Review of Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl & Style Milk

$9.99

Ingredients: Nucifera (Coconut) Oil*, Isopropyl Myristate, Sugar Starch, Silk Protein, EssenQal Oil Blend, Melia Azadirachta (Neem) Seed Oil, Caprylyl glycol, Sorbitol Esters, Algae Extract, Hyssopus Officinalis Extract, Salvia Officinalis (Sage) Leaf and Equisetum Arvense Extract, Daucus Carota SaQva (Carrot) Seed Oil, Lonicera Caprifolium (Honeysuckle) Flower (and) Lonicera Japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle) Flower Extract, Tocopherol (Vitamin E).

Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl & Style Conditioning Milk - 8 oz. is certified organic and works on thick, curly hair. It can't be purchased at Walgreens or Target for $9.99. The texture is creamy and smooth. It's comparable to Carol's Daughter, Hair Milk The Original Curl Definer, 10-Ounce. The smell is very coconutty. I like it but I can see how others might not.  It "detangles, conditions and controls curl, while restoring body and shine."

Instructions: Apply as a no-rinse protective and styling cream to damped towel-dried hair as needed.

I co-washed my hair last night with Suave Naturals Juicy Green Apple Conditioner by Suave, 15 Ounce. While my hair was soaking wet, I applied Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl & Style Conditioning Milk - 8 oz. generously from root to tip. I finger detangled my hair as I applied the product.  It was OK as a detangler. Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Restorative conditioner - 12 oz. detangles better.  After application, I two-strand twisted my hair into about 10 strands. I untwisted my hair in the morning. My hair felt soft but not that moisturized.  It's probably best to not use this product by itself.  My hair looked good enough for me to walk out of the door but I don't think that it was moisturizing enough. It's very light and would probably work better on finer hair.

My hair looked fine. Side note: While, I was twisting my hair last night, I noticed that my ends felt lifeless and damaged. If my hair looks slightly shorter, then that's because I gave myself a trim.  I cut off about an inch and my hair feels so much better now.  As I was trimming, I discovered why my ends felt the way that they did. I HAD A BAZILLION SINGLE STRAND KNOTS on the ends of my hair.  Were they the result of the Curly Girl Method because I've never noticed them before? Or maybe I just needed a trim because I haven't had one in almost a year. If anybody knows how to prevent these knots, please let me know.  I may try to two-strand twist my hair for a while in order to protect my hair from these evils knots.

Anyway, Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl & Style Conditioning Milk - 8 oz. was okay. I wouldn't use it as my primary moisturizer but maybe as a daily moisturizer to refresh my hair. I definitely liked it better than the Carol's Daughter Hair Milk and it seems light enough to use in my daughter's hair. It helps that it's also cheaper than the Carol's Daughter, Hair Milk The Original Curl Definer, 10-Ounce. Basically, if you like the Carol's Daughter Hair Milk, then you will like this product. 

Check Me Out My Big Chop on Hairscapades

This has been posted a little while ago but I thought that I should link it here. Here's my Big Chop Hairstory. http://hairscapades.com/2012/05/29/the-big-chop-toyas-hairstory/.

Adding Hibiscus Petal Powder to Henna

According to avurnaturalbeauty.com, "Hibiscus promotes hair growth, stops hairfall, gives hair a healthy luster with bounce, and delays premature graying."  It's works great by itself as a hair rinse or when added to henna, hibiscus has been known to boost red tones and aid in faster dye release. I decided to try it for the benefits. Originally, I wanted to order a pack from avurnaturalbeauty.com for $5.00 but they were sold out at the time. Instead, I bought a 2oz pack from Ebay for less than $2. www.avurnaturalbeauty.com is more reputable and has been used by other bloggers like Elle from Quest for the Perfect Curl. 

I did my usually henna routine. I boiled 4 packs of green tea for an hour (which is not necessarily needed because the hibiscus provides the same effect).  I mixed in 2oz of hibiscus petal powder with Jamila Henna Powder 3.5oz (100g) and the boiled green tea.  I bought several boxes of Jamila Henna from Amazon but note that the Jamila with the crop date on it is considered to be higher quality.

