This is how the story goes: my sister and I went to The Ex (annual fair in Toronto) and there were a slew of people hawking skincare and hair care products. Most I wasn’t interested in, but we did test argan oil. Didn’t like the vendor, but loved the oil. It didn’t feel oily or greasy; it absorbed quickly and left a sheen on my skin.
The next week, I was looking around Shoppers, because I truly am addicted, and I saw Live Clean Exotic Nectar Argan Oil restorative conditioner for $7.99. Woo hoo! I had seen the Live Clean brand and I had been intrigued by it. For whatever reason, I wasn’t intrigued enough to buy it – until I saw the bottle with argan oil.
Here are the ingredients:
Aqua (Purified Water), with Argania Spinosa Extract, Argania Spinosa Kernel (Argan) Oil, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil*, Olea Europea (Olive) Fruit Oil*, Cetrimonium Chloride, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Cera Alba, Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol/Polysorbate 60, Quaternium-18, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Benzoate, Panthenol, Parfum, Citric Acid (*Certified Organic)
First try: As always, I was excited to try my new product out. I was using it as my wash out conditioner. Because argan oil is the third ingredient, I expected a lot of slip. I washed and put the conditioner in. I tried to comb my wet, fully conditioned hair with my wide-tooth shower comb and, folks, there was no slip – none, nada, zilch, zero, rien. With argan oil, which had felt so sweet on my hand, I thought I’d be in slip heaven! Not tugging and battling with my hair as it curled up on itself.
Some days later, it hit me: argan oil is neither oily nor greasy – it wasn’t slippery on my hand, why would it be slippery on my hair? The oil is quite dry – that’s not bad for skin or maybe some hair products, but for me – a sister with a head full of kinks, coils and curls – that ain’t doing a danged thing besides helping me leave bunches of hair in my comb and brush.
Yesterday afternoon, I decided to do something different with this conditioner. I know it was only $7.99, but we’re trying to get out of a recession and every cent counts! I added some castor oil, olive oil and Kemi Oyl and shook the conditioner until everything mixed up nicely. I co-washed with Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship conditioner, then used my pumped up Live Clean conditioner.
Guess what?
Slip!! Lots of it! But, sniff, that was solely because of the oils I added, not the conditioner and not the argan oil. My hair came out great – no tangles, smooth, good clumping – the whole nine!
But I didn’t need to spend money the Live Clean conditioner to get that effect. My oils did it for me… so what’s the point of buying some fancy argan oil conditioner to have to kill it with additional oils to get the right effect? It makes no sense.
So, unfortunately, once this bottle of Live Clean is done, I won’t be purchasing it again.
The Accidental Natural 
I’m a little confused as to what ‘slip’ means. Help your lil sis out. Tanks!
Hey girl! Slip is the ease which a comb glides through your hair when it’s saturated with conditioner. If you find a conditioner that lets you easily comb through your hair and detangle without dragging your hair out, it has good slip.
I recently experienced the same thing – wandering through Shopper’s looking for a new shampoo. I thought to give Live Clean Argan Oil a try because of the price $7.99.
In an effort to detoxify my life and body I was looking for a product that was silicone free and paraben free…and affordable.
I tried the shampoo, conditioner and Argan Oil treatment. My daughter has what i call – Medusa’s hair – curly, kinky, plentiful and utterly unmanageable when wet and the results were great.
I agree there was not a lot of slip with the conditioner, but there was enough to traumatize the hair during the comb out process. We applied the oil treatment after the conditioner while the hair was wet a quick blowout and voila – shiny, squeaky clean hair free of product.
I dont want slip. that means its going to be greasy
Thanks for commenting! Slip doesn’t equal greasy at all. If you have kinky hair, you want something that makes combing your hair easier. If your conditioner doesn’t allow your comb to ‘slip’ through your hair and you’re tugging, pulling and getting knots as you comb through, you’re going to end up damaging your hair, not helping it. Everyone needs slip because everyone’s hair can tangle. No slip = a tangly mess. As for greasy, no — you don’t want your hair to feel greasy or coated after you wash it. The oils that I added are absorbed into my hair, so my hair doesn’t end up feeling greasy or oily. Personally, I stay away from conditioners with mineral oil in them because mineral oil isn’t water soluble and it sits on your hair shaft — that’s why your hair can feel greasy.
I love this conditioner. I just bought the argan oil leave-in conditioner spray, we’ll see how that goes. Having a hard time finding many reviews online of it.
Do you? I wasn’t blown away by it, but I’m willing to try again!
Oooh I dislike this conditioner, but love the Live-Clean brand and the shampoo. I have very dry damaged hair from excessive coloring and can’t get “slip” with many environmentally friendly products. So I have to agree with this review. I’ve been trying to eliminate sulphates from my lifestyle and not use products that test on animals and this brand is still one of the more cost effective and delicious smelling products I’ve found. But anyway, If you’re looking for a more planet friendly conditioner I use the Lush solid conditioner bar and it’s AMAZING!
Hey, am in love with the Live Clean line! I use it for everything.. Their lotions, body washes.. LOL! I am African with natural, kinky, curly hair… i agree that it is not good for slip, I use Suave Tropical Coconut or Herbal Essences Hello Hydration… HOWEVER when used as a deep conditioner, it leaves my hair super soft!
Oook, as I am the first person with straight hair to comment…<_< I found that I didn't get much "slip" so I rinsed it out and applied a bit more…Worked like a charm. I also have dry damaged hair and overly colored as well, but I loved it. Not to keen on the smell since I'm use to super smelly nomy hair products, but today my hair feels nicer then it has in years! And I just dyed it a week or so ago…I like it.
Fyi, my hair dresser told me to stop using Herbal Essences because it causes more hair damage then it fixes. Mostly breakage which while I used it I suffered from immensely.
You should try the conditionning mask, It’s really effective and leaves hair soft and lightweight.
I have super, super thick, long hair, I have curly hair but I don’t follow CG, I don’t embrace it, I straighten. I’ve been using this conditioner for a long time now and if you’re not getting slip, you’re not doing it right. It takes me A LOT of conditioner every time I wash my hair to get what I’m looking for. I literally completely fill my hand with conditioner and slather it all on, then comb the ends, then add more, then comb a bit higher up, then let it sit for a bit, then add a bit more for a minute before rinsing, this might seem excessive but my hair eats conditioner and I am not over conditioned though my hair has completely transformed. I also still use Live Clean’s Apple Cider vinegear clarifying shampoo and my beloved coconut oil.
Ok ,so you are using a mostly natural product over siliconed hair? It should be the other way around. Use a shampoo with no cones to get that off your hair, then use the argan oil conditioner, finish with the Long Term Relationship that does have cones to seal in the goodies.