Believe it or not, I haven’t always been so well-versed in salon haircare. For most of my life up until the summer before I started college, I would typically use drugstore brands, some of which are surprisingly good given the budget-friendly price. However, all good things must come to an end, and I ended my era of drugstore hair products and began to indulge my inner product junkie by foraying into the salon haircare world via the likes of salon giants like Redken. Because I had no idea of what products to look for, I just grabbed the most tried and true favorite line that Redken has to offer: All Soft.
Typical of most haircare lines, All Soft includes a shampoo, conditioner, deep conditioner, leave-in conditioner, spray treatment, and oil/serum. The reason I decided to try All Soft as opposed to Redken’s other lines is because I had read on a few boards that it was a godsend for damaged and dry hair, which, when I bought it, is the exact combination of issues my hair was facing. All Soft, like all of Redken’s lines, also contains the Interlock Protein Network, which is great because it’s a pretty well known fact that to have healthy hair, you need protein. Combine that with the awesome honey scent and rave reviews, and I was sold.
Having used the entire All Soft line for almost a year and just now finishing it, I’m ready to weigh in on how the line performs as a whole, and whether it’s worth your time. Let’s break down the products pictured above from left to right:
- Heavy Cream: The token deep conditioner of the AS line, I find the Heavy Cream to be extremely nourishing on damaged hair and great to use as a weekly treatment. It is a standard white color of medium thickness, and spreads easily throughout the hair. It is quite concentrated, so you only need a quarter size at most even for long hair. I leave it on for about 5-10 minutes and rinse thoroughly. It leaves my hair shiny and soft. I will warn you that this stuff has a tendency to build up if you use it more than once a week, but if you think you need to use it more often than that I highly suggest you use a clarifying shampoo weekly to offset the buildup.
- Conditioner: This is one of my all-time favorite conditioners, and with good reason. It has the consistency of a shampoo, but packs a punch like a deep conditioner. It is pearlescent gold in color, and is super concentrated so a little goes a long way. I actually used this in conjunction with other shampoos besides the AS one, and it has a stellar performance every time. It rinses from my hair cleanly, and leaves me with bounce, moisture, shine, and softness, all without weighing my fine hair down. What more could you ask for in a conditioner?
- Shampoo: To be completely honest, I have mixed feelings about the AS shampoo. It’s kind of inconsistent with its results – one day it can give me commercial worthy hair, the next it can make my hair look like I haven’t washed it in weeks. It’s fairly runny in consistency and the same gold color as the conditioner, so again, a little goes a long way. My main issue with this is that when it’s good, it’s great; when it’s bad, it’s terrible. I often feel like I have to spend extra time rinsing this stuff out because if I don’t it feels like there’s 8 tons of product on my hair. Considering this is a shampoo, that is definitely a huge strike for me. But when it does perform nicely, my tresses look free of damage, have shine, luster, and bounce.
- Leave-in Treatment: See my review for the Supple Touch leave-in conditioner here.
- Oil/Serum: Probably my favorite thing in this line! I’m a huge sucker for hair oils – they perform the same function for hair as a finishing powder does for your face – they lock in all the good stuff. The Argan Oil 6 in particular is great because it feels weightless yet seems to be quite powerful at reducing damage and hiding split ends. You only need about a dime size, if even, of this stuff, which means it should last for quite some time.
At the end of the day, the All Soft line gets the job done, and is a great introduction to the wonders of salon products. However, Redken is known for frequently changing the formulas of their stuff, so what works for your hair while using one bottle of their product may not be the same result when using one produced later, so beware of that.
Overall, when you begin to understand your hair’s needs more fully, All Soft may not be the best option for you because it’s sort of a mass cure for damaged and dry hair and that’s about it, but if that’s something you struggle with continuously, this line is definitely worth checking out.
