Have you ever bought something that just makes you want to shout from the rooftops about how much you love it to anyone who will listen? Even if you haven’t, I can definitely say that I have, which means a lot coming from someone who hardly ever gives a product a full five out of five stars and likes it enough to rave about it. This is especially true when it comes to haircare, but Joico’s Moisture Recovery Line is definitely worth shouting from the rooftops about, but I think I’ll just gush about it here on Yahoo! Voices.
Here’s a little backstory on how I came across these haircare gems; in July of 2013, right at the end of my damaged hair nightmare, I was desperately trying to calm my fried tresses and give them some much needed TLC in the ridiculously hot and dry weather that is characteristic of Colorado summers. Anyways, I headed off to Ulta (actually I had just gotten my first paycheck from them and was siked to use my employee discount for the first time) on my day off with the intent to get a deep conditioner. I actually was on the hunt for Redken’s All Soft Heavy Cream (I’ll review that a little later), but my store was out of that, so I blindly picked up Joico’s Moisture Recovery Treatment Balm for about $18, though it would’ve been cheaper if I had remembered to bring the pay stub to use my employee discount, silly me.
I used it that night, and I instantly knew I had to have the accompanying shampoo and conditioner.
The Moisture Recovery line is actually quite small for a salon brand range, and for Joico itself, given that it only has a shampoo, conditioner, and deep conditioner. Apparently there used to be more products in the line, but for whatever reason Joico decided to discontinue them (though if I ever manage to get my hands on them I might cry tears of joy). That said, beggars can’t be choosers, so I embraced what they did keep in the line, and after over 6 months of use I’m ready to do my shouting and gushing:
- Shampoo: The MR shampoo is of a pale blue, liquid consistency, and I actually wondered for a second if it was going to even do anything for me given how thin it was. Of course, I worried over nothing. I used about a nickel size amount for my long hair, and the lather was phenomenal; I felt every strand being covered and quenched, and once I rinsed out I actually had to check and make sure that I had used the shampoo and not the conditioner because the slip in even my obnoxiously damaged hair was great and felt soft, supple, and super clean even while wet. Needless to say I was beyond excited to try the conditioner given my results with the shampoo.
- Conditioner: The MR conditioner is bluish-white in color and of a thicker consistency than the shampoo, but not by much, surprisingly. Yet again I wondered if it was going to do anything for me, but I wasn’t as timid as I was using the shampoo. I used a quarter sized amount, and left on for about 5 minutes. I literally felt like my hair was going through some kind of spiritual experience, and I am not kidding when I say it felt like all the damage I had put it through over the course of 2013 disappeared in the course of 5 minutes. I rinsed out and was ready to see if these fabulous results managed to stay put even after drying and styling my hair. The thirst in my hair was gone even after styling and drying, and I was left with commercial-ready locks and illuminated color that didn’t look at all like it had been suffering for over a year from damage.
- Deep Conditioner: Like I mentioned above, the Treatment Balm was the first MR product I used, and I first used it (and still use it) with alternating brands outside of Joico and ranges outside of Moisture Recovery. This is probably one of the thickest deep conditioners out on the market currently and possibly in the history of the hair industry, is yellow in color and almost reminds me of Queen Helene’s Hair Cholesterol which is primarily made for coarse ethnic hair (basically that means this is an “I mean business” treatment). I used about a dime size amount on freshly shampoo’d hair, and let it sit for about 10 minutes like I do for all deep conditioners. Given the consistency, I excepted this to weigh down my hair beyond belief, but upon rinsing out my hair felt weightless and moisturized, and after allowing it to dry it had volume, shine, and was bouncy beyond all measure. Needless to say I was hooked, forever.
Oh, and can I just rave about the scent for a minute? This is probably the most luxuriously scented haircare line I’ve ever had the pleasure of using; all the products smell like a mix of blueberries, Davidoff’s Cool Water, and Armani’s Acqua Di Gio for Women, without being overbearing yet the staying power is remarkable. I should also note that this line is great on fine hair and does not weigh it down in the slightest.
Even though I started using this line in the summer, it has continued to perform perfectly even through the colder months, and as such I felt no buyer’s remorse when I bought the liter sizes after my standard sizes ran out after about 6 months with almost daily use. Joico is usually always on a B2G1 sale at Ulta (and is only available in-store), which is actually awesome considering there’s only three products in the Moisture Recovery line. The shampoo usually retails for about $14 standard/$3 travel/$25 liter size, the conditioner for $19 standard/$4 travel/$30 liter size, and the treatment balm for $18 standard/$4 travel. If you want to buy liters, I suggest waiting till Ulta’s liter sale where the price of both gets lowered to $12 for the shampoo and $15 for the conditioner, respectively. Joico also isn’t restricted from coupons so you can usually get it cheaper than the normal prices I just listed if you go in at the right time. Remember that with all of these products a little goes a long way, so even a travel size should last you about 2-3 weeks with daily use.
So if your hair is the way mine was this past year – dry, damaged, fried, brittle, and gummy all at the same time – or if your hair just needs a little bit of an extra moisture kick to get healthy, there is literally no line of hair products that perform better than those in the Moisture Recovery range at reversing these issues.
Five out of five stars, and eternal rooftop shouting from me!
