Although this was a travel size spray that I got in my Lookfantastic beauty box, it took me some time to use it up. It’s the first leave-in spray that I tried so far, so let’s see how I felt about it.

Packaging:

Both the full size (150 ml) and the travel size (60 ml) come in the same type of packaging, a plastic bottle with a sprayer. I actually kept the packaging because the sprayer gives such a fine mist that I want to pour some liquid hand sanitizer in it and reuse it. I like the gold detail on the bottle, I think it gives an elegant touch.

Texture:

Being a spray, the product is a clear liquid. It has a rather strong scent that I don’t particularly like, but I also don’t hate it, so it’s fine.

Ingredients:

Aqua/Water/Eau, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Trideceth-9, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance (Parfum), Panthenol, Propylene Glycol, Hydroxyacetophenone, Glycerin, Cetrimonium Chloride, Disodium EDTA, Sodium PCA, Sodium Lactate, Benzophenone-4, Ethylhexylglycerin, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Arginine, Aspartic Acid, PCA, Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract, 1,2-Hexanediol, Biosaccharide Gum-1, Glycine, Alanine, Biosaccharide Gum-4, Serine, Caesalpinia Spinosa (Tara) Fruit Pod Extract, Citric Acid, Valine, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Limonene, Linalool, Isoleucine, Proline, Threonine, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Cinnamyl Alcohol, Sodium Benzoate, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Sprout Extract, Histidine, Phenylalanine, Potassium Sorbate, BHT, Sodium Hydroxide.

The key ingredients listed on the brand’s website are green tea (helps stimulate the scalp, restore shine and encourage healthy looking hair), Polysaccharide Matrix (helps to protect hair by acting as a barrier against atmospheric pollution and limiting damage), Tara Tannins and Organic Sunflower Sprout Extract (help protect against the harmful effects of urban pollution for shiny and healthy-looking strands) as well as Panthenol (provitamin B5) – it moisturizes and improves manageability. This is a vegan formula (like all Grow Gorgeous products).

Price and accessibility:

Grow Gorgeous products are available in Douglas stores and in a few online stores. The Defence leave-in spray is sold for 19 euros in the brand’s website, which is not exactly affordable, but it’s also not that expensive, considering that you can use the spray for a long time.

My overall opinion:

The instructions on the bottle said to apply the spray on towel-dried hair, comb it through and then blow dry it. Since I tend to avoid any type of heat tools most of the times and I let my hair dry naturally, I think that the spray does make the hair look a little crimpy if I don’t spread it well enough.

Personally, I didn’t notice any difference if I did or did not use the spray as part of my hair care routine. I don’t know how good it protects the hair from pollution, but just with this alone, without other products to make it shiny (conditioner, a hair mask etc.) it was not enough.

Therefore, this is a product that I don’t feel that I need to add to my hair care routine, so it’s not worth spending my money on it.