The Muse: Perfecting Styling Cream is here. It’s made on the belief that perfection is personal. Just as clay shapes a sculpture or paint brings a canvas to life, this cream is your medium. It adapts to your hair type and helps you define, enhance, texturize, hold, or smooth, whether you air dry or style with heat.
Most people reach for a cream like this for one or two jobs: taming flyaways, or a dab through dry ends on the way out the door. Perfecting Styling Cream can do a lot more than that. On damp hair, it shapes waves and curls as they air dry or preps hair for a smooth blowout. On dry hair, a small amount tames flyaways, sets a sleek slick-back, or holds a braid in place.
Here’s what the Perfecting Styling Cream does, how to adjust it for your hair, and how to use it for each finish.
Start here
Apply Perfecting Styling Cream to damp hair, not soaking wet. Start with a pea- to almond-size amount (see the chart below), work it through your mid-lengths and ends first, and take whatever’s left on your hands up toward the root. Air dry for texture and definition, or blow dry for a smooth, polished finish. On dry hair, use a much smaller amount to tame flyaways or set a sleek look.
Meet The Muse
The Muse: Perfecting Styling Cream is a multitasking cream that helps repair hair while you style it. Powered by plant proteins (amaranth, rice, and quinoa) and our signature botanical blend, it helps condition hair with every use while giving it a soft, touchable, flexible hold. The formula also includes jojoba seed oil, argan oil, and squalane.
It works six ways:
Enhance: brings out your natural curl pattern with shine and moisture.
Repair: plant proteins help condition hair with every use.
Texturize: adds definition to natural waves and controls frizz without weighing hair down.
Smooth: tames frizz and preps hair for a smooth blowout with volume.
Define: stays pliable so you can sculpt, braid, and shape, with a high-shine finish.
Protect: protects hair from everyday stressors and heat up to 350°F.
2.4 fl oz (70 ml), $38, available now.
What Perfecting Styling Cream does
The Perfecting Styling Cream holds your style without the stiff, tacky finish that can come with a gel. It gives you lasting control, but it stays pliable and leaves no residue, so your hair feels soft and you can still run your fingers through it.
|
Product |
Hold |
How it dries |
Best for |
|
Leave-in conditioner |
Little to none |
Soft, no shape |
Detangling and moisture |
|
Perfecting Styling Cream |
Light-to-medium, flexible |
Soft and touchable, no tacky residue |
Air drying, waves, curls, blowouts, flyaways |
|
Mousse |
Varies, often light to medium |
Light and airy |
Volume at the root |
|
Gel |
Medium to strong |
Firm until you scrunch it out |
Firm, set curls |
How much to use
Start with less than you think. It’s easy to add more and hard to take it away without rewashing.
|
Your hair |
Amount on damp hair |
Where to focus |
|
Short or fine |
Pea-size |
Ends, very little at the root |
|
Shoulder length, medium thickness |
Almond-size |
Mid-lengths to ends |
|
Long, thick, or curly |
Two almond-size amounts, section by section |
Mid-lengths to ends, then root |
Adjusting for your hair
Fine hair: use a pea-size amount and keep it off the root, where it can flatten volume. Air drying works well, and a quick blowout gives you more lift.
Thick or coarse hair: use more, and apply it in sections so the middle layers aren’t left out.
Wavy hair: after you apply it, comb it through with a wide-tooth comb or the Wet Detangling Brush so every wave is coated, then scrunch upward and let it dry.
Curly hair: take your time. Work in small sections, rake or comb the cream through while your hair is damp, then smooth or twist each curl around your finger before you let it go. Diffusing on low sets the curl faster than air drying.
Straight hair: use it for smoothing and heat protection before a blowout, or as a dry touch-up for flyaways.
By porosity: high-porosity hair soaks product up quickly, so it may need a little more, applied more often. Low-porosity hair tends to leave product sitting on top, so use less and apply it to damp hair instead of dry. If you aren’t sure which you have, here’s how to tell.
