Loreal Extraordinary Oil Review: What It Is & Who It Suits

If you picked up loreal extraordinary oil expecting a bottle of pure argan oil, here is the honest truth up front: it is not pure oil at all. It is a lightweight hair serum from L’Oréal Paris Elvive, built around a blend of flower oils, and that single fact explains almost everything about how it behaves on your hair — the instant shine, the soft finish, the way a little goes a long way, and the reason some people swear by it while others find it does nothing for them. This review looks at both sides: what Loreal Extraordinary Oil is, what it does well, where it falls short, and who should buy it instead of a pure oil.

One thing should be clear about how this review was put together. There is no hands-on lab test here and no invented rating, because a number out of ten would tell you nothing about whether Loreal Extraordinary Oil works for your hair. What follows is built from what the brand states about the product, what reviewers consistently report across the range, and what the formula itself shows — the same evidence any careful buyer would weigh before spending money. If you want the quick version, it is this: loreal extraordinary oil gives you shine and frizz control fast, because it is a finishing serum designed to coat and smooth, and it conditions more slowly than a pure oil, because the flower oils are a small part of the bottle rather than the whole of it.

What Is Loreal Extraordinary Oil?

Loreal extraordinary oil is the Elvive Extraordinary Oil serum from L’Oréal Paris, a leave-in hair serum sold as a lightweight oil for all hair types. It comes in a small glass bottle with a pump, and most people use it as the last step in their routine — a few drops smoothed over the lengths and ends, either before blow-drying or after styling to add shine and calm frizz. It is not a treatment mask, it is not a scalp oil, and it is not meant to be washed out. It sits on the hair and does its work there.

The name causes most of the confusion. “Extraordinary Oil” sounds like a single precious oil, the kind of thing you would compare with the best argan oil for hair and judge on purity. But this is a different kind of product. It is a formulated serum, which means the brand started with a base that spreads easily and dries to a smooth finish, then added flower oils for scent, feel and a little conditioning. That is why it feels so light compared with a pure oil, and why it never leaves the heavy, oily residue that a spoonful of raw oil would. The lightness is the point. It is also the trade-off, as this review will show.

It helps to know where Loreal Extraordinary Oil sits in the L’Oréal Paris Elvive range. Elvive is the brand’s mass-market hair care line, and the Extraordinary Oil serum is its finishing oil — the step that comes after shampoo, conditioner and any mask, and before or after heat styling. L’Oréal Paris sells it in most drugstores and supermarkets in the countries where Elvive is stocked, and reviewers in the UK typically quote a price around £7.50, though prices vary by market and by retailer, so treat that as a rough guide rather than a current price. For a serum that lasts months at two or three drops a use, it sits firmly in the affordable end of the hair oil shelf.

One more thing worth saying early: this review covers the range as one serum, not a single bottle in isolation. Most reviews online pick one variant — the original, the Extra Rich version, or one of the scented editions — and judge the whole product on that one bottle. That misses how the range actually works, because the variants share the same idea and differ mainly in richness and scent. The sections below explain the differences, so you can pick the variant that matches your hair instead of guessing from a single review of a scent you may never buy.

What’s Inside Loreal Extraordinary Oil: The Flower-Oil Blend

L’Oréal describes loreal extraordinary oil as a blend of six flower oils — lotus, tiare, rose, chamomile, flaxseed and sunflower. Those six oils are the heart of the marketing, and they do real work in the formula: they give Loreal Extraordinary Oil its floral scent, they add a light conditioning feel, and they are the reason the product can call itself an oil at all. Each one brings something small to the mix. Rose and tiare carry the fragrance. Chamomile and lotus are there for softness. Flaxseed and sunflower are the lighter carrier oils that help the serum spread without dragging. None of them is present in a large amount, and none of them is the reason Loreal Extraordinary Oil feels so slippery the second it touches your hair.

That slip comes from the silicones. Like most drugstore hair serums, loreal extraordinary oil is built on a silicone base — the kind of ingredients that coat each strand in a thin, smooth film. The film is what flattens the cuticle, reflects light and stops strands from catching on each other, which is why frizz disappears the moment you apply it. The flower oils sit inside that film and soften it. This is not a secret and it is not a fault; it is how a lightweight finishing serum is supposed to work. But it matters for your expectations, because the shine you see in the mirror in the first minute is mostly the silicone film doing its job, while the flower oils work more slowly, conditioning the surface of the hair over repeated use.

