Protein, Protein, Protein -- My Favorites!

Fine hair usually LURVES protein--and my hair is no exception. My hair loves any form of protein it can get in any way it arrives--in short I can hit it with major protein shots constantly and it never goes hard or straw like.

In honor of protein I thought I would post about my favorite products that have protein in them in high enough concentrations that my hair notices. A lot of products have protein--but for my hair, that needs a ton of it , I notice markedly more spiral curls and ringlet's the more protein I use. Animal, vegetable, whatever--my hair doesn't care--it wants it all! It is a glutton for this stuff!

Let's start off with protein treatments:

Nexxus Emergencee-- to say my hair adores this is a dramatic understatment. I use it in the shower at least 2x a week. I'll do my low poo and then use this and leave on for about 5 minutes (sometimes 10 if I'm shaving) and then rinse it out and use another rinse out conditioner left on for a couple of minutes. When I use this I am guaranteed spirals and ringlet's and tight curls. Links at the top.

Spiral Solutions Repairing Protein Treatment -- this is my other favorite protein treatment. The beauty of this one is that it can be used as a rinse out condish for me -- I don't need to add anything else! I really like this one with heat (usually on weekends) but I use it during the week too as both a rinse out and a leave in. I don't combine it with other protein heavy products because it is enough on its own. the smell on this one is divine--chocolate latte.

Curl Junkie Curl Fix -- I love the smell of this conditioner treatment. Although not solely a protein treatment it does have quite a few proteins in good concentrations. I like to use this about 2x a month with heat. This is how it works best for me. I've tried it as a leave in and my hair felt producty and got frizzy.









Moving on to rinse out conditioners that are heavy on the protein:

Hairveda Moist Condition PRO -- this is my favorite protein conditioner. Although short on ingredients this one really gets the job done with protein. It is not heavy so those with fine hair don't need to worry it will over condition you. You can use this as a leave in if you like -- works superbly for that as well. The cost is very reasonable although it can take a little while to get your product so order with plenty of time to spare.

Jasmines Shea Butter Conditioner -- Another excellent conditioner with protein. My hair likes this one as rinse out or leave in but I find it best as a rinse out. I think it's heavy enough to satisfy some of the more dry customers but not so heavy to make me flat and limp. Another good choice!

Tigi Catwalk Oatmeal and Honey Conditioner -- This one smells like cake batter or vanilla cookies. It's very thick and I find it very rich. I could not use it daily as I would end up over conditioned. It leaves my hair very soft. You can get this in litre size at Ulta's sale and my local grocery store (Von's) has it on sale quite frequently. If you prefer you can order it from amazons subscribe and save as that's another very inexpensive way to do it (this is the way I do it)--link on top left.

Jason Thin to Thick Conditioner -- although this smells like Grandpa's medicine cabinet in a very unappealing menthol way it really does work nice for those that like protein. You can get it on iherb for a good price (coupon code is at the top of my blog) or through vitacost or similar. I found it way too expensive in stores ($13!). Although it's not my favorite it does make my hair thicker, provide more volume, and get those spirals going due to the protein.

Mop C Hydrating Conditioner -- This is a very heavy conditioner. If your hair needs protein and loves a very rich, thick condish then give this one a try. We also like the Hydrating shampoo (it is protein free) but the condish is really moisturizing.

And, lastly, leave in options:

Terax Life Drops -- this is my top choice for a product specific to leave in's that has protein. It is fabulous and very light--will not weigh down your hair at all (in fact those that like a heavy leave in--this is not for you as its really light). It's not the cheapest product out there but it certainly rates very high for me. I love this stuff!

There are other options--I've chosen the ones I am most attached to and that I feel provide the level of protein that I require (high!). Leave a note if there is something else you found that you like! I'm also always happy to have guest bloggers so if any of you would like to post feel free!

Redken Soft Spin 05

Redken and I, well lets say we go waaayyy back. When I was in college I used to do hair modeling and hair shows for Redken as a way to get free cuts/color and pay for my books. For years Redken was all I used because I would be loaded down with the stuff after the shows. Interesting that they always did a blow out on me or cut my hair very short (think a couple of inches). I hadn't used Redken for years but when I saw a banner on the naturally curly website that offered a free sample I thought "hey, it's free!" and promptly put my information in.

Redken Soft Spin 05 is a curl enhancing gel for fine hair. Its thick and gloopy--think BRHG or Chi Infra Gel. It's a bit hard to distribute owing to its extreme gelliness. The best way is to rub it between your palms and smooth it in followed by some scrunching. Forget about raking this one--I tried that once and you could see the areas I missed OY!

