Recently I ran out of my favourite hair styling product: my pricey defrizzing oil from a professional hair supply shop. It smells divine and it's made by a company with iconic turquoise packaging... you can probably guess which one I'm talking about. I've used the stuff for years and it works well enough on my hair, but I was getting tired of shelling out $40+ a bottle every couple of months.
When I'm looking for advice on new products I always check in with my favourite beauty bloggers, so as I roamed the aisles of Shoppers Drug Mart I tweeted to several of them to get their two cents. And they never disappoint! A few suggested I check out a line by L'Oréal called OleoTherapy: my beauty gurus told me it worked well for them and was often on sale for $10 or less. When another piped up that it was a deadringer for an oil by L'Oréal's much pricier Kérastase salon brand, I was sold. Off I went to the haircare aisle.
I picked up a bottle of OleoTherapy Perfecting Oil Essence on sale for about $10, and it's even affordable at its regular price of $12.99-$14.99 at various retailers. The glass bottle felt substantial like a high end product, which I really liked (all the easier to wean me off my fancy $40 oil).
In fact, the OleoTherapy packaging is almost idential to Kérastase Elixir Ultime, which sells at salons for a whopping $55. Upon closer inspection I noticed the two products have several key ingredients in common, like argan oil and a few others. Oddly enough though, the cheaper L'Oréal version actually contained more plant oils than its pricey cousin: chammomile, coconut, gardenia, and more. Just one pump of oil was enough for my chin-length hair and it had a lovely floral scent that didn't compete with my perfume. That said, if you're super sensitive to scents you'll want to sniff it in-store first. The oil wasn't at all heavy or greasy and it staved off frizzies all day, even after I got caught in a rain shower.
I was so impressed with this line that I went back to Shoppers and picked up OleoTherapy shampoo and conditioner ($9 each, on sale) and the weekly hair mask treatment too ($10, on sale). My hair is dry, coarse, and colour-treated so it needs all the help it can get -- and these goodies fit the bill.
I've been using the entire range for about a month now, and I love it: my hair is softer and easier to manage, and these haircare gems work equally well regardless of whether my hair is in straight mode or curly mode. No small feat!
Straight mode:
Curly mode:
Since the OleoTherapy range is so affordable, I was able to pick up all four products for just under $40, which is less than I'd been spending on a single bottle of my fancy hair oil. Score! I use the perfecting oil daily, the shampoo and conditioner every couple of days, and the treatment mask once a week (Tip: apply the mask to dry hair right before bed and let it sink in all night while your asleep. Shampoo out in the morning!). The whole range smells good, it works, and it's affordable. It's vegan too, and the only product that contains silicone is the perfecting oil. Thumbs up from me!
PURCHASING INFO
L'Oréal's OleoTherapy line is widely available at drugstores and department stores, as well as online at Well.ca. Pricing varies by retailer.
