The Hair Mask That Will Change Your Life—And Your Hair

From the first time I tried Iles Formula shampoo, which was a little sachet I was given at Fred Segal Beauty in Los Angeles, I was blown away. In a world full of shampoos that call themselves sulfate-free, this one still foamed but didn’t leave my hair feeling stripped raw. (The Cut has raved about it as well.) On a recent visit to Lac + Beauty, where I was in the process of buying another bottle, owner Tony Pham insisted I had to try the mask and sent me home with one. But instead of using it myself, I gave it to a friend who colours her hair, thinking she would benefit more from it. She tried it yesterday, and then this email arrived in my inbox:

“I need to talk to you about this life changing mask! I used it yesterday and have not stopped thinking about it.

I put on a restrained amount in the shower yesterday and left it on for fifteen minutes after combing it through.

As I started rinsing it out, I reached up to touch my hair and the difference was crazy. It did not feel like my hair was coated in conditioner like most masks; it felt like my hair had changed completely and I was now touching someone else’s hair. Having not touched anyone else’s wet hair in my life I can’t say for sure, but it definitely was unlike anything I have ever felt my hair to be like.

While rinsing, the following flashed through my head as I tried to think of an accurate description of how my hair felt:

Like how Barbie’s hair looks while she’s still in the package.
Brooke Shields’ hair fanning behind her as she swam underwater in The Blue Lagoon.
Silk tassels on the Queen’s robe.
A very soft bunny’s fur.
Peacock feathers.
If a baby could grow even a lusher head of hair than Suri Cruise.
Satin ribbons shrunk down enough to make individual hairs.

I let my hair air dry and put no product in to see the exact transformation, and it’s amazing. Loose waves with just a little bit of frizz at the end from my pillow last night. If there is a cult attached to this product, buy me some purple sneakers and start mixing up the Kool-Aid.”

When I reached out to the brand, the founder Wendy Iles replied directly so I took it as an opportunity to ask her what makes this mask so unlike others. ‘It contains nut and fruit extracts from the Amazon in Brazil, silk from Japan, oils from Morocco and Australia and infused with vitamins,’ she wrote. ‘The mask really has its own personality; not only nourishing but positively strengthening the hair too.'”

It also yielded a “shiny” compliment for my friend from her colleague, which she insists has never happened before. So there’s that, too.

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