The Huile d'Ales Pre-Shampoo Intense Hydrating Oil Treatment is actually the first product that I ever purchased from this company, way back in 2004. I bought this hair treatment when I was an associate at Bath and Body Works and I visited the King of Prussia store for the first time and I got all the exposure to brands other than their house brands. This was even before King of Prussia had a Sephora in the mall and this was one of the few stores that I could play with all kinds of beauty brands and find out all kinds of information about brands that I had never heard of. I am still waiting for King of Prussia to get a Space NK or a Blue Mercury...
Huiles d'Ales is one of those products that you will either love or hate, it is one of the most intense hydrating treatments that I have ever used and is great for someone with dry, thick, and/or coarse hair. If your hair is oily or fine, then this product will be the kiss of death for any volume that you are attempting to induce into your hair. This is a product that is very similar to the Ojon Hydrating Treatment but without the awful smell...
"A moisturizing pre-cleansing ritual for dry hair. Created in 1967, this original rejuvenating formula is named after the Phyto founder himself. Its unique blend of essential oils revitalizes the tresses, restoring healthy radiance to dry hair. This water-soluble complex can be safely mixed into the coloring process to protect hair and scalp from damage." I have never mixed this into any type of hair color but I will bring this product to stylist and see what she thinks about this and how/if it could be done.
I have used this product in two different ways. In each case, I use one entire vial of the oil and pour it into the spray bottle that is provided with the product. I spray the oil all over my hair (mostly from the ear level and down) and then wrap a towel around my hair and let it sit for about half an hour. I have used it with the just the towel several times and other times I have used a hair dryer blowing directly on my head for most of the half hour in order to keep the product hot. Most stylists and chemists believe that the product will penetrate deeper if continous heat is applied and then I reap more rewards from this product. I prefer to use a hair dryer with this product but I haven't always had the time to simply devote half an hour just to my hair. I am more likely to use this product and wrap up my hair while doing homework or blogging.
This product is a very intense hydrator and you will see results from it, my hair is much softer and very shiny after use of this product. However, I do not recommend using this product right before you plan to go out, it left my hair worse before it started to get better. Let me explain fully. Right after I use this product, I need to wash my hair twice to get all the excess oil out and then I condition my hair like I normally would. With this method, I usually cannot get all the excess oil out and my hair will look awful for the rest of the next/the next day (if I do it at night). My hair acts like it is pouring outside and behaves like the humidity is 100%, lots of frizz and hard to style. As soon as I wash and condition it again at night, it straightens perfectly the next day and garners me tons of compliments on how pretty it looks. I prefer to use this product at night and then only before a day where I know that I will be going nowhere for about 24 hours. I am going to try to get my hair into a top knot the day after using this product and see if I can improve the appearance a bit of my "day after treatment" hair. I will report back as to how this works.
The smell of this product is so much better than the Ojon treatments, this product has a very strong herbal smell but it is still very pleasant and does not detract from the formula. Everyone knows that I cannot stand the scent of the Ojon product and it is a trial for me to ignore it while it is working wonders on my hair, this product works the wonder but doesn't make me gag while it is sitting on my head. I use this product once every two weeks, Phyto suggests using it once a week but with the time that it takes for my hair to improve after the treatment, I cannot devote one day every week to not leaving my home. I really don't believe that it needs to be used once a week unless your mix chemical treatments and your hair is really bad, once every two weeks is enough to reap all the benefits without wasting product.
My only thoughts on improving this product is the packaging, the vials are pre-measured as to the amount that Phyto thinks should be used. The amount is best for medium hair, if your hair is long then you need about two vials and if your hair is short then you are wasting product by having to use the whole vial. If it was up to me, I would prefer this product to be contained in a regular size bottle and the user can decide how much they wish to pump out. This is my only complaint with the product and it isn't that much of one (at least for me). One vial is pretty much perfect for my hair, I wouldn't mind using a bit more but two vials would be too much for it and I only use one.
This product is a great deep treatment for dry or chemically treated hair, it will hydrate any dry areas and improve the shine factor and the overall appearance of the hair. This was my first love from Phyto and continues to remain a favorite treatment of mine. If you love the effect of the Ojon products but hate the smell, this product will be a favorite.
photo courtesy of Sephora
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