TRIED AND TESTED: I slept in this $7 hair mask and woke up with the softest hair of my life.

Mamamia’s Tried and Tested series is your weekly review of the latest to hit our desks in beauty, health and wellness. You won’t find any #sponsored content here, just honest, relatable and independent advice. This week, Senior Lifestyle Writer Amy Clark found an epic $7 hair mask.

I’ll be honest. I haven’t been doing a lot of… things since I started self-isolating four weeks ago.

I’m not working out at home or taking up wholesome hobbies like knitting or baking sourdough. My diet’s never been worse (snacking counts as a meal, yeah?), I can’t remember the last time I wore a bra and I definitely have not watched every show there is on my streaming services.

WATCH: Here’s what each of the star signs have been up to in isolation, post continues after video.

One thing I have been doing, though, is hair masks.

Although now is an excellent time to try training your hair to be less greasy if you’re working from home, I’ve actually been doing the opposite. For me, washing my hair regularly is a small task that makes me feel infinitely fresher and less gremlin-like. Even though my skin has kind of gone to sh*t recently (thanks isolation skin), my hair has never looked better.

I’d like to think that comes down to a new (to me) overnight hair mask: the Sephora Collection Hair Sleeping Mask, $7.

 

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Ugh. Yes, I’m wearing ANOTHER bonnet to bed. This time, it’s a $7 Sephora Collection two-in-one hair sleeping mask. Run it through dirty hair before bed to wake up with the softest hair of your life. ????????‍♀️ Is a bit gimmicky? Absolutely. Could you do the same thing with conditioner and a shower cap/cling wrap for free? 100 per cent. But did doing this hair mask bring a bit of affordable fun to my day? Shit yeah. ❤️✨

A post shared by Amy Clark (@theamyclark) on Apr 7, 2020 at 12:31am PDT

If you only just wrapped your head around the phenomenon of sleeping face masks (a.k.a thick moisturisers you can wear to bed marketing as ‘masks’), let me start off by demystifying what a sleeping hair mask is. Yep, it’s a very thick, hydrating conditioner you can sleep in.

This Sephora Collection Hair Sleeping Mask is available in six ‘flavours’ – I tried the Coconut one – and comes in two parts. The first part is the actual mask that looks and smells like coconut cream and contains a lot of ingredients, including coconut oil. The second is a cloth shower cap with fun prints on it that’ll protect your pillowcases while wearing the product overnight.

Unlike in-shower hair masks or leave-in conditioners, this hair mask works best applied on dry hair. Run a generous amount through the mid-lengths and ends of your hair from your ears down, and if you’ve got short and/or fine hair, you’ll get two uses out of one sachet.

Hot tip: time your mask for the night before you plan to next wash your hair because you’re going to have to wash it out anyway.

Once you’ve applied the mask, wind your hair up into a low bun and place the cap over your head. You can also plait your hair, wear it in two buns or even manoeuvre it into the cap worn out. Then, go to bed.

If you're wondering how the heck you're meant to sleep with this cap on all night and not end up with cream smeared over your nice pillowcase, don't worry because I've thought of that and you've got two options.

The best way I've found to keep the cap secure throughout the night is wearing an eye mask over the top. Yes, I look like a silk fighter pilot, but it blocks out the lights from neighbouring apartments and keeps the cap in place. If you don't own an eye mask or don't like wearing one, you can also replace your usual pillowcase with an old one you won't mind getting a bit messy should the cap slip off mid-slumber. That said, the mask soaks into your dry hair within an hour or two, so any mess would be minimal.

Fast forward to the next morning and you can jump in the shower and wash your hair as normal. Then, blow dry or air dry and marvel at how seriously silky and smooth your hair feels. I honestly haven't been able to stop touching, flicking and whipping my hair since.

Look, is this mask a bit gimmicky? Absolutely. Could you do the same thing with any old conditioner and a shower cap or cling wrap for free? 100 per cent. But did doing this hair mask bring a bit of affordable joy to my day? It bloody well did.

Feature Image: Supplied/@theamyclark.

Do you have a great hair mask recommendation? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

You can catch up on our previous Tried and Tested reviews here:

• TRIED AND TESTED: The $50 sparkly Sand & Sky 'Body Sand' with a 10,000 person waitlist.
• TRIED AND TESTED: I tried 7 cult setting powders in 7 days to see which ones stay all day.
• TRIED AND TESTED: A celeb spray tanner gave me his 7 tanning commandments. They're game-changing.
• TRIED AND TESTED: "I tried the Kardashian-style wig that genuinely looks like real hair."
• TRIED AND TESTED: I trialled Bondi Boost for 8 weeks to see if it's really magic for thin hair.
• TRIED AND TESTED: I tried 7 new tinted moisturisers in 7 days to see which ones are winners.
• TRIED AND TESTED: The $12 Revolution skincare products that seem too good to be true.
• TRIED AND TESTED: I had a HydraFacial, the 'vortex pen' that sucks the gunk out of your pores.
• TRIED AND TESTED: What it's actually like living with hectic "influencer" nails for a week.
• TRIED AND TESTED: I had cosmetic acupuncture, the ancient 'cure all' beauty treatment.
• TRIED AND TESTED: I had my brows laminated and now they look perfect with zero effort.
• TRIED AND TESTED: I tinted my own eyelashes at home for the first time. It didn't go to plan.
• TRIED AND TESTED: The $49 K-Beauty AHC eye cream that sells every three seconds in Korea.
• TRIED AND TESTED: I tried 7 new-ish concealers in 7 days to see if they live up to the hype.
• TRIED AND TESTED: I let a stranger massage the inside of my face for an instant facelift.
• TRIED AND TESTED: I used these weird-looking face massagers to see if they actually work.
• TRIED AND TESTED: I tried Sephora's new 'clean' skincare line that starts from $9.
• TRIED AND TESTED: The $69 straightening brush that's just as good as the $230 ghd Glide.
• TRIED AND TESTED: I tried 7 new foundations in 7 days to see if they live up to the hype.
• TRIED AND TESTED: I had my pubes 'sugared' off to see if it really hurts less than waxing.
• TRIED AND TESTED: I had my lymph nodes stroked for 90 minutes in a lymphatic drainage massage.
• TRIED AND TESTED: The viral 'exploding' nail polish remover that looks too good to be true.
• TRIED AND TESTED: I shaved half my face with this $10 supermarket razor for better makeup.