I absolutely love getting hair products to try in subscription boxes. With my hair I find that I can generally use a product for a month or two consistently and then I need to switch the products out. There are some products I consistently return to use again and again, But I have to take a break from them. I’m not sure if this is standard for everyone but it is how I have always used hair products.
For me it means that I establish a few standard products that repeat and then I get to try a whole bunch of others. Some have been excellent and end up getting incorporated into my rotation, others were products I didn’t mind using if they showed back up in my world but that I wouldn’t seek out and others I know that if they appear in my world again I would immediately pass on to someone else. So when the ESPA Natural Beauty Inner Calm Pink Hair and Scalp Mud, a company I’d heard of but never tried, appeared in my Look Fantastic box, I was thrilled.
Before I get into the product a quick word about my hair so you know where I am coming from. My hair is long (currently to the middle of my back and needing a cut soon) and relatively thick. It is color treated and at the moment I am taking the fact that I am spending more time at home instead of going out as a chance to repair and make my hair as healthy as possible. While I still tend to use the flat iron on my bangs when they get completely wonky, I am trying to use less heated tools on the rest of my hair to give it a break.
Okay, so know you know what I am working with.
In general, I find scalp treatments an interesting idea. It makes sense to keep your scalp healthy. I can see a healthy scalp as being part of a healthy head of hair. The issues I’ve had with scalp treatments in the past is that many of them tend to be a bit chunky and have issues getting through my hair to my scalp. I had that issue with the Christophe Robin scalp treatment a while back. It made my hair gloriously soft, but I am 90% sure very little actually made it to my scalp. But let’s look into the ESPA Natural Beauty Inner Calm Pink Hair and Scalp Mud.
An intensive mineral-rich treatment mask that deeply conditions, to leave hair soft and smooth, and the scalp nourished. Vitamin C-rich Watercress and Red Clay soothe and nourish the scalp, while Apricot Kernel Oil conditions to help promote stronger, healthy looking, manageable hair.
Suitable for all hair types, especially dry or weak hair. Can also be used to soften and nourish dry skin on the body.
Incidentally, Look Fantastic has several deals going on right now. The first is save 10% with code 10LF plus get a free ELTA MD Foaming cleanser when you spend $90 or more. And then there is the FREE ESPA Micellar Cleanser (Worth $50) when you spend $100 on the brand. The complimentary gift will be awarded at the cart. Offer valid for a limited time only, while stocks last.
So after reading the product description, I thought I knew what to expect. However I didn’t read the back of the tube. Most hair treatments require you to let the product sit on your hair for about five minutes. Not this one. This one you leave in either 20 minutes or overnight and then rinse off. When using this product, that is something to plan for in advance.
So to use this hair and scalp mask, I went back to my mother’s theory of bath time. According to my mother, while baths are fabulous and should be indulged in, it is not good to marinate in your own dirty water. In her world this is why the shower/bath combo was invented. I know, you may be thinking that it was a space saving measure for bathrooms that were not large enough to accommodate a separate bath and shower.
Most people do.
Probably because that is why they were invented.
But not according to my mother. In her world, one showers, washing the hair and body until you are clean, then once clean, you allow the tub to fill, add the various bath time components to your water so they can soak into your (now clean) skin and you can luxuriate in your bath time. To be honest, this is the kind of hair and scalp treatment that does well with this understanding of bath time. So to use this mask, I showered first, washed hair and body, and then applied the mask to my hair while the bath tub filled. I then added my bath salts to the water.
At the moment I am rather partial to the Kneipp Mineral Bath Salt Dream Away with valerian and hops. The scent is lovely and it tints the water a very vibrant blue. I actually just got a new bottle in the mail Friday. They are currently having a 20% off sale. So my bath salts were $16 instead of $20 which was nice. I’m not sure how long the sale is going to last, but it is still currently active if you are looking to stock up. As my baby doll loves their muscle soaks we tend to put in an order every couple of months.
The scent of the hair mask is one that mixes well with the scent of the bath salts, although it dissipates once you apply it to the hair. It is a fresh clean scent that smells kind of like you are at a high end spa. As the name pink hair and scalp mud implies, it is pinkish in color. There is no exfoliating texture to the mask which I found surprising. Then of course I re-read the description and realized it isn’t an exfoliating mask.
So I luxuriated in the bath and when I was ready to leave the bath, I drained the tub and rinsed the mask out of my hair. I could feel the dry shampoo residue leaving my scalp and my scalp and hair felt clean and soft. Also I’ve been testing out a shampoo and conditioner that feels like it leaves residue as well and that was all gone.
Because of its consistency it had no trouble getting through my hair to my scalp. It is not chunky but more like a paste. It feels slightly thicker than conditioner. My scalp felt clean and my hair felt soft. Those are kind of the take aways I would have hoped for in a product designed to rejuvenate and repair hair and scalp. So it is always good when a product does what it is supposed to do.
However, there is the time it needs to sit on the hair to consider. It probably would be easier to apply it at the end of a shower and let it stay on the hair overnight. For me the issue is that I do my workouts in the morning and then wash my hair after I’ve finished working out. To use it as an overnight product I would have to pick a night where I knew I was not going to work out in the morning. The issue with letting it sit twenty minutes is that it isn’t something that I can just incorporate into my weekly routine. Using the mask takes a little planning.
Is it worth doing the planning? Yes, but I think if I did purchase this product I would use it once a month rather than on a weekly basis. I think that setting aside one day a month as an at home spa day is not a bad idea and in that capacity I think that the ESPA Natural Beauty Inner Calm Pink Hair and Scalp Mud would be an excellent addition. While not a product I would use routinely throughout the week I could see this being a splurge product I kept for the once a month day of beauty. I feel like the residue left behind from other products has been removed and my hair feels soft and healthy. It is a good product, that just requires a little bit of forethought.
If you are a big fan of ESPA products and looking for something for the holidays, there is a full sized ESPA product in this year’s Look Fantastic Beauty Chest. This year they have the Beauty Chest and the Advent Calendar for those in the holiday mood. Both look Absolutely amazing.
Ms. Mimsy Reviews 