The first time I used this I got VERY flat hair, a canopy that was straighter than a rule but very defined ringlet's on the bottom. I used my normal pea sized amount. "Well", I thought, "this just confirms that chemical laden store bought salon products do not work for me!" I usually try to use a product a couple of times to make sure I've given it a fair shot. I was a little prejudiced on this one--I really didn't want to use it again. However, rules are rules.

So I tried it again yesterday this time going full gusto on the amount used--about a quarter sized or large grape sized blob. Way more than usual. I used Curl Junkie Beauticurls Leave In then this and then topped with a little bit of ABBA Pure Finish Gel. WOWZA!!!! You would not believe the curls AND I HAVE SECOND DAY HAIR TODAY. I cannot believe it. Hairompliments abounded as I was out and about yesterday.

So I've changed my tune. I'm going to try this again a couple times but if it continues to WOW me it will be an HG.

Moral of the story: ALWAYS give something a couple tries before giving up!

TRESemme Conditioners -- A REAL blast from the past!

So before I went CG I used a lot of TRESemme. #1 it's cheap and #2 it's readily available #3 it worked pretty well #4 did I mention it was cheap?

Anyway when TRESemme announced it was coming out with new Silicone FREE conditioners --- well color me surprised. It won't be a surprise then that I rushed out to Ulta to pick them up when they were available.

I got both the Moisturizing and the Volumizing conditioners. We really like both! These are a great value for those who want an on ground option that is readily available AND who find things like Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition to be too heavy for their hair.

Moisturizing: This one has good slip and is very easy to distribute. We put it on and then combed through my daughter's hair. It worked very well--not as well as other onground options but certainly it was doable. It left her hair moisturized but that moisture did not last past day 2 without us adding other stuff--that's not terrible but we'll likely use this as the detangler and may use additional stuff after to add more conditioning power. We have some conditioners which are great for moisture but lack slip--this would be awesome to combine with them. We haven't tried this as a cowash for her and may do so next. If you have normal hair or even regular dry hair (and not the awful dry straw that we deal with on her head) then you will want to check this out. For me it worked very well--nearly the same as the Volume one except with less volume. I love that it does not weigh my hair down.

Volumizing: This is the ONLY conditioner with volume in the title I've found to do what it says. It does give volume and thickness. It's not heavy and it doesn't weigh my hair down.

Overall we are very pleased with these conditioners. For the price you are getting a pretty good deal. In terms of smell--well they smell like Tresemme products...it has never been my favorite smell and that gets reinforced even more for me now that I buy a lot of natural products. Store bought stuff always has this kind of chemically smell to me that is not the most appealing.

Be sure to rinse well as I found it took a little longer to rinse than with some of my other conditioners.

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.

On ground curl enhancers and definers

What are good on ground options for curl enhancement and definition?

I hear this question a lot and just today realized I had not blogged about any of these options. Although most of my products used for curl enhancement are from on line sources there are some on ground options that I've tried. Honestly the main thing that keeps me from staying with on ground products is usually the smell. I like more natural smells or smells that are sweet and woodsy--I tend not to like smells that are to me more chemically or strong. Plus I have a few allergies and usually if my nose isn't fond my hair and scalp won't be either.

In any case I have several online options that I absolutely love (Curl Junkie CCCC Lite, Amourai Organique Duchess of Curls, Spiral Solutions Curl Enhancing Jelly (HG!), Darcy's Botanicals Natural Coils Curling Jelly, and Donna Mira Mira Curl Curling Jelly. They tend to push aside the onground ones that I'm not as fond of--although they worked fine. Just to give a perspective.

Here are some options:

Redken Soft Spin 05: If you were lucky enough to score the full size bottle from Redken from the ad on naturallycurly.com you'll likely have tried this recently. I tried it--but it left my canopy straight. I may have used too much so I'll give it a go again. It has a strong smell (like most other on ground enhancers *sigh*) and several wavies are giving it the thumbs up. Generally I like Redken products--I did hair modeling for Redken as a way to pay for some of my college so I'm pretty familiar with their line (or I was, I'm old now lol!). I may try it mixed with something else and will udpate if I do. It's very sticky--like a gel--but the hold would be light at best. It did give me nice curls underneath but I just don't like that producty feel.

Ecostyler Krystal: This is a gel but has curl enhancing properties for many. It can be found all over the place including Sally's and CVS stores--I've also seen it at Walgreens. For my fine and thin hair it was too much--had a curl elongating effect. However for my coworkers beautiful long and medium to coarse hair it was phenomenal. At about $2-3 it's not a bad pick up and you're not out much if you don't like it. It can be used as a gel over a curl enhancing product as well. Ecostyler comes in many flavors so you can experiment a bit (with protein, olive oil, extra hold, etc)

Paul Mitchell Round Trip: This one does have a PEG modified cone in it (PEG 12 Dimethicone). It does give pretty nice enhancement. You can get it at BSS and Ulta and it may be available in some larger drug stores. It worked o.k. in my hair and the reason I swapped it was due to smell.

