HAIRepair Vital Oils For Hair and Scalp (Review)

Ever come across a product that you love and are surprised that it’s not been championed by others? 

ORS HAIRepair Vital Oils Hair and Scalp For Hair & Scalp is this product for me.

What the company say: 

This non greasy oil revitalizes dry hair and relieves dry scalp. Formulated with a rich blend of eight oils including grapeseed and sweet almonds oils. Easily penetrates the hair shaft and soothes the scalp. It won’t weigh the hair down or clog the pores.

I'm no stranger to the HAIRepair line from ORS, regularly using the Nourishing Conditioner and Anti Breakage Creme and was happy to return home to find a few items waiting for me from their reps.  When my hair was permed it was very fine and didn’t like heavy oils at all; since transitioning this has continued to be the case. HAIRepair Vital Oils For Hair & Scalp was used by me after washing, to seal my ends and revitalise my hair weekly. The sweet smelling oil is lightweight, non greasy and extremely effective. My hair thanked me for using it by co-operating and not breaking. After giving birth I went through a period of having some serious dry hair despite breastfeeding and this was one of the products I attribute to maintaining my sanity -there is a school of thought that believes that nursing after birth starves off any of the (hormonal) changes that invariably occur to hair. I would rub a tiny amount (10p size) into my hair and it enabled me to get a comb through my hair without breaking when I wanted to create a parting. The nifty applicator provided some help to my dry looking scalp and it didn’t stain or seep through my headscarf like some of the heavier oils I have used.  

Whilst there is something to be said for having differing oils bottled separately, I am a big fan of HAIRepair Vital Oils and recommend it for my reforming product junkies tired of buying copious amounts of oils or for anyone new to moisturising and sealing who want a single product to impart the benefits / goodness oil into their hair. 

Check out my previous review on ORS HAIRepair line (Conditioner) and their response to my question on the moisture / protein balance of the line.

My thanks to ORS's reps in the UK for gifting this product to me.

What are your favourite oils to use and why?





*Feel free to check out my Discloure Policy regarding gifted item(s)

Black Hair Debate -it rages on

Whilst checking out Natural Belle's blog I came across a video she had embedded from YT that I wanted to share with you. A group of university students had taken the time to film a discussion on 'Afro Hair'.

 I feel that increasingly, as the battle lines are drawn between Natural /Perm /Weave - we, as Black women, are being drawn into an unhealthy and self defeating debate over something that is in danger of distracting us from 'real' pertinent issues in society. I would rather us talk about the removal of established access routes into higher education by the imposition of tuition fees; removal of racism off of the political agenda and promoting positive images of all ethnicities within the City to positions of 'power & influence' than shoot the breeze of such trivialities of the state of someone’s hair....but I know that not everyone thinks I like me.

Check out the clip below

Debate on Afro Hair, hosted by Dwayne Wright, vice president of ACS MANCHESTER (African Caribbean Society). Filmed on the 12th December 2011 at Manchester Metropolitain University. (23:10)

My final thought is this...
We all come in differing shapes, sizes, hues and temperaments – surely our hair will not all be the same. 

Lets respect each other and stop making assumptions.

Organic Root Stimulator: Hair Repair Nourishing Conditioner

Recently I mentioned that I have embarked upon a Healthy Hair Journey in order to learn more about how to take care of my permed hair. In the process of doing so I had gone out and purchased a number of products to assit me with my task, mainly natural oils and changed shampoo. Despite these purchases, I hadn't noticed a change in the general dryness of my hair, it was beginning to crunch when I handled it - argh!

During one of my many trips to my local hair supply shop, my eyes had lingered on the new line HaiRepair [sic] line from Organic Root Stimulator (ORS).  Recalling the information I had read regarding the need to gain a balance between protein / moisture, the Nourishing Conditioner struck a chord as possible solution to getting moisture back in my hair and I popped a sachet into my basket.  That evening I followed my recent routine of pre-pooing my hair with olive oil, washed with my sulfate free shampoo and decided to add the Nourishing Conditioner in to deep condition (DC) my hair, including olive oil and hemp oil on top (as I had done the previous week). I then left this on for 30 minutes. Although I'm not a fan of bananas I did love the smell and was really happy with the results of the conditioner. My hair was far easier than the previous week to detangle and the resulting texture made me feel that it seemed a lot happier with this new conditioner.

