L'Oreal ELVIVE EXTRAORDINARY CLAY PRE-SHAMPOO MASQUE - Natural Hair Friendly!

L'Oreal Elvive Extraordinary Clay Pre- Shampoo Masque

The benefits of using clays such as Bentonite / Rhassoul / Kaolin to cleanse natural hair has been around of a while. Sadly I have not been able to locate any as I refused to pay a lot for something I was not sure how my hair (or eczema prone skin) would react, so sat on my fence until I happened upon L'Oreal Elvive Extraordinary Clay range at Superdrug. To be fair, L'Oreal and their advertising team had been promoting this new range for a hot minute and I had given it the side eye as I was not sure how it would cope with my hair type. However, seeing the special offer in-store convinced me that if it was a bust then I wouldn't be too out of pocket. 

How I used it

I duly used it at my next wash day (three days after) as my hair had been limp, flaking and funky, crying out for some TLC.I try to pre-poo my hair at each wash and so treated the Pre- Shampoo Masque in the same manner, making sure to fully coat my hair from root to tip. 

The texture wasn't as scary as I thought - it didn't start crumbling all over the place - but went on like a thick conditioner. I took care to make sure that anything that I didn't want damaged was moved, removing all towels etc from the area but this proved to be unnecessary as it didn't stain anything as it was removed from my hair and bath with a healthy amount of H2O and gentle elbow grease. 

I left it on my hair for around six minutes, washing it out with warm water. I was pleased to see that my curls were popping at the back after use but my front section was slow on the uptake. Undeterred, I shampooed, clarified with ACV and went on to deep condition. I typically multi-task when deep conditioning,  washing out hair brushes or cleaning the house and this wash day was not exception. 

After 15 minutes I took of my shower cap (had to cut back on my carrier bags as the plastic tax was messing with my wash day experience) was left amazed at the curl action my hair was displaying. Each  strand was popping! My hair was super soft and felt clean. I had to do a L'Oreal flick in my mirror - 'cause the results were worth it (pun intended). My hair has remained baby soft, free of it's flaky phase and I have noticed that I am not having to use so much product in my hair after wash day. I feel that I had some serious build up that not even my African Black Soap could reach so this clay masque has been a welcome addition to my regime already.

eBay Makeup Brush Dupes

You’ve been in the shop, fell in love with the new makeup brush your favourite Makeup brand has just launched but quickly fall into a post-shop funk when you realise the price of your new heart’s desire. A quick search on ebay will soon have your heart return to a normal rhythm.

NARS Yachiyo Kabuki Brush was like a work of art when I first touched it. I loved the texture of the handle and the softness of the brush. In store £43, ebay £1.58.

bareMinerals Perfecting Face Brush impressed me with its innovative design, the well to deposit liquid foundation just made sense to me. In store £24 /£1.38.

MACs 163 Flat Contour Brush seemed like an excellent way to speed up my contour application and keep it sharp when required. In store £28 / £2.55.

These brushes have been around for a while and there are tons of reviews online to help you learn more. I would recommend that you try ebay, taking the normal necessary precautions, first. The unfortunate situation is many of the sellers are based in China and so you will have to wait at last three weeks for postage.  Spending an average of £1.84 on a brush I wasn’t overly concerned if it arrived and was a dud, however it has been my experience that these brushes have surpassed my expectations, standing up in application and cleaning – result.

Have you purchased any makeup brushes online, what has been your experience?