About a month ago I was wandering around Boot's looking to buy some more conditioner.
I'm a life long fan of Aussie 3 Minute Miracle but like everything I'm begrudged to buy it unless it's on offer, and it wasn't. However, at the time they were doing 3 for £10 offers on professional hair care.
Umberto Ginannini caught my eye mainly because I'd read a few reviews on Backcomb in a Bottle (BIAB) and was intrigued to try it. This way I could buy it, plus 2 conditions. Win win situation?
So along with Backcomb in a bottle I picked up.
Plump&Sexy Volume Conditioner from the Glam hair range (same range as BIAB)
Moisture Replenishing Hair Mask from the Spa Rituals range. All RRP £5.61 - so I got a fair bit off.
Firstly I'll start by reviewing the Backcomb in a Bottle. You may have read reviews on this before so I'll keep it short and sweet. It is basically spray gel in a bottle. Sure it keeps the hair that I backcombed in place, but in doing so it knots my hair up so badly and is very sticky.
Personally if you are going to backcomb your hair I'd suggest using hairspray to set it, or the fabulous Dust It from Schwarzkopf. I'll use it up but I wouldn't bother re-purchasing. Although it actually does do a good job of setting curls without the crispy look.
Next up is the Plump&Sexy volume conditioner.
Firstly, I love the bottle, but screw tops aren't very practical in the shower, tsk tsk, but it's not the be all and end all of a conditioner, so I'll let it slide.
The actual product itself has a very strong smell, the kind of smell that stays on your hair after the conditioner has been washed off. It's a funny smell, very hard to describe, personally I like it but it might be too 'chemaclly' for some peoples liking. I rarely use shampoo/conditioner that makes my hair smell lovely after I've wash it off so I did have some appreciation for it.
Unfortunately that's as far as it goes. For me, a test of a good conditioner is how slippery it makes my feel whilst in using it, plus as I rarely brush my hair before washing it (I know, I know..slaps wrist) it needs to be able to get my knots out in the shower! I could tell from the first wash that this just wasn't the case with Plump&Sexy. Worst still it left a horrible residue on my hair once I'd blow dried. I've tried to persevere. making sure I rinsed really well, but every time I use it I get the same greasy/dirty feeling on my ends and at the same time it made my hair look really dry. I guess I did see some volume in my hair, but it's almost like the thickness in my hair was down to the product leaving it's residue!
I won't re-purchase this, nor will I even use it up. Maybe those with thicker locks might find that the residue it leaves useful in giving volume, but sadly it's not a product for me.
Last up is the Moisture Replenishing Hair Mask from the Spa Rituals range. You get a good 200ml for your dollar, which isn't bad. And it smells absolutely lush! It really does remind me of a lovely spa smell. Again, like the conditioner it leaves its whiff on your hair after it's been washed off.
Now as for the product, it goes on like a dream, and makes my hair feel so silky, just like amazing. Seriously, it really feels like it's doing it's job. Sadly though, it has the same residue leaving problem as the Plump&Sexy conditioner, but probably 10 times worse. I guess the hair mask does kind of warn you of potential problems though....
"finer hair should use sparingly and hair prone to excess oil should apply only to damaged ends"
Oh I see, I probably come into both categories there. My hair is prone to oil and although it's not that fine, it's still not that thick either. But to you know what Umberto? I have tried using sparingly, and I have tried using only on my ends, and I've tried using sparingly on my ends, yet I still get the same result. I really, really want to like this hair mask, and I'll probably put up with greasy feeling locks for once in a while, just to get that silky feeling that really makes me think that it's repairing all my split ends magically. Plus what I have found is that if you use it and then wash your hair again a couple of days later you get that same silky feeling when wet.
I'm going to continue to use the hair mask but probably only when I know the next day I'm just going to stuff my hair up on head for work or the gym. Repurchase wise? The jury's still out on that, like I said, I want to love this product so much....
All in all though, Umberto? Sort out your hair care product formulas!
Anyone else used Umberto Giannini's products?
