The Aquis Hair Towel Completely Saved My Hair Color From Fading

Luckily for both my hair color and my emotional state, I discovered Aquis a few months into this ongoing catastrophe. The brand is known for their hair towels and turbans—I prefer the latter as they loop around your head and fasten shut, staying securely put as you go about your daily routine. As someone who typically gets her towels from the dorm section at Target, I raised an eyebrow at the $30 price tag, which led to me extensively grill founder Britta Cox about its properties.

Cox calls the fabric "Aquitex"—it's a synthetic woven material with ultra-fine channels that quickly draw water in at the point of contact. Compared with textured cotton towels, the fibers are much smaller and finer, actively wicking water away without causing friction. It also lacks the tiny loops you see on both cotton and quick-drying microfiber towels. These are great for grabbing dust, but can also snag on your hair cuticles and cause frizz, particularly when they're wet.

"I was going to the ski [trade] shows where I saw all the first wicking fabrics as they came to market," explains Cox, who formerly worked with Italian skiwear brand Colmar and discovered an unexpected source of inspiration. "I found the company in Japan that invented the first wicking fabrics and worked with them to make a towel." From a close-up standpoint, the use of moisture-absorbing channels in the place of loops encourages the hair cuticle to lay flat, which cuts down on frizz, breakage, and color loss.

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I explain all of this in minute detail so you can have a better appreciation for how it works in practice. Aquis' towels take my hair from dripping-wet to damp in five to 10 minutes, but I find that they also make it dry much smoother and shinier. There's no rubbing necessary with these—something you should avoid doing anyway, as the friction leads to damage—just sandwich your hair and press gently or (in the case of the turban), wrap it up. If I want to coax out my natural waves, I lightly scrunch sections at the end of the process.