Wednesday, May 21, 2014

HSI Professional Argan Oil: Reviewed

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

I love oil. I use oil in my beauty products, I oil cleanse my face, my husband and I use it after we shave, I use it in my hair on the ends and for scalp massage, and I use it on my children. We are an oily bunch.

For oil cleansing my face I use a mixture of argan oil, caster oil, glycerin, jojoba oil, rosehip seed oil and grapeseed oil. Sometimes I like to swap out one or two of those oils and add in apricot kernal oil or avocado oil. I have given up sodium laureth and sodium laurel sulfates for over a year and only wash my face with oil or the occasional Dr. Bronners castile bar soap or a simple herbal or charcoal soap with ingredients that I can pronounce and spell.

I was excited to be sent a product for review, it is the HSI Professional Argan Oil for hair. I had not heard of this product before, however it seems to be very popular for those who regularly flat iron their hair. The company makes a flat iron as well. I used to flat iron my hair a fair bit, but in the last year, I have embraced my newly found waves that have come from giving up sulfates in my shampoo and soaps. For years the sulfates had dried out my hair and made it a mixture of half straight, half wavy. This meant that I needed to either flat iron my hair or use hot rollers so that it looked evenly styled. After giving up sulfates a year ago, and washing my hair only 1-2 times a week, my hair is not oily or weighed down, and it is softer and has a nice wave.

I received the HSI argan oil and looked at the ingredients. I was hoping for a simple ingredient of Argon oil and perhaps another oil or 2 added such as jojoba or coconut oil or something. Sadly this oil is made with some added chemicals that I am not sure about.

Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Argania Spinosa (Argan) Oil, Fragrance, D&C Red # 17, D&C Yellow #11, Benzyl Benzoate, Benzyl Salicylate, Amyl Cinnamal, Benzyl Salicylate, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Geraniol, Hexyl Cinnamal.


I was hoping for a pure argan oil in a bottle so that this would be able to be used on my face and body as well as my hair. Argan oil is listed as the third ingredient. Argan oil is rich in vitamin E and it also rich in omega 3 and omega 9 fatty acids. Argan oil is pressed from the nut of the fruit of the Argan Tree, which is only found in Morocco. Argan oil in its pure form, without any additives is expensive as it is harder to acquire due to rarity and location.

The oil bottle and the packaging look professional. The size of the product is nice and generous. The oil is housed in a dark colored bottle that is needed to preserve the argan oil.

Dimethicone Crosspolymer is one ingredient that I am familiar with. It is a type of silicone, which is helpful for smoothing hair and making it appear healthier. Notice that I said APPEAR healthier. Over time, build up of silicones cause dried out hair. I used to love silicones, but as anyone who doesn't use regular shampoos knows, silicones build up on hair and are hard to remove when you are sulfate free.

Not everyone will agree with me and my sulfate free lifestyle and not everyone will be silicone free or limit their use of silicones. Silicone buildup does need to be removed with a clarifying shampoo.

Back to the HSI product, how is it used? After washing your hair, put 4-5 drops of HSI Professional Argan Oil Hair Treatment on your palm, rub your hands together to warm up the oil, and apply into damp hair. Some people may decide to use it into their scalp as well and some may only want to apply to the ends only. This hair product smells luxurious and somewhat sweet, almost a nutty smell. HSI Professional recommends the use of Argan Oil as an extra thermal protection before styling your hair with tools such as the flat iron, the hair dryer or the curling iron. For those who are not avoiding or limiting their use of silicones, and who are accepting of the added chemicals in this product, this will be a nice product for taming flyaways or frizzy hair and add a little shine.


If you found this review or any of my other reviews interesting or helpful, please rate is as "helpful" and or leave a comment. I enjoy writing reviews and hearing feedback about what I have written as I feel reviews help those interested make an informed decision before purchasing. I also feel that honest and informative reviews improve a product by providing insight to the company. I believe reviews should be honest no matter whether an item was free, at a discount, or purchased. I am not connected to this company or any of the companies of products that I review. I am not paid for my opinions.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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