I feel sort of bad because Jolse let me choose products at the end of 2020 and I am just posting about them. But the plus side is that I am almost done most of the products so I had enough time to form a solid opinion on all of the products.
With Jolse, I was able to select the products myself and I chose to split it into three categories, lips, scalp, and face. The lips were the AGATHA x TONYMOLY lipsticks, which you can see the review here.
For scalp care, I chose the AROMATICA Rosemary Scalp Scrub and the NATURE REPUBLIC Shampoo Brush. I chose these because I been having some flaky scalp so I needed some help. SO let's move on and see how I like these products!
NATURE REPUBLIC Shampoo Brush
The NATURE REPUBLIC Shampoo Brush (link) was kind of the reason why I went scalp care! I saw this shampoo brush on another site but it was $20USD and I was like this is so interesting but I am not going to drop $20 on a product and brand I haven't seen much reviews on. Then I slept on it and similar product from another brand started to pop up all over social media. It started to linger in my mind and I just kept wondering if I could find a dupe to try out. So serendipitously, I saw Jolse added the shampoo brush just as I was shopping. I IMMEDIATELY added it to my cart.🤣
Not gonna lie. This is the product I was MOST excited about. It's a brush to help with foaming up the shampoo and give the scalp a deep massage. I even heard that massaging it will help stimulate the scalp and can potentially encourage hair growth.
This is a simple design, and I'll be honest, the design all looks the same between the different brands. It's a simple brush with a T shaped handle for grip, and a brush with silicone teeth. The brush tips looks like they are sharp and would hurt to the touch. At first, when testing it at the back of my hand, it felt a little bit sharp so I was definitely worried. But when it's wet and massaging the scalp, OMG.. It's GREAT... Feels soo good... I feel like I am getting a massage with the brush whenever I use it. It feels sooo good. 😍 It's now a part of my shampoo routine!!!
The other way is something I learned from somewhere, I forgot where. But you basically put the shampoo straight onto the brush and then start to massage it in. However, whenever I tried it, it's MUCH more effort than my usual method 😅. I think it may be my shampoo, but it goes straight onto the base of the brush and STAYS there. It takes so much effort to keep brushing and use gravity and friction against the wet hair to get the shampoo to come down. But it takes much much longer to get the shampoo to come off of the base completely. I often end up rinsing it out, which is a bit of a waste. It does help facilitate a much longer and deeper massage, hence why I still do it once in a while. But I would stick with putting shampoo on the hair before using the massage tool.
The other way I use it is to massage in any hair serums to the scalp, but I been hesitant in using it lately as I am not sure how it would affect the silicone of the brush. Same with massaging the oils into my scalp for a deep nourishment. I am still not 100% sure if oil doesn't degrade the silicone so I am holding off on using it. But man, do I wish I can use it because I actually focus on massaging the products in instead of just massage it in a couple times with my fingers and be done with it.
If it's not clear enough, I LOVE❤❤ my shampoo brush and VERY happy I got it. Definitely worth the purchase if you appreciate a little bit of a massaging. I can't speak on the stimulation of hair growth, but the deep massaging is GREAT. I noticed a lot less itchy and irritated scalp since I started using it. It's now a part of my shampoo process and I am LOVING it. Definitely will repurchase for years to come!!
AROMATICA - Rosemary Scalp Scrub
To add onto the shampoo brush, I decided to grab a scalp scrub. I love the L'ADOR Scalp Scaling Spa treatment but it only has one to two treatment in each tube. I find that creates a bit of a garbage. I been seeing some love for the AROMATICA Rosemary Scalp Scrub (LINK) and how it has noticeable pieces of sea salt in it as a physical scrub. I decided to give it a try.
AROMATICA is a new brand to me. They are an organic beauty brand (they call it clean beauty too but there's a lot of issues with the regulations around clean beauty so..... Let's just go with organic beauty brand) that focuses on effective and sustainable beauty. They have a storefront in Korea, based on a Youtube video I have seen, where they have refillable stations which is a first I have seen from a Kbeauty brand. I am sure there are other brands that have done that, but this is the first brand that I seen. I have seen their collection of oils being sold at Costco US for a really nice price and I heard good reviews. I lust after their bottles but that's not a good reason to drop good money on an oil I may not use. I decided that given the circumstances, the Rosemary Scalp Scrub was a good product to dip my toes in the water for AROMATICA.
