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by Stuff Boston |
April 03, 2009
 Show
us the latest frizz-busting styling cream, and we’ll show you twelve
more that are, when all is said and done, pretty much
indistinguishable. But show us a hair product that draws on something
different — in this case, some MIT-grade scientific mumbo-jumbo (i.e.,
if we don’t get it, it’s probably good) — and that skyrocketed from the
shelves of a Financial District salon to Sephora outposts nationwide
within months of launch, and, well, we’ll do anything to get our hands
on a bottle.
We’ve read plenty about the science whizzes behind the Living Proof brand and its debut No Frizz
line, but we went straight to the beauty expert behind the project:
hairstylist Mitch DeRosa, who’s been toiling in the Boston salon world
since the mid-eighties. Owner of the Mitchell John Salon (67
Broad Street, Boston, 617.951.0122) and a veteran of the editorial and
runway scenes on a global scale, DeRosa never felt the need to put his
name on a so-so product line just for the sake of it. Instead, he
craved the chance to do something truly game-changing. He found that
opportunity as the Living Proof team — which includes a pair of MIT
professors — began to come together around a singular goal: to marry
beauty with science, fulfilling some of the industry’s
long-glossed-over needs.
Fast forward four years: when the team flew out to San Francisco to
present their concept to the beauty-bigwig-of-all-beautybigwigs,
Sephora, the retail giant signed them to a deal before they’d even left
the boardroom. The basic concept behind the No Frizz technology is that
the lab-developed molecule, delivered in spray or cream form and
available for different hair types and textures, repels moisture,
leaving hair silky without the weighed-down, greasy feel of most
straightening serums. At his salon, DeRosa offers a blowout using the
No Frizz line, and the product ($24) is available both there and in all
Sephora locations — though, we’re warned by DeRosa, it’s been known to
fly off the shelves, a phenomenon all the more likely to happen as
Boston’s humid summer weather ramps up and our hair really starts to go
haywire.
Looking ahead for the brand, keep an eye out for a Living Proof shampoo
and conditioner (maybe as early as this summer), along with a
volumizing hair-care line and, possibly, anti-aging skin-care products
— all of which will take a similarly innovative approach. Suddenly,
we’re wishing we applied ourselves a bit more back in highschool
chemistry.
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