What is Phytodefrisant?

Phytodefrisant is a hair care product that comes with with a salad bar list of ingredients and an "A List" collection of professed users. Among the Phytodefrisant devotees mentioned on the company Website are Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Lopez, Sarah Jessica Parker, Minnie Driver, Mariah Carey and Oprah Winfrey. What they have in common is what is sometimes called "attack hair" -- wiry, frizzy and often rebellious.

The aforementioned stars, along with a few dozen others, are all on record as claiming that phytodefrisant has helped them keep their frisky curls under control. The product, produced by the Phyto company of New York and Montreal, is a thick gel that comes in a tube and sells for $26 US Dollars (USD). The method is to comb the Phytodefrisant gel into the hair and then blow dry. According to Phyto literature, the heat from the dryer will activate some of the ingredients in the gel.

These ingredients comprise a mostly natural -- if somewhat esoteric -- blend, two of them extracts of flowering plants. Marshmallow contributes "plant mucilage" which, as the name implies, acts to glue down the frizz. Ferula, which grows in Asia, also has anti-frizz properties. Other Phytodefrisant ingredients include horseradish, sage, and garlic extract. Alcohol is not included, since it is a drying agent that would contribute to frizz.

Frizzy hair is, to some extent, dealt out as a genetic card, with certain ethnic groups more prone to it than others. It can also be caused by a lack of moisture in the hair, the use of harsh chemicals, excessive blow-drying or high humidity. Therefore, products like Phytodefrisant can't cure this condition but only attempt to whip it into shape temporarily.

The variety of ingredients in Phytodefrisant constitute a multi-front attack on extreme curls. There are moisturizers in the mix, as well as heavier substances to weigh the hair down and thus remove the kinks. Like conditioner, it can be used after every hair washing, which makes it friendlier to hair health than most of the hair straightening chemicals. Keep in mind, however, that this is only one of a number of products -- most of them cheaper in price -- that make similar claims.