EO (Essential Oils) - French Lavender Leave-in Conditioner review

It's rare for me to make impulse purchases where beauty is concerned. I tend to do my research well when something new catches my eye - checking the product website, user reviews and of course beauty blogs before deciding to purchase. So I threw all caution to the winds when I picked up this French Lavender Leave-in Conditioner (€13.99, 250ml) recently without having ever even heard of the EO brand before.

Standing for essential oils, this line of body and haircare products made in sunny California uses natural and organic botanical ingredients and essential oils and so fits right in with the current trend for skincare lines using, er, natural and organic botanical ingredients and essential oils. They check all the right boxes when it comes to avoiding harsh chemicals and synthetic ingredients and only using pure essential oils to fragrance their products and go a step further in using recycled materials for their packaging and growing their own proprietary botanicals.

Which is all very well and good, but what most of us want to know when it comes to the product is: does it work? Well this is the first product I've tried from what is a quite extensive haircare line for a natural company like this (there are three different shampoos and four conditioners as well as a detangler) and I'm really liking it. I did discover on first use that this is not suitable as a leave-in for my fine, normal hair. I may have used a little too much as well, which resulted in heavy, weighed-down hair, though strangely enough it looked good from a short distance as it stayed very straight and smooth. It just felt coated and waxy to the touch. I think if you have coarse, processed hair and are looking for a good styling product to straighten and smooth, then this could be a good one to try.

Once I used it as a rinse-out conditioner, however, I loved it. It contains quinoa protein to condition and strengthen the hair, hibiscus to rehydrate and smooth and panthenol and glycerin to increase elasticity and thicken the hair. And however sceptical you might be about the claims made for botanical ingredients in beauty products, my hair definitely looked thicker, smoother and straighter than usual after using this product in conjunction with my usual haircare routine.

As for the fragrance, I know some (like Aisling) don't care for the overly strong essential oil fragrances, but this one is mild, fresh and doesn't linger strongly.

I've been very happy with French Lavender Leave-in Conditioner and will probably be tempted to try more from the range.

Available from selected pharmacies and online at eoireland.com