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Image / Beauty

I thought this cult hair product was too much effort… until I used it


By Aisling Keenan
07th Aug 2019
I thought this cult hair product was too much effort… until I used it

Cult hair product, Philip Kingsley’s Elasticizer, seemed like a big commitment to me. Then I used it, and the results made me reassess my initial opinion…


Beauty should be simple, in my opinion. It should be easy to take part in a bit of self-care, which is what I think of beauty as. Particularly something like a hair treatment – surely it’s meant to make you more chilled than frustrated? So that’s why, when I was first recommended the iconic Elasticizer by Philip Kingsley I was left feeling a bit ‘meh’.

What it does

It’s a pre-treatment for hair. For fine hair like mine, you apply it through mid-lengths and ends and it conditions intensively and gives your hair manageability, bounce, shine and you guessed it – elasticity.

How it works (why it’s annoying)

You see, you’ve to apply it to damp hair BEFORE you wash. So it basically involves getting into a shower (or messily wetting your full head of hair in a sink) before you actually intend to shampoo, dampening your hair, applying the product and wrapping your hair in a shower cap for 20 minutes. Then you shampoo and do what you’d normally do.

cult hair product

Philip Kingsley Elasticizer

€39.60 from feelunique.com

Why I’m fine with it

At first, I was completely against the idea. It just screamed EFFORT to me – who has time once a week to sit around pre-shower for 20 mins with a wet head and a shower cap on? I know I didn’t. But I’d heard so much about the product and how life-changing it is, so I tried it.

Cult hair product

Ladies and gentleman, when I say I was fit to ring up Philip himself and congratulate him on services to hair, I’m not exaggerating. I was so pleased with how manageable, light and healthy looking my hair was post-treatment it became instantly worth the frustration of the process. I can see now why it’s such a cult hair product.

I will eat my critical hat now, happily, as bad hair days are basically a thing of the past for me now. Elasticizer, I will make time for you.


Read more: Why your hair feels better when washed by a pro (but how to achieve it at home)

Read more: The ‘skinification’ of hair: the new haircare routine

Read more: How I brought my thinning hair back from the brink

Photo from Instagram @philip_kingsley