Hello friends! I've nearly used up the Somang Keratin Silkprotein Hair Aqua Essence that I received in a Jini Beauty Box a few months ago (paid for with my own money), so I thought now would be a great time to review it for y'all.
What is it?
A leave-in conditioner containing keratin to help treat dry, damaged hair. It's meant to give your hair moisture, repair the cuticle, and prevent further damage. As the "essence" name indicates, it's much like the type of essence you would use for skincare as far as the texture goes, but personally it feels a bit more like an emulsion to me in the sense that it's essentially a watered down lotion/conditioner. "Watered down" makes it sound like a bad thing, but it's not. Just the best way of describing the texture. By comparison, the Beauty Protector leave-in conditioner from Birchbox is much thicker, but the Somang essence is a little bit thicker than water. The scent is a little bit flowery and sweet, but grounded with something a bit more earthy. I can definitely smell the chamomile and sage in this, with a bit of the lavender, not much of the rosemary comes through. The scent is definitely noticeable as I'm spraying it on my hair, and it does linger for a little bit, but it's gone by the time my hair is dry.
What's in it?
Purified Water, Ethanol, Dimethicone, Propylene Glycol, PPG-2-Deceth-12, Bis-PEG-18 Methyl Ether Dimethyl Silane, Panthenol, TEA Dodecylbenzenesulfonate, Laminaria Digitata Extract, Hydrolyzed Silk, Butylene Glycol, Disodium EDTA, Hydrolyzed Keratin, Camomile Flower Extract, Rosemary Leaf Extract, Viola Tricolor L. Extract, Hedera Helix Extract, Sage Leaf Extract, Lavender Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract, Dipropylene Glycol, Nymphaea Odorata Root Extract, Benzophenone-9, Methylparaben, Fragrance
How much is it?
110 ml $8.99
eBay || I've seen it listed on Amazon, but it's higher priced and the packaging is different. Not sure if it's new packaging or a fake product, so I'm not linking it here.
My Experience:
First, a bit about my hair. My hair is long, thick, wavy/curly, fluffy, color-treated, heat-styled, tangly, breaker of hair brushes, spawn of satan, and woefully misbehaved. It's a few sarcastic taunts short of being a Buffy villain, basically. This hair essence wasn't enough to tame it. It did give me softer and shinier hair, so it gets points for that. However, since it's so thin, I basically had to drown my hair in it. On the bright side, it didn't weigh my hair down. Didn't help to detangle my hair at all, but it doesn't claim to be a detangler, so fair 'nuff. Ultimately, I would say that if you have fairly normal hair and are just looking for something to give you shine and softness, you might like this. If you've got thick, curly, or coarse hair, I don't think you'll like this because it's not going to do much for you. People with thin hair may also like this because the essence texture keeps it lighter than some of the other leave-in conditioners I've tried in the past, but this is coming from someone with fluffy, unruly hair, so take that with a grain of salt.
Would I repurchase?
Nah. The price is decent, it smells nice, and it gave me softness and shine, but this one didn't wow me. I'd rather keep trying other products. Maybe they make Demon-Away* for hair? Here's to hoping.
xx Cristine