Reading the ingredient list with that in mind tells you what you are actually buying. If you follow a silicone-free routine, Loreal Extraordinary Oil is not for you, and no amount of flower oil in the formula changes that. If you do not mind silicones, the formula is doing exactly what it promises: a light, fast, cosmetic fix for dullness and frizz. The honest way to judge loreal extraordinary oil is therefore not against a bottle of cold-pressed argan oil, which is a different product with a different job, but against other finishing serums that promise the same thing — shine and smoothness in a few drops. Judged that way, it holds up well, and the section comparing it with pure argan oil below explains when each one wins.

There is one more honest point about the blend. Because the flower oils are present in small amounts, Loreal Extraordinary Oil will not replace a deep conditioning treatment, and it will not repair damage. A hair mask for dry, damaged and frizzy hair does the heavy repair work; a serum like this one protects the result and makes it look good. People who buy loreal extraordinary oil expecting it to heal split ends or reverse breakage are usually the people who end up disappointed, and the disappointment is a mismatch of expectations, not a failure of the product. Used as a finisher, it does what a finisher should do.

Loreal Extraordinary Oil vs Pure Argan Oil

The comparison most readers want is loreal extraordinary oil against pure argan oil, so here it is, plainly. Pure argan oil is a single-ingredient oil pressed from the kernels of the argan tree. It is rich in oleic and linoleic acids and vitamin E, it absorbs slowly, and it conditions the hair from the surface inward over time. If you want to know what it does on its own, the what is argan oil guide explains the oil itself, and the benefits of argan oil page covers what it is good for. Loreal extraordinary oil is none of those things. It is a blend of flower oils in a silicone serum base, made to sit on the surface and make hair look smooth and shiny right away.

That difference shows up in the first use. Pure argan oil feels heavier, takes longer to sink in, and the shine builds over days of regular use. Loreal extraordinary oil feels light, spreads in seconds, and the shine is there immediately — then fades when you wash it out, because the silicone film washes out with it. Neither is better in every situation. If your hair is very dry and you want deep conditioning that lasts between washes, pure argan oil wins. If your hair is mostly healthy and you want it to look polished before you walk out the door, Loreal Extraordinary Oil wins, and it wins fast.

Price is the other honest difference. A good bottle of pure argan oil costs several times more than this serum, and the gap is not marketing. Argan kernels are harvested by hand, the oil is pressed in small batches, and a litre of the real thing is genuinely expensive to produce. The flower-oil blend in loreal extraordinary oil is cheaper to make at scale, which is why Loreal Extraordinary Oil can sit on a drugstore shelf at a drugstore price. That does not make the serum a fake or a trick. It makes it a different product for a different budget and a different job. The mistake is buying one while expecting the other.

There is also a practical difference in how the two are used. Pure argan oil works as a pre-wash treatment, an overnight oil, and a leave-in, and you can use a generous amount because the hair absorbs it. Loreal extraordinary oil works only as a leave-in finisher, and the amount is small — two or three drops for most hair, a little more for very thick hair. Use a spoonful of Loreal Extraordinary Oil the way you would use a spoonful of pure oil and your hair will look greasy, because the silicone film has nowhere to go. The how-to section below gives amounts by hair length, and it is the most useful part of this review if you have ever made that mistake.

One last point on this comparison. Some people use both, and that is a sensible routine rather than a contradiction. Pure argan oil once or twice a week as a treatment, and loreal extraordinary oil daily as a finisher, gives you the deep conditioning of the one and the instant polish of the other. If you already own a pure oil and like it, Loreal Extraordinary Oil is not a replacement. It is the finishing step that makes the treatment look good on the days between.

The Range: One Serum, Different Variants

Walk into a store and you will not find one bottle of loreal extraordinary oil. You will find a small family of them, and the differences matter less than the shelf suggests. The original version is the all-rounder, made for normal to dry hair and for anyone buying Loreal Extraordinary Oil for the first time. It is the lightest of the range, the one most reviewers describe, and the safest starting point if you do not know which variant you need.

