Kristin Ess Hair Gloss and the Colorist Who Only Wanted to Sell at Target

Kristin Ess is a hairstylist and colorist whose clients have included Lauren Conrad and Lucy Hale, and in 2011 she helped start the tutorial site The Beauty Department with Conrad and the makeup artist Amy Nadine. When she built her own line with the incubator Maesa, she told Allure she only wanted to do it if it could be sold at Target, and she carried the first 15 products in her bag for six months, styling clients with them before it launched there in 2017. Maesa describes it as the only mass haircare brand founded by a female hairstylist. Kristin Ess hair gloss is an in-shower treatment for shine between color appointments, and Crystal Quartz is the colorless shade here, made to work on any hair color without changing it. The weightless shine leave-in and The One primer keep that shine going, and the blow dry mist helps with styling. Use the gloss on clean, damp hair and follow the timing on the bottle.

The second row is the everyday base. The One Signature Shampoo is the gentle daily option, and the strengthening shampoo is for hair that breaks easily. The One Purple Shampoo cancels brassy tones in blonde and silver hair, so use it once a week instead of every wash. The Ultra Fine hairspray finishes the look with workable hold. In 2025 Ess added Kristin Ess+, a peptide bond repair line, also sold only at Target. If your hair is fine, start with the signature shampoo and add the purple one only when you see warmth creeping in.

If you want to compare, several other brands make their own shine steps. Ouai's in-shower gloss, from the hairstylist Jen Atkin, boosts shine and protects color. Kérastase, which launched in Paris salons in 1964, makes glaze drops that smooth frizz for up to four days, and Gisou's honey mask uses honey from the Mirsalehi Bee Garden near Amsterdam, run by founder Negin Mirsalehi's father in a six-generation beekeeping family. IGK, named for the initials of its four stylist founders, makes a gloss spray for a glassy finish. amika and Living Proof make in-shower and clear glosses of their own, Pureology has a clear gloss for colored hair that is a close cousin of Crystal Quartz, and Kérastase also makes a gloss treatment for color. Gisou has glossing drops in an oil, amika has a shine spray to sit beside the IGK one, and UNITE's 7SECONDS adds heat protection to the shine. What I would skip is glossing every wash. Once every week or two is enough, and more can leave hair feeling coated.

Wash in lukewarm water and finish with a cool rinse. Use a heat protectant before styling, like the Kristin Ess Dry Finish spray or UNITE's 7SECONDS Glossing Heat Protectant Shine Spray. Gloss again when the shine starts to fade, usually after a few weeks. Keep the toning step for when warmth shows up, and sleep on silk if your hair frizzes overnight. Rinsing with filtered water can help too if your tap water is hard.

The last grid is the rest of the Kristin Ess shelf, with shampoos for most hair types, dry shampoos, masks, conditioners and the Kristin Ess+ peptide pieces, in case you want to build the whole routine from one line. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Kristin Ess Shampoo, a Colorist's Line Built Around Shine and Does At Home Hair Gloss Actually Work.

If a spray suits your hair better than a treatment, I tested the best hair gloss spray options for shine without weight.

For a shower treatment that does the same job, I rounded up the best in shower hair gloss options and shine serums in one place.