Review: L’Oreal’s Elvive Extraordinary Clay Haircare Line

My hair is very fine and colour treated, so I like to use products that are gentle, nourishing and quite hydrating (without making my hair flat – it’s a catch 22 and my life story, ha!). I can also get a quite oily scalp due to product overload and dry ends. I usually stay away from supermarket or drugstore haircare, as I find most cheaper end lines to be either to rich or too drying/harsh. In this realm, I like to think that you get what you pay for, especially when it comes to conditioners and treatments. Whether or not this is true, I don’t know, but I’d like to think that it is most of the time. I got asked to trial the L’Oreal Elvive Extraordinary Clay Haircare Line, designed for oily scalps and dry ends. I was happy to give it a go especially since I’ve never heard of clay being used in haircare. It’s always great to find budget friendly products and the line includes a dry shampoo – I love dry shampoos, so I’d love to find another to rival my love for Klorane’s Oatmilk Dry Shampoo 🙂

Heavy, greasy hair is caused by excess oil on the scalp and roots. To battle this, our laboratories have crafted a new creamy silicone-free technology for sumptuously fresh hair & ultra light care. 

L’oreal claims that your roots will be oil free and fresh for 72 hours. Your ends on the other hand will be hydrated but without being overweighed – so the perfect balance in my eyes 😉 It doesn’t matter to me if the products contain silicone or not. I know silicone can build up on the hair, which isn’t great before a colouring service (the pigments might then not reach the core of the hair and the colour might ‘grab’ in patches) but silicone by coating and ‘sealing’ the hair protects it from breakage, making it also easy to detangle. I suppose some of the thought behind making it silicone free, is that hair will feel light and airy 🙂 The three clays used in the line are kaolin, argilla and montmorillonite.

Let’s get to the details and review of each product!

Extraordinary Clay Rebalancing Shampoo

All the products have the same scent/perfume. It’s a floral-perfume that is quite strong. The balancing shampoo contains SLS (an agent that makes cleansers and shampoos foam up) so not great for sensitive scalps (if you get dermatitis). What surprised me was the great oil breaking down ingredients contained within the formula – including salicylic acid (I wasn’t expecting this!). It makes sense that hair won’t feel ‘weighted down’ if you remove old oil residue, dead skin cells and styling products. The shampoo doesn’t feel overly drying and stripping – which I expected to some degree, from a drugstore shampoo. I’ve used more expensive shampoos, that leave your hair feeling like straw. You know when a shampoo is seriously drying and just not right… The shampoo still feels like it cleanses my hair very well with just one wash. Does it keep my hair oil free for longer? Maybe slightly, but not for 72 hours as promised.

Extraordinary Clay Detox Conditioner

The conditioner has a slightly runny but thick consistency. Along with the three types of clay, the conditioner also contains sodium hyaluronate and soybean oil, quite a light oil. The conditioner does leave hair tangle free and very soft, but it doesn’t keep my ends hydrated for very long. If you have damaged and porous hair, you will need more moisture long term. It is great if you do not have colour treated hair (that tends to be more damaged than non-colour treated, natural hair). It doesn’t leave hair looking flat – which is important, though I don’t apply conditioner on the roots of my hair.

Detox Clay Mask (Pre Shampoo Treatment)

This was an interesting product! It looks just like a clay based face mask and contains 30% clay. You apply it to your scalp, as best as possible and leave it on for 5 minutes before rinsing out. It is difficult to get it all over you scalp evenly, as it is quite thick and you tend to get it on the lengths of your hair (if you are applying it in the shower, without the help of a mirror and comb like me!). It dries a little in this time frame, but doesn’t get super dry and ‘crunchy’. It rinses out of your hair surprisingly well, thanks to olive and eucalyptus leaf oil. Eucalyptus oil is also an antiseptic and antibacterial. The mask just like the shampoo and conditioner, contains salicylic acid (a BHA) which can get in your pores, breaking down oil (sebum) unlike anything else! I was surprised at how much I liked this treatment. If you have a lot of product build up in your hair (after a big event) or have incredibly oily hair (hello teenagers!) this treatment will be the bomb for you! It does prolong the ‘freshness’ of your hair, if you need it to last that little bit longer 😉

Extraordinary Clay Dry Shampoo

As you know, I looove dry shampoo. This one is pretty good, but particular. The ‘spray’ is very fine, so your hair won’t like powdery and it won’t leave a ‘white cast’. The ‘no residue’ claim is quite accurate. Because the mist is so fine, I find I need quite a lot of product to get some ‘oomph’. It does leave my hair feeling fresh though and soaks up oil surprisingly well. It is quite perfumed again and the scent lingers.

Standout product from the lot: the Detox Clay Mask for sure! Overall feelings and thoughts: Positive. While I wouldn’t use these products day in and out because I need something a bit more nourishing, the line was gentler than I expected (especially the shampoo!). The dry shampoo is too perfumed for my liking and I’d go through it very quickly because I like lots of volume and more lift. I don’t mind when dry shampoos leave a white cast on the roots of your hair – this hide regrowth well if you have light coloured hair! I expected a bit more ‘lift’ and ‘volume’ from the line but I didn’t notice my hair to be particularly ‘voluminous’. You can’t have it all I suppose 😉

I knew this line was a drugstore line,but boy is it cheap and affordable! The Shampoo & Conditioner retail for approximately $6 each, and the mask & dry shampoo retail for $10 each. You can get them on sale at Priceline quite often, so it’s even cheaper most days 🙂

Is this a line you would try Beauties? Let me know below!

Catch ya next time,

Beauty Bee~

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