Review: Joico Cliniscalp Range for Natural Hair

Hello dearies!

I think it's safe to say that almost everyone wants a head full of thick, luscious-looking hair. I know I sure do! Sadly, I have rather fine hair and experience the usual hair fall in the shower every day. When I moved to the UK a while back, I started experiencing a lot more hair fall than usual. I do not know if it's due to the fact that my skin and scalp may not have been used to the water here (it's hard water), or my diet; or stress (too many factors to pinpoint on any!) but my hair started thinning, so when I was offered a chance to try this, I jumped at it! Want to know what I think of it? Keep reading! 

Product: Joico Cliniscalp Botanical Thinning Hair Solutions 3-Step Trial Kit (For Natural Hair)*

Price: £18.95 (approx. RM 104)

Made in: USA

Content: Purifying Scalp Cleanse, 100ml*

              Balancing Scalp Nourish, 100ml*

              Stimulating Scalp Treat, 50ml*

What is Joico and what is Cliniscalp?

Joico is a hair care brand which offers quality hair care, styling, hair colour and texture products. Cliniscalp is a hair care range that claims to fuse powerful botanicals with advanced science to create a professional, clinically proven solution for thinning hair. The 3-Step Cliniscalp daily regime promises to ensure an optimal scalp environment to maximise hair's natural growth potential, regardless of whether hair is chemically treated or natural, or in the early stages of thinning or advanced.

The 3-Step Cliniscalp programme claims to address the cause and effects of thinning hair by:

• Cleansing the scalp of sebum and DHT (which stands for Dihydrotestosterone, a male sex hormone which plays a major role in hair loss) with botanical 5-alpha reductase enzyme inhibitors
• Neutralising environmental pollutants that weaken or damage the scalp and hair follicles
• Providing essential nutrients to the scalp and hair follicles
• Strengthening and maintaining existing hair

The trial kit I received is the trial kit for Natural hair (hair that is not chemically treated- perfect as my hair is not dyed or bleached) in the Early Stages of Thinning.

As I personally feel that it takes a while for hair care products to do its job, I used up the whole trial kit before writing this review to see if the products have lived up to their claims. This whole trial kit lasted me for about 1.5 months, and I washed my hair 4-5 times a week, once a day.

Let's move on to the first product in this trial kit!

The Purifying Scalp Cleanse (Shampoo) claims to remove DHT and environmental residue that can contribute to hair loss. It is infused with Biotin, Vitamin B6, and nettle to help nourish and remove DHT; while Vitamins A & E and gingko biloba neutralise free radicals. The Balm Mint, aloe vera gel and Hops in the shampoo also help cool, soothe and improve the condition of the scalp. 

This shampoo is a clear blue gel texture which lathers up rather easily. I squeeze out a £2 coin size (50 sen coin size) into my palm and massage the product into my scalp and hair. It has a slight mint scent and leaves a slight minty cool feeling on my scalp, which I find refreshing. The shampoo rinses out easily with water, and my scalp and hair is left feeling thoroughly clean and fresh-feeling. It does however, leave my hair feeling a bit rough and knotty, so I always ensure I move on to using conditioner after rinsing this out.

The next step in this trial kit is none other than the Balancing Scalp Nourish - the conditioner. This baby claims to nurture, balance and protect the scalp, whilst helping to detangle and create an optimal scalp environment for healthier, thicker-looking hair. The sunflower oil, rosemary oil and ivy extract in this product help to intensely moisturise the scalp and hair and protect from damaging environmental aggressors, whilst ginseng and hops help nourish and improve the scalp's condition.

After rinsing off the shampoo, I squeeze out excess water from my hair and take a £2 coin size (50 sen coin size) of this product, applying it to the lengths of my hair. Any leftover product is lightly massaged into my scalp. The Balancing Scalp Nourish has a mint/herbal scent which I find rather calming and mood uplifting. When massaged into my scalp, it leaves a very minty cool feeling on my scalp which I thoroughly enjoy. I leave the product to do its work in my hair for about 3 minutes and then rinse it off. Occasionally I rinse it off with cold water and the feel of cold water hitting my minty cool scalp is utterly refreshing and always leaves me feeling fresh and awake after. As a conditioner, I find that it does not really help detangle the knots and tangles in my hair, which is slightly disappointing. It does leave my hair feeling soft and fluffy though, which I guess partly makes up for the the lack of detangling properties.

Lastly, after rinsing off the conditioner and stepping out of the shower, I leave my hair to air dry thoroughly and then apply the Stimulating Scalp Treat to different areas of my scalp. I then massage the product in and leave it in without rinsing it off. This treatment claims to help accelerate scalp respiration, nourish hair follicles and remove build-up on the scalp. Infused with biotin, Vitamins B6, A and E and gingko biloba, it promises to help nourish the scalp, prevent DHT and protect the scalp against free radicals. It also contains densiox, which according to Joico is a patented hair rejuvenating complex which nourishes and stimulates each follicle at its growth centre.

This gel-liquid treatment comes in a squeezy bottle with a twist-up-and-down cap which easily dispenses the product. There is a warning that this product may cause temporary redness on the scalp, although I did not experience any. I did experience a slight tingling when I initially applied this product, but after a few days this no longer occurred. It also has a sharp yet light herbal scent, but it is not overpowering and fades off pretty much instantly once applied to the scalp.

So did this trial kit live up to its claims?

It does make my hair look thicker, but unfortunately I do not think it has helped prevent or minimise my hair loss. I am still experiencing the same amount of hair loss in the shower every day. It is possible that I may have to use it for a longer period of time, say, 4 months or so in order to see some results but to do that (the travel sized bottles definitely do not contain enough product to last 4 months), I would have to pick up the full-sized bottles. Results for each person differs, so what did not work so well for me may work perfectly well for you!

Would I purchase this?- I am currently trying out other hair care products (because I just love trying out different things - typical blogger!) so I probably won't purchase this now, but I may give the full size bottles a go in the future and see how it works on my scalp and hair then.

Where can I purchase this?- In the UK, Joico products are sold through hair salons nationwide, their website www.joicoeurope.com or you can telephone 0845 071 2326 for the nearest stockists. If you're in Malaysia or other parts of the world, this may be sold in hair salons, or you can try checking out shops which sell hair products (hair product distributors). I'm pretty sure there are quite a few of these shops in Malaysia, at least!

Oh, and before I forget, here's the price list of the products:-

Purifying Scalp Cleanse for Natural Hair or Chemically Treated Hair - both £12.95/300ml each

Balancing Scalp Nourish for Natural Hair or Chemically Treated Hair - both £13.95/300ml each

Stimulating Scalp Treat for Natural or Chemically Treated Hair - (one product) £13.95/100ml

Advanced Thinning Rescue for Natural or Chemically Treated Hair (one product for those in the advanced stages of thinning) - £24.95/100ml

For more information, you can check out www.cliniscalp-joico.com . 

Have you tried this product? Did it work for you? Any recommendations on products to fight hair loss? =D

xx Amanda