Tigi’s Bed Head Small Talk
Pros: Improves body and feel, not too heavy or greasy.
Cons: very slimy out of the bottle, the candy-sweet smell can be off-putting.
I struggle with my hair. A lot. In fact, getting my hair to do something even a little pleasing is something of a pitched (and endless) battle. My mop is willful, unmotivated, and usually downright insubordinate, not to mention depressingly thinner as the years go by.
Until recently, that is. Recently, I went to see an old friend who just happens to be a hairdresser. After having her cut my hair, I looked at my friend and asked, “So how do I get some body into this? Some lift? And what can I do about the strange fuzziness?” She walked over to a display case, grabbed a small, bomb-shaped pump bottle, and handed it over.
That small hair-care bomb? Tigi’s Bed Head Small Talk.
Small Talk does come in a small package, but don’t let that fool you. This stuff packs a big punch, and a little dab (around the size of a dime for my medium length hair) will definitely do you. It comes out of the pump (nice pump, gives you a nice, dime-sized dollop) white and really surprisingly gooey, and goes on easily with just a little tousling to get it distributed evenly. The scent is distinctive, and reminds me a bit of Skittles or SweetTarts.
While wet, Small Talk does not feel good on the hair. In fact, it feels positively slimy. That worried me, the first time I used it. It worried me a LOT. But experience has shown me that, so long as I don’t use more than my little dab, that sliminess doesn’t translate to tacky or weighed down hair.
Styling with Small Talk can go any way you want. You can scrunch and finger style to where you want, then leave it be, which will leave defined curls but a slight stiffness (not stickiness). You can brush it to the shape you want, then leave it to dry, either leaving the stiffness or brushing through the dried hair, which keeps the shape while losing the stiffness. You can blow dry, either hand-scrunching and directing for a tousled look or using a brush for a more refined ‘do. Small Talk is great for most hairstyling approaches, and lends a fullness while giving a light to moderate hold.
While Small Talk is great as a styling aid, it is also an effective leave-in conditioner that acts as a “thickifier,” i.e., it makes hair look and feel thicker and more full. Rather than using a rinse-out conditioner plus Small Talk, I use only Small Talk. Otherwise, my hair does wind up feeling a bit heavier than I like, and goes dirty/greasy faster than usual. As a conditioner, Small talk leaves my hair feeling soft and looking shiny without the “fuzziness” I’ve long struggled with. It also helps on the detangling front, making the after-shower brush-through easier.
Ingredients-wise, Small Talk does not come across as an organic-lover’s dream—no, this is a lot of artificial/chemical-y stuff that you probably wouldn’t want to ingest unless you were looking to shellac/preserve your guts. However, it’s comparable to other, similar products, and nothing leaps out as particularly horrendous. The manufacturer doesn’t push this as an earth-loving, organic, also-drinkable product.
Overall, Small Talk is a new favorite for me. I love the versatility, with the body-enhancing and shape-holding properties lending my silly head a hand whether I blow dry or not. While the candy smell was a bit strange at first, I’ve come to enjoy it, and it meshes well with the citrus-y scent of my new Bed Head Self Absorbed shampoo.