I'd switched to organic haircare some years ago after getting fed up with regular shampoo and conditioner which did nothing for my hair. While my hair was more manageable after that, it was still dry and frizzy at the ends and pretty dull.
It wasn't until my confinement after having E1 that I was convinced you shouldn't be washing your hair every day. After a week of not shampooing (not because of tradition but because we were still in hospital and I was dead tired), someone commented that my hair was "shiny like a vidal sassoon commercial". Sure, it was greasy, but my hair also felt strong and less straw-like.
So now I only wash my hair twice a week with organic (sulphate-free) shampoo and use a boar bristle brush when dry. Just doing this has made my hair thicker, smoother and stronger. However, living in 30-deg weather means it can feel gross with unwashed hair. So in between wash days, I sometimes rinse with plain water. Since detangling long, wet, unconditioned hair can be quite challenging, I decided I needed something to help this process.
On a whim, I decided to get this penetrating oil from Organix. At only $16, it was a steal.
I don't think my hair has ever seduced anyone, including myself. This is pretty good marketing if you ask me.
Anyway, the oil is as you see it, a pee-colour and quite runny. The consistency is not really that of an oil, but similar to other hair serums in the market.
The instructions are to apply it to towel-dried damp hair. So I did this during my rinse day and combed out the tangles.
It did very well on my hair the first day and when it dried, made it soft and smooth at the ends. We continued like this for a few weeks until one night I realised that my hair was getting drier. What? Why? Naturally, I started applying the oil more frequently, every day when I hadn't washed my hair (that's 5 days a week).
Well guess what? My hair only got drier and drier. At that point, even my synthetic makeup brushes felt better against my face than the tips of my hair.
And then I looked at the back of the bottle:
The first 3 ingredients are silicones, followed by (finally) argan oil, parfum and colouring. Eeeeks. There is more silicone than oil in this product. Which explains why my hair got drier the more I used it.
These silicones in particular are non-water soluble, which means they can only be rinsed off with sulphate shampoos. But because I use a sulphate-free shampoo, the silicones have just been accumulating on my hair, preventing moisture from penetrating the hair (because silicone coats the shaft to create a barrier).
Dammit. If only I had read the ingredient list before purchasing it.
So now that I've stopped using it for a couple of weeks, my hair is slowly feeling better again. Screw this. No more cheap shit. Stow yourselves away, itchy fingers!
Verdict: Regret
Learnt my lesson about being tempted by products without reading the labels. In any case, save your money and invest in real oil that actually does some good to your hair.
Organix products can be purchased at Watsons, Unity and some leading departmental stores.
P.S. If you use a sulphate shampoo and don't mind trying an opened product, feel free to grab it off me!
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