Herbal Essences Beautiful Ends Split End Protection Intensive Mask

I recently coloured my hair and had highlights done and a few days after doing this I felt as though my hair was really dry and the ends felt like straw. I haven't had my hair cut for a few months, so I was also suffering from brittle, dry split ends too. I use conditioner on my hair everytime I wash it which is about 3-4 times a week. I do straighten my hair which I know probably doesn't do my hair any good, I do how-ever use a heat defence spray and also use a hair mask on my hair once a week. I love the herbal esscenses range and always find their shampoo, conditioners and hair treatments really good and effective. I decided to go for the split end protection mask. I know this wouldn't get rid of my split ends, but I was hoping it may help to condition my hair and stop it feeling so dry.

***THE PRODUCT***
The herbal Esscenses range comes in brightly coloured bottles and stand out from other shampoo's due to the bright colour of the bottles. The hair mask comes in a round tub which is a bright red colour. On the front it states that the product is for dry/damaged hair and contains red raspberry & silk extracts. The mask itself claims to protect against split ends and breakage. The tub which holds 200ml of product has a screw lid and there is informaiton on the back of the product on how to use the mask and a list of ingredients. Silk Proteins are perfect for dry, damaged or colour treated hair and help to penetrate and re-build damaged hair. Silk extracts is often found in a lot of different conditioner's and other hair-care products.

***PRICE/AVALIABILITY***
I purchased this from Boots and it cost me £4.07. This is also avaliable to buy in Superdrug and some Supermarkets as well. Prices may very in different stores and at different times of the year due to offer's and promotions.

***USING THE PRODUCT***
I used shampoo on my hair as normal and then scooped up a small amount of product out of the tub and rubbed on to my hair making sure all the hair was covered from root to tip. The mask was a light pink colour and smelt slightly of raspberries. The smell was very pleasant and the mask felt silky in my hands when applying the product to my hair. I did use a plastic wide toothed comb to comb the product through my hair to ensure all my hair was covered. You don't need to use a huge amount of this as a little bit goes a long way. I waited approximately 5 mins and then washed the product out using luke-warm water. Previous products I have used for my hair, I feel as though I have to stand under the shower for ages before I feel as though the product has been washed out my hair. This mask washed out my hair very easily, with minimum effort and my hair felt really smooth and soft. I could still smell the product slightly in my hair which was nice. I have blonde hair and I always worry about shampoo or hair products making my hair look dull and greasy. I blow-dried my hair as normal, until it was almost dry.

***RESULTS***
After I finished drying my hair I looked in the mirror and also felt my hair. I felt as though it was still a little dry, how-ever I put this down to the split ends which I already had before using this product. The product of course won't eliminate split ends if you already have them but it does claim to help prevent them when using this at least once every week. The following day my hair felt a lot smoother and softer then it did after I had blow-dried it. I found this rather strange, how-ever it felt as though it was in a lot better condition than it was before I used the hair mask. Yes, my split ends were still there but my hair feel softer and more conditioned. The smell of the product had now gone from my hair which was a little dissapointing, how-ever I didn't expect this to last for long anyway. Even after straightening my hair it still feel soft and smooth, which was nice. Because my hair felt smooth and softer I did feel as though it looked better than normal. Even after 1-2 days, my hair was still looking nice and feeling soft. I find that some conditioners and shampoo can sometimes make your hair greasy after a few days, how-ever the mask didn't make my hair feel greasy even after 2 days.

***OVERALL OPINION***
Although my hair was very dry and brittle, with split ends I feel as though the product still did a good job in making my hair feel smooth, soft and conditioned. I will use this product again after having my hair cut and see how the product works then as I think it's a fantastic conditioner. I can't really comment on if it does prevent split ends, as I had them to start off with and they were still noticeable to me when looking at my hair. Perharps they were less noticeable to other people though. I did find that the screw lid isn't easy to undo and put back on if you have wet hands, how-ever this isn't a huge problem. I would recommend this to others if they have dry/damaged hair, but if you have split ends already you may find that this product doesn't make a huge difference for you. I will definately be using the mask again, probably when my hair is feeling a little dry, and when I haven't got so many split ends. I think this product works well and is worth the money.

(review may also appear on dooyoo)