Beauty Review: Hairplay Salon's SET and SEAL

Ohhhh...hair. I long ago gave up on mine, partly out of sheer laziness, and partly out of frustration. Some women can spend hours and hours on their hair and feel the results are worth the time investment. (My sister-in-law, who has very wavy hair and generally spends 45 minutes each day blow-drying it straight into a beautiful, thick mane, is one of them.) Others will do just enough to make their locks presentable.

Moi? Well, lessee. I have fairly wavy, dark brown hair that breaks if it's within a mile of a comb. It's picky picky picky about its products, and it hates cheap conditioner. Never mind that I have ten cents to my name. It wants to be pampered and loved and spoiled. It does not want Tresemme. It will rebel if it comes near Tresemme. It wants to the good stuff.

So generally, as a freelance writer who spends 80% of her time in front of the computer, I just surrender to the inevitable and do little upkeep on it. I wash it everyday (it's definitely on the oily side) and let it dry naturally. Once it's dry, up it goes into a ponytail. Never mind that I've spent months and months growing it out. All that work, and all I can do to it is tie it up and forget about it.

Recently, though, I had the opportunity to try out Hairplay Salon's new collection: SET and SEAL. Hairplay belongs to San Francisco-based celebrity hairstylist Fritz Clay and has been featured in various fashion/beauty mags, including Allure and Lucky. They pride themselves on being a "multi-cultural haven." Their product line focuses on SET and SEAL.

SET, obviously, is a lightweight setting lotion supposedly guaranteed to detangle uber-fussy hair and give your parched locks all the loving moisture it needs. SEAL, on the other hand, is a finishing serum to give your hair that shiny polish without weighing it down with icky residue.

Now, I'm the kind of person who starts hyperventilating the moment she finds herself in the hair products aisle at Target. I mean, who the hell knows what all this stuff's supposed to do? There are literally hundreds of products out there, all claiming to perform that amazing miracle you've been seeking for your impossible-to-care-for mane. It's enough to make me want to just plop myself down on the floor in the middle of the aisle, twist open a random bottle and just chug.

I tried SET a couple of times and wasn't too impressed with its alleged detangling properties. Maybe my hair really is just one big bird's nest, but surely a product promising to detangle will actually -- surprise! -- detangle. I still had to go through twisted strands and literally pull them apart.

Also, while the label and Web site claim that it's a "weightless" product, I didn't like the residue it left on my locks. Perhaps the fact that I was given the "Extra Hold (3)" version didn't help. It's meant for "frizzy/curly/coarse/dense" hair, but mine is actually more wavy and fragile. The hold was just too heavy for my hair.

The company also claims that the product provides sun protection for your hair. The ingredient list does include Octyl Methoxcinnamate, but as it's not an active ingredient and there are no established guidelines in the industry or provided by the FDA regarding sunscreens for hair, this is pretty much meaningless.

SEAL, however, is getting all kinds of hair love from me. I totally heart SEAL. You put a few drops into the palm of your hand, rub your hands together, then smooth the product over wet or even dry hair. I've been using it on wet hair, and I'm tellin' ya, when my hair dries, it looks gorgeous. My husband greeted me at work the other day when I went to pick him up with a big Wow.

This stuff's light, odorless and super-easy to use, even a hair idiot like me can wield it like nobody's business. Although i live in the desert, we've had 35%+ humidity the last couple of days, and SEAL helped calm the frizz without fuss or muss. My hair just looked smooth and felt silky soft. I think it may even have done a happy dance, it was so healthy.

I would definitely recommend Hairplay's Seal, especially if you're the wash-and-go type like me who doesn't want to spend too much time or money on her hair but who still wants it to look good, you know? I'm not sure about Set, but I might change my mind if I tried the Light or even Medium hold versions. I'm still not loving the mousse-like residue, though.

What about you? If you've tried either or both of these products, I'd love to hear your take on them!

Price: SET is $19.50 for an 8-oz bottle. SEAL is $22.00 for a 4-oz bottle. Available on their Web site now and in salons nationwide in early 2009.