First off, the... First off, the packaging is horrible despite it's nice aesthetic. Whoever thought that this style of pump was appropriate for when you are taking a shower and have wet hands obviously wasn't the one testing it out. Things are slippery when you are washing and conditioning your hair, and for some reason this pump top takes more pressure than it should in my opinion. A regular pump top that screws on and off would have been much more ergonomical for shower use.
Other than that? Getting it through my hair was easy. It says to use a small amount from Midway down your hair to tips. LOL, nope. I have a dry and itchy scalp, so I condition everything in the winter. My hair is also quite thick, so using only a little of something for my wet hair doesn't work. That's not a bad thing, but definitely take that part of the directions with a grain of salt.
This stuff has a texture somewhere between glue and corn starch water. It isn't sticky, but it definitely feels a little different than other hair masks I've used. It brushes through wet hair very well. When I was rinsing it out it felt like it wasn't rinsing all of the way, but I think that may just be the moisture left from the fatty alcohols.
I didn't notice any scent whatsoever when I used this. I didn't put it up to my nose or anything, but I didn't notice anything as I worked it through my hair or rinsed it out. When dried, my hair just smelled like hair.
My hair wasn't bad when it dried, it just didn't feel as soft or silky as it does with my normal conditioner and treatment mask. The texture was about the same as if I had washed my hair but didn't use a mask or conditioner at all, except that it wasn't tangly.
So imagine when, to my surprise, I saw my hair in the mirror and it actually looked alright. It had shine, though admittedly not as much as my other hair masks give. My hair was more voluminous than airdrying usually allows for. When checking my scalp, I did notice that my scalp already had a few tiny flakes (thank you, winter) and my scalp was itchier than when I use scalp treatments so this definitely can't double as a scalp moisturizer, but other than that? Not bad. Even the residue I was worried about while rinsing wasn't there at all. No greasiness or being weighed down whatsoever.
I know my review seems neutral rather than outright positive, but I think that this mask is just better suited for those with oily, fine, and/or thin hair. It may even be a good choice if you have hard water or well water where you live or if you worry about buildup around your roots. I'll probably appreciate this a lot more in the summer or on days when I sweat a lot because it's so light. It's okay for my thick, normal hair but I think I need something with silicones to get the look and feel that I prefer.
I probably won't personally repurchase this, but I will finish the bottle. I think that adding a hair serum after rinsing this out will help with some of the softness I was hoping for, but I wanted to avoid that for this review to get a full sense of the product on its own. Overall it's not my favorite, but it's decent for something that doesn't require you to go to a salon or beauty shop.
Keep looking, girls. This ain't it. I am literally shocked that this has such a good rating. I have been hearing the Kristen Ess name everywhere and I was so excited to try her products. I purchased the clarifying shampoo, this mask, the leave in conditioner and the blow dry mist. Let's start with this conditioner. It's straight awful, at least for my hair. I let this sit in my hair (after washing with her shampoo) for 10 mins in a loose bun while I did the rest of my shower routine. As I usually do, I took my hair down from my pony and went to gently run a wide room comb through my hair as I rinsed the conditioner out. This is something i do every time I wash my hair and the comb typically slides right through without issue. When I tell you I could not get the comb past a few inches of hair without it getting stuck, I am not exaggerating. I knew right then that this conditioner probably wasn't for me but figured I'd carry on with my usual hair care routine just to see the outcome. I rung my hair out, wrapped it in an old tshirt (shirts are less abrasive on your hair than a towel) lotioned my face and body and began to work on my hair. After I took it down from the tshirt i sprayed her leave in conditioner (which clams to be a smoothing detangler, spoiler alert, it absolutely sucks) and I literally could not get a brush through my head. I had to pull out my electric detangler and spray my usual leave in conditioner in my hair and it still took me 10 mins, plus a whole lot of hair lost, to get through it and it was still a half knotted mess. I decided to let it try and dry before continuing to work on it because hair is in a fragile state when it's wet and I wasn't trying to rip anymore or my hair out.
I have thin fine hair that tangles easily, however, with the right products I typically have very little issue with brushing post shower. Even tho I'm a fake blonde I only get my hair colored twice a year, I don't use a lot of heat and I take really good care of it between appointments. My hair is always very soft and shiny, I don't shed all that much, and I'm rarely fizzy. The photos attached are of my hair before and after using these products. As you can see in the one with me in black, my hair is nice and smooth and shiny. The one of me in green was taken while I was writing this review. As you can see, my hair looks AWFUL! Never in my life has my hair look so dry and frizzy. Not even right after I have it bleached.
If you have fine, thin and easily tangled hair and your looking for hydrating products that will give you a nice sleek smooth finish, keep looking, cause this ain't it.
Ps. The third ingredient in her blow dry mist, which is advertised as spilt end smoothing heat protect, is alcohol….please explain to me how a known drying agents that strips hair and makes brittle (and is flamable) can possibly be helpful in "smooth split ends" and protect against heat. I didn't even bother trying it after seeing that as the third ingredient. Especially after how the mask and leave in conditioner performed.
Kristen Ess may have nice hair tools, but the hair care line is a joke.
I will look for something different next time. 3
2023-04-23
Didn't love it but I didn't hate it.. Wish it would have made my hair feel soft and shiny, but didn't.. Just felt like I used any other conditioner.
Nothing special 3
2023-04-03
I've used their hair oil which was just a hair oil nothing special so when I was looking for a drugstore hair mask in store the bottle, the white, black and gold accents just spoke to me BUT I never reach for it. Nothing special. Better options for same price or cheaper. I'll finish the bottle but I won't repurchase. Same with the hair oil.
Does the job! 4
2023-03-05
This hair mask does the job… I've never used any of the Kristin Ess hair line products & this was my first… It is fragrance free, but it does have a very odd smell which I was NOT a fan of, but it did not leave the smell on my hair, my hair smelled like my normal shampoo I use afterwards. It left my hair silky & smooth & feeling very hydrated, especially at my ends, which feel terrible right now since I need a trim. I will say one of the cons & why I have this product 4 stars instead of 5, is the pump on the bottle is dreadful… It took me 15 minutes to get the product to come out. It was worth it, but i almost gave up because it took way too long for me to get actual product out of the bottle. I'm not sure what happened but someone flopped in QC with that, as I've seen other comments about it, as well. This product definitely worked for me & I will highly recommend. 4 ⭐️
PLS SAVE URSELF 1
2022-12-06
I have always had super thick hair, I used this mask for a few weeks and my hair started breaking/falling out. If I had started with thin hair, I would look half bald. The hair that is left is covered in a waxy coating and feels fried.
Needs improvement 4
2022-07-02
I personally don't have the experience that a lot of reviewers are having, I do enjoy this product quite a bit, however I do understand the things they are saying. This product needs to have an ingredient improvement, it's got too much alcohol and needs to be more simple and hydrating. My hair doesn't respond too poorly to alcohol in hair products due to the amount of humidity in my area, but people who live in dry areas will get pretty much nothing from this. I also have thin straight hair, so it doesn't take much to nourish it. If you have coarse hair, this may not cut it. I haven't had any issues with my pump, but clearly there's an ongoing issue with consistency among them as well.