I let the henna sit for two hours and mixed in 2 tablespoons of honey right before application.  The color of the mix was much darker than normal. After application, I left the henna and hibiscus in my hair for about 7 1/2 hours.  I washed my hair with Suave Naturals Juicy Green Apple Conditioner by Suave, 15 Ounce twice.  It was fairly easy to wash out.  Then I left Carol's Daughter, Tui Hair Smoothie, 8-Ounce in my hair for an hour and washed it out.  My hair felt the same wet. I applied Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Restorative conditioner - 12 oz. from root to tip and two-strand twisted my hair. 

After two days, I took the twists down.

My hair felt very dry afterwards. Dryer than usual.  I applied the Dabur Vatika Enriched Coconut Hair Oil twice a day to counteract the dryness.  That is some good stuff.  I purchased mine from Amazon for around $6. The only positive difference is that my hair seemed to be more elongated.  Overall, I don't think that I'll add hibiscus petal flower to my henna again. It has worked for plenty other naturals but I don't know if it's the type that I purchased or if I used too much (if that's even possible).  Godrej Nupur Mehendi Powder 9 Herbs Blend, 150-gram, which already has the hibiscus and other conditioning herbs added, is something that I'm going to try and see if that works better for my hair. In fact, I've already ordered a pack so look out for that post...

Kinky Curly Curling Custard VS Eco Styler Gel

$30

$3

                 

      
            VS







Sorry, I've been on hiatus for a little while because a few things have happened. Hey, that's life. The important thing is that I'm back now and I have a great deal of catching up to do. As you guys know, I've been practicing the Curly Girl Method for a little over a month now. At first, I was doing it without gel but I've noticed that my hair lasts longer if I do use gel. Both Kinky Curly Curling Custard 16 oz and the Eco Styler Gel with Argan Oil work on my hair but produce slightly different results.

With the Kinky Curly Curling Custard 16 oz and the Eco Styler Gel, I did my normal Curly Girl Method routine. I co- washed with Suave Naturals Juicy Green Apple Conditioner by Suave, 15 Ounce. I like the Suave Naturals Conditioner better than the Tresemme 24 Hour Body Conditioner which I also use because I feel like it cleans my scalp better. Then, I applied Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Restorative conditioner - 12 oz. and raked the product through my hair from root to tip.  Once it was evenly distributed throughout my hair, I did the same thing with the gels.  I raked the gels evenly through the hair. I did several small sections at a time. The smaller the section the better it looks. After application, I just let the hair air dry.

Kinky Curling Custard Pros:

• A little goes a long way
• Smells good
• Elongates my curls
• Makes my hair feel soft and conditioned

Kinky Curling Custard Cons:

• Too expensive
• Starts to flake after 4 or 5 days

Eco Styler Gel with Argan Oil Pros:

• Very affordable
• A little goes a long way
• Doesn't flake
• Can re-apply to hair without flaking

Eco Styler Gel with Argan Oil Cons:

• Can be very drying
• Horrible shrinkage

Below, I have pictures of the results from using each gel.

Eco Styler Gel

Eco Styler Gel

Kinky Curly Curling Custard

 

Kinky Curly Curling Custard

You can see the difference in the pictures. I prefer to use Kinky Curly Curling Custard 16 oz because it elongates my curls and makes my hair feel the best. Once I run out of this jar, I don't know if I will purchased another one due to the price. When that time comes, I want to try Shea Moisture Organic Coconut & Hibiscus Curling Soufflé! (gel)because it's only $10.The Kinky Curly Curling Custard 16 oz has won this round. I'm so glad that I've found a way to use that $30 jar.  It doesn't work well with the Knot Today. I don't think that it's moisturizing enough for my hair.  Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Restorative conditioner - 12 oz. seems to be a suitable replacement. There you have it, folks!