Essential is a popular haircare brand from Japan and if you’re not aware of it, they have improved and extended their range of products! Many should recognise the older orange and pink variants, and maybe the newer yellow variant. But the new kid on the block is the blue variant. Well, the question is: how do you know which variant would suit you?
Essential has made it pretty simple by classifying each variant:
- Orange: Nourishing Breakage Defense — for weak and damaged hair
- Pink: Moisturising Frizz Free — for dull and rough hair
- Yellow: Light Finish Volumising — for limp and flat hair
- Blue: Deep Cleansing Care — for oily scalp and dry ends
The orange and pink variants are of a richer formula for dry hair, whereas the cream and blue variants are of a lighter formula for oily roots/scalp and dry ends.
So yes, if you have oily roots/scalp and dry ends like me, you have COMBINATION HAIR!
And all along, I thought I was the weird one with such hair. People like me end up having to mix and match shampoo and conditioner because using the same rich, moisturising products to combat the dry ends leaves us with product build up on the scalp that results in an oily scalp. The reverse is true as well. Using the same light, clarifying products to combat the oily roots leaves us with drier ends. Apparently, Essential understands this problem and has developed a solution to it. The new and improved yellow and blue variants have the optimum combination of SMART CUTICLE CARE AND SEBUM CLEANSING TECHNOLOGY to target both problems of oily roots and dry ends. Yup, so no more mixing and matching products. Hooray!
By just looking at the product descriptions, I was all ready to try out the new blue variant. BUT WAIT! Essential has made it even easier to choose the right variant with a rather nifty matrix.
Do you have oily hair roots/scalp? Yes, a little. (Used to be very oily but after learning about mixing and matching shampoo and conditioner, my hair condition got slightly better. The fringe remains super oily but that’s because it rubs against my forehead which is super oily. Another skin problem to talk about another time…)
Do you have dry/damaged hair ends? OMG…YES, VERY. PLEASE DO SOME MAGIC ON IT.
The good people at Essential and The Sample Store decided that I should try the yellow variant of shampoo and conditioner, and the orange variant for treatment and mask. (Note: There’s only orange and pink variants for treatment and mask.)
I’ve used the older orange variant for shampoo, conditioner, treatment and hair mask in the past and it really helped at one point when my hair was super duper dry from constant colouring with no treatment sessions at the hairdresser. Can’t remember now why I switched to something else after that. *shrugs* Anyway, I was a little puzzled with the choice of variant. Hmmmm…I don’t have limp and flat hair that needs volumising. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. But then again, it’s a tough call now since I have rebonded my hair so I don’t look like a puffball. So I guess volumising here means to have fuwa fuwa hair instead of regular limp hair? Oh well, no harm trying the cream variant since according to the matrix, it seems the blue variant is for people with VERY oily roots/scalp.
My haircare regime goes like this: Shampoo and conditioner for daily use when not using treatment and hair mask. Once with treatment mid-week. Mask in the weekend.
Before I go into the results, you should know more about the new and improved Essential range. It has MICROFINE ALL SMOOTH ESSENCE which delivers nutrients to repair damaged hair surface from root to tip. Conventional technology contributes mainly to the roots only. Therefore, your hair is supposed to feel surprisingly smooth when you comb your fingers through whether wet or dry. With the absence of tangles, water does not get trapped between the tangles and blow-drying your hair should be faster.
Now, for the results…
Not going to comment too much on the treatment and mask since I’ve used them before. All you need to know is that that orange variant hair mask is DA BOMB. Worked like magic before so no doubt that it would work this time. Oh and DO NOT apply treatment and mask on your scalp. Apply them to your ends only!
The shampoo and conditioner have a very pleasant honey fragrance that clings to your hair throughout the day. Nice! After using the products for about a week, I must say that it does help combat the slightly oily roots. As for the dry ends, not too much improvement when my hair is dry. But I must comment that it did somehow work when my hair is wet. What do I mean by that? How I tell if a product is doing its moisturising magic is when I get this sala sala (smooth) feel even after I wash off the product. It irritates me when I don’t get that feel. Like I can’t comb my fingers through my wet hair smoothly. Not with this shampoo and conditioner. I could feel this film over my hair as I washed off the products. Oh well. I will continue to use leave-in conditioner after my bath (wet hair) and hair oil when my hair is dry. Just got the new and improved Essential Treatment Milk. Haven’t started using it as I just finished using another brand of leave-in conditioner today. Hope it is good.
Do try the new range of Essential products because who knows, it might work like magic for you. The new range of products are already selling at leading supermarkets, hypermarkets, western pharmacies and personal care stores.
If you need a little more convincing before you use the full-size products, you can get a free sample of the variants for combination hair here. And if you think Essential is really good (like I do!), don’t forget to “LIKE” them on Facebook and follow @essentialsingapore on Instagram.
