seems simple enough, but, I'm a bit un-co. So I enlisted Beauty Review's Nat to get her hands dirty and apply the clay for me. She concurred that kind of like applying at-home colour, a second pair of hands was useful, if only for ensuring the scalp was fully covered.

It really does feel like a clay face mask - cool to touch, a wee bit of tightening and yeah, clay-y. The pictures probably look exactly as you expect right?

It was really easy to wash out, I followed with a double cleanse using the matching shampoo and used the conditioner after that. My hair felt super soft and the smell was just so fresh!

So I guess it's time to sleep on my freshly washed hair and see if clay is the secret to rebalanced roots!