049 - Essential Leave On Treatment (CC Oil & Night Care Milk)

Since my last post on Essential haircare in May, I have been using their Deep Cleansing Shampoo and Conditioner religiously because they are really good! My scalp no longer itch and my waist-long tresses are soft and flowy! Now apart from the usual haircare products, Essential has launched 2 new items; the Essential CC Oil and Essential Night Care Milk.

Essential CC Oil

The “CC” in the new Essential CC Oil stands for Cuticle Care. Working similarly to the CC cream in skincare, the CC Oil coats and protects the hair from the 5 usual hair stresses caused by environmental factors and personal habits. 

What are the 5 Hair Stresses?

While many of you may know that heat styling, perming and dyeing can damage your hair, you may not know that the external environmental factors and some of your everyday habits can put stress on your hair and impact its health and appearance.

1.  Heat damage/ friction from blow drying – the process of blow-drying removes moisture from the hair, both outside and inside the hair, leaving hair dry, brittle and susceptible for further damage.
   
   
   
2. Friction to the hair cuticles due to daily combing – combing through wet hair causes great hair damage as the hair follicle is at its most fragile state. Likewise, the friction caused by combing through dry hair can form hair knots which makes hair prone to unnecessary breakage.
   
   
   
3. Fraying of hair shaft due to dry and brittle hair – the ends of your hair are the oldest and driest parts. When the protective hair cuticle is destroyed at the end of the hair, the hair splits into two or more parts.
   
   
   
4. Hair breakage – besides daily heat styling, blow drying and brushing, other seemingly harmless actions like tying your hair into a tight ponytail or twirling your hair with your fingers exert excessive stress on your hair, resulting in hair breakage.
   
   
   
5. Dry hair that feels rough – exposure to the sun, wind or even air-conditioning can result in hair dryness. The hair cuticle that protects the hair is weakened and is unable to retain moisture within the cuticles of the hair.
   

The Essential CC Oil which is non-greasy and invisibly light, coats each strand of hair with a cuticle coat protection (contains hair supplement oil, similar to hair’s natural oil) to fight the 5 most common forms of hair stresses, leaving hair smooth and tangle-free all day!

 Directions of use:

• Use on towel-dried or damp hair
• Pump and appropriate amount onto palm
• Spread and apply evenly onto hair, concentrating on mid-length to the tip of hair
• Do not rinse off

Essential Night Care Milk

The Essential Night Care Milk protects your hair from pillow friction by leaving a protective coat around each hair strand and prevent misaligned cuticles when hair rubs against the pillowcase, leaving hair more manageable the next morning.

 What is Pillow Friction?

1. When you toss and turn at night, there is friction between your hair and the pillow, causing the cuticles to be misaligned.
2. Misaligned cuticles creates frizz, resulting in you having lion’s mane in the morning. RAWR lol.
3. Washing your hair will reset the mane, which is why many women have no choice but to wash and blow dry their hair in the morning before going to work.

Directions of Use:

• Use on towel-dried or damp hair, or before blow-drying
• Can also be used on dry hair
• Pump an appropriate amount onto palm
• Spread and apply evenly onto hair, concentrating on mid-length to tip of hair
• Do not rinse off

I really like using the Essential Night Care Milk because it is fuss-free and most importantly allows me to skip bathing in the morning before going to work! >.< More beauty sleep and I do not have to shiver from the cold each day I step out of the shower. Manageable hair (not easy to have manageable hair for my hair length. It tangles really easily!) through the day. So what’s there not to love about the Essential Night Care Milk? Hehe!

Check out my long mane! Although it not exactly silky smooth, it's still soft to the touch and does not tangle when I comb through it with my fingers! :)

So protect your hair and get your Essential CC Oil and Night Care Milk at S$11.90 each! :)

040 - Essential Light Finish Volumizing & Deep Cleansing

If you still remember, I have introduced you to a new range of shampoos and conditioners which Essential came out with last year. The blog post introduced you to Essential haircare for people with combination hair and covered how you should select the right shampoo and conditioner for your hair type.

I have been using Deep Cleansing Care for almost 3 weeks now and I must say my hair looks and feels healthier! I have been troubled with itchy scalp and dry hair (after frequent dyeing) for the past year and it isn't until recently that I realised the itch on my scalp has significantly reduced. The Deep Cleansing Care is suitable for oily scalp and dry hair ends and it's perfect for me! 



Most moisturising off-the-shelf-shampoos target the dry ends but may be too rich for the scalp, resulting in build-up that makes the scalp oily. Moreover depending on the thoroughness of scalp massage during shampooing, the scalp build-up may not be thoroughly washed off, further causing the scalp to feel oily in a shorter time.

Essential Deep Cleansing Care brings the best of both worlds to you! With the optimum combination of Smart Cuticle Care & Sebum Cleansing Technology, you can now achieve moisturized hair ends while maintaining a refreshed breathable scalp! 

