Product Review: Alter Ego Garlic Treatment

Hey ladies,

If you have been hanging around the healthy hair care world for a little while now, then I'm sure you've heard of the Alter Ego Garlic Treatment. It's touted as one of the top ways to reduce hair fall; along with tea and coffee rinses, garlic when either applied to the scalp or taken internally via tablet, has been shown to reduce excessive shedding. To be honest, shedding is less of my concern than breakage because shedding is a natural process, some circumstances like stress, hormonal changes, illness and dietary changes can lead to excessive hair fall which goes directly against the goal of fuller, longer hair. A few months back I suffered an massive shedding incident (hormonal causes, more on that soon), which I knew I would have to wait out, but I figured I would at least try to decrease any additional/unnecessary hair fall during that time. I wasn't expecting much from this conditioner, but it certainly blew me away with its ability to decrease shedding.

I absolutely never use it the way the ingredients suggest lol. I typically leave it on overnight as a pre-poo treatment and then shampoo it out the next day. There is usually considerably less shed hair after using this treatment than my normal conditioners or any other conditioner when left in overnight. It has somewhat of a lotion-y consistency (similar to that of the Neutrogena Triple Moisture leave-in), and a strong, cologne smell which I really like. The Garlic Mask also has pretty good slip, but it's a little strange while rinsing. When I apply the conditioner to dry or damp hair, it is great at easing detangling, but upon rinsing it does little to keep hair detangled in the shower and after the wash process is complete. This may be due to the fact that this product is not pH balanced (ideal hair product pH is 4-5.5); were it not for this fact this would've been the perfect conditioner. That aside, I still like the conditioner a lot, and would happily recommend it to anyone that would like to reduce their shedding temporarily. 

Rating: 4/5
Claims: This special cream, rich in peptides, vitamins and mineral salts which derivate from wheat and garlic represents an excellent substitute for hair treatment with animal extract. It leaves hair soft and strong and it is ideal to use on treated hair, such as bleached, dyed and permed.

Instructions: Use after shampooing the hair, apply the treatment all over the scalp, wait for a few minutes then rinse with water. Recommended to be used after shampooing, leave it on for about 15 minutes to have the best results.

Ingredients: Water, cetearyl alcohol, centrimonium chloride, dipalmitoylethyl hydroxyethylmonium methosulfate, parfum, methoxy PEG/PPG-7/3 aminopropyl dimethicone, limonene, benzyl alcohol, propylene glycol, linalool, amyl cinnamal, citric acid, triticum vulgare sprout extract (wheat extract), yellow #5, methylchloroisothiazoline, red #4, methylisothiazoline, allium sativum extract (garlic bulb extract), cochlearia amoracia extract (horse-radish root extract), ferula assa foetida root extract, blue #1
pH: 7
Type: Moisturizing deep conditioner (protein-containing)

Have you tried this conditioner? If so, how do you feel about it?

Thanks for reading :),