Ojon Dry Recovery Hydrating Smoothing Cream

I haven't been really trying many new products for my hair lately, I have been buying Matrix Color Care products from my salon and I have been so happy with them that I have been using them almost every single day.  I should be changing up my haircare product more often so that I can avoid any type of residue from forming on my hair and I have decided that I should order a few new products from Sephora and go back to alternating between brands.  I just started looking back through my stash of products and I found this Ojon product that I bought at the end of last fall and then put away until I used my Alterna Bamboo Oil up.  I just finished that product two weeks ago so I brought this cream out and have been using it for about a week now.  I have always loved Ojon' performance but until recently, the scent of the products have made me shy from using them on a regular basis.  I must not have been the only one since this company has really improved the fragrance of all of their hair care products!

I decided to buy a smoothing cream from this company late last fall, I wanted something hydrating and that will fight frizz in both cold and warm weather.  Ojon was a logical company to look for this product from as they are know for having some of the best hydrating products on the market and their products are designed for coarse hair types.  I bought the Dry Recovery Hydrating Smoothing Cream, a cream that can be used to polish and smoother hair either before or after drying. 

"A nourishing styling cream that adds definition, hydration, and brilliant shine.  This cream instantly helps dyed, dried, or fried hair come alive. It's a nourishing leave-in conditioner with the hair-repairing power of nature's golden elixir, ojon oil, plus blue agave, rich butters, and oils. It tames split ends, flyaways, and frizz, and it's so lightweight you won't know it's there—but it still holds your style.  In healthy hydrated hair, the scales of the cuticle lie flat like the shingles on a roof. But when these scales become damaged, they lift and separate and no longer play their protective role. Water evaporates, cuticles become more brittle, more moisture is lost, and hair becomes drier. This simple daily ritual breaks this vicious cycle. And the refreshing aroma of ylang ylang, sweet orange, and geranium refreshes your spirits."

This product is recommended for use on damp hair but I have read reviews of it being used on dry hair too.  I have only used when my hair is damp so that I can add a bit more moisture and protection before blow drying and straight ironing.  It comes out of the tube with a thick lotion texture and I only have to use a dime-sized drop to cover all of my hair.  I soften it in my hands and then evenly apply it through damp size so that I can style it with the blow dryer. 

I was happy that this cream is a light texture, I was afraid that it would be as thick as some of the Jonathan Dirt products and that I would still need another product to alternate with it.  This product does not weigh my hair down and hasn't created any issues with building up on the ends.  The earthy floral fragrance of the product is much improved from the old "dirt" scent that the first generation of products had and I love the improvement.  I now want to buy more products from Ojon and I will be alternating them with the Matrix products that I currently love. 

photo courtesy of Sephora

Ojon Dry Recovery Shampoo and Conditioner

My last post was about how dry my skin is this winter and now we are going to talk about how dry my hair is too.  I feel like every single winter, my skin and hair just keep getting worse and worse (perhaps Al Gor will have some thoughts on climate change being expressed through the degradation of my appearance!) and I have to enlarge my product collection each month just to get through the cold weather.  I think that I have stumbled upon a great product in the Tarte Pure Maracuja Oil and now I am on to trying to find just as great a hydrator for my hair.  I still color treat my hair so I need a shampoo and conditioner that I can rotate with the Matrix Color Care line.  I will keep buying the products in that line and then change up my other haircare products every few months.  This time around, I will be trying the Dry Recovery Shampoo and Conditioner from Ojon.

I first received samples of these products from Sephora last fall and then I went and purchased the full sizes of both the shampoo and the conditioner.  Before I even saw the results of the use of these products, I was struck by one aspect of the product...the scent!  And not in the way that I am normally struck by the scent of the Ojon products, these two products have a subtle herbal scent and not the strong scent that I have often complained about from the products in this line.  I was expecting the strong, dirt-like fragrance from these two products and I was nearly blown away in the shower when i liked the subtle and herbal scent.

