More OnGround conditioners with shampoos

On Ground conditioners part 2!

Here are some more conditioners that are available on ground. You may have to hit up Sally's, Marshall's/TJMaxx, health food store like Whole Foods or your local beauty supply store for these.


Healthy Sexy Hair Pumpkin Conditioner: We love this conditioner! It has been discontinued so those of you who want some jet into your local TJ Maxx and Marshall's to see if they have any left. It smells like pumpkin and fall and has no protein. It's moisturizing and can be used as a rinse out or leave in. One of the few that works well either way. It's medium thickness and has o.k. slip--if you get tons of tangles though I can't say this will help you get them all out. It didn't for my daughter. I love products that are unique and this one is certainly that!

Mop C Mixed Greens Conditioner: We love how this condish works. It is protein free and really does a great job at imparting moisture to my daughter's hair. Most of the ingredients are organic. It's a little pricier option but it works fabulously. You don't need the amount of conditioner you do with something like a cheaper condish so that's helpful at least. I must say we are not fond of the smell--it's a bit gaggy--nature/herb type.

EO Sweet Orange and Honey conditioner: I got this at Marshall's and it seems to come in two versions--Sweet Orange and Sweet Orange and Honey. There is a difference in the ingredients. The SOH one seems more like what I'd seen at Whole Foods with the Chamomile and Honey. This condish has protein and BTMS. It has very good slip and is really moisturizing. When you put it in your hair it almost seems to expand and feel foamy. It leaves your hair incredibly soft. For my son this is his favorite conditioner as he loves the sweet orange essential oil smell and it leaves his hair softer than any other conditioner. Given it is about $9 for a big bottle at Marshall's this really should be a condish in your arsenal if you can find it. There are other EO conditioners available at Marshall's but we haven't tried them--the ingredients are all similar. Word of warning: For some reason the Coconut conditioner has cones in it so just stay away from that one!

Terax Life Drops: This is a unique leave-in conditioner. The smell is VERY sweet and it's very thin and opaque. It is FULL of protein. I love this leave-in! It is not heavy and gives my hair a nice protein boost which, in turn, activates more curls. Highly recommended! It is VERY pricey but a little goes a long way and I feel it is worth it!

Aubrey Organics GPB and various other assorted conditioners: The only AO condish we use regularly is GPB. I love the smell. All of the AO conditioners are very thick and smell like herbs of one sort or another. We tried and swapped several others including Honeysuckle Rose and White Camellia along with Island Naturals. The HSR gave T build up--not good. Neither of us liked the smells of the other two WC and IN--to be honest we found the smells overpowering and they lingered f-o-r-e-v-e-r in our hair! There is a LOT of love for the AOHSR on both naturallycurly.com and the LongHairCareForums (LHCF) as well so these are probably ones you should pick up right away to test out.

Taliah Waajid Enhancing Herbal Conditioner: This can be had pretty widely and in many states at CVS pharmacy. It smells like Pina Colada but I find it kind of a fake and overpowering smell. It works well enough but after several uses both T and I thought our hair had some residue or something. It is very moisturizing but we prefer many of our other conditioners.

There are also a few shampoo's we've used and like OnGround so I thought I'd mention them:

Healthy Sexy Hair Chocolate Soymilk is very chocolate smelling as you would expect. It cleans very well--and leans towards very good cleaning (not necessarily stripped but not as moisturizing as other SLS/ALS free poo's). My son loves this shampoo and we use it regularly on his hair.

For my daughter's hair the HSH CS was a bit too stripping (remember her hair is VERY dry) so we instead use the Mop C Hydrating Shampoo--this smells sweet and has a thick consistency. It is very moisturizing but clean's well. Non stripping it is a blend of organic ingredients. As you can see by the bottle you do not need alot. This is used when we do my daughter's hair and we've had it almost 2 months and we haven't used tons of it. So although it's expensive it is another case where a little goes a long way.

