Like a getaway for your mane!
Are you ready to surf wave after wave of ’80s nostalgia? If you are, girl, all I have to say is R+Co Palm Springs Pre-Shampoo Treatment Mask! It will take you there, because it’s a mousse…and if you were an impressionable tween in the ’80s who had a spiral perm like yours truly, you might remember putting tons of mousse in your hair.
At least, that’s one of the things I recall about the late ’80s. I was always scrunching mousse in my hair, and it’s kind of fun to do it with this treatment, too.
Typically, pre-shampoo masks have a thick, lotion-like consistency like a hair conditioner, but R+CO likes pushing boundaries and doing things differently. Palm Springs is a lightweight, airy mousse, and the moisturizing formula is designed to help damaged hair.
You apply it to damp hair before you shampoo, then leave it to sit for anywhere from five minutes to a couple hours. And can I just say that if you have a couple hours to kill while your hair mask does its thing, I’m so jealous?!
After that, you hop in the shower, rinse it out, shampoo, condition and style as usual.
Take me back to 1988…
Palm Springs contains a cocktail of ingredients to restore moisturize to color-treated or heat-styled hair…or any kind of hair that could use the help. It has shea butter, argan oil and plant extracts to hydrate and strengthen strands while simultaneously caring for your scalp. Plus, in addition to using it as a hair mask, you can also use it as a regular conditioner (or a conditioner wash) after you shampoo. And it smells amazing, like green tea with lemon!
When I use it as a pre-shampoo mask, I gotta say, though, it’s a bit frustrating, because I can never tell how much mousse is too much mousse, unlike most pre-shampoo treatments, where you get to a point when you realize that your hair has absorbed what it needs to absorb, so you stop. But my hair just keeps sucking this up!
Maybe it’s because my mop is thirsty. I dunno. All I do know is that it’s so easy to keep working MOAR MOUSSE into my mane (hence the ’80s flashbacks).
I mean, it’s fun and all, but I feel like I’m using way too much of it, and this stuff isn’t cheap. It’s $29 a bottle.
Yeah, it’s supposed to be a weekly treatment, so you aren’t expected to use it daily, but I can just see myself blazing through this bottle in two sessions.
As for the results…they’re pretty good. If I let this sit for 30 minutes, then shampoo, condition and style purr usual, I do notice a slight difference in the shine and softness of my hair, and it’s a little easier to style, but I wouldn’t call the results life-changing or anything.
If you’re primarily looking for mane moisture, I think High Dive, R+Co’s epic leave-in conditioner, is the way to go. It’s hella hydrating, but it’s also lightweight and doesn’t flatten my hair. Plus, it really softens and tames frizz. I’m so dedicated to it that I keep a spare bottle around. It’s THAT serious.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