The Extra Rich version is the same idea with more weight behind it. It is made for very dry, thick or coarse hair that drinks up the original and still looks thirsty. If your hair is coarse or you live somewhere with dry air, or if you have tried the original and found it disappeared within an hour, Extra Rich is the version to reach for. If your hair is fine or normal, skip it — the extra richness is exactly what makes fine hair look flat and greasy, and no amount of careful application fixes a formula that is heavier than your hair needs.

Then there are the scented editions, which appear in different markets at different times — Cherrywood and Fresh Lime are the two reviewers mention most, and both are the same serum with a different fragrance. This is where most single-variant reviews go wrong. A reviewer who loved the Cherrywood scent is reviewing the fragrance, not the formula, and a reviewer who hated the Fresh Lime scent is doing the same. The serum underneath is the same idea in both. If you are sensitive to fragrance, the scented editions are worth avoiding, and the original is the better choice. If you love a scented hair product, pick the scent you like and judge Loreal Extraordinary Oil on how your hair looks, not on how the bottle smells.

One practical note on buying. The range changes by country, and a variant that is easy to find in one market may not exist in another. Check the bottle in your hand rather than trusting a review of a variant sold somewhere else, and do not pay a premium to import a scented edition when the original does the same work. The range is one serum with small differences. Buy the version that matches your hair type, not the version with the prettiest bottle.

Who Loreal Extraordinary Oil Suits — and Who Should Skip It

Loreal extraordinary oil suits dry, frizzy hair first. That is the hair it was made for, and it is where Loreal Extraordinary Oil earns its keep. If your hair frizzes in humidity, looks dull by the afternoon, or feels rough at the ends no matter what shampoo you use, a few drops of Loreal Extraordinary Oil will make a visible difference in a minute. Thick and coarse hair takes to it especially well, because it can absorb the serum without going flat, and curly hair benefits too, because the film smooths the cuticle and helps curls clump instead of frizzing out. The argan oil for curly hair guide explains the same smoothing idea for a pure oil; Loreal Extraordinary Oil does it faster, even if it does not last as long.

Damaged and colour-treated hair is the second group it suits. Bleach, heat styling and colour all rough up the cuticle, and a smoothing serum is the fastest way to make damaged hair look cared for while the real repair work happens elsewhere. If your ends are the problem, the serum is for the ends, and that is where it should go. Readers dealing with colour-treated hair should also know that no finishing serum protects colour the way a colour-safe routine does, so Loreal Extraordinary Oil is a finisher, not a colour treatment — but as a finisher, it is a good one for damaged lengths.

Fine hair is where the answer changes. Loreal extraordinary oil can work on fine hair, but only with discipline. Two drops at most, ends only, never near the roots, and never on freshly washed hair that is still damp enough to carry the product upward. The fine-hair amount rule is simple: start with one drop, look in the mirror, and add a second only if the ends still look dry. Most fine-haired people who say Loreal Extraordinary Oil made their hair greasy used three or four times too much, and the greasiness was the amount, not the product. If you are not willing to measure it that carefully, a lighter argan oil hair serum or a spray leave-in will be more forgiving than this bottle.

There are also people who should skip it entirely. If you follow a silicone-free routine, skip it, because the silicones are the product. If your scalp is oily and your problem is at the roots rather than the ends, skip it too — a serum for the lengths will not fix an oily scalp, and putting it near the roots will make the oiliness worse. If you are sensitive to fragrance, be cautious, because the floral scent is strong and it stays in the hair for hours. And if what you want is deep repair or growth, do not buy a finishing serum for that job at all. Argan oil for hair as a treatment, or a mask used weekly, is the right tool for those goals. The serum is for shine and smoothness, and it is honest about that.

Age and hair length do not change the answer much. Short hair needs a single drop, long hair needs three or four, and the rule is always the same: ends first, then work upward only as far as the hair still looks dry. The argan oil for different hair types guide makes the same point for pure oils — the hair type decides the amount, not the bottle. Treat Loreal Extraordinary Oil the same way and it will behave.

