Review: Amika Reset Products

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Last summer I tried out a mini set of Amika products, I want to say it was a GWP Sephora code that offered a deluxe duo of Amika Reset Pink Charcoal Scalp Cleansing Oil and Exfoliating Jelly Shampoo. I liked them so much that I ended up buying the full sized products.

Let's talk about the two products in the order that they're meant to be used. Amika Reset Pink Charcoal Scalp Cleansing Oil is a slightly pink tinted syrup that works as a pre-cleanse for your scalp. It's too thick to really be considered a true oil, it's flow is halfway between honey and canola oil. The first few times I found it a little tricky to apply to my scalp, my fine hair made it feel like the product was sticking everywhere and not spreading very well.

I found that sectioning my hair with a wide tooth comb in 2.5cm sections and squeezing the bottle along the part made application the easiest. After covering my scalp, I then followed the directions to massage my head and hair roots. The Reset Cleansing Oil lightly foams up when it comes into contact with water and with further massaging inside the shower.

Texture smears: left is Amika Reset Pink Charcoal Scalp Cleansing Oil and right is Reset Exfoliating Jelly Shampoo

The Amika Reset Exfoliating Jelly Shampoo is a lot easier to work with, once your hair is wet it's a breeze to apply to your scalp. Actually, "jelly" isn't super accurate here either, when I think of something with a jelly texture, I think of a product with a bit of a jiggle. This is pretty close to regular shampoo but with more of a stringy quality you'd see in snail skincare products and it is pink and grainy.

The sandy bits inside Reset Jelly Shampoo are pink clay and sea salt. If you're familiar with Christophe Robin Purifying Scalp Scrub with Sea Salt, well the grains are a much smaller grade in the Reset Jelly Shampoo. It's much easier to massage into your head and it doesn't feel as rough as some of those big CR salt particles. I much prefer Amika's scrub in every single aspect possible: I'm not left with a squeaky clean residual feeling, the scrub is gentler on the root of my hair, the price is lower, just all around better.

Once both products have been rinse clean, I apply conditioner like normal (either Design Essentials Express Instant Moisture Conditioner or Amika Soulfood Mask, if my hair is super distressed I'll go for Amika the Kure Repair Mask). Both Reset products contain the signature Amika scent; a vanillic, ambery sort of smell but it's very faint compared to other Amika offerings. The Reset Cleansing Oil also has a faint whiff of something that smells like pool water on top of that Amika scent, I actually like it a lot because vanilla isn't my cup of tea (not that chlorinated pool water is my thing, but the combo is oddly alluring).

Individually, I find the Amika Reset Cleansing Oil and Jelly Shampoo to be pretty good, not bad at all. But used together, they're fantastic! They leave my scalp clean but not dry or flaky, my hair has so much more body and is thoroughly degreased - usually I gotta wash my head every day or have the most limp hair you've ever seen, but with the Reset duo I can skip a day. I like to use this dynamic duo about once every 10 days or so. Any more frequent and I'd worry about how the mildly abrasive Jelly Shampoo is treating my locks - I also go really light handed when I'm massaging it in for the same reason.

Amika Reset Pink Charcoal Scalp Cleansing Oil is $25 for 6.7 fl oz. and the Reset Exfoliating Jelly Shampoo is also $25 for 4.7 fl oz. I now consider them to be staples so I plan on repurchasing when Sephora has a sale in the spring.

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