ISO Bouncy Creme: IIRC no cone in this one. Worked fine. Left my canopy fairly straight (that's not uncommon as it is normally pretty straight) but my Goddaughter loves it and her hair is gorgeous. Usually a BSS or Ulta purchase and it's not expensive. $8-10 or so usually for a nice sized bottle. Worth a try. Another smell issue for me.

Mop C Curl Defining Creme: I actually really like this one a lot. It is like minty Elmer's Glue but works great. It can build up so I wouldn't recommend a daily use but for one to two times a week it's a great product. You don't need too much--it can get producty if you do that. Expensive and available at many BSS. Ulta was having a clearance so I'm not sure they are carrying it anymore.

Alagio Curl Balm: Weird strange color. Worked decently. Smell wasn't too bad. Just not my favorite. Inexpensive. Available at Ulta but it's usually by the regular condish's and not in salon products so ask a salesperson to help if you can't find it.

New to CG methods? My 10 top picks for products to buy!

So you are new to the Curly Girl method? Confused by acronym's and wondering what on earth you should buy to begin the journey?

First I believe in KISS --especially in the beginning with CG where you are struggling with the transition to the CG method. Both you and your hair are likely frustrated. We can relate--we started there too!

It goes without saying that you need to read heavily--go visit the naturallycurly.com website or any of the blogs I link below as all have various amounts of information. The Live Curly Live Free website is a goldmine of information as is the blog by Jillipoo.

So here is what I recommend for you to purchase in the first weeks of going CG. Most will be on ground but I've thrown in a couple of recommendations for online purchases if you want to give that a try:

1. Suave Naturals or V05 Moisture Milks or similar for a co-wash. These are widely available and cheap. If you have medium to coarse hair stay with things that don't have a lot of protein in them (V05 or Suave is fine except the coconut)Cost: $1.25

2. LA Looks Sport Gel (LALSG): again cheap and widely available. If you can't find the Sports one then try LaBella or a generic (e.g. CVS) version of hard hold gel. Cost $2.00

3. Lustrasilk Cholesterol Conditioners--choose one of the three without cones (Olive Oil, Shea and Mango, or Organic with Argan Oil). At a price of $2.50 you can afford to pick up a couple. I vote for Olive Oil for Leave-in and either Shea Mango or the Organic for your DT's. Cost $2.50

4. A good conditioner. Giovanni and/or Trader Joe's conditioners: Depending on your hair type and scalp issues and if you have a TJ's around you. Choose the Tea Tree is you get itchy scalp or your preCG hair was oily/greasy. If your hair was pretty dry but not ultra frizzy and dry then I recommend the TJ Nourish or Refresh or the Giovanni 50/50. If you have really dry hair or want to do a couple of very moisturizing DT's then try Smooth as Silk by Giovanni. Your other option is the ones we use on my daughter--Garnier Fructis. The Triple Nutrition and the Sleek and Shine (fortifying Conditioners) are excellent choices for really dry hair or just normal to dry, cheap, and work great. They are reviewed on my blog so you can see what they look like. Cost $3-8

5. Any or all of the following hair accessories if you do not already own them: mini clips, bobby pins, ponytail holders, headbands, clips, barrette's, Flexi-8's, etc. You are likely going to put your hair up or back at some point. Inevitable. Make sure you have some products you can live with to do that. Trust me. You may also want to clip your hair to give it volume on top so clips can be a lifesaver. Hit up the Goody or Scunchi isle's in your local CVS, Target, Walmart, or Walgreen's.

6. A diffuser or hard hat dryer. Whichever floats your boat. Peeps with very thick and potential-poof hair might want a hard hat dryer (I use and love Ion Conditioning Hard Hat dryer from Sally's). I use a diffuser more often on my hair--check out the Conair attachments for regular dryer's available at Sally's as those work well and are cheap $5-8.

7. A towel or something that functions as one. Either a curl towel OR use old Hanes type undershirts or other tshirts or flour sack towels. You won't be using regular terry cloth towel's on your hair and you need something to get some water out.

8. Ingredients to either make your own Flax Seed Gel OR to do DT's and soothe your scalp: Honey, Coconut Oil, Flax Seeds, strainer, Avocado Oil, Jojoba Oil, Tea Tree Oil, eggs, mayonaisse, avocado and more. No you don't have to be a Mixtress to do this-it's easy and you'll like using what you have on hand to have beautiful hair! Recipes are all over the net and on naturallycurly.com on the Recipes board.