How to Use Loreal Extraordinary Oil

How you use loreal extraordinary oil matters more than which variant you buy, because the same bottle gives a polished finish or a greasy one depending on the amount and the placement. Start with clean, towel-dried hair or dry styled hair — both work, and the choice depends on what you want. On towel-dried hair, Loreal Extraordinary Oil spreads evenly and helps with detangling before you blow-dry. On dry hair, it works as a finisher, adding shine and taming the flyaways that appear after styling. Do not use it on soaking wet hair, because the water dilutes it and carries it where you do not want it.

The amount is where most people go wrong, so here it is by hair length, written plainly. Short hair, chin length or above, needs one drop. Medium hair, shoulder length, needs two drops. Long hair, past the shoulders, needs three drops, and very long or very thick hair can take four. Warm the drops between your palms first, then press them into the ends, not the roots. The ends are the oldest, driest part of your hair and the part that needs the serum. If the mid-lengths still look dry after the ends are done, smooth whatever is left on your palms over them. Never pump more onto your palms for a second pass until you have looked in the mirror, because the second pump is usually the one that tips the hair from shiny into greasy.

There are three good ways to use loreal extraordinary oil, and each one suits a different moment. Before blow-drying, two drops on towel-dried lengths make the hair easier to brush through and help the dryer glide, and the brand positions the serum as a leave-in that helps protect hair during heat styling — though if you use hot tools every day, a dedicated heat protectant is still the safer choice, because a finishing serum is not a substitute for one. After styling, one drop smoothed over the surface tames flyaways and adds shine without disturbing the style. And as an overnight touch, a drop or two on the very ends before bed keeps them from drying out overnight, especially in winter or in dry air. Pick one of these per day rather than stacking all three, because the film builds up and the third application is the one that usually looks heavy.

A note on the scalp. Do not put Loreal Extraordinary Oil on your scalp. It is made for the lengths and ends, and the scalp does not need it. A serum on the scalp traps oil against the skin, weighs the roots down, and can make an oily scalp worse within a day. If your scalp is dry or flaky, a scalp oil or a treatment applied and washed out is the right product, not a leave-in serum. The how to use argan oil for hair growth guide explains the same boundary for pure oils — treatments go where the problem is, and for this serum, the problem it solves is at the ends.

How often can you use it? Daily is fine for most hair, because Loreal Extraordinary Oil washes out with shampoo and does not build up the way a heavy oil can. The exception is fine hair, where daily use can start to look heavy by the third or fourth day even at the right amount, because a little film remains after each wash. If that happens, skip a day or use a clarifying wash once a week. And if you use it before heat styling, remember that the serum is doing two jobs at once — smoothing and helping with the heat — so keep the heat tool on a medium setting and do not go over the same section twice. The serum helps; it does not make the hair heat-proof.

What Loreal Extraordinary Oil Does Well

The first thing loreal extraordinary oil does well is shine, and it does it immediately. One application and the hair looks glossier, because the silicone film flattens the cuticle and reflects light. This is the reason most people buy it a second time. The shine is not the deep, slow shine of a well-conditioned head of hair, but it is real, visible shine, and for a night out or a photograph it is exactly what you want.

The second is frizz control. Humidity frizz happens when the cuticle lifts and strands catch on each other; the film from loreal extraordinary oil keeps the cuticle lying flat, so strands slide past each other instead of puffing up. It works best on the surface frizz that appears in damp weather, and it is the reason the serum has a following among people with wavy and curly hair, who need the smoothing without the weight. If frizz is your main complaint, the how to fix frizzy hair guide covers the full routine; the serum is the finishing step of that routine, not the whole of it.

The third is softness. Hair feels smoother to the touch after the serum, and a brush or comb passes through more easily. That matters most for thick and coarse hair, which can feel rough even when it looks fine, and for long hair, where tangles start at the ends. The softness lasts until the next wash, which is the honest limit — it is a cosmetic softness, not a structural change in the hair. But cosmetic softness that you can feel every time you run your fingers through your hair is still a real benefit, and it is one this serum delivers reliably.

The fourth is the scent and the price. The floral fragrance is strong and it lasts, which some people love and some people do not, but nobody calls it weak. And at a drugstore price, loreal extraordinary oil is one of the cheapest ways to get a polished finish. A salon serum costs several times more and does the same surface job. For the money, this bottle is hard to beat, provided you are buying it for the surface job and not for deep repair.

