L’oreal Elvive Smooth Intense Anti-frizz Shampoo

I’ve never really had a favourite shampoo before and am usually content to try any brand which is on offer.  I selected this one as it claims to nourish and tame dry, frizzy rebellious hair and I quite liked the rebellious hair segmentation. 

Ingredients
The ingredients are pretty straightforward and fairy typical of most shampoo formulations which are intended to clean the hair of dirt and grease without irritating the scalp and stinging the eyes, smooth the hair cuticle and condition it, all in the quick time it takes to wash your hair.
Argan Oil – this appears halfway down the ingredient list and I believe is the main ingredient responsible for making this shampoo so effective.  Argan Oil is well known to revive and strengthen hair and tame frizz and is often used as a standalone product and I have friends who swear by using it as a hair treatment.  So to have it incorporated into a shampoo formulation gives you the benefits on a daily basis whilst getting your hair clean.
48 Hour Thermal protection is also offered, usually polymers provide this, but I’m not sure what’s giving the protection in this particular formulation

Natural vs. Performance Shampoos

I’ve been asked many times to recommend a good natural organic shampoo and I tend to ask if that persons hair is completely natural ie never been coloured, hi-lighted, blow dried, permed, heat styled etc.  As most women do not leave their hair completely natural, our hair is going to need ingredients that make it manageable and looking its best, and it’s very hard to achieve this with natural ingredients.  I’ve sold a lot of hair care and hair styling ingredients and it’s very hard to get a natural organic hair product with the performance of a more chemical based one. 

Good Hair Ingredients

Silicones are excellent, they smooth down the cuticles to give a more glossy effect with less flyaway
Vegetable proteins are absorbed into the hair keratin to strengthen the hair – actually beer would be a good source of this!
Quarternium and guar gums for conditioning
Oils – petrochemical or vegetable oil based are always good for improving shine and conditioning

Hair Type Segmentation

The only difference between blondes and brunette (hair that is) is that brunette hair is thinner, so not much difference between shampoos, extracts with blonde or brunette references ie chamomile or horse chestnut could be used but this would be in minuscule quantities.  Most designer hair ranges are made by contract manufacturers who also produce the supermarket ranges and would likely use very similar formulations, remember hairdressers are not cosmetic scientists, the biggest difference between a designer shampoo and supermarket shampoo is the profit margin, not the formulation or packaging costs!

Rating

Value for money – available from most stockists of shampoos and usually < £3.00 for 250 ml
Effectiveness – the foam is noticeably creamer than other shampoos and I now find after over a month of regular usage I occasionally need to use condition and serum instead of every time I washed my hair to make it look half decent
Pampering factor – nice creamy foam, fragrance, and hair is nicely cleansed without the aggressive squeaky feeling, and feels much softer and yes, is not so rebellious!
Highly Recommended