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

I am cursed with oily hair, that I need to wash to wash my hair every day, and at a stretch maybe every second day, which tends to be a bit greasy up top and frizzy elsewhere. So a product promising to help with this is exciting.

The Clay mask is designed to be used before washing your hair. The instructions suggest applying for up to five minutes before rinsing out, which is not that practical during a work day. Though for the trial, I just change my routine in the shower so that I washed my hair last.

It is like the texture of a body butter - quite thick and creamy. Applying it my roots was quite awkward a bit like applying hair colour, but not as easy. The first time I used it I tried to get full coverage, but it took too long and because it is quite sticky I ended up pulling a lot of my hair out. Other times I have focused on the top of the head and near the temples. It is however, easy to rinse out.

Overall I am not sure the clay mask added too much value. Didn't feel like there was any change. I will probably use once in a while (eg weekends) now rather than every time I wash my hair.

Not sure if on it's own it would help with oily roots but is designed to be used in conjunction with the shampoo, conditioner, and dry shampoo. For those reviews - check them out under those products.

This was like a tub of magic! The shampoo mask came in a small tub and smelt clean and fresh. The thick custard like cream was easy to apply into the roots without using a lot. Once left in for the required time I rinsed out and my hair instantly felt clean and fresh. I am a person who gets greasy hair and often find myself washing my hair daily. With this Pre-Shampoo Clay it allowed me to extend the time between washes. A bit time consuming to put in prior to every wash however.

This cute tub of delicous freshly scented clay treatment was easy to apply and work into the roots. It had a nice consistency and you didn't need to use a lot. It rinsed out of my hair much better than I had expected and made my hair feel well cleansed and fresh even before the next step of shampooing. I would reccomend this product to people with really greasy hair and scalp but found for me I got great results without it as well so as a weekly product I would probably use it but not every time I washed my hair.

The colour of this hair mask if what caught my eye as soon as I opened the box from BR. I really love it! Its easy to read what the product is but the instructions are under a flap on the top of the lid which is a bit of a difficult place. They could be somewhere much easier to read. I was surprised to find that the mask does look like clay (but blue in colour). It has almost a fruity smell to it, but its not overpowering or too strong. The mask itself is very thick. It feels refreshing on the scalp and has a cooling sensation when applied. I have very thick and long hair so it was very time consuming to apply. This would put me off using it too often as I just don’t have that much time spend on my hair. My scalp felt very soft as I was rinsing it out. The next day, after my hair had dried, it was much frizzier than usual (not something I normally struggle with). My hair was still very silky and soft. The third day after using the mask my hair was not oily! Today would normally be the day that I would be packing my hair with dry shampoo or needing to wash it again.. but I don’t. The fourth day my hair still doesn’t need to be washed and still doesn’t need any dry shampoo! Wow I am REALLY impressed! The fifth day I did need to use a spritz of dry shampoo and it will be due for another wash this evening. Overall, I am really surprised and happy with this product. I think I may change my current hair routine to include this mask as it has worked so well. I would normally have needed to wash my hair on day 3 but I was able to go another 2 days without.

Extraordinary is a good word to describe this product. As part of the Clay system, this is the first item you would use when you wash your hair. I had certainly never heard of such a product, so was keen to see what it actually did. Luckily for my forty something eyes, instructions on the pot were nice and large. You are instructed to work the clay into the roots of you hair section by section and then leave in for five minutes. Squiggey feeling - quite nice actually. Nice scent. Leave for five minutes then into the shower to rinse out and continue with shampoo and conditioner system. Honestly - I just don't get the point of this step. It is very hard to assess whether it works on it's own merits as you then follow up with shampoo and conditioner. Maybe a better test would be rinsing out and not shampooing to follow and see what the result would be.

