It’s time for another installment of As Amazing As Polish, my opportunity to gush about the products that I feel truly are as AH-MAZING as nail polish. Aveda’s Smooth Infusion Style Prep Smoother certainly belongs in that category.

As you know from my AAAP post about New York Streets, my beauty junkie tendencies go way beyond nails with hair being my next great obsession. And for as long as I can remember, I’ve been an Aveda devotee. When my stylist from childhood moved to an Aveda concept salon, it changed my hair’s lifestyle. I immediately switched everything in my routine to the point that my product drawer looked like I had robbed the salon.

When I first started with Aveda, I was all about the Clove line and Cherry Almond Bark Deep Conditioner. I lived for them. Though at some point in my early 20s I developed a sensitive scalp that can’t tolerate their shampoos without getting itchy. Color me sad.

Over time I’ve tried Damage Control, Anti-Humectant Pomade, Brilliant Emollient Gloss, Light Elements Smoothing Fluid, Hang Straight, Be Curly, Brilliant Universal Styling Creme, Volumizing Tonic, you get the picture. Needless to say, my love affair with Aveda is deep and real.

After years of playing, mixing and testing I finally found a perfect concoction for my everyday straight, round brushed look. A bit of Elixir Leave-on Conditioner combined with Brilliant Emollient Gloss and Anti-Humectant Pomade to tame any frizzies or flyaways. So you can imagine my horror and bitterness when I learned last year that my beloved Elixir was being taken away. Apparently us Midwesterners were the only ones that understood its merits and that wasn’t enough for Aveda to keep putting it out. Boo on that! Or so I thought. Then, last year at a Fashion Week dinner hosted by Aveda, I was introduced to my new BFF, Smooth Infusion Style Prep Smoother.

Kids, this product is IT! I honestly don’t know what I did before it came into my life. For you fellow Aveda-philes imagine if Elixir and Hang Straight had a baby. Talk about the most perfect love child. Honestly, with the exception of a little bit of Ouidad/Kerastase leave-in to quench my dry ends, all I need is Style Prep and my hair is shiny, smooth and frizz free. My poor pomade has been sitting, untouched, ever since. I just hit the pump three times, emulsify it in my hands and rake through my strands before drying. And I love that the Smooth Infusion line’s lemony botanical scent lingers. Even after a long day, my locks still smell fresh.

I’m telling you if you have hair texture anything like mine, you know thick, coarse, slightly wavy, frizzes at the mere threat of humidity, you MUST MUST MUST give this product a whirl. If you go to an Aveda salon ask your stylist to use it on you or see if they can send you home with a small sample. Your hair will love you for it!

Aveda Smooth Infusion Style Prep Smoother retails for $24.00 for a 3.4 oz bottle and is available at Aveda salons, stores and online at Aveda.com

OK so because this site is focused on nails, you all don’t know about my obsession with my hair. It’s way beyond fanaticism, it’s a sickness. My hair is my arch nemesis and a daily battle.

Left it up to its own devices I would have what The Boyfriend describes as “Amazon Hair,” a puffy mess of crazy that only he gets to see. I was cursed with thick, coarse, wavy hair that for some reason rejects almost every low to high end brand of shampoo & conditioner I’ve used and I’ve tried way too many.

For quite some time now, I’ve been in love with Kenra’s Platinum Shampoo and Conditioner for Thick/Coarse hair. It’s a great line but being a typical product junkie, I continue to try new things in hopes of finding the ultimate combo that will produce shiny, bouncy, uber-soft results. All I’ve found is a bunch of losers. Shampoos that make my scalp itchy. Conditioners that weigh my hair down or leave it feeling like straw.

So as hard as it is for me to believe, I’ve finally found something that truly wows – New York Streets Hair Culture Collection. It really is “As Amazing As Polish.” My hair hasn’t felt this smooth and manageable while still maintaining its luster since I was a kid with “virgin hair.” Even The Boyfriend commented on the softness and added movement. That’s right, a GUY noticed! I mean, he’s been well schooled in the world of beauty over the past nine years but he’s still essentially an oblivious boy. So color me overjoyed that New York Streets made that big of a difference!

Now as someone with a sensitive scalp, finding a SLS (Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate) free line is always a top priority. While SLS isn’t terrible, it is harsher than other types of detergents so it can cause scalp irritation. New York Streets uses oil derived cleansers that are gentler and less drying.

Clean shampoo has a warm, foody scent. It reminds me of Healthy Sexy Hair Chocolate Soymilk Shampoo but milder and less chocolate-y. The texture is thin and syrupy, like honey, yet it’s not sticky like other sulfate free shampoos I’ve tried. Even though most SLS-free shampoos don’t lather much, if at all, Clean does give you a bit of that comforting “it’s doing its job” foam action. It rinses clean but not squeaky and even before you grab the conditioner, you can feel the softness happening.

Condition, with the same cozy scent scent as Clean, is a medium viscosity opaque conditioner. It glides on easily, almost like a coating, and doesn’t require a lot of product to get the job done, even for my big old mess of hair. The first time I used it, I squeezed out a giant dollop only to have half of it go to waste. And even though it does contain some smoothing silicones in the ingredients, they appear much lower on the list than the majority of conditioners that rely on ‘cones to tame unruliness.

The overall effect of using both Clean & Condition along with my favorite styling products, Kerastase Ciment Thermique and Aveda Smooth Infusion Style Prep, makes me beyond happy. Honestly, I can’t remember the last time my hair felt this soft and weightless. There aren’t words for how much I love these products. Even the hipster cool packaging sets it apart from any line I’ve encountered before. And I love that the shampoo and conditioner bottles are the same size. I HATE when the conditioner comes in a smaller bottle. HATE I say!

If you are frustrated with your hair situation and can’t find a solution, I HIGHLY recommend you give these a whirl.

New York Streets Clean ($13.50) and Condition ($15.50) can be purchased directly from their website NewYork-Streets.com. Or you can check out the salon locator to find them locally.