L'Oreal Paris ELVIVE Extraordinary Pre-shampoo Clay Mask Review

I love this - I love the idea of a hair and scalp mask and I love the product.

Generously sized and a pretty good price point - this is definitely worth trying if your hair turns into an oily mess with in days of being washed.

The mask smells fresh and earthy(compared to the other products in the range) - the earthy I think is from the clay content.

Easy to apply to scalp, I just sectioned my hair a little bit - blobbed some on and massaged it around with my fingertips. After 5 minutes I jumped in the shower and rinsed it out. Followed by shampoo and conditioner.

I think this would be a great stand alone product - like if you normally use say a special shampoo/conditioner for blonde hair that's purple and removes brassy tones but you have pretty oily hair - a good compromise would be to use this mask first to soak up oil and then use your regular products - oil free roots and perfectly toned hair.

I received this product as part of the BR Trial of L'Oreal Elvive Extraordinary Clay range. Hearing about this pre-shampoo treatment made me both excited and confused! It's nothing I've heard of before - applying a clay mask to your hair!?

The packaging is solid, a screw top lid and you get 150ml of product. The scent smells similar to the shampoo & conditioner but slightly stronger, it's not intense though, it smells refreshing & clean. The clay mask looks thick but it surprisingly feels really soft making it easy to apply to your hair.

I was confused that there were no directions on the tub, until I realised that they were on the lid on a peel back label. The mask is applied to the roots on dry hair, it says to apply to your whole scalp but I only applied to the top where I get oily, leave it on for 5minutes then rinse off. What I found is that the mask instantly absorbs the oil, my hair felt a bit matted but as soon as I started to rinse it felt soft but clean. It was really easy & quick to rinse out.

I thought this might be a bit time consuming adding mask into the hair wash routine but you can apply this before you get in the shower, it only took me a minute to apply. I also found that it's not necessary to use on every hair wash, I would recommend every second hair wash. The results lasted. Loved using this!

Ok, a clay mask for hair. How does this even get passed the ideas phase?! I mean, its bizarre right? Clay to put in your hair?

Lets start with the negatives. I don't like big pots, I find them cumbersome to hold and open. You have to peel the label back to read the instructions. So unless someone tells you, you won't know you need to apply this to dry hair, pre shower.

Other than those niggles, it's a really neat product to use. You apply it to your roots, kind of like when you're touching up your roots with colour. Leave for 5 mins and rinse before shampooing and conditioning.

The mask is pale blue and smells the same as the rest of the range. It rinses out really easy, this is not like when you have a stubborn clay mask on your face - no skin pulling or overly abrasive scrubbing needed!

And...it WORKS! The first use I went 3 days before I had to wash (usually a daily washer!) and the second use I went 5 days before washing again. How crazy is that?!

For the price this is a great product, especially as it technically saves you money in the long run on all that shampoo and conditioner you'd be saving!

As my title reads... I would love to test this out during the Summer time just to see how it differs between Winter. My hair is no where near as oily as it is during Summer in the Winter time and so I don't see as much of a difference as I would have like. One this you definitely get form this pre shampoo mask is the volume and it's seriously noticeable. I'd probably use it once a week and it would extend the washing period for about 2 maybe 3 days during the Winter time and I'd use dry shampoo between the days as well. Currently I wash my hair every other day and so this sort of helps me wash my hair less. It's got a slippery sort of texture at first but once you start using it in your hair it becomes more clay like and I think the clay texture definitely helps with creating volume. You then wash it out completely before going in with shampoo and like I said it does what it says but I'm really looking forward to seeing if it does the same during Summer time.

Having never used a pre-shampoo mask before, the issue I had with this product was the lack of instructions on the packaging. I had to look it up online, only because I wanted to be really sure I was using it right. So if you find yourself looking for instructions too, here it is: “On dry hair, before shampooing, apply the mask on the roots section by section making sure to fully cover the entire head. Leave for 5 minutes to absorb excess oil and impurities. Rinse while gently massaging the scalp to ensure all product is washed away. Follow with Extraordinary Clay Shampoo and Conditioner. Suitable for color-treated hair.”

I applied the mask to my roots, covering the entire head and let it do its thing for 5 mins. I must admit it does feel dry and stiff and not all that amazing but for 5mins its no big deal. I thoroughly rinsed it off in the shower, followed by shampoo and conditioning. The scalp felt clean and fresh and I was able to go without hair wash for three days, which is a first for me. I was worried the mask might make my scalp too dry and cause flakes/dandruffs but thankfully it didn’t.

I love this product. The instructions aren't that great however so I just used it how I thought I should. I found it a bit messy although reasonably easy to put into my hair. Wasn't overly fussed on the smell but that isn't a biggy for me. I found it felt kind of oily but stiff in my hair while it drying. I actually thought it would leave my hair quite knotty going by the feel of it before rinsing. Left it in for around five minutes before rinsing out thoroughly. Hair felt clean and light. I found this did a brilliant job at removing the oils and combined with the shampoo and conditioner and occasional dry shampoo I could leave washing my hair for 3 days. This is a great result for me as I usually have to wash my hair every day. Will continue using this product as it is great for my hair.

This was part of a BR trial for the L'Oreal Elvive Extraordinary Clay range. I found that the clay mask does wonders absorbing oil. The instructions say to massage it into dry hair which I found really hard to do as my hair is very thick but if you try to do this with wet hair, the mask just slides off! That's the only thing that annoyed me. But I think the mask is an essential step because it gets rid of all excess oil sitting on your scalp and means that you don't need to wash as often.

I was first reluctant to try this mask as the thought of a mask on head was a bit scary. I used it and it did what it says and had beautiful hair after the final wash. I had more shine and volume. The heir are more manageable and soft. It is not oily and smells good. My husband likes touching it. My daughter also tried it who has very oily hair and it worked well on her too and for the first time she didn't had to wash the next day. Very nice:)

Give this a try if you have fine hair and oily roots. This is a great weekend treat when you have time for an extra beauty step. I was a little unsure the first time I bought one of these masks but I'm now on to my second tub. I have quite oily roots and this claims to absorb oil before you shampoo and I tell you it works! Leave it on for 5 minutes or so after massaging into the scalp and shampoo off. My fine hair feels light, less heavy with oil and you get that kaolin/clay smell throughout the day which is not unpleasant and reminds you the product has worked. If you want a volume-day this is your product.