We tested three balancing shampoos – one left my hair as smooth as it is after a salon blow dry
IF, like me, your hair is oily at the roots and dry at the ends, you probably find it hard to buy a shampoo that treats both issues efficiently.
But there is a new category of balancing shampoos that strip away grease while hydrating lengths – and here I put three of them to the test.
Beauty
ELVIVE Hydra Pure 72-hour (£7 for 400ml, loreal-paris.co.uk): I’m pretty sure I’d choose Elvive as my favourite High Street hair care brand, and this new launch more than lived up to my expectations.
When I used it I didn’t have any of my usual hair styling products and worried my hair would be knotty and dry after washing, but that was far from the case.
Once dry, my roots felt clean and lightweight, and my hair was as smooth as it is after a salon blow dry.
So much so that I couldn’t stop touching it and encouraged my friends to do the same over dinner.
Since then, it’s replaced my usual go-to and has helped me go an extra day between washes. I have nothing bad to say at all, so for the price it has to take top spot.
Mid-range
AVEDA Scalp Solutions (£30 for 200ml, aveda.co.uk): From its name you might think it will only treat your scalp, but after washing my hair it felt super-soft, even before using the matching conditioner.
It has a minty scent, and minty products can often cause tingling and irritation on dry skin, but this didn’t.
In fact it helps wake me up on a morning, and the soothing formula has helped calm my sensitive scalp.
My hair truly feels balanced and has been much less knotty since I’ve been using the routine, so I’m expecting that with continued use I’ll have less breakage and longer hair too.
Luxury
ORIBE Serene Scalp (£50 for 250ml, spacenk.com): If I won the lottery, I’d swap all my hair products to Oribe.
As I expected, it was the best-smelling of the three, and in the shower it lathered well, rinsed easily and left my hair feeling clean and hydrated.
But by day two my hair felt just as greasy as usual. The shampoo is gentle enough to use daily if needed, but I was hoping to get more time from each wash, so it fell at that hurdle.
It cleansed my roots well enough to give me extra volume, so I’ll use it for special occasions when I don’t mind having to wash my hair again so soon.
Pick of the week
I’M struggling to keep dry skin at bay, so chapped lips and knuckles have become my norm.
Thankfully, Cerave Advanced Repair Ointment, £14, has just hit shelves and is already providing some much-needed relief to my weather-worn skin.
It’s gone viral on TikTok, racking up more than 22million views, thanks to the multi-tasking, non-greasy, non-comedogenic formula that means it won’t cause breakouts.
It’s the most requested launch in the UK to date from the brand, so we can’t all be wrong. Buy now at lookfantastic.com.