Zenon Kition - Essential Bliss Shampoo and Conditioner Review
* Disclaimer: PR - Links are not affiliated. These products were sent to me in return for an honest review. No content input from the brand.
When Zenon Kition reached out to me recently asking if I'd like to choose some of their products to try out, I instantly zoomed in on their Essential Bliss Shampoo and Conditioner. Having previously tried (and loved) their Rose Water Floral Beauty Mist I was already acquainted with the brand. I was also aware that they are, first and foremost, a hair salon who make their own natural hair care range.
For ages now I've been looking to switch my regular hair care products over to hair care products with naturally derived ingredients. But to be honest, I've been a bit more nervous of making the switch than I was with skincare and body care.
Let me explain why.... I have very long, thick, coloured hair and lots of it. It can get greasy at the roots but very dry at the ends. I've tried a few natural shampoos but it has been hard to find one that can target the greasy/dry issues that I face. Heavier or richer shampoo aimed at dry hair can just make my hair greasier, or other shampoos haven't quite had enough of a kick (or lather) to completely clean my unruly mane. I've not found a shampoo that I've gone back and repurchased yet - either because they just didn't work for me or they were prohibitively expensive.
Both the Essential Bliss Shampoo and Conditioner are suitable for all hair types
Making the switch to natural hair care
If, like me, you've been using basic budget high-street shampoo and conditioner for a number of years (40+ in my case) you'll need to completely erase all previous knowledge and experience of using these and start with a completely clean mind about what's to come!
It's precisely all of those unnecessary 'nasty' ingredients that's been giving me the hair washing experience that I've come to expect after using high-street brands for all those years. The excessive lather, the artificial fragrance, the silky 'conditioner' that coats my hair. When learning about ingredients, you start to realise that there's a lot of 'smoke and mirrors' involved. That super softness? It's all surface - these ingredients give you the impression of softness rather than actually getting in there from the inside and changing the actual structure of your hair - it's really nothing more than a coating - the icing on the cake, as it were. The excessive lather that makes you feel like your hair is getting a deep cleansing experience? That's all artificial and potentially harmful ingredients which again creates an illusion.
But all of these signifiers have become embedded in our thought processes about 'what cleans my hair and make it's more manageable'?' - the lather cleans my hair; the fragrance makes it smell clean; the conditioner makes it soft, less tangled, shiny and with less split and dry ends.
So I'm going to take these 'signifiers' and apply them to my experience with the Zenon Kition products and see how artificial stacks up against natural.
How much does the shampoo lather?
Compared with your budget high-street brand - not quite as much.
I purposefully used the same amount of shampoo as I usually would (with the high-street version) and applied it in exactly the same way I usually would - to the crown of my head, working through my scalp first. There was a degree of lather, and therefore slip, but I did need to pop my head back under the shower again briefly to add water so that I could work the product through the ends of my hair - and don't forget, I've got very long hair so for me the ends of my hair is the biggest area to work product through.
I would usually only use one application of shampoo. And it was the same with the natural Essential Bliss shampoo - I didn't feel the need to go back in with a second application. The first application thoroughly cleansed my hair.
High Street V Natural
Compared with the high street shampoo, which gives much more lather and works through my hair more easily, the natural shampoo generated less lather and needed more effort to work through the entirety of my hair. But as with all these comparisons, I can't rule out the difference in ingredients - those high street additives formulated to generate more lather thus giving the impression of a more thorough cleanse, compared to natural ingredients which clean the hair without all the bells and whistles of a super-foaming lather.
Natural ingredients for the win!
What does the shampoo and conditioner smell like?
I like my products to smell. Scent/fragrance is actually one of the biggest draws for me in a product. I've actually previously chosen high street shampoos based on their scents rather than the hair issues they promise to address. Silly? Yes, I know!
But, since using products (skin, body and hair) that contain natural fragrances I have come to actively dislike artificial fragrances. A natural scent powered by natural botanical essences wins every time.
The Essential Bliss shampoo and conditioner are both scented with Lavender, Geranium, Ylang-Ylang, Sweet Orange and Rosemary. This is a beautiful combination of scents - fresh citrus with a little herbal twist.
High Street V Natural
The scent of the natural Essential Bliss shampoo and conditioner wins by a mile! It's not overpowering but I can detect the gentle scent if I sniff my hair!
