Side by side
amika Flash Instant Shine Mask vs amika Soulfood Nourishing Mask
75% function match · 4 of the 8 functions we compared match Formula overlap 0%. amika Flash Instant Shine Mask and amika Soulfood Nourishing Mask share 1 ingredient among each other's most prominent.
Which of these fits your hair?
We check your pattern, moisture need, scalp, fragrance tolerance, weight sensitivity and more against each formula — and say which one lines up.
Your profile at a glance
- Your answers appear here
- Your answers appear here
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When each one is the right call
What each formula is built for, from its own ingredient list.
- Flash Instant Shine Mask — dry, thirsty hair
- Soulfood Nourishing Mask — protein-sensitive hair
Side by side
Every trait, aligned
One row per trait, read from each product’s own ingredient list and record. A dash means we have not researched that field for that product — it is not a “no”.
- Dry, thirsty hairhumectants and emollients both sit up front
- Sun and colour fadea UV filter is in the list
- Cuticle-smoothing pHa pH adjuster brings it to the acidic range hair prefers
- Vegan and cruelty-freeour researched record has it as both
- Protein-sensitive hairthat stiffens when protein is added
- Maximum slipfor hair that tangles the moment it is wet
- Dry, thirsty hairhumectants and emollients both sit up front
- Coarse or dry hairthat absorbs everything you give it
- Scents bother youthis product carries a scent
- Curly-method routinesthese silicones need a detergent to remove
- Dry or very humid airwhere heavy humectants work against you
- Scents bother youthis product carries a scent
- Curly-method routinesthese silicones need a detergent to remove
- Oily scalp or fine hairthat gets weighed down
More facts about each one
- sulfate-free
- protein-free
Facts as we recorded them. A dash means we have not researched that field for that product — it is not a "no".
The bottom line
The bottom line depends on your hair
Which of these two suits you is a question about your hair, not about them. The consultation answers it — and tells you what your routine needs around it.
$49.00 once, for your consultation and hair profile. No subscription, no required purchases.
The detail behind the table
Where the readings above come from: the ingredient lists themselves, each brand’s claims checked against them, what owners report, and cost per ounce in context.
Shared and distinct ingredients
Shared and distinct ingredients
Computed from the ingredient lists as printed. "Shared" means both lists carry it; where it sits on each label is stated, because position is what tells you how much.
What both formulas carry
What only one of them carries
Flash Instant Shine Mask
- Glycerin
- Hydrolyzed Linseed Seed
- Vitis Vinifera (Red Vine) Leaf Extract
- Wine Extract
- Glycine Soja (Soybean) Germ Extract
- Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract
- Silicone Quaternium-8
Full ingredient list — Flash Instant Shine Mask (46)
-
1
Water
- solvent
-
2
Glycerin
- humectant
-
3
Hydrolyzed Linseed Seed
- botanical extract
- 4 Vitis Vinifera (Red Vine) Leaf Extract
-
5
Wine Extract
- botanical extract
-
6
Glycine Soja (Soybean) Germ Extract
- botanical extract
-
7
Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract
- botanical extract
- Below about this point, order stops being meaningful — these are typically used at 1% or less.
-
8
Hippophae Rhamnoides (Sea Buckthorn) Fruit Oil
- oil
- emollient
- antioxidant
-
9
Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ Extract
- botanical extract
-
10
Glycine
- amino acid
-
11
Alanine
- amino acid
-
12
Arginine
- amino acid
- humectant
-
13
Aspartic Acid
- amino acid
- pH adjuster
-
14
Histidine
- amino acid
-
15
Isoleucine
- amino acid
-
16
Phenylalanine
- amino acid
-
17
Proline
- amino acid
-
18
Serine
- amino acid
-
19
Threonine
- amino acid
-
20
Valine
- amino acid
-
21
Lactic Acid
- pH adjuster
- humectant
- exfoliant
-
22
Cetrimonium Chloride
- conditioning agent
- cleanser
-
23
Sodium PCA
- humectant
-
24
Sodium Lactate
- humectant
- pH adjuster
-
25
Sodium PCA
- humectant
-
26
Citric Acid
- pH adjuster
- hard-water chelator
-
27
Benzophenone-4
- UV filter
-
28
Lactobacillus Ferment
- preservative
- botanical extract
-
29
Calcium Gluconate
- hard-water chelator
- salt
-
30
Propylene Glycol
- humectant
- solvent
-
31
Polyquaternium-7
- conditioning agent
- film former
- polymer
-
32
Polyquaternium-10
- conditioning agent
- film former
- polymer
-
33
Cellulose
- thickener
- gum
-
34
Polysorbate 20
- solubilizer
- emulsifier
-
35
Propanediol
- humectant
- solvent
-
36
Silicone Quaternium-8
- silicone
- film former
- conditioning agent
-
37
Trideceth-10
- emulsifier
- solubilizer
-
38
Hydroxyethylcellulose
- gum
- thickener
- film former
-
39
Ethylhexylglycerin
- preservative
- emollient
-
40
Gluconolactone
- humectant
- exfoliant
- hard-water chelator
-
41
Sodium Acetate
- salt
- pH adjuster
-
42
Potassium Sorbate
- preservative
-
43
Sodium Benzoate
- preservative
-
44
Benzyl Alcohol
- preservative
- solvent
-
45
Phenoxyethanol
- preservative
-
46
Fragrance
- fragrance
- declared fragrance
Full ingredient list — Soulfood Nourishing Mask (20)
-
1
Water
- solvent
-
2
Cetearyl Alcohol
- fatty alcohol
- emollient
- thickener
-
3
Cetyl Alcohol
- fatty alcohol
- emollient
- thickener
-
4
Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil
- emollient
- light ester
- oil
- wax
-
5
Behentrimonium Chloride
- conditioning agent
- cleanser
-
6
Butylene Glycol
- humectant
- solvent
-
7
Dimethicone
- silicone
- emollient
- conditioning agent
- Below about this point, order stops being meaningful — these are typically used at 1% or less.
