For the past couple of years I’ve been in the routine of bleaching my hair to allow me to follow up with a dye and achieve a vibrant pillar-box red. As much as I loved my red hair, and as much as it has been extremely forgiving toward fortnightly bleaching and colour sessions I decided to give it a bit of a break to allow it to recover a bit. I initially put dark brown colour onto my roots and brought it down to create a dark to red ombré look (which I quite liked) and then just before the first lockdown I went back to my natural colour, which is a very dark brown.
Without knowing it at the time I choose a very fortunate time to switch to a maintenance free hair colour, but it’s also given my hair the chance to have some space from harsh chemicals and gain some of its health and thickness back. On top of that, a few months break I’ve also been trying out some new products that will help my hair further recover which is where I discovered the brand Maui Moisture.
Having been eyeing it up on the shelves every time I went food shopping, on top of reading some pretty good reviews online I decided to ignore the slightly higher price point and just go for it. The shampoo and conditioner retail for around £9 a bottle, which is more than I would typically spend on hair products; although at the time of purchase I got a discount on both which made it more justifiable at the time.
So, what’s so great about this product I hear you ask. Well to start unlike most shampoos which start with deionised, chemically treated water as the main ingredient, the starting ingredient for Maui is a unique blend of 100% pure aloe juice and coconut water. Aloe being an ingredient I am typically drawn to thanks to its reputation for healing and soothing properties I was keen to give this a try.
As can be guessed from the name, Maui draws inspiration from its namesake and the beautiful tropical islands of Hawaii. The line currently has 5 shampoos and conditioners in its range to incorporate a range of different hair types and needs. As you can see I opted for ‘dry and damaged' which is as the name suggests for dry hair, but have since purchased a few others from the range as well. On top of that, Maui Moisture products are Vegan friendly and free from nasties such as sulphates, silicone, artificial colour and mineral oils.
When I first used this shampoo I was a little taken aback. It’s an extremely thick in texture for a shampoo and with a hard plastic bottle you need to shake it and work to get product out. I can imagine it being a little difficult for those with dexterity issues in their hands, to the point that an alteration to the packaging wouldn’t be a bad shout. It doesn’t lather up in quite the same way as a typical shampoo and I found I had to use rather a lot of it to feel like I was cleaning my hair properly.
The next time I washed my hair I rubbed the shampoo between my palms to warm and disperse it a little before transferring to my hair and found that this worked to make the shampoo far more pliable and easier to use. It didn’t create many suds, but I have recently discovered that they aren’t actually essential for a shampoo, just a nice to have. The conditioner had pretty much the same texture as any other I’ve come across and was wonderful to work into my hair. Both products had a wonderful tropical scent to them, almost like the cocktails you’d be sipping on holiday, and it’s a scent that does linger a little on the hair, although it isn’t overpowering at all.
After using for the first time the first thing I noticed was how easy it was to get a brush through my wet hair. For whatever reason my hair is awful when it comes to tangles and I usually have to brush it in stages as I’m drying my hair as it is more fragile and prone to breakage when wet. This time however, the brush could glide through my hair all the way from the root which is pretty impressive for my knotty hair. Another thing I noticed was how soft my hair felt and how shiny it was. A lot of bleaching had previously left my hair looking very dull, but just one session of Maui Moisture restored a lot of shine to my hair and it looked the healthiest it has in a long time.
Continued use has helped even more, and with me having switched back to my red Ombre and no longer applying bleach to my hair I’ve been able to restore some of its thickness and it feels a million times stronger and healthier. If all that wasn’t enough my hair is going longer between washes, meaning I’m not getting through as much product as I’d originally thought I would which does make me feel slightly better about the price point. In fact I've now managed to train my hair to the point it doesn't need washing more than twice a week. Overall I would say this brand is well worth the slightly higher price point, and as mentioned I have since purchased other shampoos, conditioners and even a hair mask from the range.
So if you have mistreated hair like me or perhaps just fancy treating yourself while in our second lockdown, I would highly recommend giving this brand a try.
