UPDATED **REVIEW** Aussie Creme Pudding Miracle Curls

UPDATE will be at bottom of post. A friend told me that the photos I used weren't very useful. That's what good friends are for! So I have added a couple of photos.

This is 1 of 2 Aussie Moist products I will be reviewing. I already love the A.M. brand of conditioners (especially the 3-Minute Miracle one) so I was kind of excited to finally try this from their Curls line.

One reason I am just now trying the Aussie Moist Curls products is that I've been using one of the three thousand other curly hair products in my bathroom pantry... The other "product junkies" out there will know exactly what I mean.

Here is what I heard from other reviews:

• Made the hair dry - or crunchy
• Moisture did not last
• Curl definition was not that great
• Worked great - but depended on the hair type (4Cs seemed to like it best)

Of course, hair texture and weather conditions have everything to do with how a product works - on the hair and on the skin. I gave the Creme Pudding a try or myself.

Here are the PROS:

• Did not take a lot for each twist (I applied to my unwashed but very dampened hair)
• Smoothed out the strands of my hair - sort of like a detangler
• There was no sticky or tacky feel to my hair
• There was no flaking when I untwisted my hair
• A LOT of definition (so much so that I will probably do larger twists next time)
• My hair was left soft once I loosened the twists with my fingers
• No smell left in my hair (you will see why this is important)

(I undid one of my twists for the photo just to show you the definition. My hair was not completly dry so it doesn't look wonderful - but you can see the curl definition.)

Here are the CONS:

• The label really hypes the whole "coconut-jojoba" thing but those are the last ingredients actually listed - along with some castor oil. That was disappointing.
• The product smells (out of the jar) a little like lightly perfumed Play-Doh. Not awful, but not awesome. This is why I'm glad it dissipated when dry.
• When applied solo, while this didn't dry out my hair, it didn't add a lot of moisture. The second time I used it, I used it on very wet hair and added a little bit of glycerin - just a tiny amount - and this gave me the moisture I was missing.

As you can see, there aren't a lot of negatives to the product, in my experience. The main thing I could complain about was that the product page noted that this product "Helps lock in moisture for defined curls without the frizzy fuss" and that's only partly true. It locked in the moisture of the glycerin that I added. I don't think that I would have gotten the same softness without having added the glycerin, but that might just be me.

I undid one twist to show you

Anyway, with the seasons in change and the weather here going from super-humid to dang-near-Sahara-dry, I had to find something to keep my nappies happy. (British folk might wince at that, but I am talking nappy hair, not baby bottom covers).

My hair texture has been changing over the past few years - especially after I foolishly did one of those Keratin "temporary" straighteners... Where I could use water and a good moisturizer to activate my curl pattern. I would only have to twist my hair to get more stretch or a specific style. These days, I have to do some kind of twist to get decent curls in my hair. Otherwise, I just have a straight-up 'Fro - a no-curl, no-wave, uneven puff of hair. I think that's an awesome look on some folk (except for the uneven part), but it does nothing for my appearance.

Twisting my hair - either a loose 2-strand or a flat, cornrow style - gives me the stretch I need. Also, a twist-out lasts me for at least 2 weeks, during which I don't have to irritate my fragile hair with a comb or anything. I sleep on a satin pillowcase so I don't even have to wrap my hair at night. It's a beautiful thing. And this is where a good curl cream comes into the picture.

This Aussie Moist Creme Pudding is just about perfect for me - as long as I use it with water or on damp hair. The Amazon price ($8.60 currently) is a little high, in my opinion, but Walmart stores carry it priced at around $5.50. That I can do!

By the way, here are the ingredients:

• Water
• Dimethicone
• Sorbitol
• Aminomethyl Propanol
• Carbomer
• Va/Crotonates Copolymer
• Benzyl Alcohol
• Fragrance
• Dmdm Hydantoin
• Peg-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil
• Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil
• Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil

And, yes, I know that we natural hair folk have a love-hate relationship with 'cones in hair products. I used to avoid them as much as possible but, hey, 'cones give awesome results. What I do know to do. is for every other wash or so, to use a clarifying shampoo to clear the buildup. By all means, though, I think it is wise to do a web search on every single ingredient listed on hair and skin products. So much of what we use can cause allergic reactions or, worse, potentially cause health issues. Do your research.

(I also want to mention that I have seen the product featured in the white jar I show above and in a purple jar. As far as I know, there are no differences. Maybe Aussie M just decided to revamp the look?)

As I said before, I will also be reviewing the Aussie Miracle Curls Defining Oil. There are not a lot of Amazon customer reviews yet but one did catch my eye. A customer mentioned that the oil (in her opinion) is moisturizing but not defining. So I will get to see for myself in the next few days.

