Admittedly hair products are a little outside of my expertise compared to skincare, however since going platinum blonde a few years ago my eyes have been opened to the other side of the product-universe: haircare. Being a blonde is right up there with sensitive hormonal acne and aging skin – temperamental, sensitive, needs love but results. All I can say to you, readers, is if you’re really looking to go blonde have an honest chat with your stylists and friends whom have done it. It’s not for the faint of heart (or stingy on the budget).
One of my amazing stylists in NYC turned me on to hair oils which have made a huge difference in my hair. Oils are important because they nourish the scalp, protect fried hair cuticles, moisturize and can even be antimicrobial. Dying and heat styling your hair puts a lot of stress on your precious strands. Breaking the bonds and yanking the color out (as in bleaching) is downright awful. Although dang it I just love myself with that icy cool blonde and my black-on-black-on-black-on-black attire.
Fun fact: you SHOULD brush your hair daily with a boar-bristle brush (or one appropriate for your hair type per your stylist). Not only does it help to bring circulation and blood flow to the follicles, but helps to distribute your scalp’s natural sebum (ahem oil), down the hair. This helps to protect and hydrate the hair, and help remove/loosen up debris on the scalp. Check out another great exfoliation trick on my post about cheap hacks to add to your routine.
What is Verb’s Moringa + Jojoba Treatment Oil
Verb is a haircare company that claims their products have “only the good stuff.” They have no parabens or sulfates if that appeals to you.
Per Ulta’s description on their website:
Verb’s Moringa + Jojoba Treatment Oil is a multi-use hair oil serum formulated to reduce breakage, fight dry scalp, and repair damaged hair. This pure, silicone-free blend nourishes and balances the scalp while sealing moisture. Proven to reduce breakage by 73%* and mend split ends by 64%.*Benefits
- Multi-use formula that can be used on hair, skin & cuticles
- Fragrance-free
- 100% natural: no silicones, no parabens or gluten
- For all hair types, including thick or damaged hair
- *In a third party lab testing setting after applying to dry human hair fibers
Key Ingredients
- Moringa seed oil moisturizes, detangles & smoothes hair
- Jojoba oil helps repair & moisturize to visibly reduce signs of damage and split ends
The ingredients are listed as follows: Moringa Oleifera Seed Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Tocopherol (vitamin E).
My Experience
The reason I went for this hair oil is because of my keywords I wanted such as: treatment, moisture, multi-use, and scalp. My hair is extremely thick, course and dry. I am also terrible about taking showers in temps anything less than boiling, plus the bleaching which is not good for my scalp. I was not looking for a smoothing oil or something light and airy, more along the lines of something to answer the silent screams from my strands saying “Save Me. Love, Your Hair.”
As I’ve been shouting from the rooftops throughout this blog, understanding ingredients is crucial. By reading the ingredients I needed the right hair and expectation because these oils are rich, rich, rich. High in fat and proteins. Heavy vs. light. Oily vs. watery feeling. Have you feeling like a glazed donut vs. soft and tamed.
Another thing blondes in particular do not think about is that many oils have a bit of a yellow or amber hue due to the natural properties. This is catastrophic to someone like me that wants their hair to be the color of this background you’re reading on (and because I’m a redhead am fighting the brass battle no matter what). Over time that color can be deposited in very porous hair aiding in the brassiness that happens over time that you’re likely trying to combat. This product is basically clear. YES! ::added to cart::
Product check time: check your products. If they are brassy and you complain about brassiness, maybe it’s time for a change if they contain a brassy tint.
The product itself looks nice. For $18 I felt it had an appropriate amount of product at 1 oz and looked like an $18 product. The clear glass bottle had some weight to it and is easy to see how much you have left. The label is streamlined with pops of color making it fun and interesting to look at. The dropper was easy to use and dispensed the appropriate amount of product. The oil was a thicker vs. runny which helped with application and to deter any mess around the opening.
I tried this a few different ways. The first time was directly on wet hair right out of the shower. I am not sure if it is my hair type (I also have very long hair) but the “few drops” that it told me definitely did not seem to be enough. I used about an entire dropper-full focusing everywhere except my roots. Anything I had on my hands I gave a quick run-through on my roots near my scalp and rubbed it into my hands/cuticles for some moisture. My hair has a nice beachy wave to it when it’s dry, but looks dry for about a day after washing. The oil definitely weighed it down and looked a little stringy compared to other oils I’ve used. I didn’t brush it out (because wet hair especially on blondes is very fragile) so perhaps this would have helped, but if I cared, I might have thought this looked like my hair was lived-in for a few days.
The second time I used this I tried it on dry hair. The same was true that I needed more than a few drops. It was very calming and nourishing to my hair. I added this a few times over the course of a few days. I was also using this at my roots as before because I’m trying this whole scalp nourishing thing. My hair definitely felt softer, my cuticles looked nice and my scalp seemed less dry.
A few days later I straightened my hair, and used the oil to finish it. This was really heavy. My roots looked somewhat oily and stringy. When I brushed it, my hair glistened and looked so healthy. After a few minutes it started to look like oily hair, and more oily at the scalp vs. the ends.
Final Thoughts
Overall I really liked this oil as what the name says….TREATMENT. I had to catch myself a few times thinking, “holy cow this stuff is so thick and greasy….” but the label never said finishing oil, lightweight, or anything other than TREATMENT. I think that’s the best way to think of it and use it. Most of the complaints (and I have the same) are that this oil is very heavy. But as far as a treatment goes, my hair feels fantastic compared to before I started using it, my scalp is less itchy and I love that I can use it on dry hands and nails. I’m really interested to see if I get any hair growth in the baby hairs that have been taking a bleach-beating over the years. I’m also going to try it with putting a shower cap on and getting some heat from my scalp to see if I can conjure up some Alberto V05 nostalgia.
If you’re looking for a treatment to help nourish severely dry or damaged hair, repair curl, is safe for sensitivity to fragrance, or needs to be colorless for blonde hair, this is a great option. You don’t have to wash it out. It really looks fine. It just looks a little heavy. As much as I literally keep saying TRRRRRRRRREATMENT to myself in that same tone while I’m writing this, I am taking 1 point off for it being just a little too heavy for someone who needs an oil on a regular basis. For that I recommend my HG (so far), Kevin Murphy’s Young Again oil. Verb also has another option called the “Ghost Oil” which I may try next. This boasts to be more light weight and also has rave reviews. The Kevin Murphy is amazing but eclipses the $40 mark (albeit for more than 3x the product). However if you don’t need a ton, perhaps getting the two options from Verb may get you where you need to be at a similar price-point. I tagged this as both luxury and drugstore brand because it definitely is more pricey than your typical drugstore hair product, but isn’t reaching into the $50s like some salon and luxury brands.
A real bonus with Verb’s Moringa + Jojoba that I really appreciate is that it is fragrance free and you can pretty much slather it on anywhere for extra moisture. I don’t recommend this for face or eyebrows/lashes as it’s really occlusive and would likely cause a breakout. Also remember that with oils, you must still clarify the scalp every so often to help with buildup. Go ahead and snag yourself a boar-bristle brush too. You’ll love the little self-care treat.
Overall: 4/5
Price: $$$$$
Packaging: 5/5
So there you have it! Do you have an oil you swear by? Drop us a line in the comments.
ReadHead by Roux Atelier 