The Softest, Shiniest Hair Of Your Life Starts With This Routine

What you feed your body every day affects just about everything — your skin, your brain function, your energy, your overall health. Your hair is no different. The products you reach for consistently, and the quality of the ingredients in them, determine how good your hair looks and feels. Dry, dull hair isn't a fixed type; it's just a sign that your strands aren't getting what they need.

Matrix’s Food For Soft collection is built around the idea that hair needs to be nourished with the right nutrients. The line (which is entirely vegan and safe for color-treated hair, btw) is powered by two of the most effective hydrators: hyaluronic acid, to attract hydration, and avocado oil, which locks in moisture. The full system gives you hair that’s softer, shinier, and healthier every single day.

Feed Your Hair From The Start

The Food For Soft Hydrating Shampoo goes beyond the basics of cleansing, removing excess oil and buildup, and smelling really nice. It actually improves your hair in the washing process, because it actively moisturizes as it works, so you're not stripping in one step only to try and replenish in the next. The results back it up: When used as a system with the conditioner plus the mask or oil, the formula has been proven to deliver 7x more moisture that lasts up to 72 hours*.

Follow with the Detangling Hydrating Conditioner applied from mid-lengths to ends, letting it sit for a minute before rinsing. It effortlessly releases any tangles, and leaves hair feeling silky soft and frizz-free whether you blow it out or let it air dry.

Give Dry Strands What They’re Missing

For times when your hair needs even more than a conditioner can give, there’s the Rich Hydrating Treatment Mask. A more concentrated version of the system's hero formula infused with avocado oil and hyaluronic acid, it deeply moisturizes and locks in hydration from root to tip, specifically for the driest and most porous hair types. (Pro tip: If your hair absorbs water and products instantly but also dries very quickly, it’s highly porous and this is for you.)

After shampooing, apply generously from mid-lengths to ends and leave it on for three to five minutes before rinsing. If you have a lot of damage from heat or color, take the full five.

Lock In Nutrients For Lasting Shine

Treatment oil is the step people tend to skip out of fear of greasiness, but if your hair is dry or damaged, it needs it the most. Dry strands are porous, which means a lightweight oil absorbs right in rather than sitting on top of your hair, and the right formula won't leave any heaviness or residue behind.

This Multi-Use Hair Oil Serum seals in all the moisture the products that came before delivered, leaving hair smooth and shiny and protected against heat up to 450°F. Apply a few drops to wet or damp hair after washing and before styling.

Finish With Lightweight, Nourishing Lift

Volume and hydration are usually mutually exclusive. Most volumizing products inflate at the expense of softness, leaving you with hair that’s full, sure, but also stiff and dry. The XXL Big 'N Soft Mousse does things differently, with hyaluronic acid that plumps the inner fiber for 2x more volume and avocado oil to keep each strand soft and moisturized for 12 hours. There’s no crunchiness or flaky residue to worry about, because it’s formulated without any drying alcohols or salts.

Apply to damp hair from roots to ends before styling, or concentrate it at the roots if you only want volume at the top. It also has built-in 450°F heat protection, so you’re safe to hit your hair with the round brush and blowdryer over and over until you reach max lift and fullness.

*when used as a system of shampoo, conditioner/mask, and oil

Photographer: Danilo Hess; Director & Creative Lead: Lauren Sofair/BDG Studios; Art Director: Kelsey Cadenas/BDG Studios; Styling: Whitney Leff; Hair & Makeup: Andi Metro; Production: Manon Carrié/BDG Studios & Dariana Jiron/BDG Studios; Editorial Direction: Irma Elezovic/BDG Studios