KRISTIN ESS HAIR Fragrance Free Deep Conditioning Treatment Mask

Most Helpful Positive Review

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 rea...son 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.