Robb Recommends: The Moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioner Designed to Banish Frizz
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It’s that time of year: the doldrums of winter, when your skin and hair fall out of whack. The air turns dry, and if you crank up a humidifier before bed, that hydration is inevitably offset by toasty thermostat settings and long, hot showers. The result? Fried hair and dried-out skin.
So I was intrigued by the opportunity to test out Augustinus Bader’s new haircare duo, The Rich Shampoo and The Rich Conditioner, ahead of their debut this week. I’m always keen to try any skin and hair products from this brand, given its signature Trigger Factor Complex, or TFC8, a proprietary cell-renewing ingredient rich with amino acids, vitamins, and peptides. The claim is that this molecule, which is in all of the brand’s products, can promote healthier cell turnover, which yields brighter and firmer skin, or stronger and fortified follicles.
With my own thick, frizz-prone hair facing winter’s woes, I was in need of a pick-me-up, and I found it in this duo. (You will too at any time of year, especially if you’re prone to dryness, frizzing, or have pre-existing damage.) In addition to TFC8, both products feature moringa oil, which has a blend of nourishing fatty acids.
Augustinus Bader The Rich Shampoo
The shampoo’s formula also features pomegranate seed oil and baobab oil to pump even more fatty acids into the hair and scalp, as well as black oats and brassica seeds to boost smoothness and shine. The conditioner chases all of that with a complex of biolipids designed to improve moisture retention in the strands, as well as rice proteins and peptide proteins to fortify hair against environmental damage, as well as to improve upon any brittleness.
The brand says both products are positioned at all hair types, and while I agree that this is true, I do think someone with super thick or long hair might not get as much mileage here. I have thicker and longer hair than my partner, and he appears to have enjoyed more same-day benefits out of these (compared to the shampoos and conditioners we regularly use). After using Augustinus Bader’s new products, he mentioned feeling more lasting control over his hairstyle throughout the day. My hair felt as soft as the brand promised, but I think I need a slightly denser conditioner to tame the strands. (I’m not knocking the brand for this; it’s extremely difficult to create a true one-size-fits-all product.)
Augustinus Bader The Rich Conditioner
What I loved most, and found most fascinating, is that the two products each feel like their opposite. Every time I applied the creamy shampoo, I felt like I was actually applying conditioner. I’m not used to shampoos being so creamy and opaque. The conditioner has more of a translucent and runny quality, and it lathers pretty quickly, so I often had to double-check and make sure I was using the right product at the right time. Again, it’s not a knock. In fact, I was amused by it. I loved the texture of each product, as well as the application and the build, and I’ve had a conditioner that’s so easy to rinse out. I do think that this fact also contributed to why my thick hair didn’t experience its effects quite as long as my partner’s thinner strands; usually, my thick conditioners take a minute or two to fully flush out.
But in terms of products that are going to satisfy the most users—and no matter the time of year, but especially in winter—well, here is a luxe duo for the task. I only wish the vessels were bigger, too; I think you’re going to get a lot of mileage out of them, so maybe order your second batch upfront.
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