My poor hair has put up with a lot of experiments and abuse over the years (bleaching, colouring and OMG even perming it back in prehistoric times!) and considering all THAT(!) I was never one to think too much about what I used for my daily hair care. I unquestioningly (and ignorantly) used the same old drugstore brand for years and years and...well you get what I'm talking about!
Happily I have quite resilient and forgiving hair and even more happily I've become a just a little fussier about what hair care products I use these days. I prefer my shampoo to be less about detergent and more about caring for my hair - and the less harmful chemicals to apply to my scalp and wash down the drain the better too. As you know I'm regularly colouring my hair - and I'm in a gradual transition stage at the moment - so I really don't want to do anything to risk my salon colour either.
Okay - with my wordy prelude out of the way let's talk about Unico Hair. Unico is an Australian boutique hair company which has been established for 15 years, with 3 salons in Melbourne and their own range of natural hair care products. Unico's philosophy is to "...create a product that is near enough to natural as possible, being completely chemical free and not harmful to hair."
Given the choice of what to review I went back to basics and selected Unico's Intensive Shampoo and Intensive Conditioner because they're "... great for hair that has been chemically treated [that's me]. Particularly good with straight hair [that's definitely me] and also works well with grey providing it is not too coarse. With an added UV protection it helps protect the hair from fading, ensuring colours remain bright and vibrant [Yep, that's me too]." Sounds like pretty much everything I need in my hair care then!
Unico Intensive Shampoo
What Unico says:
"Lavender, Rosemary and Cypress pure essential oils [are] combined with plant derived ingredients to produce a mild formula designed to cleanse without stripping colour or natural oils. Containing 5 vitamins, Vitamins B5 this helps in preventing grey hair and hair loss, Vitamin E which helps improve scalp circulation, which means the end result is Healthy, Sparkling Locks!
Benefits
4 vitamins to keep hair moisturised, UVfilters, Revitalises and moisturises after chemical services"
My impressions:
The first thing is the invigorating and rather unisex essential oil scent. The fresh green aroma is completely different from anything I've ever tried before but a scent like this is my idea of "clean" and I liked it at first sniff.
As my hair is medium-short at the moment I don't need any more than say a 10 cent piece sized squirt of shampoo to be able to work it all the way through my hair which means the 250ml bottle should last a long time - if my husband doesn't get into it! The colourless gel-like shampoo produces a medium lather and a single application is enough to thoroughly cleanse my fine hair - I wash my hair every day and I'm happy with how it's looking. The formula certainly hasn't stripped away my hair colour or dried out my hair at all so I'm going to continue using this until the last drop.
Unico Intensive Conditioner
What Unico says:
"Intensive conditioner is specially formulated for colour treated hair without being too heavy, the hair is left revitalised and moisturised after being chemically treated. Containing essential oils, Lavender, Rosemary and Cypress which are great for helping hair loss, dandruff, oily hair and coloured hair. Containing vitamin B5 this helps prevent greying hair and hair loss, Vitamin E which helps improve scalp circulation, the result is naturally soft, shiny and healthy hair.
Benefits
4 vitamins to keep hair moisturised, UV filters, Revitalises and moisturises after chemical services"
Benefits
4 vitamins to keep hair moisturised, UV filters, Revitalises and moisturises after chemical services"
My impressions:
The creamy white conditioner has the same wonderfully refreshing essential oil fragrance as the shampoo. Again I only need a small amount to condition my hair from the mid-length to the ends and it rinses out easily. It's nice to see me actually using my shampoo and conditioner at the rate of 1:1 for a change so I won't be left with a half full shampoo bottle and no conditioner this time!
The conditioner leaves my hair easy to detangle and comb through when wet and my hair has good body and shine when dry so it's looking pretty healthy for middle-aged, colour treated hair. Also, I find I don't need a ton of thickening spray to get my hair looking less *ahem* fine either so it's definitely not weighed down.
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Unico products are Australian made from pure plant ingredients, vitamins and essential oils. The shampoo and conditioner are $22AUD each which is reasonable for a salon quality product.
Where to buy online:
Adore Beauty
www.adorebeauty.com.au
Bellabox Australia
www.bellabox.com.au
(Products were provided for my consideration. All comments and opinions are my own.)
I love the packaging! So modern and fresh :D I never paid much attention to my hair either, and like you, it's pretty resilient, haha. But I'm trying to be better about it!
ReplyDeleteIt's not very often that I get excited over shampoo packaging but these do look every bit as fresh and uplifting as the product inside!
DeleteI've been trying out their sensitive range and so far so good. Glad to hear that their other range is also of good quality.
ReplyDeletehttp://berrixbeauty.blogspot.com
I'm quite impressed with this range as I can get away with no styling products in my hair and it still has added body and lift :)
DeleteI had no idea your hair was salon coloured! These bottles are adorable and they sound amazing. :)
ReplyDeleteI was quite excited to find these products are locally made and more importantly the formula suits my finicky - sometimes lank, other times flyaway - hair!
DeleteSad but true about my hair colour. I've been colouring it continuosly for the last 12 years! Lol