One day, while I was cruising the wares at a Pure Beauty store, I happened upon a sales associate with the longest, shiniest, healthiest looking hair I’d seen in years.
It, and the fact that it belonged to a dude, left me speechless for an unusually long pause…
When my brain rebooted, I asked the boy how he got such a fly mane, and he pointed me to the Phyto 7.
Phyto 7 Daily Hydrating Botanical Cream ($26) contains a blend of seven plant extracts — calendula, sage, burdock, willow, soybean, rosemary and althea — pit together for their hydrating and replenishing properties. By maintaining optimum moisture levels, it’s supposed to make hair look smoother, softer and shinier from the very first application.
When I started using this lightweight leave-in conditioner, Google was still in beta. It was more than a decade ago, and I was looking for something to revitalize and repair my dry, brittle hair, which had taken a lot of abuse from heat styling. This was back when I was using a blow dryer every other day to straighten my naturally wavy hair, and it had left me with about a million split ends.
I started applying it to my hair after shampooing and conditioning, and I think it brought my mop back from the brink.
Today I thought, any product worth coming back to again and again over a 10-year period is well worth a special shout-out, and so here it is. 🙂
Directions for use
- After shampooing, apply to towel-dried or dry hair.
- Place a pea-sized amount of cream into your hand, and apply all over the hair, paying special attention to the ends.
- Massage in until fully absorbed, and then style hair as usual.
NOTE: Do not rinse
I owe a lot to Phyto 7, but as much as I’ve liked it for all these years, it didn’t solve all of my dry/brittle hair woes. Ultimately, the only thing that did that was deciding to embrace my natural waves and chill out on the heat styling, but it bought me some time and got me on the road to recovery.
I like finding and trying new hair products, but Phyto 7 Daily Hydrating Botanical Cream is one of the rare ones that I keep coming back to. It got me hooked. As a matter of fact, I just got a new tube during the Sephora V.I.B. sale a few weeks ago!
A small amount massaged into freshly washed/conditioned hair adds loads of moisture and tames frizz, all without weighing down my hair, for hair that looks soft, natural and not overdone.
Oh, and it’s not just for guys and gals with thick and/or wavy hair. I have friends with thin, straight hair who love it just as much.
There are only two things that I can think of now that might make it better: a larger bottle for the price ($26 seems like a lot for 1.7 ounces), and removing the parabens, even though they appear way down near the bottom of the ingredient list.
Great stuff. 🙂
PRICE: $26 for a 1.7-oz. tube
AVAILABILITY: Available at Sephora stores and also online
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Saffron says
November 22nd, 2011 at 12:44 pmI had less luck with this stuff – I picked it up after discovering that the phyto shampoo/conditioner was the best stuff on earth for my coarse, curly hair, but this just isn’t enough for those of us who wield massive curls. Maybe it’s best for wavy girls, who need to worry more about finding a balance between moisture and weight.
I’m sticking with my Ouidad, even if it smells like baby wipes >_<.
Amanda says
November 22nd, 2011 at 1:00 pmI’ve been having lots of issues with my wavy hair. I recently cut it short becaue it was so messed up from years bleaching and using heat to style. Now I’ve stopped using heat on my hair but I feel like my wavy hair just looks messy and frizzy all the time. I just don’t know what products to use to make my wavy hair look nice. Definitely interested to try this product out, but it is pretty pricey!
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Sonya says
November 22nd, 2011 at 1:10 pmI was actually looking at this in Sephora the other day, though ultimately I didn’t purchase it. My hair gets very oily if I don’t wash it every day, and I’m sometimes afraid that leave-in conditioners will only stimulate oil production faster so that by the evening my hair is a greasy mess. You’ve convinced me to give it a go, however! (And I can always return it if it doesn’t work out!)
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Katy says
November 22nd, 2011 at 1:22 pmHi Sonya!
I have oily hair too and still love this stuff! I use it mid length to the ends and it works like a charm!
PinkGlitter says
November 22nd, 2011 at 1:18 pmI’ve heard so many good things about the Phyto line. I recently got a sample of their shampoo from Sephora which I keep forgetting to use.
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Shannon says
November 22nd, 2011 at 1:39 pmI have had a sample of this for a looong time. Guess that it is time to pull it out for a try. For my curly hair I swear by everything DevaCurl and no heat.
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Shannon says
November 22nd, 2011 at 3:32 pm😉
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Katherine G says
November 22nd, 2011 at 3:20 pmKaren, I have hair similar to yours (straight when younger, got wavy and staticky/frizzy when I hit puberty). I don’t use expensive products other than Fekkai Gloss leave-in cream. My hair is very thick and rarely gets damaged (even with dyeing it red). I don’t shampoo every day, and if I blow-dry or straighten I turn it into a hot-oil treatment of sorts. When I do apply product other than go natural, I section my hair when it’s dry or wet and put a small amount of product on each section and brush it through. I avoid my roots, and I can usually get up to 4 days at the most without having to shampoo it again.
This one’s for the girls whose hair gets oily – for some people with oily hair, shampooing every day actually makes the hair follicles produce more oil (because they think the hair is too dry). Cutting back on the shampooing and using a dry shampoo or baby powder when you notice oil will probably help.
As for the using heat appliances…make sure you section your hair and at least make sure the heat product covers all or most of your hair. I use a gloss spray before I put the heat product on and it really helps protect my hair from damage.
Sorry for the long post, but just sharing what I’ve learned with dealing with my own thick mess of long hair 🙂
Gentry Miller says
November 22nd, 2011 at 4:56 pmI use bumble and bumble Shine products do they even compare? They seem to do the trick all be it leave my hair a little greesy looking sometimes I really want too see this stuff in real life, I must check it out thanks for the tip.
Nina says
November 22nd, 2011 at 6:32 pmive only used one Phyto product and i remember not being wowed. again, another brand i should revisit and try again!
danielle says
November 22nd, 2011 at 7:59 pmI love this product, I got a sample in August, and it brought my hair back after two years of hard water, desert living. I need to get more, because I’m out. I love that you only need to use a tiny amount, it really works through my thick locks and brought them back from the dried out mess it had become.
Karo says
November 23rd, 2011 at 10:35 amgreat stuff!
I wasch my brushes with Phyto product
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Jessica says
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:27 pmI LOVE that you do MAC unsung heroes! I go back and read old post. I’m addicted to make-up MAC specifically and some of the oldies but goodies get thrown in the back of my kit and I love going thru re-arranging and falling in love with a product all over again.
Thanks for blogging unsung heroes and keep it up!
Actually just your blog in general : )