OnGround Conditioners

I suspect this will be a long post. I'm including all the conditioners that we have and use that are available on ground. As always your location may have all, some, or none of them. You may also find them cheaper online. However I think the majority can be found in a city and thus are good choices for either someone new to the CG method, someone on a budget or someone that goes through a LOT of product (like my daughter!)

These are NOT listed in order of preference.

Garnier Fructis: We LOVE the Triple Nutrition Fortifying Cream Conditioner (GFTN) and the Sleek and Shine Fortifying Cream Conditioner (GFSS). Both do an oustanding job of moisturizing my daughter's very very dry hair that is thick and picky. The GFTN has more oils and provides more slip for her in the shower. It is a bit thinner and has a more yellow color to it. The GFSS is thicker and white and does provide slip but not as much as its sister GFTN. We use both as a leave-in frequently. They do an excellent job with getting her hair to be not frizzy and not flyaway. They're relatively cheap (especially since there are often sales at the stores for these!) and you can get a big size for under $6-7 or so. VERY highly recommended!

If you prefer a bit higher end product (used to be available only in Salon's but now most major drugstores and chain's carry it including grocery stores) I can recommend Tigi Catwalk Oatmeal & Honey Conditioner for fine or medium haired peeps who like protein. It smells delicious like cake batter or sugar cookies. The Tigi Moisture Maniac conditioner works well for those folks who don't want protein but do require some slip. It is citrus like in smell and a bit thinner than the Catwalk one. Both of these we found to be very moisturizing. Neither work well for us as leave-in's so they are relegated to the rinse out category only. I do not think they would work well for co-wash conditioners and they are quite expensive to wash down the drain but you could sure try :)

Loreal Vive Pro Nutri Gloss for Medium to Long Hair that's Curly/Wavy. This is the only one I know of without cones in it. This is getting pretty hard to find although I can find it at Ulta and Rite-Aid here in CA. MANY like this conditioner. It does have some protein. For my family we were not overly fond of it. I could not stand the smell. Now I use it for my henna and amla treatments because the scent is SO STRONG it will get that natural herb smell out of your hair very well.

V05 conditioners: We use these exclusively for co-washing only. They are cheap and work excellently for cowashing. The smells are fine. Cheap. They are thinner than Suave so they work better than Suave for my daughters cowash as her hair is so thick it's hard to get all the way down to her scalp.

Suave Naturals: SOME of these worked very well for co-wash conditioners. The Strawberry and the Coconut one were fine for us. The Tangerine one is awful. These are the base cheap conditioners that most CG'ers use for cowashing. I do not find them anything special but they do the job. I myself did not find that these had enough good conditioning power to use as a rinse out. And did I mention they are cheap?

Inecto Coconut Conditioner: This smells really good. It's a bit thinner in consistency. It does a good job on our hair. It's not my favorite but it is one of the more inexpensive condish's that is available at Ulta.

Aura Cherry Almond Bark Conditioner: This one is available at Sally's. It is moisturizing. It has a strong smell that you will either love or hate. It doesn't have protein so is a good option for the more medium to coarse haired wavies whose hair cannot handle the daily protein shots in most conditioners. Sally often has sales for the product 2 for $10. It comes in a tube which is great for getting it out and easy to use in the shower.


Giovanni makes several conditioners most all of which we've tried and several of which we love. In particular we love the Tea Tree conditioner. I like the Root 66 Volume conditioner as well. We did not love the Smooth as Silk or 50/50 as much as the aforementioned two. All are good for rinse out and can be left in. The Tea Tree is great is your hair is at all oily or you have an itchy scalp. I'm not sure the Root 66 condish gave me more volume--although it does smell really good. All are widely available and a great option for when you are a week or two into CG and starting to explore your product options. Watch or BOGO sales. I will say the ONLY thing I HATE about these conditioners are the bottles. Whoever designed these should be shot. You ALWAYS have to shake the conditioner to get it out and then it goes flying all over the place since the cover isn't strong enough. Terrible form and function. Great conditioners.

