Joico Color Infuse Red Conditioner 8.5 Oz

TLDR: Does a great job keeping me a pretty, natural copper red, but makes my hair an unmanageable, crispy, dry mess during and after application that even additional rinse out PLUS leave in conditioners barely improve. I am discontinuing use of this product for now and looking for a different color depositing product.THE WHOLE STORY:I had my long (below my shoulders) naturally 3C curly hair dyed from a virgin 4-ash brown to a 6/7-copper red at a salon. Loved the color but all of the red faded within two weeks and I was left with bright orange hair. Which is perfectly lovely on those redheads who are that shade naturally, but it did not look good on me. My stylist recommended this conditioner to help add the deep red tones back until my next touch up appointment.PROCESS: I’ve used the product about 6 times. I only wash my hair about twice a week. I’ve made no changes to any other hair products in my routine. I shampoo, rinse, repeat. Then I apply this product heavy and evenly with my bare hands from tip to root, combing through my hair as I go (note: this is because it makes my hair too dry and unmanageable to apply evenly when I start from the root and work down.) I roll my hair up and leave the product in my hair while I finish bathing, maybe 10 mins or so. I rinse the product thoroughly and have to follow with a second conditioner just to be able to get my fingers through my hair. I also have to use a significant amount of leave in conditioner just to be able to comb my hair. My hair air dries.RESULTS:HAIR COLOR: I noticed a big improvement in the shade of my hair from the first use. By the second application I was quite pleased with the effect on my color. I went from bright carrot orange to light copper red and the color has remained stable since the second application. There is no staining or residue on my hands, body, shower marble, towels, pillows, or clothes. My hair color is even and remains consistent through days of heat styling and product application in between washes. This product does not affect the color of my unprocessed roots at all.HAIR CONDITION: This is why it loses 2 stars. Within moments of applying this product, my hair begins to feel dry like straw. I mean, it’s definitely damaged from the chemical processes of lightening and dying it, but it’s still manageable after each shampooing. As soon as I start working this product into my hair, the texture of it changes and it feels like I have a hay bale on top of my head. I spend way too long rinsing the product from my hair because it’s such a dry matted mess, it’s basically one giant nest of hair that I can hardly get my fingers into. I have to use nearly 5 times as much of my regular conditioner after I use this product just to be able to separate my hair and get my fingers through it. Then I have to use another palmful of my leave in conditioner just to be able to comb it. Once my hair is dry, I can no longer use the heat-comb I used to style my hair with because my hair is so dry and stiff I can’t pull it through my hair evenly enough to style properly. I have started experimenting with my less preferred styling tools and found the curling rod works acceptably, but not the curling iron or any tool I have to pull my hair through. I did skip using this product one wash to see if the texture changes were permanent. I found my hair did still feel somewhat dryer than usual while shampooing, but it responded to my usual conditioner normally, and I was able to use just my usual quarter-size amount and work and comb my hair pretty much like before I started this product. So I expect my hair should revert to it’s baseline once I discontinue this product for good.CONCLUSION:I knew going red was going to require a lot of maintenance. I do love the color this leaves my hair, but I hate the change to the texture of my hair. Now, I’m quitting this product and trying some other color depositing products. HOWEVER, I like the color so much. So if I find the same results to the texture of my hair from other depositing products or if can’t find a new color I like, I would consider coming back to this and making changes to the other products in my hair care line to see if there’s a way to overcome the affects to the texture and manageability of my hair I experienced with this product.