Styling hair the natural way

I’ve been a longtime fan of Rustan’s brands Phyto and Acca Kappa — French brand Phyto for its botanical hair care and Italian brand Acca Kappa for its fragrances (White Moss is a staple).

Last week, via a hairstyling session at Empire Salon in the InterContinental Manila hotel, both brands launched new items that should become hero products before too long.

Phyto, which has a complete range of hairstyling products like gel, mousse and hairspray, added two new hairsprays to its Phytolaque collection: Miroir (in the blue bottle) and Design (purple bottle) join initial offering Soie (red bottle).

“Ever since we launched Phytolaque Soie, which has a natural hold for sensitive hair, it has been a favorite with our customers,” says Charm Adasa, merchandising assistant manager for Phyto. “Now we have Phytolaque Miroir for medium hold. It has fine silver nacres for a mirror-like shine. And Phytolaque Design hairspray is for structured hair and a strong hold. It has acacia honey to fortify and nourish hair, and it’s easy to brush out with no residue.

“As usual with Phyto it’s all plant-based, very chic and environment-friendly,” she continues, “because it doesn’t contain propellant gas.”

Acca Kappa, meanwhile, showcased its other area of expertise — hairbrushes — with two brushes perfect for home use: a pneumatic brush with boar bristles to untangle bulky or long children’s hair painlessly; and a paddle brush with pom pins that is ideal for styling medium-length to long hair.

“Acca Kappa started with the brushes, which are made in Italy from quality Kotibe wood and beech wood,” says Acca Kappa merchandising assistant Carrie Marty. “Their styling brushes are actually covered by tourmaline, which retains the heat from the blower or whatever device you’re using and distributes it evenly through your hair, so when it curls or straightens your hair, it really holds.”

These beautifully made hairbrushes are keepers as well: “We can guarantee that they will last you a lifetime,” adds Acca Kappa merchandising assistant Chi Reyes.

After my hair was washed and conditioned with Phytocitrus, a fresh-smelling shampoo and mask that protect color-treated hair and boost radiance, Empire Salon stylist Jayson Jaime sat me down for a styling session. Jaime, who trained in London at Vidal Sassoon — as have all of Empire’s stylists — decided to give my wavy hair volume that would last through the day. First he applied Phytopulp Mousse Volume Intense to my roots to hold the style, saying it was easier to blow-dry than other mousses because its texture is smooth and not sticky.

Then, alternating between a professional Acca Kappa vent brush to lift the hair and roller brush to curl (you can tell the pro range by their black handles), he proceeded to blow-dry my hair, praising the roller brush because it comes with a sectioner you can attach to the end of the handle that he said made sectioning the hair easy. I took note of how he sectioned off my bangs and blew it dry with the vent brush first before sweeping it off to the side with the roller — good to know when blow-drying my hair at home.

As a final touch he used Phytolaque Miroir hairspray: “Since your hair already has volume and mousse, it only needs a medium hold,” he explained.

I loved how my shiny, voluminous hairstyle lasted a full two days before I had to wash it again. Other pluses are that the two new Phytolaques are suitable for all hair types, come in beautifully packaged non-aerosol bottles perfect for travel, and are very reasonably priced for a premium French brand: P795 for a 100ml bottle.

When I style my hair at home I rely on paddle and roller brushes so I’m eyeing Acca Kappa’s wooden versions of these, plus a pneumatic boar brush for taming my daughter’s unruly mane. Not only is Kotibe wood lightweight, the smooth dark wood is also beautiful to look at and a pleasure to hold — I can imagine these brushes acquiring an even more attractive patina over time.

With such effective hairstyling tools I’m optimistic I can replicate Empire Salon’s results at home.

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Phyto hair care and Acca Kappa hairbrushes are exclusively available at Rustan’s The Beauty Source.