Are we really having less sex?
Are we really having less sex?

Kate Demolder

Real Weddings: Iseult and Michael tie the knot in Smock Alley Theatre
Real Weddings: Iseult and Michael tie the knot in Smock Alley Theatre

Shayna Sappington

How to quit social media comparison for good
How to quit social media comparison for good

Niamh Ennis

Weekend Guide: 12 of the best events happening around Ireland
Weekend Guide: 12 of the best events happening around Ireland

Sarah Gill

How to handle the co-worker who brings everyone down
How to handle the co-worker who brings everyone down

Victoria Stokes

Majken Bech Bailey on her life in food
Majken Bech Bailey on her life in food

Holly O'Neill

A new Netflix series about the Guinness family is in the works
A new Netflix series about the Guinness family is in the works

Sarah Finnan

Why the music of Sinéad O’Connor will stay with us forever
Why the music of Sinéad O’Connor will stay with us forever

Jan Brierton

My Life in Culture: Artist Jess Kelly
My Life in Culture: Artist Jess Kelly

Sarah Finnan

This enchanting home on Lough Derg is on the market for €950,000
This enchanting home on Lough Derg is on the market for €950,000

Sarah Finnan

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