Deva Deva Deva -- Love, Hate, Love, Eh, Hate, what???

Most Curly girls and guys know that the mother of the curly girl method is Lorraine Massey who wrote the Curly Girl book. She was the one who started it all.

She also developed a line of products called DEVA. There are two kinds of Deva--DevaCurl and DevaCare. My understanding is that the Care products are for processed or color treated hair. She has a few other products like shampoo/condish for blondes, redheads, etc but I haven't tried them.

She's also spawned her own trademarked DevaCut for stylists that is a specific method for cutting curly hair.

I've had a few questions on why I haven't mentioned Deva products or Devacuts. I think the title of the blog post says it all.


To start I have had two "DevaCuts" from two different stylists. The first was a local stylist and came highly recommended. She was o.k.---nothing super special. Then I got a cut from Tiffany of "Live Curly Live Free" fame (her blog is linked on the side for you) and it was FABO--simply awesome. Overall I'd say there is a benefit to a Deva Cut (or dry cut) since they can see how your curls lay when they are cutting. Since I can't go to Florida to Tiffany's regular salon (I lucked out and had her cut my hair on a roadshow to CA) I'm still looking for that perfect stylist. One thing: Because of the way Devacuts and styles are done it is *possible* that you will end up with way less curl than you normally have if you let them style your hair. Don't worry--you'll get to restyle when you get home. I think it comes from using the bonnet dryer (gives me straight hair) and the fact that there is minimal scrunching. Or for me that seems why.

On to Deva products

DevaCurl No-Poo

I do not like the smell of this. I guess it is supposed to be roses but really it's just kind of, well, icky. Strong. And it lllliinnnnggggeerrrrsss fffoooorrreevveeerrrrrrr. Get the drift?

It does a good job cleaning and is heavy enough so that I don't have to use a rinse out conditioner if I don't want to. I do find that it leaves my hair with some sort of "coating" no matter how much I rinse. I'm not keen on that. If I mix Deva products I will end up with dry hair so I usually try to use only one at a time. This I didn't find drying. It's not a repurchase for me.

DevaCurl One-C conditioner

 I LOVE LOVE LOVE the smell of this. Like lemony sweet tarts. I sometimes just pick up the bottle to smell it. Yes I'm weird. I like how this goes on my hair and it is easy to distribute. You don't have to use too much. I find it pretty conditioning but occasionally it seems like it is drying my hair out. I've no idea why. It is an occasional use product. Not sure yet if I'd repurchase since I have so much other stuff I love.

DevaCare Low-Poo

We like this at my house. It works well and it does not strip my daughter's hair but leaves it pretty well moisturized for a shampoo. The smell is o.k. I'm not keen on the whole orange creamsicle smell of the DevaCare products but we can live with it. It works as well with both my son and I. We don't encounter the dryness from this poo that others seem to.

Deva Set It Free:

For the life of me I do not see the draw of this outside of a curl emergency. Everytime I use it all that happens is that my hair sticks together (or my hands do if I put it on my hands first) and its gunky. It also seems to attract every speck of dust and dirt in the atmosphere to deposit on my hair. Reserved for a Code Blue situation ONLY.
Deva MirrorCurl: Another ish. Just ish.

Deva Set Up and Above: While this gave me shine it turns out I'm horribly allergic to it. I have not yet identified the substance inside that is causing this but I gave it away real quick when the hives showed up.

DevaCare ArcAngell: Made my hair drier than the Sahara. Took a week to get it back to normal. Unbelievably awful experience. Could not get rid of it fast enough.

DevaCurl Angell: Seems like this is the one they always want to use on me when I get a haircut. I'm not fond although its not as drying as the ArcAngell stuff. It just does not have enough hold for me and I end up with barely any wave.

So there you have it. My love to hate relationship with Deva. The end.

P.S. I only put pics of the products I still have.