Hair Products for the (Maybe Not So) Young

 Recently, my hair (like my body and brain) has been going off-script. It has been unmanageable, drier than usual, and just doing all the crazy...

I took a look at the products I use regularly and decided that it might be time to switch things up. The problem with that is finding a good brand of products that is also affordable and regularly available. By sheer luck, I found a brand that I am falling in love with. The products work and, praise the Lord, they are all very affordable. 

The brand is So Cozy. I found them via their curl leave-in product. I looked at a bunch of different brands but kept coming back to the SC brand because of the ingredients and the fact that the products are USA-made.

Once I used the leave-in, I took a look at the shampoo, conditioner, and detangler. All are affordable, all with good ingredients, and all are effective. Perfect. Here's a quick take on what I've tried:

 Curl Shampoo (Ultra-Hydrating Cleanser)

My concern was that this would not be cleansing enough. As an adult, I use grease and oils on my scalp and hair. Would this shampoo be able to cleanse those products? Actually, it was able to do the job. As with any shampoo, I use a scalp massager and maybe that helped. I do know that my hair was really clean without being dried out. (I wonder if I should have been using a kids' shampoo all along!)

Curl Conditioner (Softens, Restores Bounce and Shine)

I used this and put on a plastic cap for a few minutes while I continued my shower. When I rinsed it out, did get good results. My hair didn't have the same feel as when I used Aussie Moist or any other heavier conditioner, but I like that my hair didn't have the "weighted" feeling. Since I was experimenting, I didn't didn't use any other conditioner. I was tempted because old habits...

Detangler & Leave-In Conditioner Spray

I was a little undecided about this one. Since the brand has the Curl Leave-In that I already tried and loved (see below), I wasn't sure if I'd need both products. Since this was a trial run, I got one bottle without subscribing, and, uh, I will be subscribing ASAP!

I have used at least 4 or 5 other detanglers. This worked better than any of them and cost so much less. You know how pricey detanglers for afro-natural hair can be. A certain "knot today" one costs around $17. To be honest, that one did not work anywhere near as well as this one dit. I mean, it works but I have to use a lot of it and it didn't leave my hair as soft.

This worked so well that I was able to finger-detangle my hair instead of using my special detangling brush. 

So Cozy Curl Leave-In Conditioner Spray

This was extremely softening to my hair after I took out my twists. Afro-natural folks will understand when I talk about the "crunchy" hair problem. After a wash, my hair usually needs at least a couple of days before it begins to get a soft feel. Of course, softer hair means lots less breakage.

Overall, without the Subscribe and Save pricing, I paid around $28 for everything. With Subscribe and Save, I will be getting a better deal. If the price goes up, I will go the the brand website and order (or to Walmart. The bottom line is that this is such a good lineup of products for my 4C hair. 

I think this shows that sometimes we bypass good and affordable products because we get hung up on marketing. Normally, I wouldn't have tried this for my afro-natural hair. I would have stayed in the adult lane and looked for something that showed a lot of ethnic faces on the labels. After all, there are several brands for kids:

• Shea Moisture Kids (though I'm not a Shea Moisture fan)
• Curly Kids
• Boogie and Bean (how cute is that?!?)
• Makof is a random brand (?)
• Just For Me (3-piece sets were kinda  pricey)
• Same goes for Maya Mari sets
• Cantu's kids' line looks decent but I didn't see sets.
• I've seen Mixed Chicks stuff in stores but this Mixed Chicks kids' set is ooh-boy... pricey Separately, some items were reasonably priced.
• Jolly Kids (a vegan line) from Amazonica Beleza Amabelle is way up there in price for a bundle. Separately there are some affordable items.
• Dove has a kids' set.
• Noah is a natural brand with this set for kids.
• J'Organic Solutions has a kid set and a line for kids.
• Aussie has a kids' set and a line for kids. I love the adult conditioners but  I don't like Aussie's detangler for adults though.

So there are a lot of offerings out there for kids. Pricing and effectiveness are the important things. Of course, the smaller or more specialized the brand (vegan, ethnic, small biz), means that they are often more expensive. That's why customers need to support good brands from the start.

Likely, I will try some other kids' brands. For now, though, this one is working for my hair and my budget.

Peace

-- Free

DISCLAIMER: I am not/have not/will not be compensated by this product or any sellers.