I have used the conditioner again, this time DC with a heat cap and received even better results. This week I added ORS HaiRepair Anti Breakage Creme [Sic] to my routine. However I worried that  I could be overdosing my hair with too much protein /moisture and contacted Organic Root Stimulator via Facebook to ask where the product sat on the scale and have provided you with and excerpt of their response below. (I will review the Anti Breakage Creme once I have used it for long enough). 

Organic Root Stimulator response to my question: 

Where does these two products fall on the moisture / protein line?

"...The Nourishing Conditioner is a balance of moisture and protein. With enough moisture to take care of dryness and enough protein to take care of weak and damaged hair. So in summary, if the hair had more or less the same degree of dryness and weakness we would recommend this conditioner (Not extreme breakage). The bamboo adds elasticity to hair, as the type strengthening bamboo adds to the hair is of a strong and flexible nature not only to the hair shaft but also the hair follicle, also adding shine. The bananas adds the moisture and some of the shine. If the hair is so damaged that it's shedding this usually (not always) indicates that more protein than moisture is needed therefore we would recommend hair mayonnaise. If the hair is damaged, dry and weak due to colour or heat we would recommend using the hair masque which is an intense treatment.

Anti Breakage Creme- the same applies, balancing the correct moisture and protein levels in hair allowing it to be moisturised and strengthened. Bamboo extract is used for the strengthening and shea butter for softening and adding moisture both adding shine.

Overall the Hair Repair range is targeted more for the needs of the hair where a large number of our products are designed essentially for the scalp to the hair. There is enough moisture and protein in the said items to balance the moisture and protein levels in hair. Designed to address the needs of hair before it gets to the hair restoration state. "

This explanation made sense to me and I will be continuing to use the conditioner during my wash as I am more than happy with the results thus far. I like the idea of this product being a balance between protein / moisture and will let you know how I get along with the Anti-Breakage Crème in due course. 

*My thanks to Organic Root Stimulator for responding so quickly to my question.

Have you tried products from this line, what did you think?

Healthy Hair Journey

For those of you who have followed me on Twitter you may have caught my tweet of this picture, marking my decision to start a Healthy Hair Journey *scary face*.

My hair is chemically relaxed (permed) and has been for the last 15 years. Over the last few months I have enjoyed reading blogs and watching videos of people documenting their Health Hair Journeys (HHJ) be it relaxed to natural / growing their relaxed hair. It has gradually dawned on me that I don’t actually know enough about how to care for my hair in its chemically altered state and this concerned me, prompting my decision to strive for knowledge and invest more time into my hair. 

My hair is very dry and it breaks a lot. It drives my BF mad to find stands of my hair acting like tumble weed on the floor and I hate to see strands on my clothes. Whilst I have read a lot about the benefits of Co-Washing I still can’t get over my need to shampoo first,  so I thought I would compensate by going sulphate free as much as possible with my shampoos and conditioners. 

This shampoo was one of the first items I purchased and was excited to try it. I didn’t expect the sulphate free shampoo to wash my hair and was pleasantly surprised that it provided a decent lather to successfully cleanse my hair. My hair was moist, smooth and supple in texture after each use; for some reason I expected it to strip my hair but was so glad that this wasn’t the case. 

One of the consequences of reading all of these blogs and watching so many videos is that I have become a bit of a product junkie of late. It has gotten to the point where the people in my local hair shops know me by sight enough to stop following me around and actually smile when I come in. I will be documenting my progress in this blog and how I get along with the other products I have been using where appropriate. 

If you have any hints, suggestions or tips them please feel free to drop me a line or send me a link. I initially found it confusing but am getting used to some of the terms (co-washing/ baggying, DC) but am open to receiving any help you care to give.