Damaged Hair? This 6-in-1 Styling Lotion Will Sort It
Lisa Patulny is a beauty editor, journalist, career creative and Italo disco enthusiast. (She’s also a qualified volunteer ethics teacher, so if you’re looking for a D&M on an ethical issue, you know who to call.) She’s passionate about a lot of other things too: sun safety, skincare, fragrance, family (hi kids!), food and travel. Find her on socials @lisapatulny.
In Partnership with Kevin Murphy
Key Takeaways:
- Kevin Murphy Flawless is a leave-in bond-building treatment and styling lotion in one.
- It’s designed to strengthen hair, reduce breakage, smooth frizz, protect against heat, enhance shine and provide lightweight, flexible hold.
- Apply one to two pumps to clean, towel-dried hair before blow-drying, heat-styling or air-drying.
- Can be used on all hair types – the brand recommends using less product for fine hair, and more for thick or long hair.
As a beauty editor, you’ve gotta accept an overcrowded bathroom cabinet as a necessary feature of the job. Do the gig for long enough and you’ll end up with designated category baskets for everything from moisturiser to mascara. (I know, poor me.) That said, even I have my limits. There’s only so much product I can hoard without crowding out the rest of my family.
When I have time to do my hair properly, my post-wash routine involves a leave-in moisturiser, bond repair hair oil and a heat protectant – and that’s before I’ve added my go-to cocktail of styling products. It’s a lot of layering and, on rushed mornings, a lot of steps I invariably skip.
So, did I want to trial a multitasking lotion that promises to do all that work in one single step?
Very much YES.
Kevin Murphy Flawless is a 6-in-1 bond-building styling lotion that combines strengthening and smoothing benefits with heat protection, shine and flexible hold. Rather than treating repair and styling as separate jobs, it aims to take care of both in one easy, leave-in product.
Here’s what you need to know, including how to use it best, plus my honest review
What Is Kevin Murphy Flawless?
As discussed, Kevin Murphy Flawless is a hard-working hair lotion designed to sit between a treatment and styling product. (The fact there aren’t more products like this makes me sad.)
Apply it after shampooing and conditioning, then leave it in while you dry and style. The goal is for Flawless to replace several of the bottles you might ordinarily reach for after a hair wash.
It has six key benefits, namely:
- Strengthening and repairing damaged hair
- Helping to reduce future breakage
- Smoothing frizz
- Protecting hair against heat
- Enhancing softness and shine
- Providing lightweight, flexible hold
It also helps speed up blow-drying, which is excellent news for anyone who has ever found themselves trapped under a hairdryer and slowly losing the will to continue. (It me.)
At the heart of the formula is Kevin’s KM.RE.BOND tech, which works within the hair fibre to help restore strength and reinforce damaged bonds. Bond damage can be caused by chemical treatments, heat styling and everyday mechanical stress, i.e. brushing and tight hairstyles.
It also contains arginine, an amino acid that helps retain moisture, plus a fermented oil blend (argan, green tea, camellia seed, sunflower seed, sweet almond) to nourish and smooth frizz.
Who Is Kevin Murphy Flawless For?
Flawless is inclusive – the formula was engineered to work across different hair types.
The lightweight texture means it isn’t reserved for thick hair. Fine hair like mine requires a smaller amount, while those with longer, thicker or curlier hair will obviously need more.
To me, it makes most sense for hair that’s damaged, dry, frizz-prone or regularly subjected to blow-drying and heat styling. That said, you don’t need to have compromised hair to enjoy it.
Anyone who wants smoother, shinier, more manageable hair would likely benefit, particularly if the idea of streamlining several treatment and styling steps into one is appealing.
How Do You Use Kevin Murphy Flawless?
After washing, towel-dry your hair, then apply 1-2 pumps through the mid-lengths and ends.
Like any product, you’ll need to use it a few times to get an idea of how much to use in your own hair. ‘Til then, I’d advise using a conservative amount. A wise session stylist once told me you can always add more, but you can’t remove excess product from hair without washing it.
Once you’ve combed the product through, you can blow-dry or air-dry, then style as usual.
Because Flawless already provides heat protection and flexible hold, you may find you can skip your usual pre-styling products. If you use a root-lifting product or prefer firmer hold, you may wanna add in something more targeted, but the bulk of the prep work will be taken care of.
My Kevin Murphy Flawless Review
For context, my hair is fine, shoulder-length and colour-treated. I have recently suffered the indignity of a bunch of hair falling out (check your ferritin levels, friends!). When my hair is out, my main concern is boosting volume, but I also wear my hair slicked back a few times a week.
These two opposite styles require a combo of heat protectant, leave-in moisturiser, volumising powder, bond repair oil and a treatment (I use one kinda like a pomade to achieve a wet look).
I applied a single pump of Flawless to towel-dried hair, focusing on mid-lengths and ends. The scent is gorgeous, like everything Kevin Murphy makes. The brand describes it as a “warm, grounding blend of bergamot, vanilla and yerba mate”. I’d describe it as “f***ing delicious”.
Texture:
The texture was a delight. A lot of leave-ins say they’re lightweight and are… not. Not this guy! I found it super easy to distribute through my damp hair, so didn’t accidentally overapply. The lotion did not weigh my hair down one bit, and it didn’t do that tacky, residue-y thing either.
Once dry, the difference was noticeable. My hair looked smoother and glossier, but in a very natural way. This pleased me greatly because high-shine hair is not something I strive towards.
My blow-dry did feel quicker than usual, although I didn’t set a stopwatch. But more importantly, the flexible hold claim rang true – my hair held its wavy style all dang day.
Would it replace every product in my routine? On hair-out days, you’d have to pry my volumising dust from my cold, dead hands. But it did allow me to skip so many other products. Also – and this can’t be overstated – it smells SO GOOD. The scent alone won me as a fan.
Final Thoughts
IMO, Kevin Murphy Flawless is a good pick for anyone with a complicated post-wash routine.
It treats strengthening and styling as the same job, delivering heat protection, frizz control, shine and flexible hold, while helping damaged hair feel smoother and more resilient. Most importantly, it packages up those benefits in a format that couldn’t be lovelier to use.
You may still wanna bring in a dedicated volumiser or stronger-hold styling product depending on your hair and the look you’re going for. But for everyday drying, smoothing and styling, Flawless has the potential to save you pennies and clear several products from the bench.
Fewer bottles, fewer steps and better-behaved hair? That’s multi-tasking I can get behind.
