Product: Opal Conditioner

Opal Conditioner (One Minute Treatment) has been getting a lot of raves from forum members in Girltalk. It's supposed to make your hair softer and smoother. So being someone who's always frustrated with her hair, I have to try and see what the fuss is about with this hair conditioner. My hair, by the way, is what they call "buhaghag" and it is my lifelong dream to wear a black, shiny and naturally straight hair (without having it treated at the salon). I don't expect Opal conditioner to give that to me though, but if it can tame my hair, then that's good enough.

Opal Conditioner is a product from HongKong and locally, it is available at most Watson's branches. They said it comes in many variants/colors, but I bought the pink tube because it's the only available variant at the Watson's branch that I went to. This variant is for deep repairing treatment.

Opal One Minute Treatment (Pink "Deep Repairing" Variant)

The directions on how to use this conditioner can be found at the back of the tube. There it says that you must apply and leave it on your hair for about one minute and then rinse thoroughly. It is also to recommended to use this conditioner twice a week only.




Normally, I use hair conditioner daily and leave it on my hair for much longer. But I was thinking, maybe Opal is so potent that one minute is enough to make wonders out of my unruly tresses. So I just obliged with the one-minute "babad" and twice a week recommended usage.

The pink Opal conditioner smells nice. It has this white, slightly creamy consistency dotted with pink granules. I used twice the diameter of a 1-peso coin for my long hair. It's easy to apply and rinses well. But I was carefully that my Opal-coated hair doesn't touch my back where I have bacne because I wasn't sure whether or not I'm allergic to it.

The Verdict

After taking a bath and when my hair has dried, I did notice that it feels softer to the touch and smells so good. My hair was a little behaved, too and it looked well--shinier, healthier, bouncier--generally better than usual.

But the Opal effect only lasted for two days on me and on days when I am not using it, my hair is back to its normal state of "buhaghagness". It's a superficial hair treatment, I say, and it doesn't 'treat' your hair and make it better from the inside out.

Another thing that I find unsettling about Opal is the list of chemical ingredients that it contains and paraben is one of them. If you're not aware what paraben is and why you should avoid it, click here.

Because of this, I didn't use my Opal conditioner regularly. I didn't even use it twice a week as recommended. I only apply it on my hair when I'm going somewhere where I need to look my best (which at most, is once a month). I bought a regular hair conditioner for daily use instead. I also don't apply it on my scalp and try my best not to get some on my face and back because I am acne-prone.

Many reckon that Opal conditioner is great for straightened (or rebonded) tresses. My hair is not treated and I still find it to be very effective. But if you're someone who's wary about the things that you're putting on your body, you might find that this is not the safest hair product to use.

Eventually, I decided to stop using it even if the tube is not yet empty. Opal delivers what it promises, but it's only a temporary fix.And it feels like slathering my hair with potentially harmful chemicals--something that I know my hair needs less of. So goodbye to my Opal conditioner tube and I don't plan on buying another one.