What Makes Moroccanoil Treatment Different?

Moroccanoil Treatment is one of the products we get asked about most often in our UK hair care shop. Customers want to know whether the hype is real, whether it's worth the price compared to cheaper alternatives, and what actually makes it different from any other hair oil on the shelf. After years of stocking it, watching customers buy it on repeat, and getting to know the formulation in detail, here's our honest take.

A quick note on perspective: we're a UK professional hair care retailer based in Codsall, Staffordshire. We stock and sell Moroccanoil but we don't use it in our hair salon (we use other professional brands for client services). The view below is based on stocking the brand, reading the formulations carefully, and listening to feedback from the many customers who buy Moroccanoil from us regularly.

You can shop the full Moroccanoil collection at Revive Hair Artists with free UK delivery on all orders.

1. It's actually four products in one

Most hair products do one job. Moroccanoil Treatment does several, which is genuinely unusual.

Applied to damp hair before drying, it works as a leave-in conditioner and a blow-dry primer. Many customers tell us it cuts drying time noticeably, especially on thicker hair. Applied to dry hair as a finishing product, it tames frizz and adds shine without the heaviness you get from heavier oils. Worked through the lengths before bed, it doubles as an overnight treatment. Some customers even use a drop on dry, split-prone ends mid-day to refresh.

The fact that one bottle covers all these uses is part of why a 100ml lasts most customers several months despite regular use. Per use, it's not as expensive as it first looks.

2. It's formulated for most hair types — but choose the right version

The original formulation works well on medium to thick hair, coarse hair, and curly or wavy hair. For fine hair, light-coloured hair, or anyone who's found "hair oils" leave them greasy in the past, the original can be too heavy.

This is where the lighter version comes in. Moroccanoil Treatment Light is formulated specifically for fine and light-coloured hair. It does the same job as the original — softness, shine, frizz control, heat styling prep — but with a much lighter feel and no residue. Looking at the sales data from our shop, Treatment Light moves nearly as fast as the original, because so many customers have fine to medium hair where the lighter version is simply a better fit.

If you're not sure which version is right for you, the rule of thumb is: if your hair feels weighed down by leave-in conditioners, choose Light. If you find regular conditioners don't quite do enough, the original is probably the right fit.

3. The argan oil story is real, but it's not the whole story

Moroccanoil Treatment helped popularise argan oil in mainstream hair care when it launched in 2007. Argan oil is genuinely a useful ingredient — it's rich in vitamin E, antioxidants, and essential fatty acids, and it does help nourish hair.

However, what makes the Treatment work the way it does isn't just the argan oil. Reading the formulation, the product also contains silicones (cyclomethicone and dimethicone), which are responsible for a lot of the immediate slip, shine, and detangling effect you feel when you apply it. The argan oil contributes to the long-term conditioning. The silicones provide the instant transformation.

This isn't a criticism — silicones in hair products are normal and useful — but it's worth knowing if you're avoiding silicones for the curly girl method or similar routines. If silicone-free is important to you, take a look at our vegan hair care collection or Maria Nila as alternatives.

4. The fragrance is genuinely part of why customers stay loyal

This sounds like a marketing point until you've used the product. The Moroccanoil signature fragrance — warm, slightly sweet, vaguely Mediterranean — is one of the most recognisable scents in professional hair care. Many of our regulars tell us the smell alone is part of why they keep buying it.

It's a personal preference, of course. Some people find it too sweet; most find it genuinely lovely. It's worth knowing the scent runs through the whole range, so if you don't get on with the Treatment fragrance, you probably won't love the shampoos, conditioners, or masks either.

5. It's a heat styling primer, not a heat protectant

This is an important honest point. The original Moroccanoil Treatment provides some thermal benefit because of its silicone content, but it is not formulated as a heat protectant and isn't tested or rated as one.

If you regularly use straighteners, curling tongs, or a hot blow dryer above 180°C, pair it with a dedicated heat protectant. Moroccanoil makes their own (Perfect Defense and Protect and Prevent Spray) which work well alongside the Treatment, or have a look at our best heat protection spray guide for our salon's top picks across brands — including the SHED Force-Field, which is what we actually use day-to-day on clients at the salon.

6. A small amount goes a long way (please)

The single most common mistake we hear about from customers is over-application. Moroccanoil Treatment is concentrated. For fine hair, 1-2 drops is plenty. For medium hair, 2-3 drops. For thick or long hair, 3-4 drops maximum. Always apply to mid-lengths and ends, never to the roots, and warm it between your palms before distributing.

Over-applying makes hair look greasy at the roots within hours, which is when people decide "Moroccanoil makes my hair greasy" and stop using it. Usually, the problem is application, not the product.

Honest verdict

Moroccanoil Treatment is genuinely one of the better all-purpose hair oils on the market. It's not perfect — it's not silicone-free, it's not a heat protectant on its own, and the price point is professional rather than budget. But for what it sets out to do (improve shine, soften, reduce frizz, prep for styling), the customer feedback we receive is consistently positive across a wide range of hair types.

If you've never tried it and you're curious, the original 100ml is a sensible starting point for medium to thick hair, or the Treatment Light 100ml for fine or light hair. A bottle lasts months with proper use.

Shop the full Moroccanoil collection at Revive Hair Artists, where you'll find the original Treatment, Treatment Light, the matching shampoos and conditioners, and the rest of the range. Free UK delivery on all orders.

For more honest brand views — including reviews of brands we actively use in our own salon — see our complete Moroccanoil Q&A guide, our review of Olaplex, and our Maria Nila salon review.