Philip Kingsley Elasticizer

I have lots of fine blond hair which had been damaged by highlights and too much heat, I'll pay pretty much anything to have great hair. Sadly, I had high hopes for this product and it did nothing more than a good drug store product.

On a trip to London last year I had a consultation at 'Philip Kingsley' clinic itself which was interesting (although expensive!) and one of the products they recommended to me was the Elasticizer. Before using any of the other products I wanted to give this a try first as I have thick and dry hair which turns frizzy the moment it's exposed to humidity (living in Florida there's little escaping that). I dampen my hair first with a spray water bottle that you can pick up quite cheap at Walmart and once it's relatively damp (but not dripping) I apply a scoop of the elasticizer to the lengths of my hair, starting at the mid section and working it through to the ends. After leaving in for about 20 minutes I rinse/shampoo out. It takes a couple of attempts to get it all out of my hair usually.

Using this twice a week has helped a lot with the texture and feel of my hair, it feels a lot silkier and smoother now. Also it's much easier to style. I used to run a brush through only to find my hair was one big tangled mess and almost impossible to manage. Now it's a lot less hassle and I'm finding my hair does not react as badly to the heat and humidity which is great.


Selena x



~ My HG list ~

(As I've sampled 100s of skin, hair and m/u products over the last decade and a half, I thought it might be useful to share my top 10 must-have products, subject to change if and when I come across something more effective. I love constantly trying out new stuff - usually sample sizes via e-bay, also plenty courtesy of a friend who works at Sephora)


1. Hair Loss Treatment: ‘Divine Herbal’ - Hair Oil
2. Lip Balm: 'Nuxe' - Reve De Miel Lip Balm
3. Pigmentation + Anti-Ageing Treatment: ‘Divine Herbal’ - Facial Treatment Serum
4. Cleanser: 'Paula's Choice' - Skin Balancing Cleanser
5. Concealer: ‘Mac’ - Studio Finish Concealer
6. Lash Growth Serum: ‘Divine Herbal’ - Divinelash
7. Foundation/SPF: ‘Juice Beauty’ - Stem Cellular Repair (warm glow)
8. Face Scrub: ‘Sisley' - Botanical Gentle Buffing Cream
9. Moisturizer: ‘Antipodes' - Rejoice Light Day Cream
10. Hand Cream: 'Origins' - Make A Difference Rejuvenating Hand Treatment

I can't believe the less-than-stellar reviews for this! I have 'thine' hair & this has been a staple for years now. As well as providing protein for the hair, it excels in making hair stretchier, which coconut oil just doesn't do. This helps reduce breakage and frizz. It also has a slightly volumising effect on my hair and makes it easier to comb through. Make sure you apply it to wetted hair or it won't work - it needs water to work. I leave it for 20 mins with my hair in a ponytail, then rinse out in the shower. It's scentless, but there are a few LE scents about, currently Elderflower and Rhubarb in the UK. UKers can get great deals on PK products on QVC. I use it weekly.

The Philip Kingsley Elasticizer didn't do anything for my hair. I noticed no difference.

There are other options that work slightly better for me - the Elasticizer Extreme and Kerastase also has a similar product.

My hair - fine, but I have a ton of hair. Long, wavy, and can be frizzy. It's a dark blonde that's been lifted up to a very pale blonde, so it's dry and damaged and tangles easily. Additionally, the water in LA is not the best (even with a filter), which exacerbate dryness.

Price - 150mL is $51.00 USD. There are also bigger and smaller jars available. It's a pain to get in the US. I order directly from Philip Kingsley's site. Shipping is very slow and expensive, unless they are running a special. As a positive, they do throw in some samples/extras and there's usually a 10% off code floating around.

Overall, I'm not disappointed that this didn't work because I went through a big jar really quickly, making this pretty expensive per use.

I was really looking forward to trying this product as I suffer quite badly from hair breakage and was looking for something that would help reduce all the baby hair frizziness around my face and neck. This really didn't do an ounce of good for me at all. I bought the Elasticizer along with the re-moisture shampoo and conditioner and was similarly disappointed in them as well. Will be going back to K-Pak!

I feel stupid shelling out for this. It made my hair feel very dry - which is opposite to how it feels with a bog standard conditioner. Cost £28 with cap. I prefer the mega cheap coconut oil mask from Superdrug which I have reviewed, that is a tenth of the price of this one, and ten times more effective. Not sure how this became so well thought of.

One word - Godsend.

Seriously, this product has saved my life. Let me start with the dire state of my hair. First, I'm asian, so that means my hair itself is coarse. I also have natural curls/waves (which are NOT neat) and I live in Singapore, where the humidity is like 98% ALL the time. This means my hair is literally a walking frizz ball.