How to use it for each finish
Air drying for natural texture
1. Blot, don’t rub. Wash, then blot your hair with a towel until it stops dripping. Rubbing roughs up the cuticle and starts the frizz before you’ve styled anything.
2. Rake it through. Rub the cream between your palms and rake it through from mid-lengths to ends.
3. Scrunch or smooth. For waves, scrunch upward a few times. For straighter hair, smooth it down with flat palms.
4. Leave it alone. Touching hair while it’s drying breaks up the shape and brings the frizz back.
Defining curls and waves
Work in four sections so every curl gets product. Rake the cream through each one, then scrunch upward. If your curls clump better with less handling, glide it over the surface with flat hands instead. Air dry, or diffuse on low heat and low speed.
Perfecting Styling Cream has a light-to-medium flexible hold. It brings out your natural curl pattern, adds shine and moisture, and controls frizz without weighing waves down.
For a smooth blowout
Apply the cream to damp hair before you pick up the dryer, then comb it through with a Wet Detangling Brush so it’s spread evenly. It tames frizz and preps hair for a smooth blowout with volume, and it protects hair from heat up to 350°F. Keep your dryer and any hot tools at 350°F or lower.
From there, pick up The Lilia Styling Round Boar Bristle Brush, the styling tool we made for smooth, controlled blow drying, and follow the usual round brush steps: small sections, lift at the root, nozzle pointed down, and let each section cool before you let it go. Our round brush guide goes through each step.
Sculpted styles and braids
For braids, twists, and sculpted updos, work a small amount through your hair before you shape it. Perfecting Styling Cream stays pliable, so you can sculpt, braid, and shape your style, and it holds with a high-shine finish and no tacky residue. Smooth a little more over the finished shape to lay down flyaways.
Sleek slick-back and touch-ups
Use about a third of what you’d use on damp hair. Rub it between your palms until it’s barely there, then smooth it over flyaways, along your part, or back from your face for a sleek slick-back.
Where people go wrong
Using too much. Hair goes heavy and flat. Start small and add more.
Starting at the root. Put it on the ends first. That’s where hair is driest and needs the most help.
Applying to soaking wet hair. The extra water dilutes the cream, so you get less hold.
Touching it while it dries. Hands off until it’s fully dry.
Where it fits in your routine
Growing Season Burdock Hair Growth Oil is a pre-shampoo treatment, so it goes on your scalp before you wash. Perfecting Styling Cream comes after washing: on damp hair when you style, or on dry hair any time you want to tame flyaways or refresh your look. On weeks your hair needs more than daily conditioning, the Growing Season Deep Repair Mask goes in place of your conditioner once or twice a week.
Questions we get
What does Perfecting Styling Cream do?
It gives hair a soft, flexible hold, with more shape than a leave-in conditioner and less stiffness than a gel. Depending on how you use it, it can define curls, add texture to waves, smooth frizz before a blowout, or tame flyaways on dry hair.
Do you put Perfecting Styling Cream on wet or dry hair?
Both. Use it on damp hair for styling, whether you air dry or blow dry. Use a much smaller amount on dry hair for touch-ups and sleek styles.
Is Perfecting Styling Cream the same as curl cream?
No. Curl cream is made for curls only. Perfecting Styling Cream is versatile: it works across hair types and finishes, including curls, waves, straight hair, blowouts, and sleek styles.
Does Perfecting Styling Cream protect against heat?
Yes. It protects hair from heat up to 350°F, so keep your dryer and tools at 350°F or lower.
Can I use Perfecting Styling Cream on fine hair?
Yes. Use a pea-size amount, focus on the ends, and keep it off the root so it doesn’t flatten your volume.
Can I use it every day?
Yes. It’s made to help condition hair with every use, so you can reach for it whenever you style.
Closing
Perfecting Styling Cream does the most when you match it to the finish you want. For natural texture, apply it to damp hair and let it air dry. For a smooth finish, apply it to damp hair and blow dry with a round brush. For flyaways and touch-ups, smooth a small amount over dry hair.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.