I have always had trouble with an oily scalp and had never seen anything like this before, so I was very keen to try this Mask that claims to remove oils from the scalp. Firstly I had a read of the instructions which are under the sticker on the lid. Opened it up to find a thick light green/grey paste. The smell wasn't too bad, it smelt alot like the shampoo and conditioner from the clay range, quite a fresh, clean scent to it but also a strong clay smell which I didn't mind. I scooped up some of the mask and massaged it into my scalp, it felt nice and cold which i liked. I waited the 5 minutes, then after a couple of minutes it started to feel like it was working well but also my hair felt really dried out too. It was almost going quite hard as i waited for the time to be up. Once I rinsed it out then applied the shampoo and conditioner my hair felt really good. There was no knots and my hair wasn't really dry at the top, it actually worked into my scalp so well that I made it to day 3 without having to wash my hair.

This is the first product in the Clay range, which consists of 4 products, and they're all packaged in beautiful mint green with darker green accent packaging.

The pre-wash mask is in a 150ml screw top tub and is a thick greyish green coloured paste with a smell that I found quite pleasant.

I found this thick paste to be really difficult to work onto my scalp. It spread easily over my fingertips but turned almost 'sticky' when I started applying it onto my scalp. It was difficult to spread and I was hesitant to add water to thin it, as it's supposed to work the same way as a face mask, so I persisted, even though it felt like it was pulling at my hair.

After 5 minutes, it did rinse out very easily and quickly. Using this clay mask definitely gave me an additional day between washes and kept my hair looking cleaner for longer. Although I doubt that I will purchase the clay mask in future, as it definitely tugs at my hair while I'm applying it and I find my hair fall while washing it has doubled since using the mask. With such fine, thin hair, I really can't afford to lose this much hair every time I wash it because of the 'stickiness' of the mask while trying to apply it. It it had an easier to apply formula, it would be a must-have for me.

I was so looking forward to this trial as I have such issues with oily hair, so much so that I absolutely struggle not to have to wash my hair everyday, even though I know it is not the right thing to do!

This is the first clay hair mask that I have ever tried, such a new concept.

For a mere $6.59 you get 150mls of this amazing mask. Real value for money I feel.

I found the instructions under the label on the lid, clear, simple and easy to follow. I sectioned my hair, rather like you would when colouring your hair. With my fingers I scooped some mask up and gently massaged it into my scalp. I think the only thing that would have made this more enjoyable would be if someone was massaging my scalp, it was a lovely experience. The mask is a pale, pretty blue colour and smells not unpleasent but hard to actually pinpoint. I left it in for the 5 minutes they suggested and rinsed out in the shower.

I followed with the matching shampoo and conditioner and I am happy to say my hair lasted 2 whole days without needing another wash.. I am hoping the more I use this I might even eventually get 3 days without having to wash my hair.

This is the first product to use in the system. I found it hard to find the instructions (under the sticker on the lid).

I didn't like the smell that much. It was a bit artificial and chemically to me. I liked that you only had to use a little bit for the entirety of the hair. Since it's winter, I didn't particularly enjoy the sensation of the cold, squishiness in my hair for 5 minutes.

It rinsed out easily and I could quickly move onto shampoo and conditioner so I definitely liked that!

I was quite surprised when I opened the jar and saw the near solid clay inside. My usual impression of clay masks is like liquid glue, thicker that liquid but still pourable. Well this had the texture of hard jelly and smelled like rubber.

With some apprehension I rubbed it on my scalp and tried to massage it in. It was a little difficult for me to apply and I ended up using a plastic spoon to scoop out blobs which I then smothered onto my scalp. Once on, it felt nice and relaxing, and was easy to rinse off. It didn't stick to my hair and it didn't harden like a clay face mask would.

In conjunction with the other products it did help reduce the oilyness of my scalp, but I'm not sure if alone it would be sufficient in absorbing all the oil. Another thing is I used about two tablespoons of it in one go, so this jar would only last me 6-7 washes. It'll have to be a once in a while kind of thing rather than every time before I shampoo.