Although not widely know some of the BEST on ground conditioners are the Yes To products. The Yes To Carrots has a cone and is not CG but both the Yes To Cucumbers (condish and leave in) as well as the Yes To Tomatoes do not have cones. ALL are moisturizing. The YTT is a bit smelly--like old grandma smelly--and it does linger a bit. The YT Cukes has a better smell IMHO and does not linger. You can sometimes find them on sale. Neither has protein so for those who don't want protein these would be my top picks. They are full of vegetable's--which seems odd to me--but they work very well as a daily rinse out. I found the YT Tomatoes to be more moisturizing than the YT Cukes. They are really thick.

Gels you can get OnGround

This post is dedicated to onground gels!

There are really a wide variety of gels you can find at your local discount, grocery, or drugstore. Many will perform very well for you. I must confess that my favorite gels in this category are Biosilk Rock Hard Gelee affectionately known as BRHG and ABBA Pure Finish Gel. BRHG is one of the hardest holding gel's I've ever used and it never fails me! If you are looking for outstanding hold for all day curls and waves you owe it to yourself to pick this up. Yes yes I know it's not exactly cheap but you don't need a ton and it is well worth the cost. The ABBA Gel is almost as hard a hold and it works just as well and the benefit is that it does not leave your hair producty. I generally use the BRHG when I'm using products that do NOT contain a lot of aloe and I'll pick up and use the ABBA if the product has a lot of aloe vera in it. It might be my imagination but I actually think products that have alot of aloe vera in them (like Duchess of Curls) seem to work better with ABBA instead of BRHG. I also weigh in what I've used as a leave-in because BRHG can be producty looking and feeling with some leave-in's and curl enhancers whereas the ABBA tends to make my hair stringier if I have not used leave-in. Lately I've been using the ABBA more often even though it has a cone--because that residue (you know the one you have to pick off when you open BRHG and haven't used it for a while) plastic shell thing is gross.

Next on the list would be LA Looks Sport Gel also known as LALSG. This is a very respectable gel that has a pretty hard hold. It's ultra cheap and widely available. Also, according to both my kids, the smell is out of this world good--me myself I don't think it's anything special but they LOVE it. It is sticky going on. The smell doesn't linger. For a new CG'er I recommend try this product first--if it works you are set!

If you have an Ulta near you I recommend (highly!) checking out Artec Texturline Volumizing Gel. It's more of a medium hold gel and it's very liquidy. Can't say I love the smell and it does linger. It mixes very well with other things and is perfect when you've used a curl creme or enhancer that has some hold where a harder holding gel would just be too much. It's light and does not weigh down fine and thin hair. A top pick!

Those with a CVS or Whole Food or natural foods store may be able to pick up a couple of the Giovanni gels: More Body Hair Thickener and LA Natural Styling gel. Of the two the LA Natural has way more hold--I use the More Body one more as a curl enhancer (and it does enhance them a bit for me). The LA Natural does not have as hard a hold as BRHG but it's got more than enough for most hair unless your hair falls easily.

Moving along if neither of the above works for you I recommend checking out the Got2B Spiked Up Gel. It's also blue (sidenote: what is IT with blue gel's?). This is very hard holding like BRHG and LALSG. The smell is fine--bit plasticky. The reason this one doesn't rate higher for me is that it is picky--it is producty if you use too much. And it's noticeable--it doesn't just "feel" icky it LOOKS icky. It's cheap and you can find it on BOGO occasionally at places like Walgreens and CVS.

EcoStyler Krystal Gel and Proclaim Crystal Ice performed the exact same way in my hair. Good. A bit producty. Of the two the ecostyler weighed my hair down way more--I ended up with barely wavy hair. I've observed the Ecostyler works very well for my co-workers that have medium to coarse and thick hair. The Proclaim (available at Sally's) seems to work better for fine hair. The smell on the Proclaim is VERY Grandma like--which is why it's at the bottom of the list for me. Sorry for no pic of the Ecostyler--I gave it to the thick and medium/coarse wavy in my office and it works good for her!

