Review of Matrix Biolage - Conditioning Balm by flufffycloud9
UPDATE: I cannot rave enough about this conditioning balm (I use it in conjunction with the hydrating shampoo). After using this stuff for the past 9 days, my hair is back to gorgeousness. I thought Day 1 was good. Day 9 is amazing. I have great hair days every day. Soft hair that's healthy looking and feeling. Plus all this and still frizz-free even when it's drizzling out (I live in FL). My hair still has body & fullness but there's now a smooth type bounce to it that hasn't been there.... ever? It also stays silky & does not get tangled during the day now. And after 9 days, there should be build-up from a product that from its results seems so moisturizing. But there is none. I examined the individual strands today & they look sturdy, healthy, and shiny where they used to be dull and ragged. I had my last trim (inch off) a whole month ago but I could not find a single split-end. HG squared, I love this, I have thrown out all my other ineffectual "deep" conditioners. Way to go Matrix! P.S. I still use this product exactly as described below. The only change to my routine is I have added 4 sprays of Soy Tri-Wheat Leave In Conditioner by Sexy Hair after squeeze-toweling my hair and before blow-drying upside down with a paddle brush. My hair doesn't need it for moisture help or detangling or anything (the conditioner does that beautifully), I use it to add protection from my blow-dryer. Always use heat protection! :)
PERVIOUS REVIEW: I bought this specifically because my hairdresser said it was just the thing for my severely damaged hair. And she is a nice lady, not a product-pusher so I trusted her and bought it. My sister has been raving about this stuff for years but I never listened to her lol.
Background-
My hair: very fine but a lot of it, shoulder-blade length, sliiightly wavy when air-dried (which is not often), dry, burned (on the ends from using a flat iron on too high heat), coloured often, & blow-dried daily.
OH EM GEE. I have only used it once so far and I'm very excited. I was about to give up on my hair, it was in such bad shape... I just wanted to pull it out. But this morning I used this & for the first time my hair is in much closer shape to pre-burning it/pre-colouring it. It was amazing. I couldn't stop touching my hair. I am very much looking forward to continued improvement with continued use, as so many helpful girls on here have reviewed as happening. As it is now, my hair feels almost virgin again and I am so glad I purchased this! I scooped out a quarter sized dollop (due to reading other reviewers warnings that less is more with this stuff) through my entire wet hair after lathering with a nickel of the Biolage moisturizing shampoo (again, less is more). I left the conditoner on for 3-4 minutes while loofahing my body. It rinsed out well & pretty quickly but not so cleanly (as I've experienced with pretty much all other conditioners) that I couldn't tell I'd used it. It was still slightly slippery in a very good way. After squeeze-toweling dry, I didn't even need to put a leave-in conditioner on my hair to comb it out, my hair was just super silky all on its own. That in itself was a miracle since my hair is always super tangly and squishy (if you know what I mean, you'll realize how truly damaged my hair is) no matter what in-shower conditioner was used in the past. The way the comb slipped right through it in addition to having a great, pre-damage-like hair day makes this pending holy grail material.*
*HG pending due to past conditioners disappointing me & becoming ineffective or damaging after a few weeks of use. I will update after a week or two of using both shampoo & conditioner to see if hair improves further with use or if conditioner become ineffective and/or causes build-up or brittleness.*