Yesterday, for the first time in a very long time, I took out my bottle of MoroccanOil Oil Treatment to use. As I noted in an earlier review, this oil was great for my hair in a very cold environment, but here in this hot humid Malaysian weather, it quickly weighed my hair down with daily use. However, my hair has been feeling unnaturally frizzy of late and this oil tamed it down a treat. No more lion’s mane! It was when I was looking at the small range of hair treatment oils on my dresser and realised just how they fell nicely into different price ranges – Save and Splurge time! 😀
I must say here that I don’t take very good care of my hair. Yeah like nails, if beauty blogging was judged on us being all rounded polished from head to toenails, boy! am I a failure 😛 But we’re not – yay! 😀 So I’m a shampoo and conditioner gal and off and on, I slap on a hair mask (usually one of the anti-frizz ones from different price spectrums). However, I blow dry my hair most evenings so it looks nice the next morning so a hair treatment oil helps keep frizzies at bay, and keeps hair from drying out too much.
Here are my top picks from different price spectrums 😀
Save: L’Oreal Paris Smooth Intense Anti-Frizz Serum Leave In – RM20+
An inexpensive leave in serum containing Argan Oil (probably in very small doses). I believe its easily available at most pharmacies and grocery stores and I don’t know why I never reviewed it before (I could swear I had!) but I like this for being an inexpensive serum that works!
I took this with me to London last year where the weather was cold and my hair frizzy and it worked about as well as the MoroccanOil did. I have short hair, so I usually just use a pump, run it through towel-dried hair and then blow dry. The texture is very light and fluid. My hair doesn’t frizz up, it isn’t heavy and doesn’t weigh down my hair and it keeps hair manageable. Back here, I use it whenever I see it or when I remember or when my hair starts puffing up and making me look like a mushroom head.
Works every time and a bottle will last you… well, forever! 😛 Ok not forever if you use it daily but for a long time.
Splurge: MoroccanOil Oil Treatment – £29.90 (RM150) Review here
This is rather pricey but you use so very little that I’ve barely made a dent in this bottle since I got it. I usually use it on damp hair before blow drying, and it detangles my hair, and somehow, speeds up the blowdrying process so I get the job done more quickly. Not sure how they do it, but they do.
I do find however, that of the 3 featured here, the texture is the thickest and heaviest. If I use it for 3 days running, I get hair that looks lank and feels heavy. So I just use it off and on, on days when I want to tame a lion’s mane. Of the 3 featured also, the packaging is the most unfriendly, being an open mouth glass bottle with no stopper so its impossible to measure just how much to use.
I usually just place my palm over the mouth, upend the bottle once, and whatever’s left is enough for me. That’s how I was taught to do it, and that’s how I still do it. At time of writing, I believe MoroccanOil is still not yet available in Malaysia.
Splurge Kerastase Elixir Ultime Beautifying Oil – RM138 Review here
For a product from luxury hair care brand Kerastase, I wouldn’t call this one pricey, simply because it, like all the other hair oils featured here, will last you a long time. The texture of the oil is lighter than MoroccanOil and does not weigh my hair down as much.
I use this as I do the other oils, on damp hair before blow drying and it keeps my hair frizz free and looking smooth. About half a pump is sufficient for my short hair, and its easy to control the amount because it comes in a pump. You can travel with this one too, because its a plastic bottle and the pump locks. The only thing I’m not very keen on is the slight coconut scent I smell in this one. Do bear in mind that scents are very personal things and coconut oil is not a scent I like in anything. It is however very slight so its not something that will actually bug anyone.
My Pick
If I had to arrange the 3 in order of preference, it would be L’Oreal Smooth Intense, Kerastase Elixir Ultime and then MoroccanOil. I pick L’Oreal first because its quite similar in texture to Kerastase (which is owned by L’Oreal) except the Kerastase is a little thicker in texture; so I go for price instead. I must say however, that I do like all 3 and will use them interchangeably. However, when my hair feels too frizzy and unmanageable, MoroccanOil does a better job in taming it quickly as compared to either Kerastase or L’Oreal. However, if I wanted a lighter hair serum that I could use more often, I’d go for either Kerastase or L’Oreal.
Have you tried any of the hair oil treatments featured here? Do you take good care of your hair and do you have a favourite hair oil treatment that I might have missed?
Paris B
L’Oreal Smooth Intense Leave In Serum retails for RM20+ at most pharmacies and grocery stores, Kerastase Elixir Ultime Beautifying Oil retails at RM138 at all authorized Kerastase salons and MoroccanOil Oil Treatment was purchased from London for £29.90 at the Stephan Way salon. I believe MoroccanOil is not yet available in Malaysia at time of writing.
Save and Splurge is where I show you similar items by different brands that I have tried. They may not work quite the same way, but it’ll offer you options for your wallet for a similar effect/product. Do note however, that it is based on products I have tried, so whilst there are many save and splurge options out there, these are my views. You can find more under the category of Challenges.
The L’Oreal one sounds like a pretty good deal 😀
Do you use any heat protectant on your hair when you blow dry?
Actually I don’t use heat protectant. I’m terribly lax with my hair so these serums are the only concession I make 😀
i like the kerastase version n i’m into the second bottle already 🙂
wow! That good huh? 😉 As you can see, mine is still hardly used 😛
I’ve used all three!! My fave is the Kerastase Elixir Ultime – the L’Oreal has too many silicones in it for my taste. I totally agree with you on the Moroccan Oil – I’ll only use this after washing my hair in very small doses, and not in humid places like Muscat!
Yes I do like the Kerastase one very much too! And the MoroccanOIl one as you have pointed out, works well but needs a tiny little bit only and in my sort of weather can quickly turn hair lank
I’ve tried all of these but the L’Oreal, I love Kerastase much more than Moroccanoil, totally agree that it’s too heavy but Kerastase is perfect!