Lastly you have the Aura Rosemary Mint. Just Ugh. Very little hold and smells herbally. If you like a very light hold you might want to try this--I picked it up on clearance at our local BSS for about $2

Trader Joes Shampoos and Conditioners

Early on in our CG journey I headed over to Trader Joe's to get some of their famous conditioners and shampoo's. The Tea Tree is still a standby for us and all 3 of us use it when our scalp is feeling a bit itchy or we feel like our hair or scalp is greasy or oily.

They are very close to the Giovanni products. We've used the Trader Joe's Refresh, Nourish and Tea Tree condish's and the Tea Tree and Refresh shampoo. The only ones of the three I've kept are the Tea Tree--I gave the others away. Although a lot of folks swear by them we just were not that impressed. Hence I'm only posting up pictures of the Tea Tree as it's the only set I still have!

Nourish: This reminded me of the Giovanni conditioners (I think it is designed to be like them) and while the condish was o.k. it just didn't impress me enough to keep it around.

Refresh: For some reason I just did not care for the smell of this. Even though I like more citrus scents this one just was kind of blah. And it didn't work that great. So it went to live at another house where, by all accounts, it is getting the attention it deserves.

Tea Tree: AHA. These are the ones we keep around all the time. They are always in the shower and we all 3 pick them up frequently as noted above. They are very cheap and work really well for those with itchy scalp or those who have just started the Curly Girl journey who find that their scalp or hair is greasy, limp, or oily.

As with other inexpensive on ground products you could probably get 1 of each of these conditioners and shampoo's for under $20. Certainly worth checking out!

Lustrasilk Conditioners OnGround

There are 3 Lustrasilk Cholesterol Conditioners that are CG and that do not contain Mineral Oil. These are nice products in the very inexpensive category.

We've had wonderful luck with all of them except for finding them locally--but I include this review in the OnGround products because most will be able to find them either at Sally's or a local Beauty Supply Store and even grocery/discount stores.

Olive Oil Cholesterol: By the instructions this really is a leave in conditioner. That is exactly how it performs well for me--as a leave-in. I tried it as a rinse out and I didn't like it--my hair did not feel moisturized at all. It has a very artificial scent but it doesn't linger. It is fairly thick and comes in a big tub. You do not need to use much but I did find even if I was a little heavy handed my hair adjusted just fine. It is a heavier leave in and I do better with it in lower dews and/or in conditions for us that are Santa Ana like--dry with winds that tend to just cause all the moisture to leech out of your hair.

Shea Mango Cholesterol: Both my daughter and I use this as a Deep Treatment and as a regular rinse out conditioner. I LOVE the smell and the texture REALLY reminds me of mashed mango's! It goes on very easily but we did not find it had a ton of slip so I'm not sure I can recommend it for detangling. It did impart some serious moisture to our hair with or without heat--that is critical because you may not have heat or not want to take the time to use it. An excellent value for your dollar!

Organic Cholesterol with Argan Oil: Of the three this one was the most moisturizing for my daughter's very thirsty curls. It does a nice job of detangling as well with adequate slip for most people. The smell is VERY artificial to us--not too pleasing but the good thing is it really does fade quickly. It is very thick (more so than the Shea Mango) and works exceptionally well with heat. This one really made my daughter's hair smooth.

Overall you would be hard pressed to find a better value for your money. While there are those for whom the Lustrasilk does not work it would appear based on posts at naturallycurly.com that these work for a great number of people. Plus even if they don't you really won't be out much more than a couple of dollars--and you can always give them away to co-workers or relatives!

