Posh French hair care: a big scam, or has it worked for you?

[Mcmcmcmc]

I'm talking about brands like Christophe Robin, Leonor Greyl, Opalis... the ones touted by every other French model/actress/hairdresser/random celeb as the best thing since sliced bread, and with prices around £30 for a shampoo and £50 for a hair mask.

My hair isn't too complicated at all. It's straight (slightly wavy), brown, hasn't been dyed in over 6 years, but needs to be washed daily to avoid looking oily and flat. I was looking for something to give it a little bit more volume, and was interested in these brands as most of the products are silicone-free.

But, OMG. It was the scam of the century for me. The shampoos are okay (though didn't necessarily give the volume I wanted), but the conditioners and masks... really terrible stuff. I literally cannot detangle my hair after using their conditioners. No tangle teezer or other brush/comb/whatever can manage my hair after Leonor Greyl or Opalis conditioners. I actually had to start washing my hair all over again, with shampoo and a cheap conditioner like Garnier (which would be fine it if didn't leave my hair a little bit limp), just so I could comb my hair again.

I made myself use up the Leonor Greyl orchid mask by mixing it with some oil - it made it slightly better but I was still left with coarse-feeling hair in the end

I am actually glad, since they are super expensive, and I'm now going back to John Frieda and the like, which aren't perfect but aren't nearly as bad, and much cheaper.

Have these brands worked for any MNetter?
NB I wouldn't include Klorane in this - though stereotypically French, it's much cheaper and the conditioners actually work (they do contain silicones though)

I used Leonor Greyl precisely once as I could not bear the smell of the products. I feel the same as you about the Christophe Robin masks. I tried the prickly pear mask which left my hair with weird texture and like you I had to slather it with cheap conditioner to be able to comb it. Also broke me out around the hairline. The brunette mask which is supposed to enhance the hair colour was rubbish. The lavender oil ditto. I quite like the cornflower shampoo and the santal leave in cream. Currently using up the blueberry shampoo and conditioner which I like but I dislike the baby powder smell of it. I so wanted to like it but it was so not worth the money and will not be buying it again. The sea salt scalp scrub shampoo was quite nice but not £30 nice.

Look at the first 5-7 ingredients which will make up 99 percent of the product.
They are just regular shampoos and conditioners (in my opinion).

Are you sure you are using the correct products for your hair type?

I haven't used LG for years, but was happy when I did use it.

Now I use Klorane, which is cheaper.