A little background: I realize how odd the title must sound. I am a huge Liz Phair fan, circa Exile in Guyville and Whipsmart. I liked her EPs during the era, and I even liked Whitechocolatespaceegg. After that, I can't defend her.
I was a huge fan of Living Proof when the brand debuted in 2007.
Read on for my (sort of internet research based, but certainly not 100% correct) timeline!
My theoretical timeline:
2007: They debuted one product: No Frizz, a cream that promised complete reduction of frizz without silicone or oils. It was marketed as a curl straightening product (straight making - no hold) or a curl defining product (curl defining - with hold).
The products came into creation by means of the happy marriage of science and capitalism. An MIT scientist patented a polymer (well, actually, it may be a molecule, I will go into this in a second) that coated the hair shaft weightlessly, much in the way teflon functions on the surface of metal (think about those cooking pans that are just so easy to wash!), yet was so strong that it resisted humidity. Its acronym is OFPMA, and don't ask me what that stands for.
I still think the people behind the brand are geniuses. They have kept their formula so hush-hush that L'Oreal hasn't been able to steal it. And believe me, they would.
Living Proof's original packaging
2008: Living Proof then further divided their two product types by degree of strength: fine to medium hair spray, medium to thick hair cream, and thick to coarse hair treatment. Their straight making thick to coarse styling treatment was life changing for me. No other product in the history of hair had worked better at straightening my curls, and it did it without silicones! This may have been in 2009, but the brand debuted a shampoo, conditioner and leave in conditioner. The shampoo was sulfate free, and the conditioners were silicone free.
Living Proof's diversified Frizz range
2009: Living Proof debuted a hairspray, a root lifting spray, and a thickening creme. The former two featured the same OFPMA technology as the previous products, while the thickening cream debuted a new "scientific breakthrough" molecule, PBAE, which supposedly creates a thickening effect on the hair shaft, sans friction and damage.
2010: Thickening shampoo and conditioner were introduced, along with a mousse, as part of their volumizing series. A second hairspray was introduced.
Living Proof discontinued their entire first line of products that had launched in 2007. All six of the frizz products (spray, cream, and treatment) were nixed in favor of a single product: nourishing styling cream.
My thoughts? I think the brand must have changed hands, in terms of ownership or investors. The new substitute product did not function similarly to ANY of the products it "replaced" except for the straight making cream for medium to thick hair. All consumers of the other products were left in the dark. Most of the consumers of their treatment products (straight making and curl defining) were those, like myself, with "ethnic hair." I suppose we are a segment of the hair care market, just not a big enough, or important enough segment.
Living Proof's Nourishing Styling Cream, the product that "replaced everything"
2011: Living Proof introduced Straight, a straightening spray, and a line of products based on a huge, glaring, beauty myth: Restore, a line consisting of a shampoo, a conditioner, a mask, a spray (that still baffles me as to its purpose), a "recovery regimen" (also kind of silly), and a targeted cream that may or may not be a leave in conditioner.
This gimmicky line fools consumers into believing their hair can be repaired, although doesn't explicitly say that, due to its clever wording. The concept behind the restore line is that with use, hair will look and behave like virgin hair, the way hair looks before it undergoes daily stress, heat, and chemical treatment.
Hair can not be repaired. It can not be "healthy." It is dead. It can be shiny. It can look nice. It can not, however, grow back a chipped cuticle. It can not grow anything "back." It will grow out of your head in its best state, and it will likely deteriorate to some degree, naturally. There is nothing in the world that reverses this process.
In my eyes, the company went from a groundbreaking, no nonsense, scientific brainchild to a sniveling corporate suckup who ignored the consumers responsible for its success. Sort of like when your favorite band signs to a major label, and promises never to change. They ALWAYS change.
Living Proof Restore line
2012: Living Proof introduced three new products, and created a sort of "styling product only" line. The products were:
- Prime, a product that promised to extend the length of your style while not doing much else. It purports that you need an extra product to do just that.
The concept of prime is one that angers me. Clearly, I'm not angry enough: I still use it.
- Amp, a texturizing styler that was oddly marketed in that it lacked focus and didn't refer to who should specifically be using it. Living proof discontinued their original hairspray.
- Satin hair serum, a serum that is oil free and smooths hair. It is supposed to cut down on drying time. It doesn't straighten hair, and it is quite greasy. I will post a review if one is requested.
2013: Living Proof introduced Flex, a hairspray that supposedly provides heat protection and is flexible and "brushable."
Surprisingly, their customer service rep who I emailed told me that Flex does not provide heat protection. So, way to go, Living Proof. Either your marketing department is full of it, or your CS hasn't done their homework.
They introduced PHD, a product that does.......something. Not sure. I actually reviewed this. I sort of hate it. It is a product born of marketing hype. It claims to do a lot, or does it? No, it actually claims very little, and succeeds at it, all the while succeeding at earning your money.
They have recently introduced PHD shampoo and conditioner. Review forthcoming.
Living Proof PHD, Flex, and Prime
and.........2014? Well, we'll see. I have been following the brand for a while, but I find them to be in something of a downward spiral. I do not care if they are owned by a celebrity, which is precisely why I did not mention anything in this post other than product information and my personal opinions. All I care about it what their products do. This brand started out as a solution to a REAL hair problem, a breath of fresh air in the overhyped and underdelivering beauty industry, and they turned into something I have much, much less interest in.
Maybe the Liz Phair comparison is a bad one. I like Liz Phair much more than I like Living Proof, even circa 2007. If the comparison must be drawn, then Living Proof 2013 is the equivalent of Liz Phair's 2005 major label sophmoric nightmare Somebody's Miracle. Even her "selling out" self titled major label flop Liz Phair has more hits than Living Proof's current lineup. And last year's Funstyle is still way more promising than any of Living Proof's future releases.
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