I have the kind of hair that stylists gently refer to as ‘course’ or ‘chemically treated’. I call my thick, wavy mop what it is: ‘dry’, ‘frizzy’ and ‘hella unhealthy’. The peeps at my favorite Cleveland salon, the Shawn Paul Salon are forced to listen to my hair woes on a regular basis (I’m there for color about every 3 weeks). Whether from kindness or a selfish desire to shut me up, they always have suggestions for tricks and products to healthy-up me hairs. Last week lovely Vivian—stylist extraordinaire (and owner of one of the best sarcastic senses of humor evah) dialed me into the salon’s latest product arrival—Davines Hair Masks. A sucker for good packaging, my first thought was how these cute harlequin-adorned products would look in my bathroom. But alas, before investing in more hair product, I figured I should find out if they really worked. Vivian admitted she hadn’t tried them all yet but steered me to the bumblebee-colored Renaissance Circle for ‘extremely damaged hair’; “This one has done amazing things for a client of mine with your type of hair,’ she said.

At $10 a pop, I thought ‘Are you #@&#*! kidding me?’ but then Vivian told me they are good for at least two treatments, maybe three. I figured $5 for a deep conditioner wasn’t bad, especially considering what it would cost for a professional treatment. Done.

A few days later I washed my hair in the kitchen sink, toweled that mess dry, and applied the mask. Dang, it smelled good. I instantly liked how thick and rich the yellow product felt in my hands—I guessed it was the babassu butter it contained. After slathering (I used about half, but I also have lots of thick hair), it was easy peasy to screw the little black top back on the little pack to keep it for future use. I put my hair up and did house chores for a couple hours. I found myself trying to figure out the mask’s unique scent that kept hitting my nose, and then finally got it—frankincense. I love the smell of frankincense—it takes me right away to the cathedrals of Europe where the scentual resin is burned 24/7. I also got the connection to the products’ name, Renaissance, as in medieval, cute…

When I went to rinse the mask out, it felt practically dry (remember, I left it on for about two hours). I figured this was a good thing assuming my dry hair had absorbed it all. It rinsed out in the shower easily; some masks seem to cling to hair for dear life. Upon towel-drying my hair felt noticeably softer. My hair styled more easily than usual—I air dry after applying Davines’ Oi and Curl Serum and looked and felt hella healthier. With five products in this new line, all at $10 a pop, I’m looking forward to trying them all out.

*This post was written by our guest-experience writer Anna Soref.                               Side Note.. Anna you are a gem and we are lucky to have you! S.P.