Battle of the hair masques

In the May Issue of Elle Canada Magazine, readers and beauty editors awarded Matrix Essentials Sleek Look 2 Miracle Constructor the Best Hair Mask in the “Save” department in the 2011 Beauty Grand Prix Awards. In honour of Elle’s Beauty Grand Prix results, the Girls in the Marketing Department have decided to put some of our favourite masques to the test.

I first introduced the importance of a hair masque as well as listed some of our favourites in the article, A good hair masque will reinvigorate and nourish your thirsty strands. Here’s an in-depth comparison on the basis of active ingredients, product packaging, scent and results between Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair Masque, DermOrganic Masque Intensive Hair Repair and the award-winning Matrix Miracle Constructor. The results may surprise you, and Elle Canada’s readers.

Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair Masque, made with macadamia and argan oil, is available in a deep bowl-shaped container that requires you to dip your fingers into the bowl to get the product. Over time, I feel like the bowl may develop some residue around the edges and even dilute the product if it’s exposed to air for too long. At the same time, it’s easy to use too much of this product because there isn’t a controlled measuring system in place.

Melissa and I absolutely love the fresh scent of Macadamia’s Deep Repair Masque. Not only does it smell amazing, it makes your hair visibly softer and shiner.

DermOrganic’s Masque Intensive Repair (with argan oil) is packaged in the most user-friendly of the three. It comes in a bottle with a pump dispenser that doesn’t really force you to get your hands dirty. However, you may need to unscrew the pump and flip the bottle around towards the end of the product’s life to get the remaining drops.

Its scent isn’t as lovely as Macadamia’s but nevertheless, it is not overpowering. The results are very comparable to those achieved with the Macadamia Deep Repair Masque as both products left our strands shiner, softer and healthier. We’ve hit the jackpot!

Matrix Essentials Miracle Constructor, containing shea butter and apricot oil, has an odd packaging system that wasn’t intuitive for both Melissa and I. Initially, I began twisting the cap, intending for it to come off. However, the product actually comes out of the centre of the cap after twisting it open.

After struggling to open the Matrix Miracle Conditioner, I wasn’t too impressed with its smell or even with the way it made my hair feel after use. My hair wasn’t visibly softer or shiner, which was the case after using both Macadamia and DermOrganic Masques.  Melissa would categorize it as more of a “Conditioner” rather than a “Deep Repair Masque”.

The Verdict

After testing all three masques, Melissa and I both agree that the Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair Masque takes the top spot on the podium. Despite how damaged my hair is from colouring and heat use, this masque made my hair softer, shiner and healthier. In comparison with DermOrganic, which performed equally as well, the winning factor was fragrance. Macadamia’s Deep Repair Masque smells amazing (I’d seriously recommend asking to smell a bottle the next time you’re in one of our stores)! While its packaging isn’t my favourite, results are more important to me than the process.

Time to get my hands dirty and apply the winning Macadamia Deep Repair Masque. After shampooing, I leave the Macadamia Masque on for 7 minutes before rinsing and do this about once a week.

What do you think? Are you in love with Macadamia too or do you have another favourite hair masque?