9. If you have coarser hair you may want to invest in some butters or cream's that are moisturizing. This is where you start to go online. I recommend something like Karen's Body Beautiful or Shescentit for your butters and creams. We've also used Ohm Avocado Custard and Oyin's whipped pudding to good effect. Just google them. If you are a finer haired wavy or curly I recommend investing in a good protein treatment. There are numerous options like Nexxus Emergencee, Apoghee (may have cones) or one of the online like Hairveda's Methi set or Curl Junkie's Curl Fix. In addition if you are a wavy you may want to invest in a low-poo because many wavies need to low poo--there are many to chose from including the Giovannie or Trader Joe's shampoo's, EO shampoo's, and others you can get from a health food store or drug/grocery store.

10. If you want a curl creme or gel (and trust me you will) then check out any of the following (mostly online but Whole Foods in states other than CA have some Kinky Curly products and you might find the AG and Mop products in a local BSS or salon):

Kinky Curly Curling Custard, Donna Marie Mira Curl Curling Jelly, Amourai Organique Duchess of Curls, AG Re:Coil, Jessicurl Rockin' Ringlet's and Confident Coils, Curl Junkie Curls in a Bottle, Coffee-Coco Curl Creme or Smoothing Gellee, or Mop C Curl Creme and Darcy's Botanical's Natural Coils Curling Jelly.

I've listed in order of importance IMHO. You can always use #1 as a rinse out conditioner as well until you figure out what your hair likes.

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!

Jessicurl Stylers

Rockin' Ringlet's and Confident Coils Styling Solution

These two products confound me. The first two times I used them I got amazing curls--it turned my wavy hair to curly hair and held all day. I used a different brand conditioner as a rinse out both of those times. I then used them after using Jessicurl Gentle Lather Shampoo and Aloeba Daily conditioner and they were a dismal failure--my hair was all stringlets that were oily and producty and weighed down.

So I went back to the other shampoo and conditioner and have yet to be able to recreate the love I originally had. It may be that the oils in the product are too heavy or it may be my hair reacting to the mag sulfate. I'm not really sure. Or my hair could have changed or possibly the weather. The latter is less likely as I'm in SoCal and our weather is incredibly consistent.

I have tried each one alone--and found they are better that way for me now than together. Still my hair tends to be very stringy and if I do not watch the amount of product it looks very oily--the wet look and feel is not a good look for my fine and thin hair.

I cannot use these on my daughter due to the mag sulfate. Her hair is too dry to handle that amount of this ingredient. I'm going to be trying them over Christmas break to see if I can determine amounts, combo's, and so on. Since I make my own FSG (Flax Seed Gel) and that works great I suspect I can get the RR to work for me if I try it in different pairings. The Confident Coils Styling Solution I'm not too sure about--there is not enough hold for me and I'm not sure how much curl enhancing I get.

So for now the jury's out on these two. I'm hanging on to them to see if I can play around a bit more.

Jessicurl Conditioners

Aloeba, Weekly Deep Treatment, and Too Shea!

I LOVE THEM ALL!

Each one of Jessicurl's conditioners are huge winners in our house.

Aloeba is more of a daily conditioner IMHO--in the Island Fantasy the scent lingers just a little all day--enough to smell when you turn your head. It was very conditioning to me and provided plenty of moisture. It goes on very smoothly and you'll have no problems squeezing it out of the bottle. It's a medium texture product.

Too Shea! Is a much heavier duty conditioner. It comes in a jar and not a bottle--which is good in some ways and not in others. I find that I love jar's as I can get the last of the product out and I can see how much I have left (plus) but sometimes in the shower unscrewing the cover and scooping product out is not the most convenient thing (cons). A little goes a long way with this conditioner--and it has worked very well on both my daughter's fine to coarse textured hair that is very thick and dry as well as my much finer and thinner hair that is normal and not excessively dry.

Weekly Deep Treatment is exactly what it says--for use weekly as a DT--preferably with heat. I actually find the Too Shea to be as moisturizing as this one but either works fine. It's properties are much like Too Shea except it is a *little* thicker. As far as slip we found it sufficient to detangle my daughter's hair. We like to leave this in her hair overnight or for several hours with a towel wrapped around for the best benefit.

Again the scent's are up to you and we love the Island Fantasy one. You can see that the difference between the WDT (left pic above) and Too Shea! (right pic above) is very slight--with the WDT looking a bit thicker. They act almost the same on our hair.

Huge thumbs up for these conditioners! They are worth your time to order online!