So, I have fine curly hair. I love playing with my style based off the season. When I decided as a teenager to try and smooth out my curls, I was turned onto smoothing oils back in the 90s.
Everything from Kérastase Oleo Relax to old-school Frizz Ease and a million others.
After many years of being a hair colorist, I had the privilege of working for Wella Professionals as an educator.
During one of our trainings on Sebastian Dark Oil, a scientist came from Germany and showed us an experiment comparing a very well-known brand oil for smoothing vs. Sebastian Dark Oil.
She had two vases with cotton inside. She put equal drops of each oil in each vase, and within seconds you could see the Dark Oil vase contents stayed fluffy and were gently working their way down to collapse the cotton but ever so slightly.
The alternate oil, however, within seconds was collapsing the cotton almost halfway, showing you the weight that it would offer.
Trust me, there are times you need that, but most of us want to keep movement and body — especially if we like to go more than one day without washing.
Needless to say, for the last 10 years, I have continued to use this product in many ways with great ease and success.
For coarse hair that you just can’t get smooth, this aids in a beautiful blow dry with a glass-like finish, offering longevity and avoiding that dreaded “humidity puff.”
If you’re looking for even more smoothness and manageability, try adding 3 to 7 drops of Dark Oil to the Dark Oil Mask. Wow — the smell and the manageability of the hair are incredible.
A great addition to help boost moisture, smoothness, and shine.
How much to use?
• Short, medium to coarse hair – ½ to 1 pump
• Mid-length, medium to coarse hair – 1½ to 2 pumps
• Long, medium to coarse hair – 3 to 4 pumps. Start at the bottom or dense extra-frizzy areas and work your way around with what’s left on your hands.
If you have fine hair that is categorized as normal with maybe just a touch of frizz, you can scale back how much you use.
I’ve noticed my hair has gotten thinner in density — that’s its own issue — so I do sometimes make sure I put some volume serum at the root to combat that.
Other alternatives are Wella Oil Reflections and Oil Reflections Light.
These are lighter in the weigh-down factor — perfect for refinement with less frizz control.
Enjoy and share with me all your photos and findings, and I’ll keep doing the same.
Keep it simple and smart.
The Colorist Laboratory
