Product Review: Neutrogena Triple Moisture Deep Recovery Hair Mask

I've been using ORS replenishing paks to deep condition my hair. However, I thought that I was using it too often, because my hair was becoming too moisturized. I thought this because my hair felt too heavy and weighed down. I bought the NTM Deep Recovery Hair Mask in the hopes of alternating deep conditioning with the ORS. I've heard great things about this product, so I picked it up and tried it last night after a co-wash.

Product Description
- Concentrated weekly treatment for soft, lustrous hair
- Professional - Treats extra dry, over-processed and color-treated hair
- This intensive moisture treatment rescues even the most dehydrated hair strands
- Use this restorative mask each week for effective treatment of extra dry or over-processed hair
- So powerful, just a small amount is enough to restore dried out strands to be soft, lustrous and shining
- Three naturally derived extracts penetrate to help moisturize each layer of the hair strand
- Olive penetrates to the center
- Meadowfoam Seed helps moisturize the middle
- Sweet Almond wraps the surface

Ingredients
Water , Cetyl Alcohol , Behentrimonium Chloride , Cyclopentasiloxane , Dimethicone , Cetearyl Alcohol , Ethylhexyl Isononanoate , Behenyl Alcohol , Meadowfoam Seed Oil Limnanthes Alba , Cyclohexasiloxane , Olive Fruit Oil Olea Europaea , Sweet Almond Oil Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis , Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine , Behentrimonium Methosulfate , Trimethylsilylamodimethicone , Panthenol , Glycol Stearate , Ceteth-2 , Hydroxyethylcellulose , Phenoxyethanol , Methylparaben , Propylparaben , Citric Acid , Mica , Titanium Dioxide , Iron Oxide , Fragrance

My Experience
I deep conditioned with heat for about 15 minutes. I have to say, I was not that impressed with this product. It was good, but maybe I was expecting some kind of magic to happen. I did as it instructed and only used a small amount, but maybe I should have used more. I didn't feel any "slip" as I do with the ORS. It did de-tangle my hair pretty well. When I took my rollers out, my hair was bouncy, but when I combed my hair out this morning, I thought my hair looked a little dry, even though it felt moist.

I realized that this has protein in it, and I probably need a moisturizing deep conditioner. I'm also almost 6 weeks post relaxer, which is a difficult stage for me..my hair is harder to manage at this point. I'm not giving up on the NTM just yet, but I am trying to come up with a regimen that I will use when I'm past 5-weeks post, since my hair just isn't the same and doesn't react to products the same way as it does when I have a fresh relaxer.

UPDATE 8/19/08: My hair looks great today. It's light and bouncy and feels great. Maybe I just needed to sleep on it another night for it to fall better and let my hair absorb the moisturizer. I will definitely use the NTM again!

On another note, I'm seeing some progress with my left side. My left side has always been thinner and weaker than the rest of my hair. I made it worse wrapping my hair and ending the wrap on my left side. It was so thin, that when setting my hair, I only needed to use 2 rollers on that side, while I use 3-4 on my right! Well last night when I set, I noticed a difference in thickness. I rolled using 3 rollers, but I was happy to know that I could have fit in a 4th if I wanted to. So even though I'm not that happy with the style of my hair, the little successes I notice makes me feel good! A woman in a bar last week told me that my hair looked perfect- imagine that!!

UPDATE 10/6/08: I tried this again 2 days ago, and I officially hate this product. When I took my rollers out, my hair was stiff and dry looking. It wouldn’t even lay down. I know I’m 5 weeks post relaxer, but still…it did NOTHING to soften up my new growth. The only thing that helped (a little) was to wrap with saran wrap and sit under the dryer for 10 minutes, then coat my ends with coconut oil so that it didn’t stick straight out. I am so disgusted. I can’t believe they call this conditioner.