The Sephora website provides both the product information and then why the products function as they do.  "In healthy hydrated hair, the scales of the cuticle lie flat like the shingles on a roof. But when these scales become damaged, they lift and separate and no longer play their protective role. Water evaporates, cuticles become more brittle, more moisture is lost, and hair becomes drier. This simple daily ritual breaks this vicious cycle."  Dry hair normally has scales that lift and then the moisture evaporates normally, chemical treatments and heat styling make the problem even worse and the cycle just continues.  When used together, the Dry Recovery Shampoo and Conditioner have been designed to help combat this problem and to put the needed moisture back into the hair shaft.

"A moisturizing shampoo formulated for dehydrated hair.  Instead of stripping away natural oils like strong action shampoos can do, this gentle coconut-derived cleanser actually preserves them. Ojon oil, nature's golden elixir, helps repair damage in the shower while our Blue Agave Nectar, Macadamia Oil, Jojoba Oil, and Babassu Oil complex helps restore moisture and smooth roughed-up cuticles to keep hydration sealed in. Straw-like strands become soft and smooth as silk.", states the Sephora website when describing the shampoo in the Dry Recovery product line. 

The matching conditioner has the following description.  "A deeply nourishing treatment for dry hair.  This rich, rapid daily moisture-proofing system instantly quenches parched strands and surrounds them in an invisible aura of protection. Formulated with Ojon oil, nature's golden elixir, plus Blue Agave, Shea Butter, Jojoba Oil, and Babassu Oil, this cream smoothes down the hair's cuticle, making dull hair brilliantly shiny. Never greasy or heavy, it smoothes static and tames flyaways too."

Clinical test results have also been provided by the Ojon company.  "Used in combination, Dry Recovery™ Hydrating Shampoo and Conditioner improved the condition of dry, damaged hair by 52%.   82% said their hair felt smoother.  84% agreed their hair was soft. 78% claimed their hair felt nourished."  The results were made under the condition that the shampoo and conditioner were used together each and every time that the hair was washed and conditioned. 

I have been alternating this shampoo and conditioner formula with the Color Care line from Matrix.  The shampoo doesn't strip my hair of color or moisture, it doesn't add moisture but sets the stage for the conditioner to work its magic.  It produces minimal foam since it doesnt contain the Sulfates that are found in many traditional shampoo formulas and rinses clean from the hair.  I was a bit concerned as to how it would cleanse and rinse, I have used sulfate-free formulas before that cannot do either and make my hair worse than before use of the product.  I don't know that a shampoo can really help repair damage, but the formula can help avoid further damage and get the hair ready to receive the conditioning formula.

The conditioner is very hydrating and my hair is much softer after use of this product.  In addition to increasing the hydration level of my hair, it makes it lie flat and then much smoother and easier to blow dry and straighten.  The oils in the conditioner helps to both hydrate and smooth the hair, the appearance is much improved after using this product several times.  I really love this conditioner and now I want to try the Deep Conditioner in this line and see what kinds of results that it provides. 
The one drawback with this line is that it is not listed as being color safe.  It has not stripped my hair color and so far I have had no issues with it in this line, some products from this company have been known to strip color from the hair.  It helps that the shampoo is sulfate-free, it is gentle and doesn't contain ingredients that aren't recommended for color treated hair.  So far I have been having great luck with this shampoo and conditioner.  I do not use it in the first two weeks after I have colored my hair, I use the Color Care line only in this time and then begin alternating for the next four weeks until I color again. I would love to see some clarification on this topic from the company...

