Hello everyone!

How are you holding up with the circuit breaker (or lockdown, depending on where you are)? As a homebody, being cooped up at home never seemed like much of a big deal to me until I personally felt how warm and stuffy my living room (where I usually work from) would get in the afternoon for the first time since moving here – even with two pretty solid desk fans blowing in my face.

And one thing leads to another. Apart from the occasional musty odour of my sweat and small pustules popping out more frequently on my face, I also noticed an increase in my hair fall which, quite frankly, isn’t an entirely new to me. Normally when that happens, I would immediately book an appointment with my hairstylist to get my locks snipped. But with non-essential businesses being told to close during this period, this option is temporarily unavailable 🤦🏻‍♀️The absence of professional help meant that I could only rely on over-the-counter hair products to slow down my balding process until the economy reopens. For that, I’m thankful that Daeng Gi Meo Ri (댕기머리) had come to the rescue because picking the right products for my sensitive scalp would be a whole new issue in itself!

New to the brand? You’re not alone! Through some digging, I managed to find out a bit more about Daeng Gi Meo Ri. Based on unofficial reports, it has actually been around in the Singapore hair care market since 2014 and had even bagged some awards. I must been living under a rock!

Established in 1998, Daeng Gi Meo Ri is the first hair care brand in South Korea to incorporate traditional oriental herbal ingredients in their formula designed to maximise hair health through beneficial medicinal herbs extracted with traditional Korean fermentation process. It comes with specific ranges (Vitalizing, Energizing and Yellow Blossom) to cater to different scalp needs and conditions. In my case, I was recommended the Vitalizing range by its rep for its hair-loss prevention and hair growth capabilities.

By the way, Daeng Gi Meo Ri doesn’t gender-discriminate. It works well for the guys too 😉

Vitalizing Shampoo

Their number-one selling shampoo (the last time I checked, it’s sold out on Watsons!) helps in cleansing the scalp and preventing hair tangles with moisture supply, which may in turn improve your hair condition in 3 to 6 months. I mean, just by the smell of it, you’d know it’s not some gimmicky shampoo that banks on the power of scent (looking at you, P&G brands). It has a very noticeable herbal smell (somewhat like a more pleasant version of luo han guo combined with chrysanthemum) which fortunately doesn’t mess with my nose.

The appearance of the product funnily reminds me of malt extract as it has an incredibly thick consistency. Just one wash and I was already able to feel the cleanliness of my scalp which normally felt oily (and sticky?). There was also a vast difference in the texture of my hair. Can’t say I wasn’t impressed and surprised by the results at all! 😱

Vitalizing Treatment

Every shampoo has to have a conditioner accompaniment, so this is no exception. But rather than a conditioner, this is paired with a treatment (very common to see treatments in place of conditioners nowadays) which I presume is due to the incorporation of more potent ingredients that lead to more targeted results, rather than just giving hair the ultra-smooth effect. This scalp essence (as Daeng Gi Meo Ri calls it) claims to help in the prevention of hair loss by delivering medicinal herbal nutrition deep into the scalp to strengthen hair follicles.

Although it still has a herbal note to it, the treatment smells more inviting as compared to the shampoo, and it looks like a thick malted milk formulation (y’know, like Horlicks). This leaves my hair SO soft and silky smooth every time! 😍

Vitalizing Hair Cap

Missed going to professional hair salons to pamper your hair already? You cannot replicate that same experience at home but you can certainly achieve similar results with the help of this hair treatment cap. This easy-to-use self care for your hair contains additional fermented oriental herbal ingredients to supply nutrients to hair weakened from various elements (for instance, from chemical treatment including perms, dyes and stress from daily heat styling). Simply put, this is a more extravagant, one-time use version of the treatment for days you want to indulge in some serious TLC for your hair.

My experience in trying hair caps from other brands was nothing short of a nightmare. I remembered struggling to keep my waist-length hair each time inside the hair cap which wasn’t very well secured by the weakly adhesive tape. However, this was not the case for Daeng Gi Meo Ri’s which had even included another layer of wood pulp-like material inside the cap to hold my hair captive. The adhesive tape isn’t sticky to the touch but it somehow clings onto the cap like absolute magic (even after stripping it off to readjust the cap)!

Once all my hair had been tucked into the cap, I massaged my head to ensure even distribution of the serum around my hair. Then, came a pleasant surprise – a cooling sensation started creeping in to reinvigorate my scalp! After about 15 minutes, I removed the cap and rinsed the serum off my hair. As I ran through my hair with my fingers, I could already feel its softness and smoothness (the same happened to my toilet floor – I almost slipped!). All in all, the product was a lot better than I had expected!

Vitalizing Scalp Nutrition Pack for Hair Loss

An over-the-counter tonic approved by the South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, this scalp pack not only promises hair growth and the reduction of hair loss, it also helps to reduce scalp itchiness.

Imagine trying to resist the temptation to scratch your scalp because you don’t want to give the impression that you have head lice. Yup, that’s me on most sweltering days, and products I had tried in hopes of alleviating the itch had been largely unsuccessful. These past failed attempts naturally led me to cast a doubtful light on this clear, runny tonic (doesn’t help that it also kinda smells like mouthwash 🤣). But alas, I was wrong! (And I’ve never felt so happy to be proven wrong!)

It has been three days since using the tonic and the number of times my fingers reached for my scalp has visibly reduced. The cool weather might have a small part to play in this but my scalp has never felt this.. normal for a long time! Did I mention that this also gives a tingly sensation?

For the record, the tonic is applied daily after cleansing my scalp (with shampoo and treatment, duh!) and blow-drying my hair to increase its efficacy.

The initial results of using these Daeng Gi Meo Ri products were beyond satisfactory as I do see an improvement in my hair quality (e.g. less frizz, slightly more volume and a lot easier to manage) especially when I wake up. However, it’s still too early to say if they are effective in promoting hair growth. The prices are also on the high side for some drugstore hair care products and this makes me very hesistant to dispense a full pump of shampoo and treatment at every wash (which may do more harm than good as more strain might be put on my scalp due to the lack of lather). But I guess you could always wait to snag them at a lower price during one of the many Watsons sales.

What do you think of Daeng Gi Meo Ri products? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!

Daeng Gi Meo Ri products are exclusively available at WATSONS SINGAPORE. For more information about Daeng Gi Meo Ri, like them on FACEBOOK or follow them on INSTAGRAM.

PRODUCTS WERE SUPPLIED BY DAENG GI MEO RI FOR MY EDITORIAL CONSIDERATION. ALL OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE MY OWN.

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