Monday 13 April 2015

Mane 'n Tail Shampoo and Conditioner | Review and Update






As you may have seen in my recent post of the Liebster Award, I mentioned that one of the beauty products that I am absolutely loving at the moment is the Mane ' n Tail Shampoo and Conditioner. I've always struggled with trying to achieve the long, luscious, glossy locks of my dreams ever since I chopped off my waist-length hair to ear-length four years ago and decided to bleach it platinum blonde the following year by myself. I would not recommend either of these crazy ideas unless you want to spend ridiculous amounts of money and time on "miracle" hair products (that the majority of the time, don't actually work), hair extensions (which eventually just enhances the problem) and crying in a slump on the floor about having to live with hair that's more frazzled than that of the Barbie doll that you had as a child.

So after I had finished 'experimenting' with my hair and I had finally just about gotten over the disastrous results of my choices, I began trying out lots of products and remedies in a desperate attempt to fix my problem. I did manage to find a few bits and pieces that helped me out a little, but none of these were permanent fixes and they just masked the problem rather than actually solving it. That was until I tried the Mane 'n Tail products.

I had heard about the Mane 'n Tail products a little while ago when I read up somewhere about Jennifer Anniston using the brand to grow her hair back after regrettably chopping it all off, but I was always a little put off by the idea that it was a product made for horses, so I continued to clip in my ratty old hair extensions, day in, day out, and spend an absolute fortune in the process.

It wasn't until recently that I finally managed to shake of the extensions habit; it was costing me a ridiculous amount of money, and on a student budget, I could not afford to maintain them, and it was also embarrassing when people would find out that I wore them, as well as taking up a lot of my time just putting the things in. I now get an extra half an hour or so in bed in the mornings, and that's enough to stop me ever going back to extensions again. Happy days.

Once I had stopped wearing the extensions, I began frantically searching for products again which were going to keep my hair healthy and also speed up the process to gaining me my desired look. After lots of searching of many different little corners of the internet, I once again came across Mane n' Tail, but I decided to look more into it this time to relieve me of my concerns. After being pleasantly surprised by many of the routines, I finally plucked up the courage to purchase the 355ml original shampoo and conditioner from the brand.

I purchased both of these items from Amazon for £6.41, which I believe is an absolute bargain in comparison to other places where you can buy them from, especially as I received a handful of sample sized argon oils and treatments for my hair to enhance my experience using the product.

The product was created by a family from New Jersey for their horses, and for whatever reason (I'm not quite sure if I'd ever like to know why), they decided to use the product on themselves. Perhaps they noticed how horses always seem to have such long, beautiful "manes 'n tails" and put two and two together, or maybe they were just inspired by Black Beauty and wanted to live up to his standards, I don't know, but whatever the reason, it was obviously a good idea. I particularly love how the bottle instructs on the back separately for animal use and human use. It's so cute, and really makes me feel at ease about knowing what to do, should I ever come across a dirty horse whilst carrying my new favourite product around with me in my bag,,,

Along with the instructions of use, the shampoo promises that its "micro-enriched protein formula provides down to the skin cleansing action and conditioning, leaving the hair soft and shiny". The consistency of the shampoo is slightly shimmery and very jelly like, which I was a little put off by at first, as it is so different to the usual creamy texture of my usual shampoo, however, the shampoo did make my hair feel super squeaky-clean as soon as it was rinsed off, and it lathered up particularly well, enabling me to have a lovely, firm scrub of my scalp, which I have to admit, is much better than what my average shampoo does for me. However, I have to disagree with the theory that the shampoo leaves your hair feeling "soft", as after a few uses, I noticed my hair to feel more dry than usual, and I had only changed the shampoo and conditioner in my hair routine. That is, however, my only fault within my whole experience in using this product, and it is easily solved by using a separate, "normal", moisturising conditioner after using the Mane 'n Tail one. I would also recommend using a hair oil treatment after washing, just to rebalance the moisture in your hair. I particularly love the Garnier Ultimate Blends Sleek Restorer line, which has various products, including conditioner and oil. All of the products contain coconut oil which smells amazing and does wonders for your hair, so I would highly recommend these products to use in collaboration with the Mane 'n Tail products.

Next, the conditioner states that it "helps to maintain and achieve a longer, healthier-looking mane, tail or hair" (again the last part made me giggle). Now this product is my favourite out of the two, as it does exactly what it says on the tin. Obviously both products have helped my hair, but as this one states that it specifically aids in hair growth and maintenance, I have to give this product just that little bit of extra credit. It's quite a thin conditioner, but my hair soaks it up well, and I leave it on for a few minutes before rinsing it out. It also rinses well due to its thin consistency. Lovely jubbly.

Now for the actual review of the product; although it does dry my hair out a little and I am slightly disappointed with the lack of scent to the products (although I'd rather no scent in comparison to my hair smelling like the back-end of a horse), both of these problems are easily solved with the use of a few extra products as mentioned before. The 355ml bottles have lasted me well over a month, after using generous amounts of each around 4-5 times a week (my hair needs to be washed this often, I know it's bad, I am working on it) which is another bonus of the product. I did instantly notice my hair to be much fuller and thicker, however, it wasn't until I took some photographs for the purpose of this post that I realised how much healthier and longer my hair looks. I took a photo on the first day that I used the product, which was about a month and a half ago. My hair was wet, as I had just had a shower, and I didn't really notice how wispy and unhealthy it looked until I compared it to today's photo, which was also taken of wet hair just so that I could get a reliable comparison, as your hair tends to be slightly longer when wet. Also, I must add that after using horse hair care religiously for the past few weeks, I have not experienced any cravings for hay, neighing or galloping (except for when I excitedly trot over to the bathroom to slather on my next does of the little liquid miracle). I'm not quite at the stage I'd like to be with my hair, but I am honestly super impressed with the results so far and will continue to use the product and perhaps do monthly updates on my hair journey to becoming Rapunzel.
After about a month and a half of using Mane 'n Tail
The first day of using Mane 'n Tail




















If you'd like to try out the product, you can purchase it here for £6.41. If you do decide to give it a whirl, post your own reviews of the products down below - I'd love to give them a read!

Have you tried the Mane 'n Tail range?
What did you think of the products? 







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