BLEU INGENIOUS Thickening Conditioner

After years of hiding in my basement, stressing over the worst timeline and dodging the plague, the ongoing stress had caused my hair to turn into something approaching thinning straw. My confidence was shaken, and I felt unattractive. After using this conditioner, I found myself starting to slowly reawaken, to feel … wanted, desirable. I went from a desiccated husk to having my hair be lush, to gain women’s notice, to feel as if life had potential again.

Really works

I bought this and the shampoo, but both are very drying. I’ll mix them with other products to finish them up, but won’t buy them again.

My hair is fine and straight, but it gets frizzy. It’s also dry and damages easily. I had lots of breakage, but after ages my hair is almost back to normal. Still, while I’m really careful, I need to blow dry and use styling products to get any shape and body into my hair as my hair otherwise dries looking thin, flat against my head and shapeless. I don’t get a lot of volume even on a good day, plus it’s hard to maximize volume as I use a lot of products to repair and condition my hair. I’m using R+Co BLEU Ingenious Thickening Shampoo followed by R+Co BLEU Ingenious Thickening Conditioner, and I’m reviewing them together as I can’t separate out the effects of each. My hair feels a bit rough or dry while washing and conditioning with these products as opposed to products for dry hair and doesn’t feel quite as soft after blow drying either. But it feels healthy and isn’t dry or frizzy. It’s manageable and holds a good shape (with styling products). I love that it does look unusually thick and full, while it still feels good to the touch. The shampoo and conditioner are clear-ish as opposed to creamy and don’t have a rich or heavy feel. The shampoo lathers, rinses and cleans well. The conditioner feels lightweight, and I only apply it mid strand to my ends. Both products have a sophisticated fragrance that’s rather strong while I’m shampooing and conditioning. While the scent does linger in my hair even after it’s dry, it’s not too heavy and smells really pretty. I don’t normally enjoy much fragrance as it’s an irritant and often gives headaches. But my hair smells really nice. I haven’t had any color fading. The two products have other possible irritants (such as UV chemicals Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate and Ethylhexyl Salicylate), though I’ve had no irritation. I haven’t used the products long enough to know if my hair will get too dry. I don’t feel my hair is as soft as with some other products, yet it still feels good and I doubt I’d get such great volume if too soft. I can’t tell yet if it’s drying or just uses different chemicals that don’t coat my hair as much. I don’t think it will be an issue as I trade off with a few product lines anyway given my varied issues. I’m happy with the results, and these have become my go-to products on days I want to add extra oomph to my fine hair. Love both products. 5 stars.

Cruelty-free, vegan, gluten-free, one tree planted for every purchase, bottle and cap made from 100% post-consumer recyclables. Launching in 2020, this R+Co brand has put a ton of effort into the marketing and packaging of its products. "Inspired by the career and expertise of legendary hairdresser and R+Co co-founder Garren, R+Co BLEU combines modernity and style with formulation innovations and sustainability." Most of us aren't Linda Evangelista, Farrah Fawcett, Madonna, Victoria Beckham, Kendall Jenner and Karlie Kloss (all clients of Garren), and so we have to muddle along, trying new hair care products that keep us from looking like the witch from Bugs Bunny cartoons. R+Co isn't just this conditioner, of course, it's an line of hair care and styling products. They will always tell you to use the entire line in order to transform your hair via their vision. But, clearly, this product line isn't for the average consumer. If you're willing to spend $60 for a virtue-signalling hair care product, then this conditioner is certainly worth trying once, I suppose. It's an odd thing, mixing luxury with recycling. For instance, the box this product comes in has gold printing and design elements on it. Gold? Regardless, I'm impressed that the tube and lid are fully from recycled materials. But what about the product itself? It's more "runny" than conditioner I'm used to, so you always have to open the lid with the tube vertical. If you've ever smelled Ralph Lauren's Polo cologne, this is the scent that instantly came to mind when I first used this product. If you don't like the scent, you won't want to keep using this product... it does stay in your hair for a few hours at least after applying and rinsing. I'm noticing a slight improvement so far in the "body, bounce and shine" department, nothing amazing yet. Again, combining it with other brand's shampoos and after shower products kind of mutes the full R+Co experience. I'm not averse to the smell, and so far the effect isn't too bad. So from my perspective, 3.5 stars is about right. Unless you're wealthy, this might be something you try once, and only keep re-buying if you get amazing results.

The smell is wonderful but this conditioner (and shampoo) made my hair feel like straw! I tried everything from only using a little to extra rinsing but it did no good. I ended up returning it.