photo courtesy of Sephora

Ojon Restorative Hair Treatment

The Ojon Restorative Hair Treatment might be one of the best loved hair products while being one of the most hated at the exact same time.  Let me explain...this mask hydrates and nourishes like nothing else on the market but smells awful.  Simply awful...and the scent lingers the longest with use of the hair mask.  Ojon is one of the most unique brands on the market today, the entire line uses pure ojon oil to help hydrate and restore dry, damaged hair.   This line started out at a group of products only for very dry, damaged hair and has taken off to include products for every single type of hair issue.
First we will start with a description of the ojon oil and the background behind it.  I found the best description on the Ojon website and that is where I will be pulling the information from.  "Everyday sun, pollution, coloring, harsh chemicals, heat styling, friction from combing, diet, stress, and the natural aging process cause serious damage to your hair, making it limp and lackluster, coarse, dull, tangled, difficult to style and manage.  Now whatever the damage, you can transform your hair to perfect health with Ojon hair treatments formulated with nature's golden elixir.  This 500 year-old beauty secret was discovered by Ojon founder Denis Simioni in the remote regions of the tropical rainforest in Central America.  The velvety-smooth, golden elixir is is obtained from the nut of the native Ojon tree and is hand-extracted according to ancient, eco-friendly traditions.  In one year, a single Ojon tree yields less than 8000 nuts, just enough to produce three cups of this precious natural ingredient.  The purity of this precious oil is what creates its natural affinity for hair.  Whenever pure Ojon oil comes into contact with hair, it helps restore radiance, suppleness, bounce, body, volume, and vibrancy to help repair even the most damaged hair."

The nut oil in this product is really what makes it so unique, Ojon owns the patent on this ingredient so the effects from this line are not available from use of any other product.  It is what makes this hair mask so hydrating and repairitve and also what makes this product smell so bad.  I first bought one of these masks several years ago and bought another one when I ran out, the product can't be beat and I learned to ignore the fragrance of it...

The Restorative Hair Treatment is one of the best known products in the Ojon line and the associate at Sephora told me that she recommends this treatment to anyone that complains of dryness or dullness of their hair.  "This clinically proven cult classic is now purified using an exclusive double-filtration method and is fortified with nature's golden elixir plus Rouge Oleifera to create the next generation of our deeply restorative treatment.  After just one treatment, it restores vibrant health to even the most deeply damaged hair.  Plus helps increase hair's strength against breakage.  Hair is soft, silky, and manageable.  A must-have for lifeless, dull, brittle, frizzy, flyway or unmanagable hair."

I use this product about once a month in the winter and maybe once every two months in the summer.  It is more tolerable in the winter months since it smells very strong and I use it with a hot towel on my head.  I coat my hair from the ears down when I use this product and then put a warm towel around my whole head.  I keep the towel warm for about the next half hour with the use of a hair dryer (see why this is not the best to use during the warm weather?!) and then I rinse it off in the shower.  I usually need at least two washings to get all the residue and the smell out of my hair.  It leaves my hair soft and very shiny for the next few weeks and is worth all the trouble that I go through to use it. 

This product is not recommended for use five days before or after hair coloring as it will affect how the hair shaft keeps the color.  I do have to plan when I use this product pretty carefully since I have plan around colorings and when I have the time to really use this product correctly.  This does make the product much more high maintence than many other deep treatments on the market today but the results are just soooo worth the stress.

I noticed when I was looking at this product on the company's website that they have reformulated a bit since I bought my last jar of it.  The company states that they have lightened the fragrance of the product and I am really excited to buy another jar of this now.  I might have to update this post in a few months since my least favorite part of the product have been changed, I am hopeful that this company hasn't changed any other aspect since this is one of the best deep treatments that I have ever used.

photo courtesy of Ojon

Ojon Revitalizing Mist

Ahhh...the unmistakeable scent of Ojon hair care products! And now with a product that I am actually not going to wash out of my hair? If you can't guess, I put off using this product for quite a decent amount of time but one day I ran out of my favorite PhytoMist and this product was sitting in my collection, ready to be taken for a test drive. This is product falls under the category of detangler more than a leave-in conditioner. It is a hydrator but it also helps to smooth the hair at the same time.

