Hershesons has already cemented its status as the go-to beauty editor salon for sleek, sexily dishevelled, blow-drys if you’re after hair that has a bit of guts and a lot of personality.
Having already successfully broached styling tools (the brand sells pro hair dryers, straightening irons, curling wands and barrel brushes), the launch of their new Almost Everything Cream is the first time they’ve tackled styling products.
And, with a name that promises to perfect almost everything, we’re very much interested to see if it delivers.
PRODUCT
Hershesons Almost Everything Cream, £10
REVIEWER:
Elle Turner, Deputy Beauty Editor
BEAUTY BIO:
As I’ve mentioned before, I favour a lazy approach to hair which means multi-purpose products absolutely speak to me. Why sit and layer four different products into your hair when you can find one that will do the job? My hair routine looks something like this: shampoo, condition, whack some sort of styling cream through my lengths and ends to prevent frizz (happens to the best of us), blow dry until arm aches.
Every couple of days, I’ll tong it in the morning, to give my hair a bit of movement. There’s very little room there for faff and if the actual styling part involves real skill or effort, I’ll resort to plan B, which is “low ponytail and front bits pulled forward” in order to avoid. That “styling cream” step really has to earn its spot though, and if it doesn’t make a real difference after the first go, I’ll skip it. So I’m interested to see if Hersheson’s cream makes the cut.
THE REVIEW:
First off, I like the look of the packaging – a punchy blue tube with minimal white writing. It says, quite literally, what it does on the tin. Namely, it claims to be a:
- Primer
- Shine Booster
- Frizz Fighter
- Texturiser
- Tamer
- Curl Definer
- Conditioner
- Mask
It smells delicious (really fresh, almost like sun cream) and pumps out in a medium-weight white cream that disappears quickly when worked through lengths and ends. In terms of conditioning hair, I wouldn’t recommend using it in the shower in place of your conditioner (which I tried) since it doesn’t lather up and spread through your hair like a regular dollop of conditioner would. Rather, I think the point here is to use it to condition hair post-shower while damp, or even once dry and work a pea-sized amount through ends to keep it smooth and soft.
This definitely works more in the way of smoothing and conditioning, which is why I’d be less likely to trade it in for more traditional texturising sprays (since to me texturising means something a bit gritty and gutsy to add oomf through the roots and mid-lengths), though scrunched through hair, it will give lengths a lived in look. What it does offer, is hold. Applied to damp hair, like a primer, it makes hair more malleable which means, once I’ve created the curl and texture that I like, it stays put for longer and helped keep my waves beautifully defined.
In terms of boosting shine, it adds a little, since it primes hair, leaving it sleeker. Frizz-wise, it’s fantastic at smoothing down fluffy baby hairs and taming flyaways. You could even add a small amount to an old toothbrush and comb it through. It helped my frizz-prone hair to fully withstand London’s balmy, humid weather this weekend, without reaching Monica-Geller levels of static.
As a mask, I think it’s great at leaving hair soft, silky and beautifully scented, the only problem is, you’ll need a lot (I like to slather on handful’s usually) and this is a small (though helpfully travel-sized) tube. That said, I think it’s very reasonably priced at £10 given the many benefits it offers up and the price of other more expensive pro hair care ranges, so you could afford to use it more generously as an occasional hair treatment if you wanted.
THE VERDICT:
Overall, the scent alone was enough to convert me, but I was particularly impressed by its ability to curb frizz, extend the lifespan of my hair once styled (it’ll hold everything in place for an extra day at least), define my curls and help my hair feeling much silkier. Well-timed for summer, it would certainly earn its place in my hand luggage as a do-it-all balm for almost everything.