De Ja Vous Conditioner January 11, 2009

 

Nu Yawk!

It’s snowing today here in NYC, a beautiful thing if you’re home huddled under the covers and your fridge and cabinets are stocked with your favorite goodies…yum! So with zero reason to set food outside until the start of the work week Monday,  I decided to evoke a clearance raid on my host of conditioners, those that work, and weed out the ones that don’t, and boy, I really didn’t have far to stretch! 

 

For me it was again discouraging to find a product I’d purchased in the past, used it, then later on down the line realize it was my own lack of knowledge that led me to buy it in the first place.  

Over the summer I delved into this whole ‘everything that has coconut milk in it is the best darn thing out there!’ But…eh…live and learn I guess.

 Alba’s Coconut Milk Extra-Rich Hair Conditioner had promise but always failed to deliver when I used it on two or three occasions last summer, and the reason was discovered today.  While the enriching properties are no doubt coconut milk, a bit of aloe and tropical oils, the seventh ingredient from the top is Dimethicone, one of the cones I’ve traced back to many products that left my hair dry and stringy after three-day old hair.  The smell of this is…my god it’s as if you stepped onto the island of Barbados! And, shame…I’m sure that was what sealed the deal for me.  Who doesn’t want their hair smelling like their fantasy getaway, especially during the summer!

So while the smell effectively wooed me, it’s a shame that we have to part ways because of it’s damaging gunk. No doubt it’s thick, rich, uses 100% vegetarian ingredients…but  it has virtually no slip or detangling properties…perhaps it works best on 1a-3a hair…? Dunno.  Basically what it claims to do it didn’t for my hair, which is moisturize the crap out of my 3c-4a hair! C’est la vie!

But alas, when you live and learn you get new conditioner! And I did three weeks ago when I found a Jojoba based conditioner I thought would be great as a co-wash.

MillCreek Botanicals has a great line of conditioners with nourishing properties made to repair and strengthen hair! Most conditioners that do claim to repair, renew, and strengthen often times carry protein, and indeed most of their conditioners do, so protein sensitive curly-heads might sway away from this one or perhaps use it as a monthly deep condition.  

The second ingredient is Jojoba Oil, a HUGE plus in my column, and everything after that is sweetness including the organic aloe vera gel, vitamins & organic essential oils! The consistency is thick & rich, hardly any slip, BUT oddly enough I had no problem detangling with my wide-toothed comb! An added bonus was surprisingly the price…@ $6.99, a good thing for my budget, which also makes me eager to try the Aloe Vera Conditioner along with the Henna shampoo:-) 

Giovanni Direct Leave-In January 8, 2009

When it comes to curly hair there are indeed three elements or products typically necessary to acheive any respective look. 

1. A nourishing PH balanced conditioner

2. A moisturizing leave in conditioner

3. A versatile styling product.

All three are important, and for some curlyheads/naturals one more so than the other.  I find that my emphasis lately has been primarily with finding a solid leave in conditioner to set up my styling process.  Several folks on the haircare boards have suggested the uber popular (organic) Giovanni Direct Leave-in conditioner!

I have to admit though, I tried this on a reallllly lazy day of not really feeling what I refer to as ‘the process’.  A couple weeks back I set aside an afternoon to style my hair for work the next morning and all I remember was bitching and moaning in front of my mirror.  I was a bit out of sorts I guess you could say, even though I was trying a new product…something that usually leaves me excited with anticipation!

I ended up using the leave-in after a light conditioning and twisting it onto slightly damp hair.  I made several medium-large size twists after detangling with a wide tooth comb. I pincurled the ends with bobby pins, let it air dry for a bit and went to bed peeved.

Unraveling my hair the next morning was….well it wasn’t altogether horrible.  After unraveling the twists, I noticed most if not all were a bit frizzy and not relatively moisturized.  I ended up pinning the hair up with half a dozen pins, smoothing the front with gel and utilizing one of my hair bands.  This was pretty much the look for a good half week before I sucked it up and started ‘the process’ over again.

I say all that to say, I like the product…lol! Irony I know, but the error does fall on me this time.  Going over my usual steps I could’ve predicted what the end result would be.  First, I failed to condition properly (my minimum condi.time is 30min.),  + my hair turns out best when I section it into into smaller twists while adding the right amount of product, and last but not least….I desperately needed a trim!! When my hair is in dire need of a trim it has a distinct way of letting me know….basically by not behaving. 

This leave in is also quite light, letting me know that because of the density of my hair I should layer it with something else.  Instincts tell me if I add more to compensate for the amount of hair I have, my hair will feel overly saturated.  The ingredients are fabulous though!!  It’s an organic product, a factor I’ve been trying to add into my decision making these days.

I guess the jury is still out on this one though.  I clipped my ends last week so I’m pretty positive I could get different results the next go round.  So it’s a keeper for now.