Name: Olio Di Semi Di Lino
Brand: I Provenzali
Size: 100ml
Price: €8.00

From I Provenzali’s website:
It provides shine, volume and softness and regulates oil production. Excellent as anti-dandruff product, it also provides an anti-static effect.

What I liked:
- multi-tasking product
- makes hair soft and shiny
- the packaging

What I didn’t like:
- the oil is not pure
- strong and awful scent, makes it impossible to use the oil on dry hair

I love multi-tasking products so I was thrilled when I received I Provenzali Olio Di Semi Di Lino (Lindseed Oil) in a swap a while ago. The instructions on the packaging say this oil (which is not pure as Vitamin E, Cherry Oil and fragrance ingredients have been added to it) can be used in four ways: as a mask before shampooing to reinvigorate damaged and treated hair; massaged on hair before shampoo to get rid of dandruff; on wet hair to nourish it and make it soft; and finally on dry hair to give it volume and shine. Sounds amazing, isn’t it?

However, I can only report its results when used as a hair mask cos I haven’t attempted to use it in any other way. Have you become a sloppy and lazy beauty blogger Gio, I hear you ask? Nope. As much as I wanted to use this stuff after shampoo to share my experience with all of you, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Why? The smell. It’s very strong and just awful! It reminds me of bergamot a little but there are also other notes that I can’t detect, and had the scent been subtle, I think it would have smelled ok. But it is so overpowering to the point of nauseating and I certainly don’t want my hair to smell like it for the entire day.

If you (and those around you) can put up with the scent, then the product’s worth checking out as you can use it in several ways. But if you only plan to use it as a mask, I would look for something else that smells better. As a mask, it does its job well. I apply it for several minutes before shampoo and it nourishes my hair and makes it softer. It also added some shine, but that disappeared when I washed my hair. Because of that, I think it would add a lovely shine on dry hair, but as I said before, the awful scent prevented me from trying that.

What about dandruff? As someone who suffers from it, I’m always wary of trying new dandruff products and would rather stick to what works. I have come across a lot of anecdotal proof that lindseed oil works on dandruff, but no scientific study supporting it yet so in the meantime I’d rather keep using I Provenzali Shampoo All’Erba Cappuccina, which contains Piroctone Olamine and that’s been proven to work. That doesn’t mean that Lindseed oil doesn’t work for dandruff, just that I’d like to see more proof one way or the other before using it. In any case, when used as a mask, I didn’t notice any sebum regulating effect and still needed to wash my oily hair every other day.

Available at: Italian supermarkets and natural beauty stores

Summary
Used as a mask before shampoo, I Provenzali Olio Di Semi Di Lino nourishes hair and makes it soft. The oil can also be used on dry hair to give it volume and shine, but it has such an awful, strong scent that may put people off from trying to use it in that way. In any case, you only need very little for each application, so the bottle will last you for quite a long time.

Rating: 3/5

Disclaimer: I got this item in a swap. The review is based on my own personal and honest experience with the product. For more information, please see my disclaimer.