Yay! You agree too 😀 Moroccanoil does work very well though, that I agree. Its just too heavy where its warm 😛
I’m using the L’oreal one, currently on my 2nd bottle. It’s kinda lightweight and smells nice too. Few friends (including men) changed to this for frizz-free hair. But now the price is around RM34-35, a huge increase within a year 🙁
Oh boo to the price increase! Thanks for letting me know Addy!
I have used the L’oreal Smooth Intense before, when I did my rebonding for the first time, on and off colouration, and curling.
haha, I think I’ve revealed it. It’s a really, really, really great product, and like you say, last a long, long time. I think it was a good 1 plus, 2 years?? I finished my one and only bottle just when I found organic shampoo. And good shampoo really saved my hair, till now. I realise I don’t need anti-frizz serums or leave-in conditioning/sprays, etc. =DDD
I recommended this to my brother after he went for rebonding and dye, and spoilt his hair, despite me advising not to. hahaha.
Which organic shampoo do you use? I have tried a few but I end up with the same problem. They all start out ok and then my hair starts to dry and goes back to being frizzy. I think its to do with my hair type and texture 😛
Nature Gate Herbal Hair Shampoo and Conditioner. Actually I just took it cos it came in a twin pack and was on discount… …
haha, actually I also don’t know what really helps frizzy hair, but have been fighting with it since my wavy hair genes started to show… …
I am very lazy with my hair. My face is basically the only part of me that I take care of really XD I don’t use any products on my hair, I actually use pure sweet almond oil. Just one or two drops scrunched into the ends and my hair is lovely, soft and manageable. it isn’t cheap, but its the cheapest out of the oils good to use on hair (jojoba and cocunut are so expensive) and I use so little it lasts forever 🙂
Sigh, I’m the same! I do use body oils more often now so my arms don’t look like a scaly dry skin mess anymore but my legs could do with some TLC 😛
I have something by Loreal too, that is sulfate free, but I don’t remember the name of it. I like it, and it does seem lighter than Moroccan Oil. However, nothing I have tried (even the Shiseido one) holds a candle to how much I enjoy my Moroccan Oil. It makes my hair dry so fast, and therefore I don’t have to use the blowdryer as long. Total win!
I remember seeing a sulfate free L’Oreal range in our pharmacies recently. The name escapes me too 😛 I think in drier weather, the MoroccanOil is the way to go. Hair dries so quickly and looks lovely! I really enjoyed using it while I was in London 🙂
High five again, Paris! Here is another shampoo + conditioner + blow drying person! 🙂
I have used the Kérastase quite a few years ago, but I’m not too fond of Kérastase products in general. I think they are pretty overpriced for what they do. I’m currently using the Schwarzkopf Professional BC Bonacure Oil Miracle Oil Finishing Treatment. Liking it a lot as it smoothes out the frizz and gives a nice shine without looking greasy or weighing down the hair.
Yay Jess! We have much more in common than we think 😉
I think some Kerastase products are good – Oleo Relax hair mask works well for me as does this Elixir Ultime oil. I tried another range (can’t remember which) but it didn’t wow me. I could have used Pantene and not known it 😛 I’ll take a look at the Schwarzkopf the next time. I haven’t used anything by Schwarzkopf in a while 😀
I gave up on salon products because 1) i don’t like the smell 2) it doesn’t work. Leave-in hair products only works for a while, then my hair goes out of shape again. I have bad hair day, almost everyday haha.
Right now, I’m using Kiehl’s Superbly Restorative Argan Dry Oil which works like wonder for me. My excellent mane tamer! Sometimes when I’m lazy to go through the 101 night skincare routine, I’ll lightly massage this oil on my face and wake up to baby soft skin- no oily feeling at all. i really love this product~!
On another note, have you visited Melvita in KLCC? Kiehl’s Argan Dry Oil is mixed with other beauty oils so I wanted to try their 100% argan oil just to feel the difference (RM111 for 50ml, i think it’s rather affordable?). I had a bad experience with their snobbish sales assistants the first time I went there though, so I didn’t purchase anything and have not revisited the store.
I have a bottle of the Kiehl’s oil 😀 I haven’t gotten round to using it but was intending to use it on my body 🙂 Will try your technique and see if it works for me. I did visit Melvita and they do have a nice collection of pure beauty oils which can be used for face and body. I personally found the Argan oil too thick for my liking but I may consider getting the avocado oil in time to come. I’m sorry you had a bad experience there. I haven’t been there outside of a press visit so I’m not perhaps the best person to judge them. If I do go again I will make a note and give feedback to the management if I encounter unpleasantness 😉
i wonder if you have heard/ tried loreal’s mythic oil? i think it’s newly released and the price isnt very expensive..
i had wanted to try the kerastase but now since Loreal is lighter, best i got for that, don’t like thick stuff. Oh ya, did you try the Oleo Relax before too?
I haven’t come across that L’Oreal one actually. If its too new, it probably isn’t within my radar LOL! L’Oreal is lighter than Kerastase but I feel Kerastase is a wee bit more effective. I’ve only tried the Oleo Relax hair mask. Love it.
Hi. Great review. Been reading most of you reviews and they’re all good. You’re good with words! Hehehe.. Ok, i just wanna know something. Can i use these oils if i am using a different shampoo, brand wise? I’m using Schwarzkopf and will it be ok if use the L’Oreal hair serum? Hope to receive a reply soon.
Rgrds.
Hi, I don’t see why using the serum would affect your hair 🙂 I don’t use hair or skincare products from the same brand all the time, so I’d say its pretty safe to use the hair treatment oil.