Last year, I went to perm my hair and I had thought that the lady did an exceptionally good job of not making it damaged from the perming. So I had false confidence on the condition of my hair and went on a spree of dyeing my hair to touch up the roots every 1.5 months after the perm. Bad idea. Coupled with using the diffuser every night to set the curls, it was Road To Disaster. True enough, just about 2 months ago (after maybe like 4 dyeing sessions), my hair started becoming extremely (and I mean extremely) dry. Regardless of my usual save-the-day conditioners, it wouldn't improve. I got a fright one day when I ran my fingers through my hair and found nothing but damaged ends, kinks and all those horrible things (somehow only on certain sections, I suspect most damaged by the hairdryer).

Solution? Snip. I thought cutting off some length would do it. However, to my horror, it did not get better. I did not realise how far up my hair the damage had gone. I had chopped off at least 3 inches and STILL my hair was in a horrible state. I could not see the shape of the new hair cut simply because the hair was so damaged and dry that it was literally hard and stick straight. There was zero movement to my hair and I was just so upset.

By now I was desperate, but being a miser, I refused to spend $200 a month on a hair treatment. I asked friends for recommendations and the Philip Kingsley Elasticizer came up. It finally arrived last night, and needless to say, I immediately put it to the test.

It's AMAZING. I left it on for 40 minutes instead of the recommended 10-20, and then proceeded as directed with the shampooing after. I left my hair to air dry without adding on my usual styling oil. This morning - soft, shiny hair I swear I have not seen for MONTHS. It's earned a permanent place in my shower and I will continue to use it regularly (I hear it only gets better with each use). The next round, I'm going to add on a heated cap.

If it's good enough for Audrey Hepburn...

I'm a big fan of this for giving my dry damaged hair a good treat! It leaves my hair so much softer and improves the condition so it is my number one mask. If there was one negative it's the process of putting it on - for a lazy girl like me having to wet my hair, then put it on, then shampoo off etc, means I don't use it just as much as I would like

After reading all the rave reviews I thought my dry frizzy damaged color treated blond highlighted fine hair could use this. I was underwhelmed, my hair was left a little bit softer but nothing my other conditioners at less then half the price cannot do. Even applying castor oil and avocado oils before washing my hair has helped and delivered better results than this product (and only cost $8 each) I think this product is completely overpriced and Overrated.

I didn't realize that I'd not reviewed this previously.


Before I get to my hair, and why I love this so much, let me add an excerpt from the Philip Kingsley website:

"The story behind Elasticizer is truly remarkable involving one of the world’s greatest beauty icons, Audrey Hepburn. She initially sought Philip’s advice in his London Clinic in 1974, concerned that her hair was in bad condition due to over processing and constant styling on set. Upon her request, Philip went to work in his Green St. Laboratory and formulated Elasticizer – the world’s first pre-shampoo conditioning treatment."


Now, getting back to my hair...

I have wavy, dry, somewhat coarse, color treated hair. The natural color has always faded easily, so even though I'm technically a medium dark brunette at the roots, by time it reaches any length at all it has a lot of red and golden tones. And, the whole natural highlights thing was a-okay until I started to get really grey at the top and around my face.

The contrast between warm and cool isn't all that flattering, and so I've been coloring my hair for close to 20 years, either by a professional or at home—which brings me to this product.

It has absolutely saved my hair on a number of occasions.

Yes, it is a "nice" conditioner when used on wet hair, and left on for a few minutes before shampooing. But, it is an AWESOME, nothing even compares conditioner, when used on almost dry , just damp hair, (not dripping wet) with heat added for a half hour or so.

(And, if you don't have a heated treatment cap, just do yourself a favor and get one! They're affordable and make maintaining hair at home so much easier!)


I think it would be great to leave on overnight, and the company does recommend this in a video they produced, but I've had problems in the past with allergic reactions (itching, swollen lymph nodes) when I try leaving any conditioner in my hair and sleeping in it. It just doesn't work for me, although I've never tried it with this exact product.

It isn't that easy to obtain Elasticizer in the US. Although it currently is available on Amazon. I've ordered directly from the manufacturer in the past... I don't particularly like the large tub size with the pump, just because the product is so thick that the pump does not work that well, and I end up scooping up with my fingers anyway.

Used as it is intended to be used, it is just incredible. I've used high end products that I love (almost anything Oribe) mid range ones that are favorites too, such as One n' Only, and some drugstore hair products But none of them compare with the results I get with this pre-shampoo conditioner. It totally rocks.

Remember to use it no closer than 48 hours before or after color or other chemical processing. If used at the same time, it could possibly interfere with hair taking/keeping color. I try to make the effort to use both before and after, especially when higher volume bleach is involved.