I bleach my dark brown-black Asian hair blonde every six to eight weeks, so I was immediately intrigued when I first heard some stylists at my salon raving about K18. And it turns out the rest of the world loves it too, because it was sold out at Sephora the first time I tried to buy it. I eventually snagged a bottleand was gobsmacked at how much softer my hair was. Seriously. I spent the whole day touching my hair, and even my boyfriend agreed that my mane was noticeably silkier.

Olaplex was my go-to before I tried K18 and I still stand by it as a product, but I really love that K18 is a leave-in treatment rather than an in-shower mask. Having to let the Olaplex sit for 10 minutes felt like forever, especially when I wasn’t taking an everything shower (you know, the ones where you exfoliate and shave). With K18, you let it sit in your hair for four minutes post shower to activate and then you can style your hair (or just let it air dry like I do).

I’ve found that my hair is softest the next day, so don’t be discouraged if your hair looks or feels the same the day you use it. One last thing: it is pretty pricey but a little goes a long way. The 15 mL tube I bought has lasted ~five washes, and eventually K18 can become a maintenance product so you won’t need to use it every time you wash your hair.”

Promising review: “My hairdresser used this on my hair and it instantly made it silky. I decided to purchase it because I’m 52 and my hair has had a different more frizzy texture over the past few years. I have used this for several months now and can say it works really well. It’s expensive but I don’t wash my hair every day so it has lasted me a bit. It seems to repair damage as it states.” —AW