Haute couture for your hair

What woman doesn’t have issues with her hair? People complain about having bad hair days. In my case, it’s been a bad hair lifetime. I never liked the texture of my wavy hair (sponghada, in local lingo). Part straight, part pubic, it loves to frizz out at the slightest provocation. Like a fair-weather friend, my hair and I have rarely been on speaking terms.

So I couldn’t believe my ears when Phyto’s export director Dominique Vedy was running his hands through my hair. "You have hair like women from Spain and the South of France," said the French hairdresser, who’s styled models’ locks for the likes of Jean-Paul Gaultier, Sonia Rykiel and Claude Montana. "You don’t need any special treatments. Don’t straighten it, don’t do anything to it. It’s perfect the way it is."

That’s just one of the many reasons men and women the world over love Phyto, the most famous prefix in the haircare industry. The French brand might be ubiquitous in European pharmacies, they might garner the most raves from celebrities and their stylists, and their products are Best of Beauty hall-of-famers in all the top fashion magazines, but Phyto itself doesn’t promote or add to the hype. They’ll never prescribe a product you don’t need in order to make a sale.

They don’t need to. The scientific research and results behind their products – which address problems ranging from hair loss and dandruff to oily scalps and frizzy hair – speak for themselves.

"There’s no such thing as bad hair, only badly treated hair," is the mantra of Patrick Alés, the founder and president of Phytosolba Laboratories. A former hairstylist whose clients included Jackie O and Catherine Deneuve, at 75, Alés is the best advertisement for his own products. He not only has a full head of hair but a thick mop that makes him look "like Santa Claus," according to Roland Hurel, Asia-Pacific director of the Alés Group . "His family still runs the company, which is why I like it. He lives in the countryside and started making shampoos from plants in his garage 35 years ago."

Alés’s experiments with different plants and essential oils led to his invention of natural haircare products in 1969. He realized that plants constitute an enormous reserve of effective active ingredients that are perfectly assimilated by our bodies. Among the first batch of products invented was Phyto 7, a hydrating cream containing seven plant extracts. It worked wonders on dry hair, making it an enduring best-seller. (Up to now, Phyto 7 holds 55 percent of the market for leave-in haircare products sold.) Other best-sellers include the hair-loss line: PhytoAxil for men, which has demonstrated 86-percent effectivity in clinical trials, and Phytocyane for women (85 percent effective). Hurel notes that men and women have slightly different needs when it comes to treating hair loss.

Scientific research is very important to Phyto. Phytosolba has set up its own research laboratory lead by a team of 70 scientists, including doctors, pharmacists, biochemists, engineers, botanists and top botanical experts, whose emphasis is high-tech haircare.

Aside from a lack of hype, another Phyto principle is eco-friendliness. All their products are packaged in aluminum tubes or glass bottles, which serves a triple purpose. Not only do they preserve the formulas without the aid of preservatives and maximize the effectiveness of the active ingredients, the packaging is all recyclable, and therefore contributes to environmental protection.

Phytosolba’s laboratories grow certain plants to guarantee the absence of fertilizer and to extract active ingredients from plants at their freshest via infusion, maceration, decoction, and distillation. "Our botanicals are also sourced from all over the world, even from the Philippines," says Hurel.

Since there are a number of products tailored to treat every conceivable hair problem, Phyto uses color coding on their packaging to divide the range into easily identifiable categories. The company has even adopted a holistic approach to achieving beautiful hair, adding a line of food supplements called Phytophanére, chockfull of vitamins that benefit hair and nails. "People realize we live with stress, and that stress and diet all have an effect on our bodies and our hair, so they take vitamins like B12 for nails and hair," says Hurel. Twenty-five percent of Phyto’s turnover goes to these food supplements, which doctors in France prescribe to their patients. Desperate Housewives’ Teri Hatcher and Felicity Huffman are fans – Hatcher of Phytophanére and Huffman of Phytovolume Actif, a hairspray that boosts fine, limp hair.

Phyto has also won the hair Oscar from Cosmetique magazine for its PhytoColor coloring creams, and features styling and suncare products in its extensive range.

Think of Phyto as affordable haute couture for your hair. Whatever your hair issue, there’s a Phyto product master-tailored for you.

What was supposed to be an afternoon of salon pampering at Shangri-La Plaza’s Studio 546 turned into something much more basic, thanks to my problem-free hair. Vedy recommended my version of the little black dress – a simple shampoo with Phytolactum and conditioning with Phytobaume – ideal for normal hair that gets washed every day.

As a heavenly-smelling lather developed on my head, for once, my hair and I could agree on something. When it comes to haircare, Phyto is the bomb.

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Phyto is available at Rustan’s Essenses. Phytoaxil and Phytocyane are available at Studio 546, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Mandaluyong. The haircare range will soon be available at SM Department Stores and Watsons.