Styler / Volumizer, polymer-set
Add it to your products. We’ll tell you if it’s ever recalled.
Scent:
The ingredient list declares fragrance. What it smells of is not stated, and we do not guess.
Manufacturer page: us.phyto.com
Personal fit
Complete the consultation to see how well this product fits your hair and your goals. With 6,000+ products in our library, we can match you to the right ones.
$49 with 60 days of follow-up questions and plan updates
$99 with 12 months. Pay once; the year renews only if you choose.
The rest of what your plan weighs on this product.
The consultation builds your hair profile, checks every factor in this table against it, and tells you where this product fits or what to use instead.
Start your consultation$49 once, with 60 days of follow-up questions and plan updates. Nothing renews, and you never have to buy a product.
Your avoid-list
Priced with its peers
$3.48/oz at 5.07 oz, less than 74% of the 143 volumizers , which mostly run $3.31–9.38/oz. The cost less.
Great for
Maybe skip if
What the formula actually does
Each row says where it comes from: F means we derived it from this product’s own ingredient list, S means it is a claim the brand makes that the formula neither confirms nor contradicts.
Synthetic hold polymers, the firmest kind of hold.
Film formers with little to soften them, so expect a cast to scrunch out.
Water-first and light: unlikely to flatten fine hair.
No absorbent powders or starches.
No oils or butters in the list.
Fast-drying alcohol in the first three ingredients.
Nothing here needs a detergent wash to remove.
Fragrance is in the first eight ingredients, so it makes up a larger share of the formula.
Ingredients that matter
The workhorse ingredients, plus anything lower down that changes a decision. The chips name what an ingredient does. They are not safety scores, and no ingredient here is rated good or bad on its own.
| Ingredient | What it does | Why it matters | Chip |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alcohol Denat.Alcohol Denat | drying alcohol | Sets the style fast, which is also why it can feel dry | Drying |
| WaterAqua / Water / Eau | solvent | The base everything else is dissolved in | Neutral |
| VP/VA Copolymer | film former | Lays down the film that holds a shape | Holds |
| FragranceParfum / Fragrance | fragrance | The scent | Fragrance |
| Vinyl Caprolactam/VP/Dimethylaminoethyl Methacrylate Copolymer | film former | A supporting film former | Holds |
| Propylene Glycol | humectant | Adds a little water-binding | Moisturizes |
| Panthenol | humectant | Adds a little water-binding | Detangles |
| Sodium Benzoate | preservative | Keeps the product from spoiling | Stabilizes |
In the US, ingredients above 1% are listed from most to least. Below 1% they can appear in any order. Each note keeps three things apart: what the ingredient generally does, its role in this type of product, and what its position can tell you.
Fast-drying alcohol used to make sprays set quickly. In leave-on products it can leave hair feeling dry, especially in high position on the list.
Listed in the first three ingredients, it is likely a structural part of this formula.
Evaporates on contact, which is how a spray sets almost instantly and leaves no weight behind it.
Porous hair gives water up easily as it is; a fast-evaporating solvent high on the list accelerates that.
It evaporates quickly and takes some water with it. On hair already short of moisture, a formula built on a lot of it can finish drier than it started.
The base of almost every rinse-off and cream hair product. It carries everything else and is normally the first ingredient on the label.
Listed in the first three ingredients, it is likely a structural part of this formula.
A hold polymer that dries to a clear film. It sets the style and washes out with water.
Listed in the first three ingredients, it is likely a structural part of this formula.
A set polymer film is a physical barrier to humidity, so a style keeps its shape longer in damp conditions.
Synthetic film formers dry into a continuous film, which is what holds a shape against movement and against humid air.
Some acrylate copolymers rinse with water and some need a detergent; the label alone does not say which one a formula used.
An undisclosed blend of scent ingredients. Regulations let it stay unlisted, so a fragrance-free product is the only way to be certain what is not in it.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
Declared fragrance. On a fragrance-sensitive routine this is the line that decides it, wherever it sits on the label.
A hold polymer that sets with flexibility and washes out with water.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
A set polymer film is a physical barrier to humidity, so a style keeps its shape longer in damp conditions.
Synthetic film formers dry into a continuous film, which is what holds a shape against movement and against humid air.
