Customer Reviews

Philip B Philip B Katira Hair Masque - 6 fl. oz. - 6 fl oz

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Ok, so I purchased this product based on an article in the Nov '09 issue of Vogue. The reviewer raved about this product stating that for the first time, she didn't feel the color in her hair and that it felt like girls hair. Well, I'm in my mid-40's and would be happy if I could just find something that would make my hair NOT feel like over-processed old-ladies' hair!!

So, I gave this product a shot. The Vogue article was incredibly persuasive. I purchased both the Katira Masque and the Philip B Peppermint and Avacado Shampoo. I shampooed, then applied the masque to my towel dried hair. I then left it on until it was dry and "crispy".

Once I rinsed it out, my hair was impossible to comb out. Note that I didn't apply conditioner and none was noted in the Vogue article. Incredible amounts of my hair broke out while trying to comb through it. After it was dry, it looked frizzy and was hardly soft or like girl's hair.

However, once I took my flat iron to it, I will note that it looked shinier and smoother than normal. But, I was disappointed that I did not achieve "girl's hair" status or anywhere close to it. I decided to purchase the $110 Russian Imperial Amber shampoo that was mentioned in the article, figuring that this contributed to the writer's soft hair.

While waiting for the Amber shampoo to arrive, I used the Katira Masque again, but I used an Ojon conditioner first. HUGE improvement!! My hair was definitely softer than normal, and shinier. I would say it was worth the 50 or so bucks provided you use a good conditioner (I LOVE Ojon shampoos and conditioners)!

The Amber shampoo arrived and I am torn as to whether or not I like it. My hair is thick, so I need more of a "smoothing" shampoo. The Amber shampoo is really great, but it "poofs" out my hair. This product would be great for people with thin or fine hair.

I hope this helps. I have never taken the time to write a review before, but I thought this was an important one! :-)

This product totally lives up to reviews. I love it so much I bought it for my friend, mother, and even an aquaintance. My hair looks like glass after using, and has tons of body. Normally it is a coarse, frizzy mess and worse I live in high humidity. This product is worth every dime!

I desperately wanted to purchase this hair masque after reading the article in Vogue 2008. But when I cross-referenced the writer's rave reviews with the real life reviews on Amazon.com and Makeup Alley, I chalked it up to another useless product I didn't need.

Fast forward two years. I'm older, I have a newborn baby - my hair is a dry, frizzy mess. I don't know if it is the hormones, age, lack of sleep, but my hair is so much dryer, and the texture has changed. It's like the Vogue writer said, it's old lady hair, not young girl hair. In the past, I would have doused it with deep conditioner and sat for 2 hours under my bonnet dryer (yes I have one of those). But time is no longer a luxury that I have and I'm not likely to see it again for the next ten years. I need a solution that really works and doesn't take forever.

The Philip B. Katira hair masque is it.

I think the term hair masque is a little confusing. Hair masque conjures up images of intensive, creamy conditioner. That is not what this product is. It is a lightweight gel that fills in the porous cracks of damaged and dry hair, fortifying it, sealing it, softening it and making it oh so much better. My hair is curly and after using the masque, I get well-defined, spiral curls all the way down my back. And what's amazing is that the curls are really soft yet still well-defined. In fact they are so soft and voluminous I put in either Ouidad hair spray or gel to stiffen it up. It really does look like it did back in college when I could put $5 L'Oreal mousse in my hair, run out the door and have a fabulous hair day. Ah youth! Now it takes expensive haircuts and products to get it to look as good.

The Katira hair masque works best in conjunction with your favorite conditioners that you already have in your arsenal and makes them work better. After I shower, I squeeze a good amount (I have a lot of long, curly hair) of the Philip B. hair masque into my hand and comb it through my hair with my fingers, followed with a wide tooth comb. I have been experimenting with different kinds of comb-thru, leave-in conditioners all to great success including: Weleda Rosemary hair oil (fabulous on my dry ends and a little goes such a long way), Devacurl One Condition, Ouidad Summer Spray. I don't use all of these leave-in's together - that would be too much! But I choose one of these conditioners to use with the hair masque, depending on what my hair needs that day. I do not wash any of this out. To "stiffen" my curls, I have been spraying with Ouidad hair spray or using Kiehl's Silk Groom (I have had this bottle forever and never really used it, but it works really well in conjunction with the masque and maintains the volume in a nicely controlled way.)

I bought other hair products before I purchased this one in my quest to soften my hair's dry texture: Josie Maran Argan hair oil (I wanted to buy Moroccan hair oil treatment after I read Cindy Crawford's endorsement of it - she said it was good at softening the texture of older hair. But they didn't have it at Sephora and Josie Maran is pretty much the same thing. Alas, it is not as good as Philip B's solution.) I also purchased Rene Furterer's deep conditioning masque. Again good, but once it washed out, it never changed the inherent dry and wiry texture of my "old lady" hair.

I also purchased the Philip B. Amber Shampoo (what a divine, yummy smell) and was given the Philip B. Peppermint and Avocado Shampoo for free after a shipping mix up. Since the hair masque came first, I have used it alone as well as with the shampoos. Unlike other hair products that need to be used with each other in order to work well, you really can use the hair masque alone to great success. I shampooed my hair today with the Amber Shampoo and then used the Katira Masque, but there really wasn't a difference in terms of it working better with the shampoo.

I will never be without the Philip B. masque again. It really does work. I hope this helps!

I tried the Philip B Katira Hair Masque after reading about it in Vogue magazine. I have long, fine hair that is color-treated and highlighted and wanted a product to repair the chemical damage to my hair. After using this masque weekly, I found that my hair looks and feels much healthier. This is not a conditioner that you can just slap on your hair and rinse out and expect a head of gorgeous hair. You have invest your time as well as money. I use this with Philip B's Russian Imperial Amber shampoo, another pricey product. But they work well. I followed the directions on the tube and what was described in the Vogue article. And I also watched the Philip B video on YouTube. There are also directions on his Web site. I shampoo, towel dry my hair and then apply a generous dollop. Then I blow dry my hair on a low heart setting until my hair is "crunchy." Then I rinse it out and follow with a detangler and leave-in conditioner. My hair is shinier and has more body; the product brings out natural waves in my hair that I don't see when I use other products.

Try all organic Katira - the ingredients are all food quality - no glycerin, silicone based compounds that dry and damage your hair, and all organic.

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Overall, I'm very satisifed with Philip B. And his Katira mask is a great product... but I use it a little differently. I have very troublesome 3B hair. I wash and condition my hair thoroughly, then coat it with this mask and comb it through. Except sometimes I don't rinse it out - I treat it as a gel. Since my hair needs more control this works fine for me, except I have to be careful not to use too much or it will create residue. I get really nice shine and softness with this mask. Philip B really knows what he's doing!

Philip B Katira Hair Mask is a waste of money. The hype is completely false. This does nothing at all for my hair - no body, no shine, no lift, no nothing. I'd sure like a refund, but I don't want to get stuck with paying the postage to return it. I bought this based on the Vogue Magazine article in late 2008. What a pile of hooey! DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT.