This will be my first product review EVER on my blog...seems a little strange to me but whatever! First let me say that I buy my products with my own money...and I buy a LOT of products to try with my hair. I am a product junkie, and though now I'm a bit more selective of what I buy, I still have the urge to try different combinations. I wouldn't say I have a HG (Holy Grail) product as of this moment, but I would say just about everything I've tried from Karen's Body Beautiful and Darcy's Botanicals has worked for my hair type (and I'll do a post on hair type later, as well as a review for the aforementioned product lines) Right now I want to talk about shampoo and conditioner...you can't style without having a good foundation, and that's the purpose of these products.
When I first became a "healthy" natural, or you could better describe it as a "conscious" natural, back in 2009 I adopted the "no poo" method. This involved using conditioner to essentially replace shampoo for washing your hair. It worked well for me, and even though I was using a phenomenal shampoo (Graham Webb) it was not right for wearing my hair in it's natural state. I found my hair flourishing under the co-wash method, and I would add about 1 - 1 1/2 tbsp of baking soda to the conditioner if I needed some extra clarifying. I used several conditioners for this method, but I always found myself going back to my cheapie Suave coconut conditioner. I did try Elucence back in the gap and I loved it, but I didn't love the price...it was kinda expensive for my blood but I gave it a shot.
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| Moisture Benefits Shampoo |
Fast forward to Sept 6, 2011 and I'm trying the Elucence Moisture Benefits Shampoo and the Elucence Moisture Balancing Conditioner. I purchased these during a sale at CurlMart.com (they're based in Austin, so if your in the area you can buy online and pick up at their office!) I had already begun thinking I need to try a good shampoo, and by good I mean one without harsh chemicals. After doing the protein treatment and using Suave Clarifying shampoo I did not like that "shampooey" feeling one bit. Luckily I didn't get anything like that from the Elucence Moisture Benefits Shampoo. In fact, my hair felt like it was getting a co-wash! Talk about moisturizing!! First of all, the smell is fantastic! It's fresh, peachy in a not overwhelming sense, and light enough that I kinda questioned myself whether I was really smelling peach daiquiri or not (don't judge me, but that's one of the best smells in the world to me, but I can't stand actual peaches anymore...go figure!) And it doesn't take a lot of product to get the rich lather that I think I missed from shampoo. This shampoo is concentrated so a heavy hand is not necessary. I actually was able to detangle with this shampoo with was amazing to me, because I would NEVER attempt to detangle with a shampoo...that's asking for trouble with my hair. I shampooed twice, and rinsed, and my hair felt like I had just finished with a deep treatment. Yes, it felt good! I don't know if the pics would do it justice, maybe if I had some FEEL-O-VISION then y'all could understand how happy I was. I almost didn't want to follow up with the conditioner, but I knew it could only get better from here.
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| Moisture Balancing Conditioner |
The Moisture Balancing Conditioner is awesome. There's just not another way to put it. It does everything that I could ask a conditioner to do...although I wouldn't use it to solely as my detangling conditioner just because it's on the expensive side. I will say though, that between the shampoo and conditioner I was able to detangle just fine without using excessive amounts of product. I had my hair in 4 sections, and detangled within each section while leaving the others twisted until I got done. Don't be afraid to section your hair more than 4 parts, normally I'll part each section again when I'm detangling, but with the big Denman brush, baby, it was all good!! The back two I detangled with a new comb & my shower comb, the front two I detangled with the Denman, while I had shampoo in my hair. When I got ready to comb through the conditioner, the front was was a breeze, but I hit the back again with the Denman and it was like POW!! So I think I'm in love with the Denman D83 :) Back to the conditioner --> It's got a nice light fragrance, not perfumey, and compliments the shampoo well. I left it on for about 20 minutes with a plastic cap to get the full effect. I can definitely use this as a deep treatment because it's kinda thick, but manageable. Rinsing was probably my favorite part, I guess it's just something about the cool water running through my hair, but I can really feel how soft my was, and how smooth the hair felt. (On a side note, I could really feel the difference of my hair pre and post protein treatment. I felt that my hair was way smoother, stronger, and had more give during detangling instead of snapping or breaking. If you're having problems with breakage I'd definitely give it a shot, but be warned as it is a professional product and you need to follow the directions!)
When I was done washing and conditioning, I didn't feel the need to add product to my hair. Strange, huh? My hair was shiny, silky, and the curls were clumping like nobody's business! I was kinda shocked, so I only added a smidge of moisturizer after twisting into 4 chunky twists. My hair was STILL soft when I took down the twists to dust my ends, all I needed was a spritz of water and a dab of Darcy's Botanicals Peach Kernel Hydrating Milk and I was in business. I'll try to make that my next post for all y'all DIYers :)
Post Shampoo, sorry I didn't get any pics of the lather but it was very rich! A little truly does go a long way.
With the conditioner in, enjoying a nice clay mud mask while I deep condition ;)
After conditioner with NO PRODUCT in my hair...curls are popping and the shine is on like #POW
Chunky twist, untwisted; only added a dab of DB PKHM & sealed with JBCO
VERDICT
If you're looking for a truly moisturizing shampoo & conditioner, not just ones claiming to be, look no further than Elucence. This combination has my hair feeling oh so right...naturals, y'all know what I mean when I say my hair was feeling "right" right?!? I was already a fan of the conditioner, but now I know I have to keep the shampoo in stock too!
Moisture Benefits Shampoo is $6.00 for 10 oz, $12.00 for a liter
Moisture Balancing Conditioner is $8.00 for 10 oz, $20.00 for a liter
Have any of you tried Elucence? What's your favorite shampoo/conditioner combo?
Lisa Michelle :)
