Hair Oils Series: Macadamia Natural Oil Healing Oil Treatment

This makes my hair look like a Pantene commercial. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but even other people noticed how good my hair looks, which considering the mega frizzy state of my natural hair, I see as a big accomplishment. Funny how low my expectations were about this oil, because my first impressions were not that good. I was immediately taken aback by the mega strong masculine scent, but my impressions got better and better by the day. This whole test was partially inspired by Summer's rave about Macadamia Natural oil. I trust her judgement so I had to try it and then I thought, why not try several oils to find out which one is the best. So here we are.

Packaging: It comes in a dark glass bottle with a brown and bright green label. This provides protection from light exposure, however, the label prevents you from seeing how much product is still in there. There are several different sizes available: 10ml, 30ml and 125ml, the biggest size comes with a pump. I have the 30ml and the bottle is quite heavy, in fact the heaviest out of the three similar sizes of oils I have.

Ingredients: The first two ingredients are silicones, which are then followed by Vitamin E, macadamia and argan oil. The next seven are fragrances and last three colours. Vitamin E, macadamia and argan oil are great for dry hair. I actually use pure macadamia oil as a pre-wash treatment and it works wonders. In addition,Vitamin E helps with hair growth and prevents hair loss (argan oil by itself has a high vitamin E content).

Scent: It has a very intense, strong and heavy masculine fragrance. Definitely the heaviest out of all that I tried. It smells exactly like my grandfathers cologne. Well, it is a deodorant. The one that is/was in a dark green bottle with a black cap. I don't know the name, but probably something widely available in Slovenia.  I went round the house asking everyone if it's only me that smells grampa's cologne and they all agreed I wasn't imagining it. I'd describe it as a mix of sandalwood, patchouli and musk (basically nothing like the pure macadamia oil). The scent remains very strong on wet hair for about 20 minutes, then it disappears. Much to my delight, it doesn't last long on dry hair. It's not a bad scent, but too strong and too masculine for my taste. I think I'll grow on me, though. 

Performance and Results: The product is thick and amber colour. It has almost identical consistency as  Morocanoil. When I applied it on wet hair before blow-drying, I had difficulties getting the quantity right. The usual amount I use at other oils was not enough, so I added a few drops more and it felt like it was almost too much. I had a feeling it was easy to overdo and it could leave your hair greasy and limp, but despite the  amount my hair still felt ok. After blow-drying my hair was mega shiny and definitely less frizzy especially on the top, where I can never get completely frizz free. It didn't feel as light and bouncy, but my hair felt stronger. I curled my hair with my big barrel curler and that's when this product really shone. I got the sleekest result out of all, it was mega shiny, soft and almost frizz free. It is the best anti-frizz and my ends looked surprisingly well, moisturised and soft.  On the next day I was getting more and more impressed. Despite using a drugstore conditioner I didn't have to use Alverde Mandel Argan oil, because my ends didn't dry up at all and they stayed in great shape even on the third day. I'm definitely very impressed by it.

Where to buy: I got mine on eBay from this seller because it was the cheapest. It's available in hair salons (if you're in Slovenia try Simple) and online (Feel Unique, Beauty Bay, Cheap Smells, Fragrance Direct, Look Fantastic, ...). 

Make sure you're buying the Healing Oil Treatment and not the Healing Oil Spray. The ingredients are different : Cyclopentasiloxane, Isopropyl Myristate, Fragrance (Parfum), Tocopheryl Acetate, Argania Spinosa Oil, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Benzylsalicylate, Cumarin, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Linalool, Hexyicinnamoldehyd. Judging from ingredients the spray is lighter (obviously, since it's more liquidy). It's the equivalent of Orofluido Sahara.

I'd say it's best for dry hair, but also appropriate for normal hair if you use a smaller amount. I'm loving everything but the scent, which doesn't last anyway. It gave me most shine, it's the best defrizzer and kept my ends moisturised. This gets my two thumbs up and I'll definitely try other products from this brand.

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