First Impressions: Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair Masque

I ran out of my Spiral Solutions Deeply Decadent deep treatment, so when I went to Target to grab some groceries, I finally had the perfect excuse to pick up the Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair Masque for myself.  I gave it to my mom for Mother's Day one year, and she loves it, but I hadn't tried it myself before.

It is significantly cheaper on Amazon (~$25 on Amazon, compared with $32 at Target), but I decided to grab it while I was there.

I have only used it once, a couple of hours ago, but I thought it would be fun to give you guys my first impressions and then update in a week or two with my final thoughts on it.  Sorry in advance for the cell phone pictures; my big camera battery was dead!

The first thing I do with a new product is read the ingredients.  Here's the ingredient list:

Aqua/Water/Eau, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Cetrimonium Chloride, Quaternium 80, Amodimethicone, Ricinus Commmunis Seed Oil (Castor), Parfum/Fragrance, Algae Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil, Anthemis Nobilis (Roman Chamomile) Flower Oil, Aloe Vera (Aloe Barbadensis) Leaf Extract, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Argania Spinosa (Argan) Kernel Oil, Limonene, Butylphenyl Methypropional, Hexylcinnamal, Linalool, Citronellol, C11 15 Pareth 7, C12 16 Pareth 9, Trideceth 12, Trimethylsilosyamodimethicone

First of all, it's got Amodimethicone and one more silicone in it.  This silicone doesn't build up even if you aren't using a sulfate-shampoo because it is water-soluble.  Many curlies following the Curly Girl method have found that they can use the "A-cone" without issues.  The other silicone is the very last ingredient, meaning that there is very very little of it.  If I were following Curly Girl strictly (conditioner-only washing), I would still give this a try, given that the a-cone is water soluble and the other silicone is only present in a very small amount.

You'll notice that it's got water as the main ingredient, and it has a lovely fatty alcohol second.  That's a good sign for me, as my dry hair needs moisture, and that's what fatty alcohols are good for.  Glycerin is a humectant, so it's great for the more humid months, and spring and fall in particular.  Probably not going to work as well in the winter with glycerin so high on the ingredient list though, as this will cause your hair to push moisture into the air, rather than holding onto it.  As I scanned the list, I was happy to see lots of oils, but if you don't like castor oil, this a no for you.  I also love aloe hair products, so I was excited to it make an appearance.  Argan oil is also an interesting ingredient, as it's the new fad hair product ingredient.

Once I've scanned the ingredients, I look at the texture.  This is thick stuff but it somehow manages to feel light at the same time, as opposed to heavy and hard to work with.

Next is the scent test.  This product is heavily scented.  Going back tot he ingredients list, you'll see that fragrance is very high up there.  I've thus far found that it does linger on my hair, but I like the scent.  It smells vaguely tropical to me, but in a more earthy way than the typical tropical scent.

Time to apply.  I took a decent sized glob and worked it through my hair after washing.  This product has fantastic slip.  It really glides through my hair.  Loved the application of it.

Time to rinse.  It rinsed clean, and my hair felt well-moisturized afterwards.  I tried to leave a bit on my ends, since they are extra dry (almost time for a hair cut for sure!).

After styling with some curly mousse, I left it to totally air dry, rather than my usual method of drying the top with a dryer to speed things along.  I wanted to see if it would calm the frizz that I get around my scalp when I don't use a hair dryer to help that area out.

And boy did it deliver!  My curls are frizz free and shiny!  My normally frizzy scalp area is smooth and silky.  The scent did linger, like I mentioned earlier, but I don't mind that.  Most importantly, my hair feels very light.  This gives me hope that I can use this frequently on my fine hair.  I do not feel at all weighed down despite having very fine hair.  I will update on this particular aspect of the product though, as with more uses, I might get weighed down by it.

With one use, this product is a real winner.  I will update you guys later and post the link here when I do! Check it out on Amazon or you can find it at Target!