Some acrylate copolymers rinse with water and some need a detergent; the label alone does not say which one a formula used.
A small humectant and solvent that keeps formulas stable and helps active ingredients spread.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
Light and water-binding rather than oily, so it adds less weight than oils or butters do.
A small water-binding solvent. It holds moisture and helps the rest of the formula spread evenly over the strand.
A humectant follows the air: it holds water in humid conditions and can give it up in very dry ones. Climate decides what it does more than the label does.
Provitamin B5. It draws in water and penetrates the strand a little, which is why it is the standard ingredient for softness and shine claims.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
It hydrates without adding oil or a film, which is the combination fine hair usually needs.
Deposits a lubricating layer that makes combing easier, which is most of what stops mechanical damage adding to frizz.
A humectant that also penetrates the cuticle, so it holds water inside the strand rather than only on the surface.
A food-grade preservative that works only in acidic formulas, which is why it usually appears alongside citric acid.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
Used to bring the product to a slightly acidic pH, which helps the cuticle lie flat. It is almost always near the end of the list.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
Holds hard-water minerals in solution so they rinse away instead of depositing on the hair.
The acid side of pH adjustment, and the reason it matters is measured: alkaline formulas raise the fibre's surface negative charge, increase friction between strands and lift the scales, while lower-pH ones do the reverse.
Where a warm cast comes from water minerals rather than from the hair itself, holding those metals in solution is what removes it.
A sugar-based humectant that adds moisture and a slight cushiony feel.
It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.
High-porosity hair loses water fast; a humectant holds some of it in place for longer than the wash itself would.
Binds water into the outer layers of the strand, and water is what makes dry hair flexible again rather than brittle.
A humectant moves water in whichever direction the air allows: it holds moisture in humid conditions and can pull it back out of hair in very dry ones.
Ingredient list captured 2026-09-17. Formulas change, so check the package in your hand when an ingredient matters to you.
Price · 5.07 oz
Priced above the products that do the same job. Stores sell it above the $5 line; products that do this job typically go for about $14 at this size.
Sizes
The 5.07 oz costs the least per ounce, 26% less than the 5.9 oz.
5.07 ozusual store sizeBest per ounce
5.9 oz
Sorted by price per ounce. Dated observations from our research, not live prices. Direct store pages, no affiliate links. We don’t sell this product. and 1 listing we don’t count, from grey-market or unverified sellers.
Formula
Nothing separates this from the middle of the range for volumizers, on formula or on cost per ounce.
The formula score measures completeness for the job: a weighted share of the systems this product type is usually built around that we find in this list. It does not rate how well the product works or its quality, and it never compares across product types.
Does the same job, for less
Formulas that do the same things (cleanse, condition, coat or hold) for less per ounce. Scent, texture and where you buy them can still differ.
See more alternatives in the product library
These products do a similar job. We haven’t matched them to you. Find the one that fits your hair, routine and budget
Final decision
Hair that stiffens on protein, for a protein-free formula and a curly-method-compatible formula
Worth skipping for anyone sensitive to fragrance, very dry or high-damage hair, or anyone who will not scrunch out a cast
Consider Suave Max Hold Non-Aerosol Hairspray, for similar results at a lower price
We do not sell products or take placement fees. This page states what the formula and the prices show; the consultation is what matches it to a person.
Claims check
Claims are quoted from the brand. We mark a claim supported, partly supported or conflicting only when the ingredient list speaks to it. Everything else stays "stated by the brand". That isn’t a criticism: most claims can’t be checked from a label.
VOLUMIZING WATERLILY EXTRACT Formulated with a waterlily extract which gives hair body and volume from the roots.
It reads light on the strand, which is what volume claims depend on.
Leaves room for lift.
WHITE MALLOW EXTRACT Our white mallow extract brings twice the shine to the fibre*. *tests on strands
Nothing in the list reads as a shine system.
—
Can’t be confirmed from label.
We look at the first 10–15 ingredients and what they do in a formula, not at the marketing. If the list doesn't speak to a claim, we don't assume.
Reviewers
Themes that come up again and again in sourced reviews, written by our researchers in their own words. We don’t store or scrape star ratings.
Fine hair gains volume and thickness appearance without sticky residue or weight.
fine hair