-
8
Hippophae Rhamnoides (Sea Buckthorn) Fruit Oil
- oil
- emollient
- antioxidant
-
9
Cetrimonium Chloride
- conditioning agent
- cleanser
-
10
Panthenol
- humectant
- conditioning agent
- vitamin
-
11
Tocopheryl Acetate
- antioxidant
- vitamin
-
12
Ethylhexylglycerin
- preservative
- emollient
-
13
Aminomethyl Propanol
- pH adjuster
-
14
Phenoxyethanol
- preservative
-
15
Isopropyl Alcohol
- drying alcohol
- solvent
-
16
Citric Acid
- pH adjuster
- hard-water chelator
-
17
Fragrance
- fragrance
- declared fragrance
-
18
Benzyl Benzoate
- fragrance
- named fragrance allergen
-
19
Hydroxycitronellal
- fragrance
- named fragrance allergen
-
20
Limonene
- fragrance
- named fragrance allergen
Claims check
What each brand says, against what each formula shows
Claims are quoted from each brand. We only mark one supported, partly supported, or conflicting when that product’s ingredient list actually speaks to it.
Flash Instant Shine Mask
This flash-acting mask delivers brilliant moisture and shine in just 60 seconds.
SupportedHelps hair feel hydrated.62% more shine when used with mirrorball shampoo (clinically tested)
Stated by brandOnly the brand’s testing shows this.
Soulfood Nourishing Mask
11.4x more moisturized hair (clinically proven after one use)
Stated by brandOnly the brand’s testing shows this.91% more manageability (clinically proven after one use)
Stated by brandOnly the brand’s testing shows this.#1 hair mask brand in the U.S. (Circana, LLC, Jan-Dec 2024)
Stated by brandPopularity, not performance.Restores lipids to enhance shine, manageability, softness and strength
SupportedEasier detangling, less breakage.
What owners say
What people report
Recurring themes our researchers wrote in their own words from sourced reviews. We do not store or scrape star ratings, and we never balance one product’s themes against another’s by inventing them.
Flash Instant Shine Mask
Several reviewers describe visible shine improvement from the very first use, treating it as an occasional 'best hair day' step rather than an everyday product.
repeat customers describing first-use resultsReviewers with fine, curly, or very long hair say the mask adds a strong salon-like shine without weighing hair down.
mixed hair-type reviewers on the brand's EU retail listingAt least one reviewer found it added gloss without meaningfully controlling frizz, needing a separate anti-frizz product on top.
a reviewer with frizz-prone hairSoulfood Nourishing Mask
Hair feels dramatically softer
Target.com customer review quote: "My hair has never been so soft" (reported after chemical damage)Overall high satisfaction on brand DTC site
loveamika.com aggregate rating disclosed: 4.9/5 stars across 3,137 reviewsScent praised
Target.com customer reviews repeatedly describe the scent as "amazing"Hair loss / return-process complaint
One Target.com customer review cited significant hair loss concerns and dissatisfaction with the return processPrice check
Cost per ounce, in context
Cost per ounce against every product of this type we have priced, each at the size it is most often sold in. Value labels are computed from that percentile and from how many products that do the same job cost less; they are comparisons, not judgements about a brand.
Flash Instant Shine Mask
Against 347 masks and treatments with a computable unit price.
Computed from cost per ounce against every product of this type we have priced, and from how many products that do the same job cost less. It is a comparison, not a judgement about the brand.
Compare with something else
Close formulas to each of these, as their own comparison pages.
Flash Instant Shine Mask · Soulfood Nourishing Mask · All masks and treatments in the library
How this page was made
- This page is assembled from the same researched records the individual product pages render: identity, each ingredient list as printed, each brand's own claims, dated price observations, and review themes written in our researchers' own words. Nothing on it is written per comparison.
- We do not rank these against each other. Which of them suits you depends on your hair, and that is what the consultation works out.
- The formula similarity percentage is a stored, precomputed number: position-weighted overlap of the two ingredient lists blended with agreement on the attributes we derive. It measures how alike two formulas are, not how well either works.
- The value band is a fixed label over two stored numbers: this product’s cost per ounce as a percentile of every product of this type we have priced, each at the size it is most often sold in, and how many products we score as doing the same job cost at least a quarter less per ounce.
- The "Is this right for you?" panel reads only your own consultation answers, and it applies exactly the filters our recommendation engine applies. It is computed when you load the page and is never stored on it.
- 8 sources were consulted across the products on this page.
- Ingredient order tells you relative amount only above roughly 1%. Prices are observations on the dates shown and change without notice. We do not sell these products and take no placement fees.
- This is cosmetic information, not medical advice, and nothing here diagnoses or treats a health condition.
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