Review: Al'chemy Gingko & Jojoba Intensive Moisture Hair Masque

This is the story of my hair. Well, I need to set the scene here a little bit at least...

My hair is generally very tolerant of all the abuse that's been inflicted over the years but occasionally it does let me know when it's a bit fatigued.  You see, my hair is that lovely incongruent combination of oily at the roots, dry at the ends and the situation only gets more aggravated by regular colouring, daily washing and daily heat styling.  The result is some rather fried looking hair ends framing my face so I end up with fluffy, dry looking hair and I'm practically screaming for a trim! 

I use quality shampoos and conditioners, and higher end styling products these days so I'm getting better with my hair but I'll admit I don't take the time out for hair treatments so there's room for improvement. Enter Al'chemy haircare from The Purist Company.

Briefly, Al'chemy is an Australian natural and cruelty free haircare brand. Their products are vegan and free from sulfates, parabens, ethoxylated petrochemical cleansers, propylene glycol, silicones, phthalates, mineral oils, DEA, artificial colours and fragrance. 

Al'chemy Gingko & Jojoba Intensive Moisture Hair Masque

The Gingko & Jojoba Intensive Moisture Hair Masque works to "treat dry, dull and lifeless hair with...a blend of pure botanic actives... such as pure Australian Jojoba and certified organic Avocado oil, Ginkgo and White tea, Vitamins E & B5, Rice Amino acids and Wheat protein, selected to help nourish and intensely moisturize for shiny, healthy looking hair."  

It's suitable for all hair types and Al'chemy say it's ideal for the following hair needs:  

"Helping to intensely hydrate hair

Helping to improve manageability and shine

Helping to protect colour"

My impressions:
Before reading the instructions I thought this would be a weekly treatment but this is a product that can be used every day if needed on either dry or wet hair by applying a small amount to the mid-lengths to ends of the hair.  I have been using it on my towel-dried hair, then blow drying and it only adds a few seconds extra to my morning routine.  I enjoy the natural botanical scent of geranium and patchouli (which isn't as strong as it sounds) and the masque also makes it much easier to detangle my hair before drying.

Once I've dried my hair I've immediately noticed the difference to its appearance as it now looks decidedly less dry and flyaway and more sleek and healthy and it just 'sits' better.  Considering my fragile hair ends have put up with the most prolonged abuse they don't look fragile at all since I've added this step to my daily hair routine. I don't do hair selfies very well but I've included a few so you can get some idea below.

I've definitely noticed an improvement in how my hair behaves and looks since using the Al'chemy Gingko & Jojoba Intensive Moisture Hair Masque so it has become a part of my morning routine.  It has not weighed down my "oily/combination" fine hair so I can see it how it would be suitable for all hair types.  If you're looking for a hydrating daily hair treatment with natural ingredients then I recommend you give this a try.


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Ingredients:

Aqua (purified Australian water), Cetearyl Alcohol*, Panthenol (Provitamin B5), Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil (cold pressed, Australian grown), Behentrimonium Methosulfate(from GMO free Rapeseed), Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein (GMO free), Glycerin*, Lauryl Glucoside*, Sorbitol*, Rice Amino Acids, Glyceryl Laurate*, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil(certified organic cold pressed, Australian grown), Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E Acetate)*, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Gluconate (from GMO free corn), Maltodextrin (GMO free), Citric Acid*, Squalane (from Olives), Pelargonium Graveolens (Geranium) Flower Oil, Pogostemon cablin (Patchouli) Oil, Lecithin, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Fusanus Spicatus Wood Oil, Hydrogenated Palm Glycerides Citrate, Elettaria Cardamomum Seed Oil, Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Eugenia Caryophyllus (Clove) Leaf Oil, Citronellol#, Geraniol#, Linalool#, *derived from botanical sources, # component of the essential oils

(This product was provided for my consideration.  All comments and opinions are my own.)

REVIEW: Unico Intensive Shampoo & Conditioner

 

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"

 

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

To visit click here

 

Bellabox Australia

www.bellabox.com.au

To visit click here

 

 

 

(Products were provided for my consideration.  All comments and opinions are my own.)