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

I was really intrigued by the concept of the pre-shampoo mask, having never tried anything like it before, but overall I was a bit disappointed.

The first impression is most definitely of the scent, which is incredibly strong. It's not a bad scent, per se (I quite like it myself), but it's certainly got a 'chemical' ish whiff to it and is quite overpowering.

I'm also not a big fan of goopy products in tubs - I can't stand having to scoop into it with my fingers and get it under my nails. It seems like it's about the same consistency as most of my clay face masks, all of which come in MUCH easier to use squeezy tubes.

The next impression is what a pain it is to apply - as you're applying it dry hair it requires such a large amount of product to get much coverage that it feels incredibly wasteful and is a bit of a painstaking process. The instructions also weren't particularly clear whether the mask was supposed to be used before every wash, or as a less regular treatment, so I was a bit confused on that front.

When you use the mask before using their shampoo, it does reduce the amount of shampoo you need to use to get a huge amount lather, though - you end up needing just the teeny tiniest amount, so that's a bonus.

It definitely left my hair feeling incredibly clean and oil free, but the shampoo certainly seems to do most of the heavy lifting. I'll finish the tub just because it's there (probably just once or twice a month, though), but this one wouldn't be a repurchase for me.

I have very fine, thin hair with a slight wave to it which is a little below my shoulders. As a result of my hair type, it gets oily within 12-18 hours.

The hair mask comes in a body butter style tub with a screw top lid. The colour and scent matches the rest of the range.

The mask appears to come in a decent size pot, however it required quite a bit of product to cover my entire scalp so even though it looks like you're getting a lot of product it still will not last long.

The first time I used it, I accidentally didn't rinse it out completely (I thought I had). This caused my hair to have a wee bit of a crunch afterwards from the dry clay but also prevented my natural oils moving as quickly. Subsequent times I made sure I rinsed better but felt the mask didn't actually do anything.

I will probably use up the rest of the tub, but I won't be repurchasing.

First off, I have never used a clay before so had no idea how much to use, how often to use and whether to apply to dry or wet hair. Fortunately there were instructions however it took me a bit of searching as the writing ‘flip for instructions’ is extremely tiny FYI you can find them on the lid by peeling off the label. Once I opened the lid I was hit with an amazing fresh smelling product. It is a blue/green colour and of a thick putty like texture. I found it ok to apply – you definitely need to take your time to ensure you have full coverage.Time is something I don't have a lot of. The results… My hair felt light and clean straight after use. By the second day my hair was oily again therefore this product did not work for me or maybe I didn't use it right Likes: Love Love Love the fragrance! At less than $7.00 this is really affordable Dislikes The size of the pottle means you would not get many uses. Probably 4 or 5 max. The instructions are pretty vague - There are no guidelines on how often to use the product

The clay mask smells amazing and is a lovely texture. It feels light and spreads easily through the roots - while you're there you may as well give yourself a nice scalp massage to make sure your roots are well covered. I find that it does take a few goes to wash it all out but following up with the shampoo should get it all. I think the clay mask DID affect my hair dye as I noticed some washout both times I've used it. Funnily enough, no washout issues with the shampoo and conditioner.

You may not need to use this more often than once a week for a "deep" clean.

This was an interesting step to add to my normal routine. The texture of the mask is just like a clay mask I would put on my face, its really think and globby. Found it pretty easy to apply to my roots, then just used my fingertips to make sure it was covering my scalp well (It is quite a refreshing feeling on my scalp on a freezing winters morning hehe) One thing I did notice about this is when I got distracted and forgot to rinse it off after 5 minutes it was extremely hard to remove as it hardened so I would definitely stick to the suggested timing. I felt like this product played a major part in keeping the grease at bay for me.

Straight up, I basically found this product to be useless. I used it with the matching shampoo and conditioner and whether or not I used it, I didn't notice any difference.

Smells great, feels great, nice practical packaging, but did nothing for me. There's really nothing more I can say about it.

L'Oreal Paris ELVIVE Extraordinary Pre-shampoo Clay Mask was part of a BR trial for the entire range, and I was quite excited to try it out. It was a bit hard to find the instructions, would have preferred to read them on the side of the container or the bottom rather than hidden away under the label that you need to peel off to see them. I applied it to my scalp and hated the cold feeling. It was quite hard to apply it on my own. Washing it out was a bit of a mission as well, and it was hard to tell if all of it came out. I did use the shampoo and conditioner afterwards, but cant say that it made my hair feel or look better than without using it. I might use this once a month, but would maybe not buy it again.

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.

Once I realised this wasn't a leave in conditioner, my interest was piqued. I'm keen to try anything to alleviate my oily roots. An extra five minutes in the shower though... That's a stretch of effort, I'm very conscious of my huge power bills, and I struggle to find another five minutes of time to spend in the shower! Anyhow, scene set, I gave this a good nudge. I concede my hair felt extra clean by using this in combo with the shampoo, but that's about where my positive affirmation ends. My hair is just as oily as normal by day 2 and 3 - there is no way I can get past day 3 without needing to wash my hair, so I'm disappointed in the range as a whole and, frankly, can't justify from here on in, the extra effort is not worth it for me. Won't be repurchasing this - and frankly, not sure I'll bother continue with the range (have been using it for three weeks - I'm likely to gift it to a friend to see if they have more luck..).

Took me a while to find the directions haha. It was hidden under a sticker underneath the lid which I found a bit odd but that's fine. I was super excited to try the clay mask as I have never tried anything like this before. I followed the instructions and applied the mask to my roots before hoping into the shower. I left it in for about 5 minutes as suggested then rinsed it out. I found that it rinsed out easily and it also smelled great. After washing it out my hair already felt lighter, refreshed and softer than it had been before. My only downside to this product is you go through it really fast. You have to use quite a lot to really cover your roots and I feel like you would only get about 4-5 applications from the one container. Other then that I was pleasantly surprised and have no complaints really. My hair stayed fresher for longer without feeling weighed down and I could go an extra day between washes.