Lifestyle

I tried every product from Drunk Elephant’s new hair and body range, and this is what I thought



When it comes to beauty, it’s hard to ignore the hyperbole which surrounds some brands.

Try as you may to resist its deliciously minimalist packaging, or the way it’s peppered throughout your Instagram feed, it’s all too easy to fall victim to a cult-brand.

While there is no brand more ubiquitous with clean beauty than American juggernaut Drunk Elephant, I always found myself avoiding its products. That was until it launched its F-Balm Electrolyte Waterfacial (£44, shop it here) at the start of this decade. The mask (which I have found works best when I leave it on as a thick moisturiser overnight) is the most thirst-quenching remedy to tired, parched and hungover skin my face has ever experienced. Just like that, one product in, and I was hooked. 

All of the brand’s products – including the new Hair + Body range – are housed in little matte white pots and tubes, which have muted colourful lids. Regardless of the nourishment they offer skin, they make unabashedly aesthetically-pleasing accessories to lacklustre bathroom shelves.


Drunk Elephant’s hair and body range (Drunk Elephant)

But a saccharine #shelfie (the art of perfecting your bathroom’s shelves, so they’re at their most Instagram-friendly) is actually not the objective of efficacious skincare. Drunk Elephant’s USP is its founder Tiffany Masterson‘s famous elimination of the “Suspicious 6” – essential oils, drying alcohols, silicones, chemical screens, fragrances and SLS – ingredients which are suspected to pose “a potential risk to the health and function of the skin organ itself,” according to the brand’s philosophy. 

This skin-loving mantra has been extended to its hair and beauty products, so it seemed an appropriate time to roll up my investigative journalism gloves and delved into trialling Drunk Elephant’s new Hair + Body products.

DRUNK ELEPHANT HAIR by Drunk Elephant & Chris McMillan

COCOMINO GLOSSING SHAMPOO

(Drunk Elephant)

The tempestuous London weather often renders my hair unmanageable and prone to frizz, factors which I have always found my affordable go-to TRESemmé cleansing shampoo (£5, shop it here) and moisturising conditioner (£5, shop it here) have dealt with perfectly well.

However, Drunk Elephant’s sulphate-free hairline which has been two years in the making with Chris McMillan (the hairstylist responsible for ‘The Rachel’ haircut which took the nineties by storm, and to tending to the locks of J.Lo and Reese Witherspoon) managed to tempt me on semantics alone.

But then I tried it and I was completely and utterly sold. I had no idea I needed a shampoo and conditioner which smelt of amaretto in my life – Drunk Elephant taught me that I do. The shampoo is admittedly very viscous, so I found myself clamouring to throw it onto my head as quickly as possible in the shower, but its results – its LATHER – evoked a salon-worthy experience.  

Shop it here, £21

COCOMINO MARULA CREAM CONDITIONER

(Drunk Elephant)

This conditioner has the same amaretto-meets-Cherry-Bakewell scent to it that the shampoo does (owing to the products’ use of almond oil) and it feels utterly luxurious.

In fact, the conditioner is so creamy that its texture is comparable to clotted cream. Clotted, amaretto-infused cream which leaves your hair shining bright like a diamond? Sign us up.

Shop it here, £21

WILD MARULA TANGLE SPRAY

(Drunk Elephant)

I have always followed my hair wash with a dollop of Christophe Robin’s Moisturising Hair Cream (£33, shop it here) which has a smell and texture similar to what I envision heaven to smell and feel like. It’s the only (and I have tried many) product I have found which truly tames my mane, by that I mean my head of hair.

Drunk Elephant’s Tangle Spray is described as a “superfine, weightless leave-in mist”, and it was quite literally that. The spray is accompanied by a comb, which you use to comb the product through damp hair post-wash. I found that the spray was so fine I couldn’t gauge exactly how much I actually needed, which I found it frustrating given my mass of hair.

My hair was certainly shiny after using the spray after every wash, but the results didn’t compare to my beloved Christophe Robin (which is truly an incredible taming product for thick, frizz-prone hair.)

Shop it here, £21

T.L.C. HAPPI SCALP SCRUB

(Drunk Elephant)

I’m a fan of a body scrub, but never have I been posed with a product which scrubs my scalp.

Drunk Elephant’s Happi Scalp Scrub uses a “stable, supercharged AHA/BHA acid blend designed to rapidly break down and dissolve dead skin cells and styling product buildup,” which sounds like something I can get onboard with. 

The scrub is intended to be used one or two times a week on dry hair before showering. The  product, in a similar vein to the rest of the hair range, smells like a deliciously decadent Cherry Bakewell, but the admin of allotting ten minutes for the scrub pre-shower deterred me from it. 

Perhaps suspecting scepticism about the scalp scrub, Drunk Elephant ensured that the formula of the product was also  made so that it can double as a body scrub, which I felt much more at home with. Due to the micro dermabrasion that the scrub offers, it is advised that SPF is worn after using it as a body scrub. Overall, I just couldn’t really wrap my head around this one. Too much admin and not enough results.

Shop it here, £30

DRUNK ELEPHANT BODY

KAMILI CREAM BODY CLEANSER

(Drunk Elephant)

In the same way the Cream Conditioner from the range evokes the feeling of luxurious clotted cream, the Cream Body Cleanser conjures the same connotations.

Unlike the rest of the range, it doesn’t have a strong smell of almond, instead offering a fresh and veritably squeaky clean scent. Whether it distinguishes itself from other mid-market body washes is a matter of opinion but for me, its amino acid-packed formula (which leaves a light layer of protective lipids on skin), was a delightful treat which made showering an indulgent treat to look forward to at the end of the day.

Shop it here, £17

SWEET PITTI DEODORANT CREAM

(Drunk Elephant)

I’ve been a die-hard fan of natural deodorants since I read about the chemical of cocktails which are often pumped into drugstore deodrants. But I have struggled to find one which does the job of soothing my underarms (which are prone to rashes) and also keeping odour at bay. Drunk Elephant’s Deodrant Cream shuns baking soda, essential oils and aluminium-derived ingredients, but completes every task you need a deodorant to.

I guarantee you didn’t know that you needed amaretto-smelling armpits in your life but, take it from me, you do. It also leaves no marks on dark clothing.

This was my stand-out favourite product from the whole range – it’s the self-isolation pick-me-up I would recommend to absolutely anybody.

Shop it here, £13

SILI BODY LOTION

(Drunk Elephant)

This is the product which Drunk Elephant’s legion of fans have been longing for. Its hydrating formula is bursting with an army skin-loving ingredients and leaves no trace of grease. After all, there is no sin greater than a greasy, residue-ridden body cream.

I would implore any fan of a body lotion to try this and not fall haplessly in love with it. You may just wind up drunk in love with Drunk Elephant too.  

Shop it here, £17



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