K18 Hair Mask Review: Does It Work And How To Use It
As a beauty editor, I hear a lot of buzz around certain products and at the moment, everyone seems to be going wild for the K18 Hair Mask. At first, I was reluctant to try it – when it comes to hair care, I'm shamefully nonchalant, usually opting for quick shampoo and conditioner, and maybe a hair serum. I feel I can get away with it, though. I don't really dye my hair (once in a blue moon I'll get some balayage at Larry King Salon) and I almost always leave it to air dry. But as the buzz kept growing around K18, so did my curiosity. Eventually, I caved – and boy, I'm glad I did.
Essentially, the K18 Hair Mask is a bond builder treatment that works to repair broken polypeptide keratin chains within the hair. These chains form the inner structure of hair that become damaged over time by things like chemical treatments and heat styling, leaving hair looking frazzled and dull, and feeling dry and rough.
K18 claim that their technology, named K18Peptide, is able to penetrate deeper into the hair strand than some of the other bond building products on the market, and uses biomimetics (it mimics nature perfectly) to be ‘recognised’ and accepted by the hair, meaning it won't be washed away.
K18 Leave-In Molecular Repair Hair MaskThis all sounds great, but as we all know, the proof is in the pudding. Although in relatively good condition, my hair could be better. I haven't had a hair cut since Christmas 2021, and have been piling into a top knot everyday for the past two years while working predominantly from home, so there's a significant amount of breakage going on.
Reading the instructions on the back of the hair mask, I almost lose momentum. It says I have to towel dry my hair after shampooing before applying the mask, and then leave it in for at least four minutes in order for formula to activate. This is a real departure from my usual whistle-stop in-shower haircare routine (who towel dries their hair mid way through a hair wash? Do I get out of the shower altogether? Do I just turn the water off and just stand there getting cold?) but the promise of soft, shiny hair keeps me in line.
As instructed, I start with one pump of product, which looks like a laughable amount for my hair (I have fine hair but a lot of it, and it's currently so long, it's more than half way down my back). Surprisingly, the single pump makes good headway – I only need another couple of pumps before my hair feels completely coated (I used a Wet Brush to work it in and make sure it was spread evenly).
The first thing I notice is the smell (clean but expensive), which is a welcome discovery. I'm pretty picky about hair product smells, and would instantly boycott a fruity or sweet scent, or something that didn't smell at all.
I also notice the sublime softness of my hair. It's silky, it's completely tangle free, it's… changed. Once out of the shower, I deliberately do not put any other products in my hair in order to give the mask a fair trial. As my hair dries, the difference becomes increasingly noticeable.
My hair is soft like I have never experienced before. It's shiny, too, and even after letting it air dry doesn't have its usual halo of frizz. This softness continues for days, yet it never becomes greasy. Usually, when I try a mask, my hair looks great for about three hours before becoming so greasy that not even dry shampoo can salvage it. Somehow, the K18 Hair Mask has achieved the unimaginable and created lasting softness and shine, without weighing my fine hair down or kickstarting my scalp's oil production.
It's now been a few weeks since my first foray into K18, having topped up with a second treatment after a week, and believe it or not, I'm still reaping the benefits. My hair is still unrecognisably soft, all signs of frizz have vanished, and it looks revived with a salon-worthy shine. To say I'm a convert would be an understatement – I'm a fully signed up member of the cult.
K18 Leave-In Molecular Repair Hair MaskSave when you shop with these Cult Beauty discount codes.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qLjApqauqp2WtKLGyKecZ5ufY8Kse8Crq6KbnJp8rH2XZp%2BaoaJiuqK%2Fymapnq6ZmsQ%3D