Splurge vs Save: Hair Treatment Oils

The splurge versus save features have always been one of my favourite magazine reads. Whilst it doesn't mean to say that both items are identical, it's nice to see the different options available depending on your budget.

Here we have two hair treatment oils from opposite ends of the price spectrum. VO5 Miracle Concentrate (£4.99) and Ojon Damage Reverse (£22) Both are designed to smooth and repair damaged hair. There are some obvious similarities: they're both packaged with a dropper to dispense the product and you are advised to apply a couple of drop to wet hair before drying.

I've written about the VO5 Miracle Concentrate before and I still like it very much. It does an excellent job of making my hair feel soft and smooth. It's perfumed and I believe the fragrance is similar to Chanel Chance. I wanted to compare the ingredients in the VO5 to the Ojon Damage Repair. The first thing you will notice is that the VO5 ingredients is rather small compared to the Ojon, not that this is particular indication of how good a product is. It contains Argan oil and silicones as it's functional ingredients. I'd probably describe it as being more synthetic than the Ojon Damage Repair (although the Ojon also contain silicones) but I find the upside to this is that the product transfers to my hair and I don't experience any oily residue on my hands.

Miracle Concentrate

The Ojon Damage Reverse contains 50ml of product like the VO5. As you can see from the long ingredients list, it contains a number of natural oils. Including sweet almond oil, olive oil, palm oil, jojoba oil and sunflower seed oil. The natural oils give this a beautiful smells, it's a rather hippy scent rather than a perfume like the VO5. As well as the oils it also contains silicones and wheat germ extract, which will help to smooth the hair. The Ojon feels quite rich so I have to be careful not to be heavy handed and concentrate on the lower lengths, as otherwise it can weigh down my fine hair. It gives my hair a lovely shine once dry and I find the scent lingers on my hair for most of the day.

Damage Repair

I am a bit of a grouch when it comes to believing that treatments like this can repair hair. In my brutal scientist mind hair is inert and once damage is done it is permanent, unless we're talking about a keratin type of treatment. However, I am happy to concede that you can make the hair look better at a cosmetic level and both of these products do this very well. 

I like both of these hair oils and I think which you choose will depend on your budget and probably your hair type. Those with fine hair might get on better with the VO5 Miracle Conentrate but if you like the idea of a more natural fragrance, I would recommend the Ojon Damage Repair.

Disclosure: PR Samples

Hair Products: One Love and One......Puzzlement!

I went to an event a couple of weeks ago to learn a bit more about what's new from VO5 and TRESemmé. I'm pretty erratic in my use of styling products so I immediately got busy with my bag of products to try, some with great success and others left me feeling like a bit of an old fuddy duddy!

I instantly fell in love with the VO5 Miracle Concentrate. It's the same principle as Moroccanoil containing Argan oil to condition and repair dry or damaged hair but at a fraction of the cost. Most importantly for me, it doesn't have the same strong scent as Moraccanoil. You apply to damp hair and blow dry as normal. It makes my hair feel so soft and silky. Combined with the Kebelo System treatment I had, this leaves me with lovely swishy hair. You can also use it on dry hair like a serum to tame frizz. It's nice used like that too as all of the product transfers to the hair and doesn't leave a slick on your hands like serums tend to. It's excellent and at under £5, I'd highly recommend giving it a try.

Next comes the fuddy duddy moment. I was rather fascinated by the TRESemmé Sky High Plumping Powder. My hair can tend to get a bit flat at the back and I thought it would be interesting to see if this would give me a bid more body. Well, the answer is a resounding yes but I just cannot get to grips with the texture. It comes as a powder which you sprinkle on the hair, I expected it would make my hair feel dry but instead it felt like I'd back-combed my hair and sprayed it with liquid candyfloss. My hair felt really 'dirty' and I wanted to itch at my scalp all the time. I know this product would be wonderful for an up do as it instantly creates 'grippy' hair  with volume but I couldn't get on with this as a everyday styling product. I think I'm at least 15 years too old to really appreciate it. If you're rocking a Russell Brand style bouff, you're going to love this.

Bottom line: Miracle Concentrate is a huge thumbs up but I'm just too long in the tooth for Plumping Powder!


Disclosure: These products were received as part of an event pack. I will be buying and forcing all of my friends to try the Miracle Concentrate.