Product Review: Ouidad Botanical Boost Moisture Spray

This is probably one of the lightest leave in conditioning spray on the planet, fantastic for those with the very finest hair types that can't get away with using and rinse off conditioners. So why would I, with thick, curly, impossible to weigh down hair use this? Oh, dear grasshopper, so many products are so much more multi-functional than you think. I initially bought it to use as a cutting lotion for when I thin my hair (yes, I have thinning shears and I regularly thin out the bulk, otherwise I would look like a yeti) for which it worked fantastically well. Just plain water can't do it for tangles like these, so in order for me to be able to get a fine-toothed comb across my entire head, on top of providing glide for the thinning shears is a great thing. 

On a whim, on a desparate day, I also took its indication for curly hair seriously (any hair type can use almost any product, buying curl specific products limits you so immensely when you could potentially find the most effective product of your life in a line for color treated hair or fine hair, or whatnot) and boy was I glad I did that. This is now my favorite second day refreshing spray. I wash my hair once or twice a week, so by day 2 or 3, it can look extremely rumpled, rough and frizzy. Adding this helps slightly re-wet it, returning some of the bouncy curl formation, while negating some frizz. After spritzing in generous amounts, I add some coconut or palm oils to the dryest parts, silicone-based leave in serums throughout and I'm out, looking like I've just washed my hair. The reason I like this better as a second day spray than anything I've used before, is the ultra fresh, mildly floral-watery scent. It literally makes me smell like I've washed my hair in a mountain spring. Nothing better than extra water, moisture and a freshly laundered smell.

Ingredients:

1. Water: There's usually a substantial amount of water in all cosmetics, but this is especially true in spray on products. You can count on it that everything else below here is in small amounts.
2. Panthenol (provitamin b5): Conditioning agent that isn't nearly as miraculous as it's been made out to be, but it is light on the hair
3. Cetrimonium chloride: One of the lightest feeling quat conditioning agents, which means it helps frazzled ends feel smooth without weighing them down
4. Hydrolyzed rice protein: I love seeing high protein concentrations in leave on products, what it means is that once you apply heat, hair will be temporarily strengthened by the addition of this and result in less breakage
5. Aloe barbadensis leaf extract: This really doesn't do much for hair
6. Hydrolyzed corn protein: Same as the rice protein, add heat and your hair will be less breakage prone until you wash again
7. Centella asiatica extract: Fluff
8. Hydrolyzed wheat starch: Would help in adding light hold, but we're now heading down the ingredient list
9. Panax ginseng root extract: More fluff
10. Hydrolyzed wheat protein: At this point, what could have been a hair strengthener, is fluff
11. Rosa canina leaf extract: The addition of scent
12. Spirulina maxima extract: This sure makes the product label look good
13. Methyl gluceth-10: Emulsifier and humectant
14. Butylene glycol: Slip agent
15. Propylene glycol: Another solvent which enhances slip
16. Benzophenone-4: Used as a sunscreen agent, as previously discussed, sunscreens have no way of staying on the hair shaft and continuing to protect, the second you touch or brush, it's gone.
17. Benzalkonium chloride: Quat conditioning agent
18. Fragrance: Off course, how could we do without
19. Polysorbate 20: Wetting and spreading enhancing emulsifier
20. Sodium hydroxide: pH adjuster. Why we would ever want a more basic leave in conditioner is truly beyond me, because the more acidity the hair is exposed to, the more the cuticle layer closes
21. Disodium EDTA: Preservative and chelating agent
22. DMDM Hydantoin: Formaldehyde donating preservative, because you know, that's better than parabens.....