Going loco for local: Jo’s Beauty Store’s hair growth elixir is a potion for healthy looking hair

Ever heard of people who fall for any and all hair oil ads on Instagram? I’m guilty as charged because I always fall for grand promises of fixing my very confused hair texture that ranges from silky to Hagrid-esque. My shelf currently looks like a witch’s set of potions but I recently found the potion to beat all potions in Jo’s Beauty Store’s hair growth elixir.

For some, an old-school champi courtesy of their mom or grandma with olive oil or coconut oil is enough. With the amount of heat I put my hair through, good old olive and coconut hair oil just don’t work anymore, unless mixed with another hair oil. This is why I bought the hair growth elixir by Jo’s Beauty Store — apart from my weakness for hair oils.

It promises to thicken the hair, remove dandruff while moisturising the scalp, strengthen the hair, and promote new hair growth.

The hair oil comes in two sizes — a 100ml bottle for Rs3,000 and a 50ml for Rs1,700. I bought the 100ml bottle so my mother and I could both use it. I enjoyed using it because I believe it contains a mix of oils. The two strong fragrant notes that I instantly recognised upon application were coconut and almond, however, neither the website nor the bottle mentioned the ingredients used in the oil blend. It would’ve been nicer if the ingredients were listed out on both the website and the bottle in case there are some allergens or ingredients people want to avoid.

But surprisingly, the blend worked for me. I say surprisingly because normal coconut oil doesn’t really do anything for me unless I mix it with either castor or almond oil. The mix of oils in the hair growth elixir really worked for my hair. To be honest, I didn’t trust the process. I was a disbeliever until my hairstylist pointed out during a recent haircut that she saw a significant amount of hair growing back and that my hair texture had gotten better.

To be fair, I noticed an improvement in texture when I first started using the oil. My hair is normally very frizzy and it’s neither somewhere in between curly and straight. It also has a rougher texture thanks to years of heat applied via hair styling tools. To see my hair become silky soft and gleam under the sun after using the hair oil just three times — once a week — restored my faith in hair oils being at par with dietary supplements for healthy hair.

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After using this oil for almost two months, my hair feels smooth, silky and way shinier than before. The ends of my hair have always been as dry as the Sahara Desert but thanks to hair growth elixir, I can see a major difference.

Now that I’ve waxed poetic about the pros of this product, let’s move on to the cons. For one, the hair oil has a really strong scent that is overwhelming when first applied. Yes, you eventually get used to it but it would be much better if the scent wasn’t so strong. The second thing that I’d like to point out is the paper-like packaging around the bottle. When you apply hair oil, 90 per cent of the time you drop a few droplets on the bottle. When that happened with me, the paper outside turned grey as it soaked up the dropped product and the paper sort of dissolved. This is something the brand definitely needs to work on, along with adding a list of ingredients on the bottle.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

This article is part of an ongoing series on supporting local products. All the products are independently evaluated and reviewed by a member of the Images team and reflect their personal opinions. If you’re a local business and would like to be featured, reach out to us at imagesdawndotcom@gmail.com.