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

I'm not normally one for hair masks. I find they are messy, and generally don't pay off in terms of effort over result. That said, the L'Oreal Paris Elvive Extraordinary Clay Mask would be one that I'm tempted to keep using.

It's easy to apply and smells amazing. The clay definitely helped soak up a whole heap of oil, but you can't really tell the effectiveness of it solely as you have to wash it out - and then use the shampoo.

While I wouldn't use it every time I wash my hair, once a fortnight or so, or as a special relaxing treat, I could definitely do. I liked the fact you only had to leave it on for 5 minutes and it didn't drip or run during the time.

The only downside was it stung my eyes a fair bit when washing out, so it pays to go slowly and carefully.

I've never heard of a hair mask before but with all it promised my hair needed it so gave it a go. It was cold to apply, and took a bit to figure out how to get it on my scalp not just my hair. In the end I parted my hair and applied it in each part and rubbed it in. It smelt like clay mixed with the hair salon colouring chemicals. I had to leave it on for five minutes before showering, scared my kids haha. I thought it would be difficult to rinse out but it rinsed out easily. In the morning my hair was simply glorious. Normally my hair need washing every day because if the oil but I left it to see how long it would last and it lasted four days before it needed a wash. So it works wonderfully. I love it

I was quite skeptical about this range but the Clay Mask has to be one of my favourites! I have extremely oily roots and can only go 1-2 days without washing. This is a pretreatment product that is used on dry hair. I was able to loosely section my hair and applied only to the roots. It's a lovely teal colour that smells similar to a body butter, but I can't quite put my finger on it...certainly not unpleasant but slightly earthy. It's quite thick and easy to apply. It dries grey and lightly hardens. As according to instructions, I left it on for 5 minutes, in which time it is meant to absorb excess oils and impurities. My scalp felt cleaner than it has for a long time but my hair felt heavy and rough. When I used the corresponding shampoo and conditioner, I felt my hair texture improve. I have used it several times now and love how fresh and full of volume my hair is now. I am sold, this has been great for my hair...finally something that actually deals to the oiliness!

I've never ever used a masque for my hair pre washing it... so this was new territory for me. I slathered on the masque to my roots, and put my blonde shampoo through my ends as I usually do on my dry hair. It instantly cooled and my scalp felt rejuvented and clean. I followed the instructions for the shower and used the shampoo and conditioner. Following the system I did not need to wash my hair the next day and noticed a striking difference in the amount of 'grease' in my hair!

This pre-shampoo clay is really the bomb! It makes your scalp feel relaxed. I don't know why but I can feel mint while applying this, it's cool on my scalp.

When you wash it, that's when you see the actual effect of this pre-shampoo clay. You'll notice that the ends of your hair is so smooth as well as the roots. It's my first time to this hair mask and I was pretty amazed with the result.

The only downside is its kinda hard to apply this if you have a very hard hair.

I've never heard of a clay mask for your hair roots,but I guess its much like a clay mask for your face!. The first thing I searched for when I picked up the mask , was the directions, I turned it around and over and upside down, nope still couldn't find how to use it. Eventualy I saw a tiny arrow pointing to under the label on the lid, which when lifted had the directions. Bit frustrating when its not a logical place to put the directions, needs to have a bigger arrow! When I finally got to use it, it had a pleasant smell and was a nice creamy texture. It was a bit difficult to spread evenly on your roots, a small brush to be included would have been good to apply it, and would have made it easier to apply. After leaving it for 5 mins and washing it out, my hair was definitely cleaner and roots less oily. It made my hair style when dry more full , less limp and I was impressed. I would use it again for sure. The only thing about the directions is that it doesn't tell you if its a product you should use just once a week or every time you wash your hair, I am currently just using it just once a week, due to the extra time it takes. But I was surprised to find that I really liked it despite the trouble I had finding how to use it and for how long.

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 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.