After my minor hair fiasco with the L'Oreal Cleansing Balm, I was pretty hesitant to try a different hair line from my usual coveted Redken All Soft, especially after color correcting my awful orange grow out. The fact that this hair care line is a purifying one made me even more nervous. So did this budget friendly selection made the grade or end up in the bin?
Hask is a drugstore priced hair care company that focuses on the more crunchy hippie spectrum of stuff. Their products tend to be free of sulfates, parabens, phthalates, gluten, alcohols and artificial colors, so if you avoid those things, Hask may be a brand worth looking into. Obviously I'm going to be reviewing the charcoal line today, which is deeply purifying. The products are cleansing and clarifying due to activated charcoal, but it still manages to be be non-staining and safe for all hair types.
The first thing that hit me like a ton of bricks with this product was the citrusy scent, or more specifically, grapefruit aroma. It's pretty strongly scented and reminds me of some beauty product my aunt used during my childhood, but I can't quite put my finger on it. It's quite pleasant to the ol' schnozz, and I really appreciate that it's not super artificial, and therefore offensive, like most items at the $6 mark. The scent gets an A+ from me!
However scent is but only a small factor in how a hair care line performs. Initially I was pretty hesitant to use a purifying shampoo AND conditioner AND hair treatment right after color correcting because I used to use purifying shampoos to strip color during my Manic Panic days, plus these things tend to be a bit drying so I was left scratching my head about how there can be a purifying conditioner. Mercifully all of my fears were proven to be irrational. The shampoo does work incredibly well as a purifying treatment, but didn't strip my color horribly, nor did it leave my hair feeling like straw. The conditioner was, against all of my predictions, quite effective. I still followed up with my It's A 10 once I finished my initial tests, but that's just personal preference. Both of these left my hair feeling as pure as a nun and quite soft, but the hair masque was a bit of a dud for me. I didn't feel like it did anything more than what the conditioner did, so I'd say skip that.
TL;DR
Price: $5.99 for shampoo/conditioner, $2.99 for treatment
Size: 12 fl. oz/355 mL for shampoo/conditioner, 1.75 oz/50 g for treatment
Availability: Ulta, Hask, Walgreens, Amazon
Pros:
- The scent doesn't smell artificial
- Effective at purifying
- Doesn't dry out hair
- Minimally damaging to artificial color
Cons:
- Scent may be a bit strong for some
- Hair masque doesn't do much
Cruelty free: Oui!
Final thoughts: I think that the shampoo and conditioner are great budget buys that really clarify the hair without turning it into dried out straw, however I don't recommend the treatment since it functioned just the same as the conditioner would normally. Even though these are considered to be color safe, I wouldn't wash with them consistently since it did strip some of my demi-permanent dye more than a regular, non-clarifying shampoo would.
BrandBacker sent me the Macadamia line of Hask products a few months back and I loved it. I'm really interested in this brand, though I don't think I'd go for the Charcoal line.
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