In becoming fully natural, I found new reasons to try some hair products. So I bought a BUNCH throughout August. I realized I need products for curly hair now that I'm natural and may actually be able to tell if they do anything to enhance my (teeny tiny kinky) curls. I will give quick first impressions on the things that I've tried already. Without further ado, here's my massive ridiculous hair product (I'm definitely a junkie) haul...
Collective photo of what I thought was going to be all of the hair products I would buy. I was WRONG!
I got these headbands from Burlington Coat factory for $2.99 and $3.99 a piece. There is one gold and one tarnished silver two layer studded headband, a tarnished silver chain headband and a silver two layer headband with a black plastic flower with a crystal in the middle. I only like buying metal headbands because plastic ones break (my head's too big). Since I don't like wearing my hair straight T.W.A. out, I am always wearing some type of headband, and I can never have enough.
Dark and Lovely Au Naturale Anti Shrinkage Knot Out Conditioner and Dr. Miracle's Daily Moisturizing Lotion: I basically got these for free from CVS because I had CVS extracare card extrabucks that I needed to spend. I am saving the conditioner for if I ever get knots or matts, and I just got the Dr. Miracle's because it was cheap and it will be useful for the heavy duty winter moisturizing routine that I will be starting in order to avoid any hair damage (like I got last winter). Oh I will be P.O.P.ping and L.O.C.ing, spinning and flipping and whatever else is necessary to avoid the damage I got last winter (yes I am traumatized for life, see my transitioning length checks
here and
here for the horror that was my damaged hair).
Lustrasilk Curl Max Twisty Curly Spray and Curl Pudding: I used these two products one time so far, together on freshly washed damp hair. I didn't really notice a difference in my curl but I didn't get super frizzy once my hair was dry. A downfall is that the curl pudding leaves some white residue if you put too much on, but uh, just don't put too much on! One good thing is that my curls definitely stay soft using these products, the argan oil in their recipe probably help with that. When my hair is longer and the curls are more visible, then maybe I'll be able to tell more specifically what else this product does for my hair.
Cantu Shea Butter for Natural Hair Moisturizing Curl Activator Cream and Coconut Curling Cream: I also used these two together on freshly washed damp hair. They work similarly to the Lustrasilk Curl Max products as far as I can tell, but I like the texture of them better, they feel creamy as opposed to Curl Max's liquidy lotion feeling. But I still got the same results as Curl Max, saw no drastic curl formations, hair was very moisturized, got white residue because I always end up putting too much on. I should mention though that the white residue from both brand of products is not serious, no emergency hair wash is necessary, you can just dust any visible residue out of your hair easily.
With Curl Max, I chose their curl spray and curl pudding, with Cantu I got two different curl creams. Both creams seem similar in texture and smell. They likely work the same way and therefore don't need to be used together (like I did). Again, I'll try to get a better review on these products when I get more hair and can see more curls other that those on the front part of my head (darn this twa).
Tresemme Naturals Moisture (with aloe vera & avocado extracts) and Smooth (
with coconut oil & jojoba extract) Conditioners, and Alberto VO5 Moisture Milks Conditioner in Passion Fruit Smoothie and Strawberries & Cream: I got all these for cheap with Rite Aid rewards bucks, I just wanted them for cheap co-washes since I've heard many naturals rave about them. So far I've only used the Strawberry VO5, it works fine.
Hawaiin Silky Miracle Worker 14 in 1 and Do Any Way You Want It: I haven't used these together yet, but I had the 14 in 1 a few years ago and still remember how soft and moisturized it made my hair.
Palmer's Olive Oil Formula Moisturizing Hair Milk and Hair Pudding: I used both of these products on my freshly washed damp hair. I like this pair the best out of the 3 that I've tried. Not because I noticed anything spectacular, but because of it's ingredients (no mineral oil or petroleum). The hair milk is a lotion and the pudding is like a creamy green gel. I feel like this had the most hold of all 3 but it was a soft hold, my hair was moisturized all week with just the one application of product!
Hollywood Beauty Tea Tree Creme: I got this again with CVS extrabucks, so it was basically free. I plan to use it as the creme for winter time L.O.C. method-ness. It was only $3 and change, and is a bonus size with 40% more! I love Hollywood Beauty products so I figured I'd try this creme.
Organix Hydrating Teatree Mint Shampoo and Conditioner: I had this set a few years ago and liked it, so since it was on sale for buy one get one free at Rite Aid (keep a lookout in the ads because BOGO happens fairly often) and the store happened to have these 50% more free bottles, I got the set.
Marc Anthony Strictly Curls Stretch and Styling Foam: This brand was also buy one get one free at Rite Aid and I saw this Stretch stuff that supposedly loosens tight curls and wanted to try it (eventually). I got the Foam to try too since it's a different type of product to try. I have other Marc Anthony products that I like (curl lotion, curl cream, split end sealer, straight lotion, straight blow dry serum) so I was interested in trying other products from the brand.
Organix Argan Oil & Shea Butter Curl Enhancing Yogurt: I saw that Organix had this new product for curls during the BOGO free at Rite Aid, and had to get it. I haven't tried this yet but I'm really hoping this product is good since I love Organix shampoos and conditioners (I've tried almost every flavor).
Curls Coconut Curlada Conditioner and Curly Q's Red Velvet Moisturizing Curl Cream: They were on sale at Target and I have 2 Curls products that I like already (Creme Brulee and the moisturizing spray) so I picked these. The Red Velvet is likely the kids line's Creme Brulee, but is like $1 cheaper. The conditioner has a free sample of Creme Brulee (yay, the more the merrier). I haven't tried these yet.
- EcoStyler Olive Oil Gel
- Organics Olive Oil Twist & Loc
- Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Girls Hair Pudding
- Elasta QP Olive Oil & Mango Butter Curl Defining Pudding
I actually got these in July but thought I'd show you anyway. These were the first batches of curls pudding type products I bought. I later wanted to start getting more sets (multiple products from the same line) as you can see with all of the sets of two products in a brand that I purchased above. The Elasta QP is a set as well because I already had the Leave In Conditioner (or Moisturizer whichever is the one in the same size package as the pudding), so I can use them together.
PHEW. That's all the hair stuff I bought in August (and the last bit in July). I'm officially retiring from buying hair products for a few years, unless I end up loving something I currently have and feel the need to keep using that same product (which is highly unlikely). You may be thinking, Doris, that's not even enough stuff to last you a few years. Ah contraire! This August haul is only to be added on to all the hair products that I already have accumulated. I'll do a post later exposing my ridiculous amounts of hair products and what possessed me to buy them all.
***1.5 month natural!