What Loreal Extraordinary Oil Doesn’t Do

Honesty requires the other side, and loreal extraordinary oil has real limits. It does not repair split ends. No serum does, because a split end is a structural break in the hair shaft, and no coating can fuse it back together. The serum can make split ends look smoother for a day by gluing the frayed fibres together temporarily, but the split is still there, and the only real fix is a trim. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you something.

It does not grow hair, thicken hair or stop hair fall. Growth happens at the follicle, under the scalp, and a leave-in serum for the lengths never reaches it. The flower oils in the formula are conditioning ingredients for the hair shaft, not growth actives for the scalp, and the product makes no growth claim. If growth is your goal, the work is in scalp care and overall hair health, not in a finishing serum.

It does not replace a mask or a deep conditioner. A mask sits on the hair for ten or twenty minutes and drives conditioning ingredients into the shaft; loreal extraordinary oil sits on the surface for a few seconds and stays there. The two do different jobs, and the serum cannot do the mask’s job any more than the mask can do the serum’s. People who stop using a mask because they bought a serum usually find their hair looking worse after a few weeks, not better, and the reason is that they removed the deep conditioning and kept only the surface shine.

Finally, it does not suit everyone, and the fragrance is the most common reason people give up on it. The floral scent is strong, it lingers for hours, and if you are sensitive to fragrance or you layer it with a perfumed shampoo and a perfumed styling product, the combination can be too much. The serum also builds up if you use it daily without ever clarifying, and fine hair shows that build-up first. None of these are hidden faults. They are the visible price of a formulated, fragranced serum sold at a drugstore price, and for most people, they are a fair price to pay.

Common Mistakes With Loreal Extraordinary Oil

The most common mistake with loreal extraordinary oil is using too much. The pump gives more than a single drop with a full press, and most people press it fully, twice, out of habit. Half a pump is often enough for short hair, and a full pump is plenty for long hair. If your hair looks greasy after using it, the amount is almost always the cause, not the formula. Wash it out, start again with half as much, and the problem usually disappears.

The second mistake is putting it on the roots. The roots are the newest, healthiest part of your hair and the part closest to the scalp’s own oil. They do not need a serum, and adding one there flattens the volume at the crown and makes the hair look unwashed by lunchtime. Ends first, mid-lengths second, roots never. It is a simple rule and it is the one that matters most.

The third mistake is using it as a treatment. An overnight soak, a pre-wash oil bath, a scalp massage — none of these are what this serum is for. A treatment oil is meant to be used generously and washed out; a finishing serum is meant to be used sparingly and left in. Swap the two and you get the worst of both: a greasy scalp from the serum, and no conditioning from the treatment you skipped. If you want an overnight oil, use a pure oil and wash it out in the morning. The hair oils vs leave-in conditioner guide draws the same line between products that wash out and products that stay in, and this serum belongs firmly on the stay-in side.

The fourth mistake is expecting it to fix damage on its own. A serum makes damaged hair look better, and looking better can fool you into thinking the damage is gone. It is not. Keep the mask in your routine, keep the heat tools on a moderate setting, and trim the ends when they need it. The serum is the polish on top of that routine, and polish only works when the surface underneath is cared for.

How Loreal Extraordinary Oil Compares to Other Drugstore Hair Serums

On a drugstore shelf, loreal extraordinary oil sits beside a handful of serums that promise the same thing, and the differences between them are smaller than the packaging suggests. Garnier Fructis has its own oil-in-serum range, and OGX sells the Argan Oil of Morocco penetrating oil that this site’s own review covers in detail. The Garnier options tend to be fruitier in scent and a little lighter, which suits fine hair that wants shine without weight. The OGX oil is a silicone blend with argan oil in it rather than flower oils, and it leans warmer and richer, which suits thick hair that wants a heavier finish. Loreal extraordinary oil sits between the two: floral rather than fruity or warm, light rather than rich, and aimed squarely at dry and frizzy hair rather than at any one hair type.

