Matrix Design Pulse Messy Couture vs. Alterna Modeling Clay

Welcome to another exciting edition of Haircare Face-Off!, the only online beauty battle in which two similar products square off in an intense head-to-head battle, judged by a an award-winning professional stylist.  This edition features two popular molding pastes designed for all types of textured, spiky, and messy styles.  Let's take a closer look at our competitors.

Messy Couture is part of the Vavoom Design Pulse line manufactured by Matrix, the beauty behemoth who introduced the world to Biolage, Amplify, and Vavoom.  Messy Couture Molding Paste is a firm but smooth yellow paste which claims to separate hair in order to create texture and controlled movement.  According to the Matrix website, Messy Couture has a medium hold that is reworkable for limitless looks and is designed for short, choppy, fringed cuts or to exaggerate the ends of long layers.

Alterna's Hemp Seed Modeling Clay is a firm hold product which provides a touchable, semi-matte finish.  It is designed for dramatic styles which demand long-lasting hold.  Like Messy Couture, this product is also a firm yellow paste that can create texture and separation. 

Let the beauty battle begin!

As always, each product will be scored 1-10 in each of the following categories: Performance, Ingredients, Sensory Appeal and Packaging, and Value.  However, with this competition Haircare Face-Off! will introduce a brand new feature, a "Report Card" which will grade how each product performed on specific hairstyles!

Performance:  The most noticeable difference between the two products is how they emusify in the hands.  Messy Couture is a soft solid in the container, but once emulsified it has a smooth buttery texture which is easy to apply to the hair.  Alterna Modeling Clay, on the other hand, has a slick texture after it is emulsified in the hands.  Messy Couture, although it is labeled medium hold, is a little sticky while the Alterna product is not.  Both products are excellent on medium hair types, Alterna performed better on thick and coarse hair, while Matrix performed better on thin and fine hair.  Alterna Modeling Clay did provide a slight natural-looking shine, while the Messy Couture produces a completely matte finish.  This round is a tie.  To see how each product performed on various hair types and styles, see the report card below. (Alterna: 9 Matrix: 9)

Report Card:
Pixie:    Alterna (A)  Matrix (A+)
Shag:    Alterna (A-)  Matrix (B)
Bob:     Alterna (B)  Matrix (B+)
Med. Layers: Alterna (A-)  Matrix (C)
Long Layers: Alterna (B+)  Matrix (D)
Curly Hair:  Alterna (B+)  Matrix (D)
Men's/short:  Alterna (C+)  Matrix (A-)
Men's/med.:  Alterna (B-)  Matrix (B+)

Ingredients:  Matrix Messy Couture's primary ingredients are water, beeswax, paraffin, mineral oil, propylene glycol, castor oil, and other ingredients commonly found in pomades and pastes.  Although Messy Couture doesn't contain any "bad" chemicals, it doesn't contain any beneficial botanical ingredients either.  Alterna Modeling Clay's primary ingredients are water, vinyl caprolactam, dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate copolymer, and avocado oil.  The Alterna product also contains hemp seed oil, amino acids, and fennel extract.  Because of Alterna's inclusion of conditioning ingredients, Modeling Clay wins this round.  (Alterna: 8  Matrix:7)

Sensory Appeal/Packaging:  When it comes to fragrance, Alterna Modeling Clay just may be one of the best-smelling haircare products of all time- it has an irresistibly fresh cucumber-melon scent.  Messy Couture's scent isn't bad, either- it has a faint floral fragrance which isn't the least bit overpowering.  My opinion is that Matrix should have gone with a more unisex fragrance, because Messy Couture worked amazingly well on men's styles.  Both products are tastefully packaged in round plastic containers, but Alterna's clear green container is definitely more eye-catching. (Alterna: 10  Matrix: 8)

Value:  Alterna Hemp Seed Modeling Clay comes in a 2-ounce container and retails for around $17.95, which translates into 8.96 per ounce.  Matrix Design Pulse Messy Couture Molding Paste comes in a slightly-smaller 1.7-ounce container and retails for around $15.00, or 8.82 per ounce.  Although both products are affordable, Matrix wins this round. (Matrix: 9  Alterna: 8)

And the winner is.......

Alterna Modeling Clay!  By defeating Messy Couture, Alterna products are still undefeated in Haircare Face-Off! competition, with a perfect 3-0 record.  Alterna may have won this battle, but it was very close.  Both products delivered results as promised, and in some cases Messy Couture managed to outperform Alterna.  Ultimately, Alterna came away with the victory because of it's awesome fragrance, attractive packaging, and use of certified organic botanical ingredients.  (Final Score: Alterna- 35  Matrix- 33)       
  

AG Re:coil Curl Activator vs. Moroccanoil Curl Defining Cream

Welcome to another exciting edition of Haircare Face-Off!, the only online beauty battle in which two similar products square off in an intense head-to-head battle, judged by a an award-winning professional stylist.  This round features two popular cream-based styling products designed for curly hair.  Let's take a closer look at our competitors.