Ojon states that, "Fortified with exclusive Ojon oil, an ancient native secret to naturally beautiful hair from Central America's Tawira tribe, known as "the people of beautiful hair". Ojon Revitalizing Mist is a refreshing, weightless, "shake to activate" formula that works like "liquid Ojon" to instantly detangle hair. This pH-balanced formula, enriched with a vitamin blend helps smooth the hair's cuticle layer to allow for a more even application of styling products."

As stated in the description, this product is originally formed into two separate layers and it must be shaken in order for the ingredients to blend and work correctly. I have always blended the two layers and do not plan on trying each layer out by themselves. I use this product at night only, on wet hair before I put it all into a bun for me to sleep in.

My first thought when using this product is that this product doesn't allow the fragrance to be rinsed off. Though I must admit that after using it for two or three days in row, I began to barely even notice the fragrance at all. After about a week of use, I found that my hair was softer than before I started with it and the overall shine factor is greatly improved. I noticed that this product adds to all the build up that I get on my hair from all my smoothing and hydrating hair products, so a deep cleansing shampoo once a week is still a must with this product.

I got this product when Sephora offered a small version of it as a Beauty Insider gift. I am pleased with the results that I have gotten from it so far and will be comparing the ingredients between it and my beloved PhytoMist. PhytoMist is better for use on hair that has been freshly colored so I may have to alternate the two products. The Ojon doesn't strip hair of color but it isn't color protectant and I find that essential for the first two weeks after a salon visit.

photo courtesy of Sephora

Ojon Ultra Hydrating Shampoo and Conditioner

For at least one or two years, every single time that I have gone to purchase a shampoo or conditioner at Sephora, I have been told by one of their associates that I should try the Ojon line of products because I would love it dearly. However, I have been nearly convinced several times until they have opened the bottles to let me smell them. The scent of the products from the line are earthy and somewhat remind me of dirt. This is not what I want my hair to smell like so I have always resisted and purchased another brand. I was surprised about how much the scent of this product line affected me, normally scent is one of the last traits that I consider in a product but there was just something about this scent that I could not get passed easily.

I always hear raves about this line, every magazine loves it and it seems like every supermodel swears by this line. I was intrigued but was afraid that my hair would smell like dirt all day long. Anyway, to make a long story short, Sephora has a great return policy and I just decided to give this one a try. I purchased the Ultra Hydrating Shampoo and Conditioner and my hopes were soaring sky high before I tried this line out.

Ojon describes the shampoo on their website as follows, "Fortified with exclusive Ojon oil, an ancient native secret to naturally beautiful hair from Central America's Tawira tribe, known as the 'People of Beautiful Hair'. Ojon Ultra Hydrating Shampoo is a daily, ultra-rich moisturizing cleanser that conditions hair with exclusive Ojon oil, Shea Butter, and Sweet Almond Protein to add weightless body without static. It's like giving your hair a mini treatment everyday. Formulated to help condition dry or dehydrated hair". This shampoo has a matching conditioner which has almost the exact same description and uses the above listed ingredients to help hydrate and smooth the hair follicle.

The first thing that I noticed when using this shampoo is that the texture is wonderful. It produces a thick, rich lather that I loved. The second thing I noticed was the fragrance (of course!), it is very strong and filled my whole shower with the scent of dirt. Using the conditioner was much the same type of experience, I loved the texture but the scent lingered a bit too much for my liking. The scent did go away quite a bit after I got out of the shower but there is just a hint of it that lingers. After drying my hair, it was much softer than it is normally and was easier to get a comb through. After several uses, I could a difference in the softness and shine.

However...THE SCENT of this product lingers much too much for my liking, especially after repeated uses. and the scent of the oil is nothing that this brand will be able to change without drastically changing the whole product. Which is really a shame since all the other results were much to my liking. What I ended up having to do to make this line work for me is to alternate using Ojon for two days and then use another brand for two days and continue to switch on and off. It seemed to me like the scent built up after several days and continued to strengthen the more times that i used it. I would love to be able to use this line everyday and reap all the benefits but I had to make a compromise and try to reap most of the benefits of use.

photo courtesy of Sephora