HIF Hydration Support Cleansing Conditioner

*Sorry Deciem I used your photo. Mine looked roughhhhhh*

​How's your January been? Mine has been interesting. I've been super focused on using up products before I buy other things and just in general cutting back on a lot of things in my life. Which has really helped me see how I truly feel about products especially. Once I've used them up I see if I feel the need to get them again. So it's been very interesting.

So today is one product that I've been using for a while and I'm nearly out of it. It's from Deciem and it's the HIF Hydration Support cleansing conditioner. You read that right, cleansing conditioner. It also says "with low molecular HA" underneath as well. As you may know the founder behind Deciem The Abnormal Company is Brandon Truaxe who has a really cool story about why he created Deciem The Abnormal Company, how he came into the industry, and how he develops products. I just watched a really cool video with him and Nadine Baggott whom, you know I love, and I knew about him and obviously loved a fair amount of Deciem products from NIOD, Hylamide, The Ordinary, etc. but I didn't know much of his thoughts about the industry. It was a very cool video and I will link it here. Truly though, after watching him explain things the way he does and getting a glimpse of his view on the market and industry be it, makeup, skincare, hair care, body care, whatever, I had a profound respect for his work ethic and all out intelligence. I'm not trying to sing his praises but he really did impress me and whether you like it or not he changed the game when he created effective, or more than effective, products for a fraction of the typical price with The Ordinary. I've always looked at Deciem and the many brands it has and felt a touch overwhelmed. I understood the tiers of skincare (The Ordinary, Hylamide, Niod) and I appreciated that they did offer so many things in different categories so it's kind of a one stop shop if you will, but it felt so "new age" and improved, that I was excited by it all. I wanted to try it all but also you have to pace yourself. Does that make sense? Plus, there isn't a ton of reviews out on things aside from The Ordinary so it's a bit of research involved when trying to figure out what product is for you. Which I think is actually good, even if it's annoying for some, because as you know I like to ask questions, I like research, I don't want you to hand me something and say "here's what you need" and me say "ok great!" instead of "ok! Can you tell me why?" and I mean that not to be prissy or rude just to say: you need to know what you're using and why and then if it works for you. There's no "face value" for me anymore really. I want the facts. I want the proof. I want to know that you have really thought about a product and made a product with a certain concern in mind instead of just wanting to have a product out there for kicks.

That was a super long side trip there, wasn't it? Moving on to this Cleansing Conditioner. They have several in the range. HIF is "Hair Is Fabric" and as per usual I will insert the description of it from the company. 

"Think of this HIF Cleansing Conditioner as dry cleaning for your hair, only with water. In one simple, gentle step, HIF deep cleanses with cleansing fractions instead of common detergents while a long list of conditioning technologies, exotic oils, hyaluronic acid and precious rock extracts leave the hair in prime condition."

Ok so here's what drew me in. First, I was intrigued about a "cleansing conditioner". Second, I really appreciated the "gentle cleansing" approach because I've learned that usually that is a better option for most things, so why not for our hair as well. Third, I already used a sulfate free shampoo before this but I wanted to see what "cleansing fractions" brought when up against detergents and soaps and also if it's better than your other "sulfate free" mass produced shampoo on the market. So that's what made me say "Ok I'm gonna try this". 

I originally wanted the Volume Support but it was sold out so instead I got this one and I'm glad that I did. I still would love to try the Volume Support next though. When I used this the first time I did exactly as it said I wanted to really put it to the test. So I worked it in wet hair and left it on the hair for 3 minutes (timed) and then rinsed it out and didn't use my typical Amika or Indie conditioner. To be honest a one step hair routine sounded awesome. I hate washing my hair, if I'm being truthful. My hair is so long, not to mention it's soft black to blue so it's never a quick experience. 

I will say that, I don't feel like I need the two step shampoo and conditioner when using the cleansing conditioner so I agree with it there. My hair was getting a little dry before this, it's very cold and dry here in TN and like I said I have blue in my hair so it's color treated, long, etc. So prior to this I would use a conditioning mask when I washed my hair, very liberally I might add, and that helped. This did what it said basically. It was a gentle, one step cleanse. I didn't find myself needing extra conditioner to make it managable. Plus, with this I just feel like my hair is healthier. I do color my hair (not often though actually) obviously I wasn't born with blue hair but I have a blue treatment that strictly deposits blue color into my hair to keep that blue fresh so the last time I had color done was before October, I don't use heat on my hair very much, I rarely ever blow dry it, I don't put a lot of product in it and that is including Dry Shampoo and hairspray. I would just rather put on a beanie or ball cap. I can't stand product build up. So this actually fit in very nicely for what I like when it comes to taking care of my hair and just my hair routine in general.

I did notice that my hair seemed to get oily a little bit faster but honestly I'd take that over it being a little dry and feeling like it was getting fragile. So I credit that to the hydration that this puts into your hair like the name suggests. Which is why I want to try the Volume Support next because I want to see if the hydration going into my hair is the same with that as it is with the Hydration Support. I should also mention that my hair never felt weighted down from the "hydration" but if you think about how an HA serum works on the skin, it just absorbs and feels like nothing is on your skin, that's how I feel about this. Also, because my hair is so long I obviously had to use quite a bit and it comes out very fast so watch that, I also noticed as I was trying to squeeze the tube to push product down that I had built up too much pressure behind the lid and it leaked some...not much but a little so if you're traveling maybe wrap it in something just in case? Also, for the love of God don't ever forget to put the cap back on......I did. Not good. I lost some of it. Luckily it wasn't brand new and very full at the time. My bad.

Other than those minor things I find myself 50/50 with the packaging. Part of me really does like it in this squeeze tube because it doesn't fall off anything in the shower it's easy to get into with wet hands, etc and the other part of me is like......"but what would it be like if it was in a pump?". That, as you can tell, is just my personal preference for everything. They do have it in a 1L pump packaging for $55 though, just for the record. This is 180ml which is 6 oz for $21. I still have, I'd say, about 3 uses left. I've had it over a month, maybe 2, and that's using it twice a week usually. I ordered it from the Deciem website and my orders typically get here fairly quick. I don't mind paying $21 + shipping for it but I'm not so dedicated that I would bite the bullet and buy the 1L for $55, merely because I like switching it up and 180ml lasted much longer than I thought it would for my hair.

It is:

Silicone Free
Nut Free
Alcohol Free
Cruelty Free

*Note: it is not Vegan

It has an activation time of 3 minutes...which is why you leave it on 3 minutes, and it says the "foaming level" is High but I would say it's medium. It does foam though don't get me wrong. I have no issue with the foaming level I just have another "soap free" shampoo from Indie that foams more so that's what I'm comparing it to. It's suitable for color treated hair "2-3 days after colouring". I will say that the blue in my hair didn't have to get professionally re-freshed this go around (I have had blue hair before) while using the Hydration Support as it did using other products. Keep in mind though that I do use a color depositing treatment on it usually once every two weeks. I did that the last time though as well same color treatment, different shampoo and conditioner. So I think this is much easier on your hair color and keeps it as is, longer, which would totally make sense if you look at the "gentle" cleansing aspect of it. 

So final verdict... I really really like it. I would re-purchase. I probably will re-purchase after I try some of the other products in the range. I like the approach, I like the simplicity of it being one step, I like the way my hair has been while using it. I think the claims match the result pretty much. So yes, I think it's a very good product.