Sam McKnight is one of those names that carries genuine weight in the beauty world, and rightly so. Decades behind the chair and on set with some of the most photographed women in the world gives you a particular kind of authority, and it shows in his product range. The Modern Hair Spray is brilliant. The Dressed to Kill Define and Defrizz Creme has become something I reach for without thinking. So when I decided to try the shampoo and conditioner, my expectations were reasonably high. I opted for the Hair by Sam McKnight Rich range aimed squarely at dry and damaged hair.
I’ll start where you should always start with a Hair by Sam McKnight product: the scent. It’s exceptional. There’s nothing synthetic or sharp about it, none of that aggressively floral quality that so many hair products default to. This smells like an English garden in the way that an English garden actually smells, earthy and grounded and genuinely real. It’s the kind of thing that makes washing your hair feel like considerably more of a pleasure than it strictly needs to be.
The formula itself is doing the right things on paper. The shampoo brings in plant keratin for strength, quinoa pro for colour protection and sugar beet for hydration. The conditioner follows with castor and sunflower seed oils alongside repairing vitamins to manage frizz and restore softness. It all reads very well.
In practice, though, it didn’t quite deliver what I needed. My hair came out clean, which is obviously the baseline requirement, but for a range calling itself Rich Cleanse and positioning itself as a treatment for dry and thirsty hair, the hydration simply wasn’t there in the way I’d hoped. I’ve used shampoos and conditioners at similar and lower price points that leave my hair noticeably softer and more nourished. These didn’t, and when you’re paying this much and the name is making specific promises, that gap matters.
If your hair is relatively balanced and you’re not contending with serious dryness, you may find this range hits the spot perfectly well. But for genuinely dry hair that needs serious feeding, I’d stay loyal to what you know works. I’ll be going back to Ouai or Kérastase once these are finished, and I suspect I’ll stay there.
