If you follow me on Twitter or, indeed, follow my pregnancy moans on here, then you’ll know that from about 6 months into my pregnancy I developed a really issue with oily hair; literally from the moment it’s dry it looks shockingly greasy, as if I haven’t washed it for weeks which is rather grim. Apparently it’s quite common and due to hormonal changes…what’s even worse is that it takes up to a year after birth to sort itself out. Lovely!
I’ve always been fairly lucky with my hair in that whilst it’s fine, there’s quite a lot of it and it’s always been soft and easy to manage, albeit occasionally flyaway. The oiliness came on very abruptly and I spent months trying out all products I could think of that were designed to deal with oiliness, some of which were okay but most of which didn’t work at all. I’ll be compiling a list feature soon to let you know what did and didn’t work for me. In the meantime, here’s a kit of products that I’ve been relying on that do keep the oil at bay.
Apart from the fact that I hear this song – link – every time I mention this brand, I am totally smitten with the Leonor Greyl L’Huile De Beauty which is a pre-shampoo treatment designed to replenish dry hair and generally improve overall hair condition. Once I realised that the shampoo and conditioner I was using were working effectively to stop the oiliness showing up so quickly, I needed to add something to the routine that would stop my hair drying out and keep it in good condition. Products for oiliness aren’t really designed to condition hair as they’re mainly working to just suck all the excess oil out, so I went on the hunt for something to redress the balance without tipping it over the edge. L’Huile De Beauty is a beautifully scented and very dense oil that you work into dry hair before shampooing. How long you leave it on depends on how dry your hair is; so for very dry hair you’d apply it and leave it for a bit, but for hair like mine I applied it then got straight into the shower and shampooed. It has done exactly as I had hoped and leaves me with hair that’s a lot softer and smoother (and shinier!) without any heaviness or oiliness. It’s housed in a very pretty glass bottle and the product inside is actually solid, so you have to hold it under a hot tap for a minute or so to get the product moving, but it’s very much worth it if you have tricky hair that you want to keep in good condition. It isn’t cheap at £26 but it will last a good few washes. Available from Cult Beauty here – link.
The shampoo I’m currently using is from Klorane which is an extremely well priced product at £6. Klorane make amazing dry shampoos – arguably my favourite around – so I thought I should definitely give the shampoo a go and I’m pleased I did. The scent is very much as you’d expect – it’s kind of earthy and herbal – so you might want to give it a smell before purchasing as it’s quite an acquired taste! However, it doesn’t linger and I personally don’t mind it. It takes a bit of work to get a lather going and I always do a couple of washes with it to be on the safe side, but it’s very good in that it has completely eradicated the oiliness but it hasn’t made my hair all fluffy and flyaway which a lot of products aimed at oily hair do. It’s available from Escentual who currently have it on special for £5.10 here – link.
Last we have the lightest and gentlest conditioner I have ever used, which is Fresh Balance from Herbal Essences. When I was in hospital having my little dude, I realised I’d forgotten shampoo and conditioner (and a toothbrush, rather unhelpfully) so I sent Baby-Dad off to the hospital shop and he came back with a body wash (blimin’ men) and this conditioner. Considering it’s so light it does a very good job at adding just a hint of moisture to overly greasy hair. It’s cheap as chips with a pretty scent and available from Boots for £3.99 here – link.
This is the kit I’m currently using and so far (touch wood) it appears to be working. Ideally I need to now add some styling products but I’m a bit nervous! I’ll let you know how I get on and report back with any other products that work well.
*Leonor Greyl and Klorane products were PR Samples
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