I’ve worked in the beauty industry for ten years. While I’m always excited when the latest launches trickle through my TikTok FYP, or land on my desk, I can rarely classify a product or ingredient as scratch-my-head-never-seen-it-before new. Instead, we usually see tweaks to classic formulas that, while always welcome, can leave you feeling like there’s nothing truly new under the sun in beauty.
There are always exceptions, though and recently, I came across one.
I’ve never been introduced to a new beauty product by a man. So, that was a second exception. In a strange turn of events, the L’Oreal Professionnel Absolut Repair Molecular Rinse-Off Serum ($68.00) came into my life because my boyfriend ordered the entire range when he saw one of the many dudes-grooming influencers popping up using it on TikTok. It’s like how your dad bulk-bought shamwows back in the mid-2000s. I’ll attribute the left-of-field behaviour to the range’s comfortingly masculine brown packaging and leave it at that.
My hair is thick, colour-treated, and fried. As such, it takes approximately 45 minutes to blowdry on a good day, which adds heat damage to the peroxide and colour-damaged fun.
I’ve historically tried to address this by using a host of thick conditioners, masks and leave-on treatments to create a smooth, glossy shine. Have I been successful? No, but I had reservations when I found myself clutching a pump bottle filled with the kind of watery serum I’d use on my face.
But I’d seen striking before and afters all over my TikTok FYP, and the marketing material promised to correct “two years of damage” in one use, so I was ready and willing to saddle up.
My Experience With The L’Oréal Absolut Molecular Repair Rinse Off Serum Conditioner
Using a serum conditioner is weird. As instructed, I stepped away from the shower, wrung my hair out, and applied several pumps of the serum through lengths and ends. I’m used to slathering my hair in something heavy after shampoo; instead, I felt like I was patting water into damp hair. Not the thick, gloopy mess I’m used to.
L’Oréal claims that much like the serums you use on your face, this product is packed with a high concentration of peptides and amino acids that smooth the broken bonds that create dull hair.
Many bond-building conditioners contain these same ingredients, but they also have smooth ingredients like dimethicones, glycerin, and butter to lacquer the hair down physically. For the people in the back who are ready to fearmonger, there’s nothing wrong with these ingredients. Still, I have realised they are having unanticipated effects on my hair’s dry time by loading it with moisture. Because of its lightweight absorbancy, the rinse-off serum is able to achieve these results without weighing my porous (sham-wowesque) hair down.
When I got out of the shower, my hair didn’t feel dry, but it didn’t feel slick like it usually does after using conditioner. I put in some of the brand’s Absolut Repair Molecular Leave-In Mask ($62.00) and headed for my blowdry.
Results Using The L’Oréal Absolut Molecular Repair Rinse Off Serum Conditioner
Full disclosure: I am now a rabid serum-conditioner convert. I have used up all of my boyfriend’s bottles of L’Oreal Professionnel Absolut Repair Molecular Rinse-Off Serum and have repurchased them. Girl is evangelic about this product. Yes, it’s $68, but innovation doesn’t come cheap. In a world where time is money, having my hair dry in 15 minutes is worth the once-every-few-month expense.
Sure, using a serum conditioner is a watery learning curve not for the faint of heart, and some traditionalists won’t want to dip their toe in the trend. But I can say that using a serum conditioner, I’ve found I can let my hair air dry, and it will dry in less than two business days. That’s why I’ll restock on this bad boy forever (my boyfriend has his own).
This article originally appeared on Marie Claire Australia and is republished here with permission.