Hairveda Moist Condition Pro

Hairveda MCP -- How do I love thee? Let me count thy ways

1. As a fabulous rinse out conditioner that leaves my hair spiral'ing in the shower

2. As an oustanding leave-in that gives my hair the protein it loves without weighing it down

3. As a Deep Treatment (DT) with some heat applied to leave my wurls all moisturized and bouncy

This is my favorite conditioner. Don't let the looks deceive you -- this Plain Jane looking bottle hides a real workhorse of a conditioner inside. It leaves my hair moisturized but not over conditioned. I don't look for slip in a conditioner because my hair does not tangle. I look for a condish that "grips" my hair so that I can get the curls to hold. If a conditioner makes my hair too soft it will pull out all my curl -- leaving me with barely wavy hair.

At about $8 for 16oz the price will leave you smiling as well. This can take a little while to get after you order since they make it up for you so patience is the key. While you're over there shopping you might want to give a try to some of their other products like the SitriNillah Deep Conditioner , CoCasta Shikakai Oil , and Amala Shampoo and Cream Rinse. The picture in my Piki up top of the blog is with Hairveda Moist Condition Pro and Darcy's Botanical's Natural Coils Curling Jelly. Best. Hair. Day. Ever.

Look for reviews on other Hairveda products in the near future. I only have samples of several of them so will wait until I get the full size to do a full review. I can tell you that I currently love all those I mentioned above. Great smell, great price, great ladies over there at HV.

www.hairveda.com

Nuff' said.

Amourai Organique

I've used 4 products from the A.O. line and have liked 3 of them!

Silver Spoon Shampoo: This is a SLS and paraben free shampoo. It's a goldish/yellow and smells lightly of mint (spear or pepper I can't tell which). It's quite gloopy, almost like a jelly, and it jiggles in the container (so it's kind of fun to watch LOL). This shampoo left my hair clean but it felt kind of stripped--as if I'd pulled quite a lot of moisture out along with the dirt and pollution. After I finished my hair had that telltale very squeaky clean sound. It has protein so those who are protein sensitive might want to be judicious with use. I will use it again but it is not a daily product for me. This is an excellent poo to use when you've had oil or some other substance in your hair overnight in a DT.

Knight in Shining Armour Hair Mask: At first I didn't care too much for this. It has the same type of lavender-minty smell as Duchess of Curls. This conditioner is paraben free--for many who are looking for a condish without paraben this is one you should try. Although it says it is a hair mask (to me this = Deep Treatment) I found it's best use to be a leave-in. Since it has protein and coconut, both things my hair loves, it did a great job as a light leave-in. I have not tried this with heat applied for a DT so perhaps it is better that way.

Royal Revive Liquid Moisturizer: This product just did not cut the mustard on either my hair or my daughter's. In my hair it didn't really do much except create an oily mess and for my daughter she could not get past the smell and the fact that it left her hair sticky. Although I genuinely like the rest of the line I've tried this one is not a repurchase. If your hair can handle oils and you like a more herbal smell you could certainly give this product a try.

Duchess of Curls:

THE BEST FOR LAST.

This is a HG (Holy Grail!) styling product. When I use it I am virtually guaranteed great curls that have volume and body. DOC works equally well on my more ringlet prone underneath hair as well as my straighter canopy. IMHO it is really user friendly as I've used widely varying amounts and never had a hot mess. It seems like it also imparts a bit of moisture to your hair.

This is not a heavy product--it does not weigh your hair down. For us fine haired wavies and curlies that is outstanding--as many curl creme's and gel's can be too heavy and we end up with limp and lifeless waves.

Overall this is a nice line. The names are very cute as are the packaging designs. My son enjoyed the "Knight" mask as he likes Knights and Castles and such. It states that the ingredients are organic--which goes a long way to justifying the fairly steep price tag since most products are at least $11 for 8 oz. The owner responds to questions very quickly and the site (at this time) offers free shipping if you spend $36 or more. That's a really good deal. I have not yet tried all the products but other than the mist we've been pretty happy with what we've used so far.

www.luvamourai.com