Soooooooooo.. I'll be upfront, I totally just got it because of the rave reviews I seen. I didn't even know what the heck it's got besides sea salt. So I went in COMPLETELY blind 🤣😅. Which is something I tend to do, and sometimes leads to some surprises, like this one. What's the surprise you ask? Well... You know the name? ROSEMARY Scalp Scrub??? I did not notice the ROSEMARY part. Imagine my surprise when I opened it and it reeked of rosemary. I was like WTF is this, why is there rosemary?! This makes no sense! Then I saw the name and was like Oh you idiot 🤣😂.
Anyways, they weren't kidding about the rosemary. It is STRONG and dominant. How strong you say? Well, first time I used it, it was the first thing I could smell when I came home after work. This was 12+ hours after my shower and it was most dominant scent in my place. That's how strong it is. I am not the biggest fan of the rosemary scent, and it was a shock to me at first. The lingering scent was a bit to get used to, but I do find it to be refreshing so I am not complaining. Just a heads up for everyone that's sensitive to smells or dislike rosemary.
The texture of this scrub is interesting. It's a um.... A loose salt scrub. At first, it looks like a gel that has some white crystals in it, but when you start to massage it in, you can really feel the salt crystals. I am terrible at describing the texture. But I would say that my honest description of it is that it reminds me of a thick oily sauce with a lot of salt crystals in it. Though, you would think it goes on really thick? It doesn't! I even made sure I used some today so it's fresh in my mind.
The instruction says to use on wet head, and you can use it in place of shampoo or use it before shampoo. So when it first goes on, it kind of feels like nothing, I usually can't even feel the salt crystals. It kind of feels like it dissolved upon contact. But as I keep massaging, I can feel the crystals very clearly so I know exactly where I am going. I also leave it in for a few minutes, and that's when the cooling kicks in. It is SUCH a weird feeling because my scalp would start to cool in spots, while I am still in the warm shower. Being cold and warm at the same time is so weird! Though, after rinsing it off, my scalp feels so refreshed!
Now, I want to have a disclaimer for this scrub. Not that it's bad, but I feel that it warrants a paragraph by itself. First, if you are sensitive to scents, or dislike the scent of rosemary. Do not use it. It has a VERY strong rosemary scent and it lingers, even after I use a shampoo afterwards. It's in my hair and I can smell it for a day. And it lingers in the bathroom for about a day too. It doesn't bother me. But it is a strong scent.
Second, if you have a sensitive scalp, be careful with this scrub. The salt crystals are pretty big, and I looove massaging it in. But they are chunky and is a physical scrub, add in the menthol, it can cause a bit of a reaction. For example, I didn't know I had an open wound on my scalp when I used it today. And when I put on the scrub like I always do, that area started to feel super weird when I first massaged the salt over it. It kind of felt like it was burning in that one spot and then the menthol kicked in, and it was definitely the WEIRDEST feeling. Because it's burning + cooling at the same time, my brain was so confused since the rest of my head was cooling. It was an unpleasant feeling, and I definitely don't recommend it for anyone. Also, it's a physical scrub, and if you are not careful, you can over do it. So, if you have a sensitive scalp or have any open wounds on your scalp, be very careful with this scrub.
Disclaimer over, I have to say I like this scrub. I like the idea of a physical scrub with salt crystals in a size that I can feel it very clearly. My scalp also feels very refreshed afterwards. I like the brand's philosophy and that it comes in a pretty big tube (165g) while you only need to use about a quarter's size for the entire head. It can last a while and I believe there may be an option to refill it if you are in Seoul. It is also a vegan formula, which doesn't matter to me, but does matter to others. I do think the scent is WAY overpowering and it's very easy to go overboard with this physical scrub. That's honestly the only downside to this product for me. Overall, I definitely LOVE my NATURE REPUBLIC shampoo brush and will definitely recommend it to everyone. It's so nice to get a scalp massage while shampooing. The AROMATICA rosemary scalp scrub is a good product but I cannot recommend it to everyone as it's got a strong scent and can be irritating to those with sensitive scalp. I am really happy to have tried it though. Thank you to Jolse again for giving me to opportunity to try these products!
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