The honest way to choose between them is by scent and by weight, not by brand loyalty. If you dislike floral fragrance, the Garnier or OGX options will please you more. If your hair is very thick and the L’Oréal serum disappears within an hour, the OGX oil or the Extra Rich variant will last longer. If your hair is fine and every serum you have tried has flattened it, the lightest option on the shelf is the right one, and the amount rule matters more than the brand. The Redken All Soft Argan-6 Oil review on this site covers a salon-priced alternative for comparison, and the gap between it and the drugstore serums is mostly price and fragrance, not performance. A finishing serum is a simple product, and the drugstore versions do the simple job well.

One comparison worth making is with a pure oil rather than another serum, because that is the choice many readers are actually weighing. A pure oil costs more, conditions more deeply, and lasts longer between washes. A serum costs less, works faster, and washes out cleanly. The argan oil for hair guide covers the pure-oil route in full, and the choice comes down to what your hair needs most right now: deep conditioning or instant polish. Most people with dry, frizzy hair end up owning both, and that is the sensible answer rather than a compromise.

Is Loreal Extraordinary Oil Worth It?

For the hair it was made for, yes. If your hair is dry or frizzy, medium to thick, and you want shine and smoothness in a minute at a drugstore price, loreal extraordinary oil is worth the money, and it is one of the better-value serums on the shelf. The floral scent is a matter of taste, the silicone base is a matter of routine, and the amount rule is a matter of discipline — but none of those is a reason to avoid it if the hair type matches. Buy the original first, use two drops on the ends, and judge it after a week, not after a single use, because the first use tells you about the shine and the week tells you about the build-up.

Skip it if your hair is fine and you are not willing to measure the amount, if you follow a silicone-free routine, if you dislike strong floral fragrance, or if what you need is repair or growth rather than polish. In those cases the serum is the wrong tool, and no variant or scent will make it the right one. The right tool for repair is a mask, the right tool for growth is scalp care, and the right tool for a silicone-free finish is a pure oil used sparingly.

The verdict, in one line: loreal extraordinary oil is a good finishing serum at a fair price, honest about what it is once you read past the name, and best for dry, frizzy hair that needs shine and smoothness fast. It is not a pure oil, it is not a treatment, and it does not pretend to be either once you know what to look for.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is loreal extraordinary oil a pure argan oil?

No. Loreal extraordinary oil is a flower-oil blend in a silicone serum base, and argan oil is not its headline ingredient. Pure argan oil is a single-ingredient oil pressed from argan kernels. The two are different products with different jobs, and the serum should be judged as a finishing serum, not as a pure oil.

Can fine hair use loreal extraordinary oil?

Yes, but only with discipline. One drop at most, ends only, never near the roots, and never on damp hair that can carry the product upward. Most fine-haired people who find it greasy used too much, and the fix is a smaller amount rather than a different product. If you do not want to measure it that carefully, a lighter serum or a spray leave-in will be more forgiving.

Can you use loreal extraordinary oil every day?

Daily use is fine for most hair, because Loreal Extraordinary Oil washes out with shampoo. Fine hair may start to look heavy after several days of daily use, in which case skip a day or use a clarifying wash once a week. Do not stack three applications in one day — one application per day is enough, and the second and third are usually what cause build-up.

Does loreal extraordinary oil protect hair from heat?

The brand positions the serum as a leave-in that helps protect hair during heat styling, and using it before blow-drying does make the hair easier to style. But a finishing serum is not a substitute for a dedicated heat protectant, especially if you use hot tools every day. Keep the tool on a medium setting and do not go over the same section twice.

Can loreal extraordinary oil go on the scalp?

No. It is made for the lengths and ends, and putting it on the scalp weighs the roots down and can make an oily scalp worse. If your scalp is dry or flaky, use a scalp treatment that is made to be washed out, not a leave-in serum.

Which variant should I buy for very dry hair?

Buy the Extra Rich version. It is the same serum with more weight behind it, made for very dry, thick or coarse hair. If your hair is fine or normal, skip it and buy the original, because the extra richness is what makes fine hair look flat. The scented editions are the same serum with a different fragrance, so choose by scent, not by formula.

For anyone who wants to go deeper, the best argan oil for hair guide compares the pure and blended options side by side, and the argan oil hair serum page explains when a serum makes more sense than a finishing oil. Together with this review of loreal extraordinary oil, they cover the practical ground: what the serum is, how to use it, and when to choose something else. That is all a good review needs to do, and it is what this one set out to do.