Product Review: Orofluido Beauty Elixir Hair Oil

How many of these hair oil products will I review? Until I try them all I guess. So let's compare this one to Moroccan Oil, which is the best known product of this variety. The texture is a bit thicker and heavier than MO, which for those of us who need maximum conditioning is a good thing. This is due to the higher molecular weight of the silicones used in the product. The smell is a warm sandalwood-vanilla type thing, which is right up my alley personally, so I love using it. The packaging is a glass bottle which doesn't have a pump like MO (annoying), but it is approx. 5-10 dollars less than MO depending where you buy, on top of including three sample/travel size vials in the package (which is infinitely helpful to carry in the purse). So my vote is with Orofluido, but those that can't handle anything heavier than MO probably shouldn't bother. 

As most girls with curly, damaged, fried, thick or dry hair know, our hair absolutely loves moisture. Those who don't fall for the "natural beauty" hype also realize that there are very few things which can trap moisture in the hair shaft and prevent the entrance of atmospheric moisture (ie humidity/frizz) like silicones. Although I would love to spend an hour writing a long entry debunking all the silicone myths out there, that's a task for another day and another time. I will say though, that nothing prevent split ends, heat damage and mechanical/friction damage like a good coating of silicones. There's a reason they revolutionized the haircare industry when they first started being used.

Ingredients:

1. Cyclopentasiloxane: You will see this as a primary ingredient in any of these hair oil type products, it's what help deposit a lot of the shine and smoothness, while not weighing down the hair due to its high volatility and evaporation rate.
2. Cyclotetrasiloxane: Very similar to cyclopentasiloxane, but slightly heavier
3. Dimethiconol: A silicone which provides a less greasy feel than most
4. Argania spinosa kernel oil: Off course, you knew you were going to see Argan oil in a hair oil formula. This is a pretty good concentration, though it's really the silicones that are providing the soft feel you get.
5. Cyperus esculentus root oil: Orofluido markets this as their unique point of difference, talking about its powerful moisturizing effects which blend beautifully with argan and linseed oils. In actuality, this is a fragrant essential oil. So it makes the product smell good, which is absolutely true, this stuff smells great.
6. Parfum (fragrance): More good smell
7. Isopropyl palmitate: This is a waxy feeling emollient, but it won't add any waxiness to the product because its too low of a concentration
8. Linum usitatissimum (linseed) seed oil: Linseed oil is a fantastic emollient, in high concentrations
9. Benzophenone-3: Sunscreen ingredient, as I've mentioned before, sunscreens in hair products are next to useless. All reliable tests that have been formed have found that the sun protection is easily brushed or rubbed off the hair.
10. BHA: This is not BHA like salicylic acid, otherwise it would be listed that way. This is butylated hydroxyanisole, a preservative.
11. Hydroxyisohexyl-3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde: Fragrance
12. CI 47000 (yellow 11): Colorant
13. CI 26100 (red 17): Colorant that mixes with yellow to give that lovely amber color