For a limited time only, Essential is also giving out a massage shampoo brush with purchase of shampoo and conditioner. A massage shampoo brush is a common haircare tool in Japan and is used by the majority of Japanese women to help remove dirt and sebum more effectively from the scalp. The massaging action on the scalp also helps improve blood circulation and promote relaxation. Now you can have a scalp massage without going to the salon! 

The massage shampoo brush thoroughly cleansed my scalp buildup and gave my scalp a comfortable massage that aids in blood circulation and promotes relaxation. The best part about using the massage shampoo brush is that my manicure can now last longer as I do not have to use my fingers to massage my scalp anymore! Just a note, move the massage shampoo brush from side to side instead of in circular motion to prevent hair tangles.

You can now get your own shampoo brush with Essential banded packs in May 2015 at leading supermarkets and personal care stores and get your free samples of Deep Cleansing Care shampoo & conditioner at Essential's Facebook page!

The banded packs which consist of Essential Shampoo 750ml + Conditioner 750ml with free Massage Shampoo Brush in hot pink or mint green is now available at all leading supermarkets, retailing at $19.60.

032 - NEW! Essential Light Finish Volumizing Shampoo and Conditioner

Most of us have heard of combination skin types, but have you heard of combination hair types?

In fact, I have not heard of such term until last week! Most of the off-the-shelf shampoos and conditioners I've seen usually only label normal/ dry/ oily hair type but never combination hair type!

So what is combination hair type?

The concept of ‘combination hair’ is similar to that of ‘combination skin’, where hair condition from the same person is not uniform from root to tip. People with combination hair usually have oily roots and dry ends. 

People with combination hair currently do not have one haircare product which they can use to solve both problems of oily roots and dry ends. Using a rich moisturising product to care for their dry ends usually ends up having too much product build-up on their scalp, resulting in a heavy, oily scalp. Using a light, clarifying product to care for their oily scalp will then cause their ends to be even drier. As a result, people with combination hair will either have only one out of the two problems solved, or they have to rotate between using a rich moisturising product and a light clarifying product to achieve a balance.

I am sure many of you, like me, have no idea what is combination hair until now because no haircare brands have talked about it. But hey, now there's one who does!

Essential haircare range has relaunched with new, improved formula and technology. 
Now, Essential is available in 4 variants to suit all hair needs and types:
- Nourishing Breakage Defense (orange) – for weak & damaged hair
- Moisturising Frizz Free (pink) – for dull & rough hair
- Light Finish Volumising (yellow) – for flat and limp hair
- Deep Cleansing Care (blue) – for oily scalp & dry ends (new)

Out of these 4 variants, the yellow and blue variants have technology that caters to people with combination hair – oily scalp/roots yet dry ends.

New Essential Light Finish Volumising (yellow) and Deep Cleansing Care (blue) variants have the optimum combination of Smart Cuticle Care & Sebum Cleansing Technology to target both problems of roots and hair ends. As a result, consumers experience the best of both worlds with one product - airy light roots and moisturised ends!

New Essential also has Microfine All Smooth Essence which delivers nutrients to repair damaged hair surface from root to tip. Conventional technology concentrates mainly at the roots only.Hair feels surprisingly smooth when you finger comb through whether wet or dry. With the absence of tangles, water does not get trapped between the tangles hence blow-drying your hair is also faster!

So here comes your next question.

How do you choose the most suitable variant for your hair type?

No fret! Essential has all of these covered for you! Simply ask yourself these 2 questions:

1. Do you have oily hair roots/ scalp?
2. Do you have dry/ damaged hair ends?

Match your answers to the matrix below and there you have what's best for you!

Deep Cleansing Care (blue) variant has the lightest formula and is suitable for people 
with very oily roots, followed by Light Finish Volumising (yellow) variant. People with very dry/damaged hair should use the richest formula Nourishing Breakage Defense (orange) variant for treatment and mask while the rest can use the Moisturising Frizz Free (pink) variant which is comparatively lighter!

I have been given the Nourishing Breakage Defense (orange) shampoo and conditioner because I don't really have an oily scalp but I do have dry hair ends. Used together with the Moisturising Frizz Free (pink) treatment and mask, my hair now looks much more tamed and manageable after a week! My hair is now more moisturised and is much softer and smoother to the touch! There's significantly less tangles in my hair (especially obvious when I comb through my wet hair!) and not forgetting to mention how the great the smell is too!

My favourite product of all! The improved treatment now works its magic on the hair in just 30 seconds! Perfect for busy and lazy days! Oh do take note that treatment or mask SHOULD NOT be applied on the scalp. They should be applied to hair ends only! :)

Me now has nice flowy hair!

You too now can try out the new Essential hair range products by redeeming free samples here! Also, Like Essential on their Facebook page and follow them on Instagram @essentialsingapore for more information!