By stufflovely
The launches include a Scalp Serum ($25), which employs peppermint, rosemary, and lavender oils to soothe and hydrate your scalp when it’s itchy and dry. Also on tap is a Treatment Mask ($25), made with moringa seed oil and rice water, promising to repair and strengthen your strands, giving your curls more elasticity and definition.
“[Not everyone wants to] sit there and make their rice water,” Ellis Ross muses. “I don’t know who has time for that.” Rice water is typically made by soaking clean rice in a bowl of water for 30 minutes to a few hours, then straining out the rice, leaving the cloudy water ready for use.
In the interest of saving time, she got together with her team of chemists to create a formula that allows you to get the benefits of rice water without doing all that soaking. “Rice water ferment has proteins that strengthen the hair,” says cosmetic chemist Ni’Kita Wilson. During the winter months, when your hair can easily get dry and brittle, strengthening those strands is vital.
“It’s five to 10 minutes either on wet or clean, washed hair. Then, you can put on a shower cap to help it penetrate. Rinse it out and move to your regular conditioner, or I like to move on to my intensive deep conditioner.” It’s a treatment Ellis Ross swears by — she tells us that while it’s not meant to be used every day, she is absolutely tempted to do so.
The Scalp Serum was created as a remedy for the tight, itchy feeling that can come when you put in protective styles like braids or twists. “This scalp serum almost feels like taking a drink of water,” says Ellis Ross. “Like when you get like a cold glass of water and you’re just like, ‘Oh, God, who knew water could be so good?’ It has that energy on your scalp.”
When I got Pattern’s latest in the mail to try for myself, one thing that stood out to me was the consistency of the Treatment Mask. I opened it while I was in the shower and almost closed it right back up because for a moment, I thought I’d been sent the wrong product. But that’s what makes this so cool and unique — it’s got a loose, gel-like consistency comparable, but a little more slippery, than an Eco Styler gel. I applied it after shampooing my hair with my usual Ankh Rosemint Shampoo, leaving it on for 10 minutes or so as I got to work shaving my legs with my Billie razor.
