Beauty Pie // Ultra Nourishing Shampoo & Conditioner Sample Review

Beauty Pie // Ultra Nourishing Shampoo &  Conditioner Review
RRP £25/£50* for 2x450ml

I chose this as my free sample as part of an order I did on the 12th December 2025 from the Beauty Pie website. 

Beauty Pie is a membership-based company. I am a "pro" member which means I pay £59 a year. This enables me to purchase items at "discounted" prices as many times as I want in a year. Their £29 a year membership only allows you to place four orders a year. *If you don't have a membership the shampoo and conditioner costs £50.

First Impressions:
I'm not sure 12ml is really enough of each product to get a good use out of them. The shampoo barely cleaned my hair and it had only been two days since I washed it so it wasn't particularly very dirty. 

The conditioner left my hair feeling dry and wasn't great at detangling. My hair felt quite rough afterwards so I went over it with a L'oreal Hydrating Mask.

Usage
First use - 24.12.2025
Last use - 24.12.2025

Would I buy it: No. Far too expensive for what it is.

Overall Impressions:
For context, I have mixed afro/caucasion textured hair with a 3A/3B curl pattern. My hair is currently at waist length (I'm 5'7) with a full and half balayage done six and three months ago.

So as this was a sample and I barely got one use out of them, take this review with a pinch of salt. I always shampoo my hair twice. I use sulfates and silicones, my hair loves that stuff (especially amodimethicone). 

These are effectively £12.50 full size but I feel the ingredients used are too cheap for that price. The shampoo uses Cocamidopropyl Betaine and Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate which are "softer" cleansing agents. It doesn't have any sulfates in it which I prefer as I use oils on my hair every day and I need the stronger cleansing agent to remove the build up. It also contains proteins and oils, which again, I don't think this shampoo is strong enough to remove itself from your hair.

The conditioner uses glycerin and mineral oil as it's main conditioning agents which are some of the cheapest ones to use. It does have dimethicone but that's the cheaper version. Amodimethicone is preferred (well for me anyway). I wouldn't expect a £12.50 product to contain mineral oil though.

I usually diffuse my hair and leave it curly and my hair felt soft afterwards but it was very fly away and frizzy. I'll be sticking to my much cheaper but superior L'Oreal hair products.

Mane 'n Tail // Gentle Replenishing Conditioner Review

Mane 'n Tail // Gentle Replenishing Conditioner
RRP £6.99 for 355ml

This is a full size 355ml tube that I bought from TK Maxx for £4.99.

First Impressions:

It smells wonderful; like sugar-coated almonds and marzipan cake frosting. I would eat this conditioner if I could. It has a light, lotion consistency but spread through my hair nicely. I could easily detangle my hair whilst in the shower.

Usage
First use - October 2019
Last use - January 2020

Would I buy it: Maybe.

Overall Impressions:

I like this conditioner; it's nice but I'm not sure if it did anything outstanding for my hair. I think maybe it's just a bit to light to help keep my curls and frizz in place. I'd say this is definitely more for finer hair types. It does contain some oils and proteins so it could help with structure and prevent breaking however if you use these types of products too much without hydration, it could end up damaging your hair more. It always best to use different products depending on how your hair is looking/feeling. I liked using this to detangle though, so if I saw it on offer for less than a fiver then I would probably buy it.

Philip Kingsley // Elasticizer Review

Philip Kingsley // Elasticizer
RRP £19 for 75ml

This is a 40ml sample that I received a beauty box. I think this is the third or fourth tube I've got from beauty boxes now.

First Impressions:

I remember the first time I got this and when I realised it was a pre-poo treatment I didn't like it. I was very lazy and the idea of wetting my hair, applying this, leaving it and then having to wash my hair again was very unappealing. 

Usage

I'd say a 40ml tube lasts me a good couple of months as I only use it every two washes. But I do use about a third of the tube each time (my hair is down to my butt). I wash my hair every 5 days with one wash day using my mudmasky pre-poo treatment + deep conditioner (that's the hydration wash day with no protein), the second wash day is just a normal shampoo/conditioner and the third is this followed by protein sprays.

Would I buy it: Yes.

Overall Impressions:

When I was 18 I cut all my hair off into a pixie cut and bleached it blonde. I have semi-afro hair in a community where all the hairdressers trained with predominately Caucasian hair. They saw me come in with my straightened hair, chopped it off and then I looked like a toilet brush for years as I desperately waited to grow it out. During that time I was obsessed with this website called the Long Hair Community and I started really taking care of my hair but I was still treating it as though it was straight Caucasian hair. At 24 I decided to go back to Uni and get a degree and in those 3 years I completely neglected myself and only now, almost 5 years later have I started getting back into some sort of self-care routine. I think that's why I initially hated this product.

