I have a 4 weekly hair washing routing, once a month I use a deep / intensive / heavy mask on my hair and the rest of the month I follow what my hair needs. As my hair is dry, there is generally some sort of mask involved. I used the Phillip B Katira mask on a light wash day. I washed and conditioned my hair using Phillip Kingsley re-moisturising shampoo and conditioner. I then towel dried my hair and applied the mask from root to tip. I am quite heavy handed with product so I got through about a quarter of the tube. My first thought when I squirted the product into my hand was not a positive one. I didn’t like the texture… it was like…wallpaper paste… visions of making papier mache heads at primary school by sticking small bits of sodden newspaper around a balloon came flooding back. I just was not expecting a lumpy gel from a premium range (the mask was part of the Selfridges Beauty Box) Not withstanding that I still put it in my hair!
It says leave it in for two minutes or overnight and if you leave it in over night it will dry to a hard finish. It took me about six minutes to saturate my hair with the product so quite frankly I was not prepared to wash it out immediately, but I was also concerned about the potentially hard finish. I decided to leave it in overnight and let my hair dry naturally (no heat) so that I could monitor whether my hair become dry. At different points during the day as my hair was drying, when putting my hand in my hair the wall paper paste texture was still there. Thankfully, it did not dry to a hard finish, and it did not leave my hair dry.
The next day…it rinsed out easily did not leave my hair crispy as I had read but the wallpaper paste texture is there as you rinse it out so it is quite easy to know that you have got all the product out of your hair. It did not make my hair shiny…but for me, with locs, the texture of my hair is more akin to suede then silk. Equally beautiful but very different. I am not looking for a shiny effect in fairness. Satin and suede do not reflect the light in the same way so I do not buy product for shine/sheen. It did not leave my hair greasy or super moisturised as some products, but it was definitely not dry.
This picture shows the product, on my faux leather sunglasses case – it needed the dark background so that you could see the product.
The mask did exceed my expectations in terms of not drying out my hair, but my expectations were not high. On my hair it did not boost manageability. This product has some very interesting ingredients in it. Katira is a natural thickener and binding agent, two types of glycerine are listed as well as and eight different proteins. It is important for hair to receive moisturising (water) and strengthening (protein) treatments and in theory, I can see how this product is not detrimental for the hair but I did not enjoy using it.
Have you used this product? Have you had great results with it?