Honma Tokyo Coffee Premium Mask Step 2 (150ml) is the second of the three Coffee Premium steps, the Intensive Reconstructive Mask. It follows the Deep Cleaning Shampoo and hands over to the Ultra Shine Mask. It is a rinse-out mask: it goes on hair dried thoroughly, strand by strand, stays on for 20 minutes and is rinsed out completely. The same step comes in 1000 ml as the Coffee Premium Step 2 (1000ml).

What the ingredient list shows

It is a conditioning cream: water first, then Cetrimonium Chloride and Cetearyl Alcohol, the classic base of a rinse-out mask. Mineral oil, shea butter, Polyquaternium-7 and Dimethicone are the entries that coat the lengths until the rinse. The coffee of the line name is on the list as Coffea Arabica Seed Extract. What the stylist controls is everything around the cream: how dry the hair is, how fine the sections are, and how evenly the comb carries it.

Key ingredients

From the complete ingredient list

• Cetrimonium Chloride: a cationic conditioning agent, 2nd on the list, right after water.
• Butyrosernum Parki Butter: shea butter, 5th.
• Polyquaternium-7: a conditioning polymer, 6th.
• Mel Extract: honey extract, 8th.
• Coffea Arabica Seed Extract: coffee seed extract, 9th.
• Panthenol: a humectant, 10th.

Complete list: Aqua, Cetrimonium Chloride, Cetearyl Alcohol, Paraffinum Liquidum, Butyrosernum Parki Butter, Polyquaternium-7, Parfum, Mel Extract, Coffea Arabica Seed Extract, Panthenol, Propylene Glycol, Dimethicone, Phenoxyethanol, Hydroxypropylcellulose.

Who it is for

• Salons running the Coffee Premium service in its three steps, with this as the second
• Professional use, as stated on the bottle
• Salons working from the Coffee Premium Kit 3x150ml that need step 2 on its own
• Stylists who want a timed rinse-out step on dry, sectioned hair

Who it is not for

• Anyone hypersensitive to any component of the formula, as stated in the precautions
• Anyone who needs a vegan product: Mel Extract, a honey extract, is on the list
• Anyone looking for a leave-in: it is rinsed out completely before the next step

Professional tip

This step is decided at application, not at the rinse. Dry the hair right through, take fine sub-sections, hold the root margin and comb every section through before you start the timer. Water left in the hair or a section you missed cannot be put right later in the step.

How to apply the mask

The directions on the bottle are in English and Spanish. Method A is the English as printed; Method B is how we would work it in the chair. The shampoo before it and the mask after it follow their own bottles.

Method A: the manufacturer's directions

1. After washing your hair with the Coffee Premium Keratin Deep Cleaning Shampoo, dry thoroughly, and part the hair into 4.
2. Apply the Coffee Premium Keratin Intensive Reconstructive Mask strand by strand up to 1 cm from the roots, aligning the strands with a fine comb.
3. Leave for 20 minutes.
4. Rinse off well until the product has been completely removed.
5. Remove excess water with a towel and apply the Coffee Premium Keratin Ultra Shine Mask.

Method B: salon practice

Salon practice, not a step printed on the pack.

1. Start with the shampoo, as the directions open.
2. Dry right through before you apply anything: water left in the lengths spreads the mask unevenly.
3. Part as Method A says, then take fine sub-sections and work up from the nape, so strand by strand is true on a full head.
4. Start each strand at the printed distance from the roots and hold that margin all the way round.
5. Comb each section through with a fine-toothed comb so every strand carries an even film, and take off the excess.
6. Start the timer once the whole head is coated, so the first section is not the only one timed.
7. Rinse section by section, lengths and ends, until the hair no longer feels coated.
8. Blot with a towel, do not rub, then go directly to the last step.
9. Wear gloves: ordinary salon handling for a mask worked through by hand.

Where it fits in the Honma Tokyo Coffee Premium range

This bottle is the second of three Coffee Premium steps, and all three come together in the Coffee Premium Kit 3x150ml. In 1000 ml, the same step is the Coffee Premium Step 2 (1000ml) and the first and last steps are the Coffee Premium Support Duo. The last step alone is the Coffee Premium Mask Step 3 (1000ml). Everything is on the Honma Tokyo Coffee Premium page.