Re:coil Curl Activator is one of the top-selling products manufactured by AG Hair Cosmetics, the Canadian-based company founded by renowned stylist John Davis in 1989.  Today, AG products are sold in over 12,000 salons across North America and the company's growth shows no signs of slowing down, because AG products are salt, paraben, gluten, PABA, and DEA free.  AG's Re:coil Curl Activator promotes soft, casual waves even in high-humidity conditions.

Moroccanoil Curl Control Cream is manufactured by the company which started the whole argan oil craze- a craze which has spawned dozens of copycat products which include this "miracle ingredient".  Today, Moroccanoil is a company with a full range of haircare and skincare products.  Curl Defining Cream is designed with advanced heat-activated technology that provides intense conditioning and promises to keep hair bouncy and frizz-free for hours. 

Which curl cream deserves to be called the best?  That's what Haircare Face-Off! intends to find out, with a unique scoring system which rates each product on a 1-10 scale in the following categories: Performance, Ingredients, Sensory Appeal/Packaging, and Value.  Each product is used on actual salon clients for one week, on a wide variety of hair types and textures. 

Let the battle begin!

Performance: After the first day of testing I knew that this was going to be a hard round to score, because both products excelled and failed in various scenarios.  Both creams are on the heavier side, and neither performed as well as I would have liked on fine hair, although AG Re:coil did the job better.  On dark hair, both products will leave behind a whitish residue if too much product is applied.  The AG cream provided a matte finish, while the Moroccanoil cream managed to impart shine.  Unfortunately, this shine doesn't look natural, it's more like a greasy type of sheen.  Moroccanoil Curl Defining Cream was a better match for Hispanic, African-American, and mixed ethnicity hair, while the AG cream was a better match for Caucasian hair types, and worked very well on permed clients.  Ultimately, the Moroccanoil cream lost points because it tends to leave the hair sticky and greasy.  Also, some clients with allergies found the scent of the Moroccanoil product to be unbearable.  This round goes to AG. (AG Re:coil Curl Activator: 8 Moroccanoil Curl Defining Cream: 5)

Ingredients:  The only ingredient worth mentioning in the Moroccanoil Curl Defining Cream is argan oil.  The other ingredients are: Cetearyl Alcohol, Polyquaternium 11, Glycol Stearate, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein PG-Propyl Silanetriol, Polyquaternium 72, Fragrance, Dimethicone, Behentrimonium Methosulfate and C10-40, Isoalkylamidopropylethyldimonium Ethosulfate and Cetyl Alcohol, Ceteareth-20, DMDM Hydantoin, and Lactic Acid.  The AG Re:coil Curl Activator, on the other hand, contains several beneficial natural ingredients, such as sage, nettle, chamomile, hops, rosemary, and wild cherry extracts.  While both products do contain alcohol, the alcohol content of the Moroccanoil cream is much greater.  Argan oil may be a "miracle ingredient", but is wasn't enough to win this round.  (AG Re:coil Curl Activator: 9 Moroccanoil Curl Defining Cream: 4)

Sensory Appeal/Packaging:  AG Re:coil has a light but wonderful fragrance, while the Moroccanoil Curl Defining Cream has an overpowering, almost "medicinal" fragrance, which some clients likened to men's aftershave.  In terms of packaging, the AG cream comes in a tube while the Moroccanoil cream comes in pump bottle, so both products are easy to dispense into the hand.  However, I prefer the AG tube because it make it easier to get the last bit of product out of the container.  When it comes to labeling and design, AG's presentation is sleek, simple, and modern.  The Moroccanoil bottle features the company's signature blue-green label with an orange letter M- not the prettiest packaging, but certainly distinctive.  But fragrance was the deciding factor in this round.  Many clients responded favorably to the AG fragrance, and no one responded favorably to the Moroccanoil fragrance.  In fact, if you suffer from allergies, the Moroccanoil cream may be downright aggravating. (AG Re:coil Curl Activator: 9 Moroccanoil Curl Defining Cream: 4)

Value: The AG product is available in a 6 ounce tube for around 15.00 at most reputable online stores, which equals 2.50 per ounce.  Moroccanoil Curl Defining Cream is available in an 8.5 ounce bottle, and sells for 25.00 at most reputable online stores.  The cost-per-ounce is $2.94; nearly half a dollar more than the AG product.  Since the Moroccanoil brand is very popular, their products have been known to be counterfeited, so it is a bad idea to purchase a Moroccanoil product for a price that seems too good to be true.  (AG Re:coil Curl Activator: 8 Moroccanoil Curl Defining Cream: 5)

And the winner is......

