Act + Acre Shampoo, Conditioner, and Scalp Detox ($18-48)
The Essentials Detox wasn’t an influencer triggered purchase, but an incessant Instagram Ad induced one. Every other ad on my stories was filled with A+A’s testimonials of hard water build up reversed, thicker, shinier hair, and it’s “skincare for the scalp” focused ingredients. It ticked all the boxes for a hair care system after months of my hair feeling brittle, thinner, and full of build up.
The first step in the system is the Scalp Detox ($42 alone). It’s used as a weekly pre-wash treatment you leave on for 20 minutes. Its job is to be an oil cleanser for your scalp, lifting build up and dry skin so your shampoo can be more effective and your follicles can be relieved of congestion. I really liked this step, it felt relaxing to massage into my scalp, but the 20 minute waiting time was a bit annoying because as all women know, when we are finally on hair-wash day we want to get it over with not prolong the process. It’s also a time limit that is too long to justify sitting in the shower for. But since it was only weekly, I got over it and used the 20 minutes to tidy up the house instead. When washing with shampoo I did notice that my hair felt cleaner in shower and out and my blowouts where lighter and bouncier on the day I used this pre-wash.
The Hair Cleanse and Hair Conditioner ($28 each) were underwhelming. Because they are both plant-based I found they lacked the ability to balance the moisture in my already dry hair. The Cleanse gave that squeaky clean feel which to be honest I kind of love, but the Conditioner didn’t add nearly enough moisture back in to what was stripped. You can see from the photo I used almost the entire bottle of shampoo and not even a 1/3 of conditoner and that was using 4-6 pumps! If that’s a good or bad thing can be up to you.
In the end the Cleanse and Conditioner were not a repurchase for me and I don’t think I’d recommend either to anyone. The Scalp Detox was a win, despite it’s annoying 20-minute rule. It did as it said and I noticed a difference in how my hair felt!
Look out for tomorrow’s review of The Restore Collection and drop any questions below! 🛀🏼
Original Review: January 14, 2022