Kim Kardashian’s Stylist Just Launched The One Product You Need For Expensive Hair

Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez both have hair that just looks expensive. Regardless of how it's styled — blown out, half-up, braided, or curled — it boasts an eternal silk-like shine.

The secret, as it turns out, is that the stars share the same hairstylist, Chris Appleton. Appleton has perfected the art of hair glossing, which, as he explained to me during a recent Zoom call, is a very delicate balance of creating reflection without weighing down the hair or prohibiting bounce and movement. For years, Appleton has been cocktailing a hodgepodge of different styling products to get there, without finding one thing that did it all — so he made it himself.

In collaboration with legacy hair-care brand Color Wow, Appleton concocted a deep conditioner for the masses that he's dubbed the Money Masque, for its ability to deliver super-glossy, expensive-looking hair. (Also, he's British, hence "masque" vs. "mask.")

Why a rinse-out conditioning mask as opposed to, say, a lightweight hair oil or a curl cream? Well, as Appleton explains, shine starts in the shower, and a hydrating conditioner is a universal need. "Everyone likes a good hair-conditioning mask," he says. "No matter your texture — thick, thin, wavy, curly — everyone can use it in the same way to get shinier, healthier hair."

For application, Appleton advises subbing in the Money Masque for your usual conditioner when your hair needs a little TLC, which is exactly how I did it. I put the mirrored Tiffany-blue jar in my shower, shampooed, and then scooped out a dollop of the conditioning cream — also a pretty baby-blue color, thanks to the blue sea kale and Mediterranean sea kelp in the formula — and finger-combed it through my mid-shafts and ends. I let it sit for the same amount of time as I would a conditioner, around three minutes or one song on my shower playlist; Appleton said there's no need to be precious about the timing.

After rinsing out the mask, towel drying, and using my Dyson Airwrap with the large barrel attachment, my long red hair — which can feel a little coarse and wiry to the touch — was definitely softer and shinier, yet had zero feeling of tackiness or silicone residue that can sometimes follow a heavy treatment mask. I didn't know if my hair looks noticeably more expensive, per se, but a flashbulb camera might say otherwise.