Last year I found a YouTube channel called Manes by Mell and she has transformed how I treat my hair. It took about 6 months of serious care but for the first time in my life I now wear it naturally curly and it looks great. She taught me that pre-poo treatments are really important for curly hair as well as ensuring the perfect balance between protein and hydration. The elasticizer is a protein deep conditioner so it helps add structure to your hair and my curls are super soft and bouncy afterwards. I don't use it all the time, about once a month, so even though £19 is pretty pricy for 75ml it lasts me a long time. I would be super happy buying this full price. They've even brought out a new vanilla and orange elasticizer...is it payday yet?

As for a routine, I now comb my hair through with a detangler whilst it's dry. Then I wet my hair, apply this and wrap it up in plastic bag/shower cap and apply some heat from my hairdryer for about 5 minutes. I then wash it out and proceed with shampoo/conditioner. As long as you don't let a cotton towel touch your hair whilst it's wet, there will be no frizz. You need to take your time with it but in the end it's worth it.

Straight Arrow Mane 'n Tail // Moisturizer-Texturizer Conditioner Review

Mane 'n Tail // Moisturizer-Texturizer Conditioner 
RRP £4.49 for 355ml

This was a 60ml sample that I received in a Latest In Beauty box a few months ago.

First Impressions

This has weird, generic conditioner scent to it. It's also annoying that it's not in a squeezy bottle, getting product out of the bottom of these Mane 'n' Tail sample bottles is a nightmare.

Usage

The 60ml lasted me two uses as I have butt length hair. To be honest if I could've gotten it out of the bottle I would've used it in one go. Afterwards, my hair was silky soft even without applying my myriad of products. For some info on my hair type, I have mixed Afro/Caucasian hair with a tight coil curl on the lower half and a more relaxed coil on the top half.

Would I Buy This Product: Yes. I've already purchased a full size bottle that I found in TK Maxx.

Overall Impressions:
I love this brand. I remember first reading about it in a Meg Cabot novel in about 2001. It was "All American Girl" and the protaganists sister uses it on her hair as it's described as "unruly" and the only way to "tame" it is to use the products used on horses. After using it, the main character notes how her hair feels amazing. I'm not sure if Meg Cabot was in cahoots with Mane 'n Tail but that scene has stayed with me for almost twenty years and I'm glad the brand has finally made it's way over to the UK as it truly tames my unruly hair.

The products do smell a little chemically but they work and they're a great price.

Nexxus // Encapsulate Serum Cavier Review

Nexxus // Encapsulate Serum Caviar
RRP £24.99 for 60ml

This was a 15ml sample that I received in a Latest In Beauty box a few months ago.

First Impressions

I honestly had no idea that this was a hair product. It was only when I read the back and it instructed me to apply to damp hair that I realised. I was about to use it on my face! It has a nice powdery smell; kind of like baby powder.

Usage

It's a nightmare to get this stuff out of the bottle. I had to keep banging it against the table to shift the product to where it would be dispensed. Once it eventually leaves it's in a white liquidy state. I thought the "caviar beads" would come out whole but the product gets mixed together when dispensed. 15ml lasted me about a month and I only wash my hair every 3/4 days and used 3 pumps at a time.

Would I Buy This Product: No.

Overall Impressions

This does nothing apart from leave your hair sopping wet. I've never known anything like it. Normally, my hair dries quite fast, but every time I used this, it took twice as long to air dry. I like to shower before bed, braid my hair and then quickly blow dry for 5 minutes in the braids just so it's not soaking wet. When I used this product, I was blasting my hair for 20 minutes and it still wouldn't dry. This product just seems to coat the hair in the something. That coating doesn't wear well either. I think if you wash your every every day or so you won't notice but after a couple of days I noticed that my hair would stick to itself and knot more easily. Something that doesn't happen with my normal Aussie leave-in.

I can't give this stuff away. I've taken it to work and everyone else had the same response, thinking it was a face cream then reading the back. I've also had one friend pull a face thinking there was actual fish eggs in the product. On almost every website this product has an average of 4 stars out of 5; I don't know how. Maybe this works for finer, Caucasian hair, but it was useless with my mixed Afro hair.