Unboxing/Review: The Curious Case of the Mystery Brand Voxbox

So one fine Monday afternoon I was sitting around on my computer, as I do, and I receive an email. I'm going to get my second Influenster Voxbox? And it's a Mystery Voxbox? About L'Oreal Haircare? Wonderful!

This prompted me to realize I hadn't checked the mail that day yet... so I did. What do I find? The Voxbox already there?

It was magic, I swear.

This box is the first installment in a two box series. First box contained three bottles with a cream-coloured substance in each simply marked "Shampoo", "Conditioner", and "Split-End Serum". The card included in the box stated in one week's time I would receive a box of full-size products to try after using the plainly labeled bottles for a week.

Did this pique my interest? Why yes, dear reader, it did. I put on my best Ms. Marple dress, Sherlock hat, and grabbed my Nancy Drew magnifying glass and got to lathering!

Initial Thoughts

Scent:

First thought I had when I opened these bottles? The scent was vaguely familiar. So after some super-sleuthing in my shower, I happened across what the smell of these bottles most reminded me of: my Lush Okra Hair Conditioner. Is the scent exact? Not really. Okra's scent is much stronger and more herbal. The L'Oreal samples smell like a more toned down Okra, like if Okra was mixed with a basic white drugstore shampoo/conditioner. It makes sense that these two smell similar, however. The samples say they're for "distressed, damaged hair", which is exactly what Okra claims to be for as well. Perhaps there's some ingredient overlap here? Let the investigation continue...

Texture:

Pretty much just your basic creamy drugstore shampoo/conditioner. I mention this as my Lush Okra is very viscous, which is hard to use in the shower sometimes. I much prefer the texture of the mystery samples.

Effectiveness: 

In the shower... how can I describe this? I can definitely feel it working. The shampoo made my hair feel super clean and the conditioner and serum felt nice and moisturizing. My one gripe would be that they didn't feel like they were helping reduce product buildup in my hair, but as it doesn't claim to be clarifying I suppose I can't be too upset about that.

Once my hair was dry? Oh boy. Now, in most pictures my hair looks wavy or straight... that's only because my hair is super thick and heavy. In reality, my hair is curly/wavy and thus can get incredibly frizzy/poofy. All of these products led my hair into Frizz City by the Poof District after I let it air dry. After putting my hair in a ponytail for about an hour some of the frizz went down... but by no means would I be able to use these products in the morning and be able to head out after my hair drying. Definitely a nighttime product line to use before bed. All through the next day my hair wasn't as crazy... but still very dry. Not exactly what I'd want from products claiming to fix damaged hair.

(Phone pic compliments of me being too lazy to whip out my SLR post-shower.)

 

My Hypothesis

What is my guess for the brand of this haircare line, dear reader? Well I'll tell you, as I have stumbled across some clues lately to bring me to my answer. The game is on!

Clue #1

The first clue was hidden in plain sight on the card included in the box. In the corner in a very light opacity were two circles that look incredibly similar to the one in the Garnier branding. Garnier is a brand owned by L'Oreal... so could that mean that Garnier is the mystery brand?

Clue #2
The bottles I received claimed to be good for "distressed, damaged hair". After checking the Garnier website, I noticed they had a Damage Eraser line... seems to make sense in relation to what the sample labels say?

Clue #3

The last clue brings together the first two clues. After looking at the site, I noticed each product line had a corresponding label with different close-ups of various... natural looking things.

Damage Eraser line logo is identical to the one in the corner of the Influenster card. I rest my case.

Which brand do YOU think these samples are? Do you think I'm right or wrong? Let me know!

Tune back in within the next week or so when I solve the mystery of the Mystery Brand Voxbox!

Stay sweet.

x,
Mickie 

Disclaimer: I  received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.