Monday, January 28, 2008

Conditioner Snob

Ms. New Beauty has always had a pretty good relationship with her hair. She's never really had to deal with any hair traumas and dramas and the reason for that is because MNB is a slave to routine. Ms. New Beauty and her hair have figured out the kind of routine that normally only couples that have been married for at least 25 years can fall into. Ms. New Beauty makes sure she gives her hair what it needs and her hair does the same for her. MNB keeps her often dry hair moisturized and her hair makes sure it falls right into place every morning when she wakes up with just a few strokes of a big paddle brush. In working out this symbiotic relationship, Ms. New Beauty has learned that she has a scalp full of thousands upon thousands of conditioner snobs. If MNB tries to slather on the cheap stuff, her hair will out and out revolt and make sure that there is a permanent cowlick or fury of frizz in her future until she comes back with the good stuff. It's every hair mother's nightmare - in trying to treat her babies to the good stuff, Ms. New Beauty has turned her hair into snobs that simply cannot take the generic. Luckily, Ms. New Beauty and her hair both agree on the perfect one-two combo of moisture and strength that these two conditioners give.

Frederic Fekkai Moisturizing Conditioner with Shea Butter

I am literally in love with this conditioner. For real. I asked for a bottle of this for Christmas because I had just run out. Nope, not a new iPod or a gift card to Neiman's, but a bottle of conditioner. (FYI - if anyone ever wants to pick up a little something special for me, grab up a bottle of this. I will love you forever. Seriously).

This is the most moisturizing conditioner that I have ever used. At first though, I was a little wary of trying it because of the shea butter. Yes, we all know that shea butter is ridiculously moisturizing. If dry skin is any part of your reality, I highly recommend that you pick up something with shea butter in it. But shea butter is a pretty thick substance so a lot of hair products that use it tend to be heavy. I have a lot of hairs on my head, but they are all quite fine. Anything heavy weighs my hair down and makes it look like a stringy, greased-up mop. But my last hair stylist, my beloved Will, taught me a quick little trick to figure out if a product will be too heavy or sticky for your hair. Squeeze a little onto your finger tips and rub together. If the product absorbs into your skin quickly and feels light to the touch, it'll do the same for you hair. So I tried it with this conditioner and after the quick test, I put a bottle in my cart and never looked back. This leaves my hair soft, moisturized and heavy-looking without any residue or heavyness. The smell is divine and my hair literally drinks it up like fruity cocktail at a beach side resort.

$22.50, available at Ulta

Frederic Fekkai Protein Rx Anti-Breakage Treatment Mask

I learned a long time ago that beautiful hair, just like beautiful women, requires the perfect combination of softness and strength. Too many of the moisturizing products that make hair soft can leave it limp and lifeless. Too much of the protein that makes it strong can leave hair brittle and broken. So, I use this rich protein mask in tandem with the ulta-moisturizing conditioner above. Normally, I let the conditioner above penetrate while I handle the rest of my shower business. Then, right before getting out, I rinse it out and comb a liberal dollop of this through and cover with a plastic cap for at least 20 minutes for deep conditioning treatment.

This mask is ideal for women with color treated or chemically processed hair that's prone to breakage. For the first time since I was 17, I've stopped coloring my relaxed hair which has left my ends more processed than my roots and so prone to split ends and breakage. Fortunately, weekly treatments with this give my hair the strength that it needs and keeps it from breaking off. Even better, it rinses away clean and the fabulous scent lets my scalp know that mama brought home the goods. No bad hair days when this is in the rotation.

$28.50, available at Ulta


Give your hair the good stuff, and nurture it despite its sometimes snobby way, just don't forget that Ms. New Beauty told you!

3 Comments:

Jamie said...

Frederic Fekkai's Moisturizing Conditioner with Shea Butter is my new favorite too! I just started using it last week and I am totally hooked!

Anonymous said...

What brand of shampoo do you use?

Ms. New Beauty said...

I generally use KeraCare Hydrating and Detangling Shampoo. But, I only use shampoo every other time that I wash my hair. On the off days, I simply use my conditioner and do a "no poo" rinse - massaging my scalp and rinsing just with conditioner instead of shampoo.

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