Pantene Truly Natural Deep Conditioner

  First off, I will say Pantene makes me feel some kinda way the way they advertise. I had vowed not to buy their products, but this was pretty cheap and I never had an issue with Relaxed and Natural as far as performance. So I figured, what the heck?

Water, Stearyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Cetyl Alcohol, Bis Aminopropyl Dimethicone, Fragrance, Benzyl Alcohol, Disodium EDTA, Panthenol, Panthenyl Ethyl Ether, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone

As you can see, it looks just like the R&N but to me, it doesn't perform the same. I mean, it did ok. I can't say it's "horrible" but I have used better. 

The consistency is pretty thick, but honestly it's no thicker than any regular conditioner. I'm not sure why they call it a "deep" conditioner. 

First thing I noticed was my hair detangled quite easily. It wasn't super stretchy like it tends to get with Aussie and that's good because it wasn't snapping all over the place. I also noticed less shedding, breakage, and my hair wasn't rough on the bottom half. Which is a major plus! I was ready to call this a nice cheapie staple. 

BUT, after a couple of uses, my hair got harder and harder. It felt "strong", but very stiff and hard. I think it's the protein in it. And my course, low porosity hair does not accept protein in large amounts graciously. So what I've decided is to find a new regular conditioner (And I've hit the curly jackpot!!! ) and use this maybe every few months as a protein treatment. I think it will work better in that context. 

Next issue... This stuff just stinks to me. It smells like cheap, "black" hair care product and just smells bad in my hair. I'm not sure what big business thinks we enjoy smelling like, but they are missing the mark. For some reason they aren't seeing that we are just like other women. The differences are just superficial and we wanna smell like flowers and candy and junk too! LoL! But that's side stuff. 

All in all, it's not bad. I think it would be a moisture bomb and strengthener for finer haired curlies, but for me, that protein just killed it for me. I'd give this 3 stars out of 5, but hey it may be a 5 for someone out there. 

**I got mine at www.amazon.com it ran me around $3.50 with free shipping as an add on item. As with most of the items I review, I bought it with my own money- and if I DIDN'T my opinion would still be honest and all my own. :-)

~Jen

Aussie Instant Freeze Gel and Haul

Aunt Jackie's Product Review

Suave Almond & Shea Butter Conditioner

Ingredients: Water (Aqua) , Cetearyl Alcohol , Dimethicone , Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine , Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil (Sweet Almond) , Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) , Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice (Aloe Vera) , Cymbopogon Schoenanthus Oil (Lemongrass) , Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Oil (Rosemary) , Chamomilla Recutita Flower , Leaf Extract , Lavandula Angustifolia Flower Extract (Lavender) , Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil (Jojoba) , Behentrimonium Chloride , Fragrance , Dipropylene Glycol , Lactic Acid , Potassium Chloride , Amodimethicone , Disodium EDTA , DMDM Hydantoin , PEG-150 Distearate , PEG-7 Propylheptyl Ether , Cetrimonium Chloride , Methylchloroisothiazolinone , Methylisothiazolinone

Price: I paid $2.50, but it's probably $1.50-$2.00 at Walmart.

  OK. I do like this product. It smells pretty nice, and after a night of soaking in, it left my hair so.. SOOOOO... Soft!!!! It has very good slip and the moisture level was high the whole week. So in general I love this product....

  What I didn't like was the excess shedding I had after I uncovered my hair the next day. It wasn't like fists full of hair, but it was still pretty bad. I can't say the conditioner caused it, but I can't say it didn't. As you all know, my hair is pretty thin up top and I don't need to lose MORE hair. Also, it took a LOT of product for my hair. I mean, it took like 1/3 of the bottle and I still didn't feel like it was exactly enough. I am heavy with product, but I know when I'm using a lot. And that was a damn LOT.. LoL!! It may be the fact I'm use to Aussie, as that's all I've used since becoming a loose natural. Maybe I'm just only use to that one product. (Love it!!) So every other product has to stand up to it. Then again, I am suspecting my two Holy Grail products are causing excess shedding also, which is why I'm looking for new products to replace them. So I have to put Aussie on the shelf and give new stuff a chance. :p

ANYWAY, will I buy this product again? Well, maybe. I like most of the ingredients and it has loads of oils which most naturals like to add to products like this anyway. The smell is nice, it's moisturizing, makes my hair soft and is cheap. Honestly except for the shedding and the need to use so MUCH, it's a great product. I'd say this is a definite maybe. A solid maybe even. LoL! 

But first... More product testing.. :)

~J

KeraCare

I received free samples of KeraCare products at my request... I'm not being paid for this review.. :)



I just used some of my KeraCare samples and I... am.... FLOORED!! My hair is so defined and curly.. It is so much prettier than I could have ever guessed it could be! My curls are defined and awesome... Now it's still wet, so I'm in the no touch-y stage, but if it looks HALF as good as it does now, I'd say this product line is a winner for our hair. (Black hair)
I'd say my hair type is between 4a and 4b.. Maybe SOME 3c in there some where.. If there was a 3d that would probably be it too. So I do not have biracial hair.. So it's not a situation like I keep running into online with people who probably shouldn't have been relaxing their hair from the beginning saying this product is my holy grail!! And "My hair is that rough stuff." And I'm like.. "O.....K...." No, I got some REAL hair.. (My girl's name is "Rebel", that tells it all. She do what she wants, when she wants.. Just like the person who's head she's on!!LoL!) And I say, this product line is a WINNER!!
OK, what I used...


Cleansing Cream (Step 1)
Aussie Moist Conditioner (I'll explain why I felt I need to use this.)
Leave In (Step 2)
Defining Custard For Curls and Coils (Step 3)

I wet my hair like you normally do in the shower, and applied the Cleansing Cream.. Now, I'mma tell ya, I really don't like the smell of this stuff.. It is pretty natural I guess, but it reminds me of chemicals. It actually smells like Cream of Natures old shampoo. It's even pretty much the same colour. But it doesn't make my hair melt like that stuff use to.. Now, I'm not really a bit shampoo person anyway, Sulfate free or not. So I may just not like Shampoo. But it didn't really make my hair feel very... I don't know.. It just made it kinda squeeky.. I guess I kinda NEEDED it after the Long Aid stickiness.. That stuff HAD to come out.. It's great for moisture I guess, but for curl definition, you need too much and it stays too wet for 2011.. LoL! Still, the shampoo kinda felt like it was stripping too much away..
So I used the Aussie Moist, let it sit while I showered, then rinsed it mostly out..

Dead after that, I slathered on the Leave In... I mean SLATHERED.. Yeah, I had to rinse some out as it was just so white and I just was too heavy handed with it, BUT I noticed that even after I rinsed SOME of it out, my curls were already popping.. With the leave in ALONE, so I felt this might not be a bust after all.
I put a LITTLE coconut oil on my hair. Why? I don't know.. Just felt I needed to seal a little.
Then came the "shingling" with the Defining Custard. Now at first I was like "No I don't like it" because my hair felt a little rough while it was going on. It was like just styling gel in my mind, but I decided to apply it anyway. And when I saw the first curls, I was like "What the hell, give it a try." One thing I noticed is it looks like Kinky Curly Curling Custard. Or at least the pictures of the product I've seen. I mean colour and all. so I'm like OK.. I really don't like the smell still.. I mean, I could probably get use to it.. That is if it's still really nice once it DRIES.. That's the real test, so I'll know in about an hour maybe. But for now the results are wonderful.. BUT.... I do already feel a slight CRUNCH.. My hair is a little hard, but nothing I can't live with.

For photos click here..