Blinded Me with Science- ‘Make My Hair Thicker!’

On my forever and impossible quest to discover the product to gift me (at least the illusion of) that naturally thick hair that I was supposed to be born with, I stumbled across this blurb– 

MIT researchers discovered the secret ingredient:  poly beta amino ester-1.

According to the February 2010 issue of Elle magazine, the Langer lab (at MIT)
has discovered poly beta amino ester-1, an ingredient that coats each
hair shaft with “thickening points” that work like Post-It notes:
grabbing at one another, leaving pockets of space between hairs, but
also separating and re-grabbing easily.  In essence, this means you get
all of the punch (volume) with none of the crunch (stickiness) – pretty
amazing stuff!– FutureDerm

Y’all know I love me some science and by the end of that paragraph, I was sold and ready to break budget.  I needed this stuff on my hair.  Now.

So apparently Living Proof (a brand that I’ve seen in Sephora but was never moved to purchase due to a combination of $$, the ingredient list and small bottle sizes) has harnessed this power and created, Full Thickening Cream, touted as a, ‘lightweight cream that leaves hair looking and feeling noticeably thicker and healthier’.  Here’s the full description-

“This styling innovation allows fine, thin hair to act like thick hair
with naturally soft, touchable body. By depositing thickening points on
the hair strands, Full creates a thicker surface that enables fine hair
to have natural movement and bounce, beautiful shape, and volume
throughout the day. While traditional thickening products create a hard,
brittle hold that collapses upon touch, Full allows your style to
remain flexible, soft, and resilient. Go ahead, run your fingers through
your hair, no need to fear a style fall.”

I headed straight for the reviews… which were mostly raves and exclamations left by our straight-haired counterparts.  The testimonies from the curlies were far and few between but I said ‘what the hell’, charged it to the game, and due to my need for instant gratification, sprung for the rush shipping. Yeah Amazon!  My only hang-up with the ‘technology’ was that from the description of the ‘post it note’ action, it would yield big hair by promoting curl separation, for a piecier look.  But it was obviously a risk I was willing to take. So yesterday I co-washed and followed my same routine per Monday’s post, and got pretty decent results.  I can say that despite the ignorantly tiny 3.5 oz size, I was relieved that you really don’t need goodgobs for coverage.  It’s slippery and goes on wet hair like your favorite slippery conditioner.  And thank goodnes ’cause I detest a rough product application about as much as a seat belt that’s works too good… when that ish snaps back and all you’re trying to do is reach over to get something out of your purse and you have to keep pulling it and releasing it until it lets you out of its grip… no? Just me? Anyway, upon drying (sat under the hooded dryer… damn instant gratification again) my hair looked like it does post a little precision fluffing.  It wasn’t frizzy, but it was noticeably bigger, especially the right side which at times, appears anorexic, especially in comparison.

It ain’t working no miracles or nothing, but my hair is hanging nicely and has some good volume today (day 2)… which just about every product (save for a few) in my hair closet can do successfully.  At any rate, I can’t pass judgement yet, I’ll keep using it and report back soon!