I haven’t been From The Lab subscriber for very long, but I believe this is the first time I was actually disappointed in a product they sent us. In the month of September, we received one tube of hair treatment, and I planned to write a review after one or two uses so I could give you a general idea about its effectiveness. Instead, I had to wait until I used up the entire tube to be absolutely sure that it really doesn’t work for me, and looks like my initial instinct was right after all.
HOW IT WORKS
From The Lab is a new subscription service that offers its members a sneak peek into the future of the beauty industry by sending up to three full-sized “revolutionary” products every month, straight from the world’s top beauty laboratories. Right now they offer an introductory Charter Membership special for $19.95/month + $5.95 S&H (reg. $29.95). All of the products sent out are paraben-free.
Click here to subscribe.
Hair Mask #718 is said to thicken limp hair, add moisture to color-treated hair, and make thick hair more manageable. Its selling point is the mysterious Uttwiler Spätlauber extract, and for non-biologists here, that’s basically a very rare Swiss apple that thrives in extreme conditions. It is well known for its excellent storability, and it can stay fresh looking for up to four months!! after being harvested, long after other varieties have become wrinkled. I have very mixed feelings about this extract, because according to a 2009 article there were only 20 documented Uttwiler Spätlauber trees left in the wild at the time. I admit, I’m not a terribly eco-conscious person, but choosing vanity over preservation of endangered species gives me a giant guilt trip.
Well, enough of my whining for now, let’s get back to the product. I always carefully read the directions because no matter how obvious they seem, sometimes it’s just not what I thought, like it happened this time around. Normally, I use hair treatments right after I shampoo my hair, but according to the directions, I have to use this hair mask by spreading a generous amount over dry hair from roots to ends, let it sit for 30 minutes, and then shampoo as usual. Not so obvious now, is it?
The problem is, after I followed the above instructions, then dried my hair, it just felt sticky and looked limp. I already have fine hair, and this treatment was supposed to make my strands thicker, but I think it just over-moisturized them. Next time I tried using less product, and ended up with the same result, and that continued until I squeezed out the last drop out of the tube. So, at least for me, this mask didn’t work at all, and every time it made my hair look worse. I feel like it might work for people with very dry hair, or even for mature and gray hair, because it needs that extra moisture boost. Mine apparently didn’t. Oh well, it would only be weird if every single product worked for me like magic 🙂
THE VERDICT
Despite my disappointment with the hair treatment, I’m really looking forward to October. We already have some hints that it’s going to be a 4-in-1 cleanser product from a $200 price point line, and the retail version is set to launch in February 2014. I hope it’s good, I love a good cleanser! 🙂
What do you think about this new subscription?
INGREDIENTS
Aqua (Water), Butylene Glycol, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Dimethylacrylamide/Ethyltrimonium Chloride Methacrylate Copolymer, Aminopropyl Dimethicone, Dimethicone, Propylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate, Cetyl Dimethicone, Phenoxyethanol, Argania Spinosa Kernal (Argan) Oil, Bertholletia Excelsa Seed (Brazil Nut) Oil, Creatine, Parfum (Fragrance), Polyquaternium-11, Ethylhexylglycerin, Panthenol (Provitamin B5), C10-11 Isoparaffin, Benzophenone-4, Disodium EDTA, Ppg-1 Trideceth-6, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Glycerin, Peg-8, Linalool, Lecithin, Tocopherol, Malus Domestica (Uttwiler Spätlauber) Fruit Cell Culture Extract, Hexyl Cinnamal, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Xanthan Gum, Ascorbic Acid, CI 15985 (Yellow 6), Citric Acid, Cyclodextrin, CI 19140 (Yellow 5), Hexanoyl Dipeptide-3 Norleucine Acetate, Sodium Hydroxide