AG Re:coil Curl Activator, by one of the widest margins of victory in Haircare Face-Off! history.  My opinion is that Moroccanoil should've quit while they were ahead.  The original argan oil treatment was a truly revolutionary product, but unfortunately the rest of Moroccanoil's product line leaves a lot to be desired.  Putting a few drops of a "miracle ingredient" into an otherwise inferior product does not make it a great product.  The funny thing is, the original Moroccanoil argan oil treatment probably makes curls look better than the Moroccanoil Curl Defining Cream.  AG took Moroccanoil to school in this battle, handily winning every single round.  (Final Score: AG Re:coil Curl Activator- 34 Moroccanoil Curl Defining Cream- 18)

Vidal Sassoon Dead At 84, But Legacy Continues To Live On

Those of us in the beauty industry have lost a legend today with the passing of Vidal Sassoon, the pioneer who single-handedly brought the art of hair out of the dark ages.  Sassoon, who was 84, died of natural causes in his home in Los Angeles, surrounded by family.  Sassoon devoted seven decades of his life to the industry and became a household name so recognizable that some people may be surprised to learn that he was a real human being, and not some advertising icon like Aunt Jemima or Betty Crocker.  This just shows how iconic Vidal was- millions of people around the world know the name, even if they didn't know the man.

Those of us who did know Sassoon, either directly or indirectly, realize that the world has lost an artist on par with the likes of Andy Warhol or Jackson Pollock.  Vidal revolutionized the art of hairstyling to such an extent that we may not even have the world "hairstylist" in our lexicon without his contributions.  Before Sassoon, the concept of "wash and wear" hair did not exist.  He was the visionary who turned hairstyling into a distinctive and separate art form from hairdressing, which is an art characterized by elaborate swirls and bobby pins and rollers and teasing and lacquering the hair with spray.  Sassoon's work was a radical departure from the age-old art of hairdressing; Sassoon taught the world about short geometric cuts, performed with such incredible precision that the hair would fall perfectly into place, without the need for "hairdressing" tools like irons and pins.  This transition is no less significant (and perhaps even more so) than the abstract expressionism or pop art movements, which also took place during Sassoon's prime.

Sassoon's contributions may have had an even greater impact than the contributions made by Warhol or Pollock.  In the 1960s, Americans changed their perception about women as more and more females assumed control of their lives by entering the workforce.  This shift in gender equality demanded hairstyles which would not require a two-hour visit to a beauty salon.  Vidal Sassoon was there to liberate women from the "oppressive" hairstyles of the past by perfecting the types of styles which we've come to know as "wash and wear"- many of these Sassoon-inspired looks are still among the most popular hairstyles requested today, nearly half a century after Sassoon created them!

In other words, every woman who doesn't spend an ungodly amount of time in the bathroom every morning primping and styling owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to Vidal Sassoon.  Every hairstylist who designs haircuts based on a woman's facial features and bone structure owes a debt of gratitude to Vidal Sassoon as well, because he was the pioneer who taught us how to customize a look for a client, rather than pinning up the hair in a bland French twist or a generic beehive, as most of his contemporaries did.  And every stylist who prides himself on cutting hair with laser-like precision owes a debt of gratitude to Sassoon, because his techniques are still being taught to cosmetology students today.

Sassoon was also a driving force when it came to the consumer aspect of hairstyling, which is not surprising since most of us first heard of his name through blowdryers, shampoo, hairspray, and other beauty products which bore his name on the label.  Up until the 1980s, very few hairstylists were known by name outside of the beauty industry, and even fewer had their names emblazoned on products which could be bought in virtually any drugstore or supermarket.  The company's slogan, "If you don't look good, we don't look good", became almost as iconic as Vidal himself.  Prior to the 1980s, it was nearly impossible for a woman to walk into a store and purchase a blowdryer or curling iron right from the shelf, or buy a shampoo which was formulated to be "salon-inspired".  Before Sassoon, the typical woman would have to go to the local beauty parlor to have her hair dried with a blowdryer, or to buy a shampoo that wasn't Breck or Prell or Suave.  Vidal Sassoon paved the way for Jose Eber, Nick Arrojo, Chaz Dean, and other "superstar stylists" whose names grace various haircare products.

Today, we erroneously credit Vidal Sassoon as being the inventor of iconic shorter-length cuts such as the bob or the pixie.  Although Sassoon didn't invent these cuts, many of us think he did, and this is a tribute to his influence, much the way we tend to think that McDonald's invented the hamburger or that Coca-Cola invented soda pop.  The bob was invented in the early 20th century and by the 1920s it was the go-to look for flappers and actresses- in fact, the fashion correspondent of The Times stated, in 1922, that bobbed hair was passé.  It was Vidal Sassoon who resurrected this old-time hairstyle and re-invented it for a new generation.  Nearly all modern bobs resemble the variations developed by Sassoon, rather than the bob that was popular in the Roaring Twenties.  Sassoon is also given credit for developing the pixie, which he designed for Mia Farrow in the 1960s.  However, barbers in Italy had been performing this cut on women since the early 1950s (Remember the 1953 Audrey Hepburn film Roman Holiday?).  Sassoon may not have invented these particular styles, but he sure as hell perfected them to such an extent that we assume he was the originator.  That, my friends, is proof of his genius and ability.

Rest in peace, Vidal.  We will miss you.