How soft and shiny is my hair after use?
I'd love to say that after washing my hair that it's transformed into a glossy, thick picture-perfect glorious mane - but the truth is, the ends of my hair are very, very dry. I've never tried any shampoo (High Street or Natural) that's completely managed to 'heal' or repair the split ends.
Having dyed blonde hair means that it can look very dull after a couple of days, especially with very dry ends (I'm sure that dry ends looks worse on dyed blonde hair). One of the main things I look for in a shampoo is it's capability of giving me good shine! The Essential Bliss shampoo and conditioner both make my hair shine enough to make me happy! The colour always looks it's best straight after washing and the Essential Bliss gave me that golden glow that I love.
High Street V Natural
Neither of these out-performed the other in terms of softness and shine. However, considering that the Zenon Kition shampoo uses natural ingredients to attain shine and softness, I will clearly have to choose that over artificial ingredients that possibly give the illusion of shine and softness. Another win for natural!
Did I use extra products?
Sometimes I will use a leave-in type hair product after shampoo and conditioner because my hair can get terribly tangled and I don't like the idea of aggressively combing the knots out. I have noticed that with some high-street conditioners, it can feel like there is product left behind which makes it easier to comb through, but that then begs the question - how much product does remain in my hair after thoroughly rinsing it out and what does that mean for build-up?
In the best interests of testing the shampoo and conditioner fairly, I made sure that I didn't add any extra product to help with de-tangling.
Interestingly, my hair didn't feel that there was any product remaining after a thorough rinse. But despite this my hair wasn't significantly more tangled than usual. It took a bit of extra combing through without extra product (or residue from the conditioner) but I didn't have to aggressively comb and thus lessened the impact of damaging my hair through combing. There was also no more breakage or hair loss than usual either.
General condition of hair after use
One of my main gripes about using high street conditioner is that they can sometimes leave my hair feeling 'crispy', which is obviously as a result of product residue remaining in my hair after rinsing.
The Zenon Kition Essential Bliss conditioner was easy to rinse out and I could feel no discernible residue. This meant that my hair didn't feel at all 'crispy' or heavier due to product residue.
I'll be honest - I didn't think that my hair would look and feel as good (or the same) as it does after using my regular high street branded hair care. That's not because I thought that these are inferior products - on the contrary, they're clearly much more superior precisely because they don't contain all of those 'smoke and mirrors' ingredients that are found in the high street brands.
But when making the switch, it's generally expected that there will be a period of adjustment - particularly whilst your hair is expelling all the last remnants of synthetic/non-natural ingredients.
I was very pleasantly surprised that after using both the Essential Bliss shampoo and conditioner that I didn't encounter any adjustment at all - the end results were visibly the same as I've come to expect and have previously maintained.
High Street V Natural
No difference from the end result. So basing it on ingredients - it's going to obviously be a win for natural again!
So there you have it! I think it was a pretty tall order to compare a new way of doing things versus the way that I've been doing it for 40 plus years. I was certainly expecting a period of adjustment where my hair wouldn't look as clean as it usually does. But since there wasn't any adjustment and the results were comparable (and in certain areas, more favourable) then this is a definite no-brainer! It's time to ditch the high street in favour of natural. Shame it took me so long to realise this!
I'll be honest - I didn't think that my hair would look and feel as good (or the same) as it does after using my regular high street branded hair care. That's not because I thought that these are inferior products - on the contrary, they're clearly much more superior precisely because they don't contain all of those 'smoke and mirrors' ingredients that are found in the high street brands.
But when making the switch, it's generally expected that there will be a period of adjustment - particularly whilst your hair is expelling all the last remnants of synthetic/non-natural ingredients.
I was very pleasantly surprised that after using both the Essential Bliss shampoo and conditioner that I didn't encounter any adjustment at all - the end results were visibly the same as I've come to expect and have previously maintained.
High Street V Natural
No difference from the end result. So basing it on ingredients - it's going to obviously be a win for natural again!
So there you have it! I think it was a pretty tall order to compare a new way of doing things versus the way that I've been doing it for 40 plus years. I was certainly expecting a period of adjustment where my hair wouldn't look as clean as it usually does. But since there wasn't any adjustment and the results were comparable (and in certain areas, more favourable) then this is a definite no-brainer! It's time to ditch the high street in favour of natural. Shame it took me so long to realise this!
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