Apparently, people with all kinds of textures are using this Aussie Moist Curls line. I have seen reviews from ladies with fine-straight, fine-curly-or-wavy and every kind of naturally-kinky-curly-wavy hair. I love a product that works for so many hair types. I can't wait to review the oil. Until then,

Peace

--Free

Here are the updated photos that I lightened the contrast and brightened to show my dark hair better:

FYI: I also added some of the Aussie Moist curl oil at this point

This is one of my favorite songs from one of the bands of my youth.

I hate the X symbolism but I wanted to find a video that had the lyrics - even those they are badly transcribed in places. Someone commented on the video page that the lyrics he wrote for this song seemed foretelling of the way Hutchence's life ended.

**REVIEW(s)** KeraCare, Marc Anthony, and SheaMoisture

No matter what type of hair we have - kinky, curly, coily, straight, fine, thick, short, or long - we know how frustrating it can be to find products that suit our individual hair care needs.

Speaking for myself, I get to try a lot of products in exchange for doing these reviews, but I also go out hunting on my own sometimes. And I also bag something... One day, I spent a gift card on 8 different hair care products from a local store. Curling creams, styling gels, polishers, conditioners... I ended up taking every last one of them back. Not one of them worked. 

By the way, my name is Trudy, and I am a product junkie.

Credit to Elle & Necie at Natural Hair Daily

That might be a bit harsh, actually. I'm not the kind to just try different products out of a bad habit. I just have trouble finding things that work, so I have to do the buy-and-return thing. Often. And, believe me, I have no trouble returning a product that doesn't work for me. (This is why I am starting to be way more careful about ordering things online if I don't already know the brand. More on that later.)

This review is for 3 different products I have recently tried. I have a few different goals when I'm looking at hair products. Since my hair is coarse and damaged, and I wear it relaxer-free, I have problems with moisture retention and breakage. For styling, I like having a gel or curl cream for twisting my hair at night (either bantu-style twists or corn-row twists), so that I have more curl definition during the day. Finally, I like good cleansing and rinse-out conditioners. I will alternate fully shampooing my hair with just massaging in then rinsing out a good conditioner, which is called "co-washing" the hair.

Credit to Natural Hair Problems

So far, I have a good shampoo that works well to clean my hair without stripping it. I use J,R. Liggett Moisturizing Shampoo Bar. The only thing I don't like about it is that, if any gets in my eyes, it burns like hellfire. I'd love to find a bar that works as well and doesn't have that kind of effect on the eyes. For conditioning, I have a few different favorites. I like Aussie Moist 3-Minute Miracle Moist for deep conditioning after a shampoo. For co-washing, I use Aussie Moist 7-in-1 conditioner. For deep conditioning with heat, I prefer Elasta QP Ultra Hydration or Cream Cholesteral (by Proclaim) because they are both extremely affordable and effective. The QP comes in such a huge size that I rarely have to stock up. With the Proclaim, I add water and shake the container to thin it out because less works better, plus this gives me a higher yeild of product.

With the cleaning and conditioning covered, what I still needed was somthing to use as 1) a daily leave-in conditioner and, 2) a moisturizing, non-sticky, non-greasy feeling cream for doing my twists. I was hoping for products that would be both affordable and effective, but I was willing to pay more depending on quality.

Recently, I tried out 3 products and am only unhappy with one. Let me back up and say that I am extremely happy with 2 of the products and supremely unhappy with 1 product. (On top of being unhappy with it, I'm irritated at the process required to return it. But, again, more on that in a moment.)

Let's start with the positive.

I found a wonderful daily leave-in conditioner that works even on my dangerously dry hair. It's this one by KeraCare:

The photo from the BeautyClicks page is better than mine...

 

I love this stuff. It's light, but very, very moisturizing. I only have to use the smallest amount. What I like to do is apply it to the roots of my hair just before I take down my twists. Once I have the twists down, I apply a little more of the KeraCare to any dry spots.

The thing is, KeraCare products are not cheap. This 4oz bottle is around $16. OUCH!!! But - and here is what it took me a minute to figure out - in the long run, it is much cheaper than a higher priced 16oz product I tried. And that is the one product that I loathe...

That right there is from SheaMoisture. Let me say now that SheaMoisture is one of those brands that seems to get a lot of undeserved (IMO) positive hype. Anytime I read something about natural hair, I hear "SheaMoisture is the stuff!" Bullcrap. I think the brand just has great marketing.

That leave-in by SheaMoisture was horrible. It was sticky going on and, after it dried, it felt slighty tacky to the touch. My hair might have been less dry, but I couldn't tell. The worst thing is that the price is crazy expensive for such lackluster results. (To be fair, a lot of folks seem to love SheaMoisture products. This is the second thing I've tried from them and I was underwhelmed both times. The other thing I tried was a small foil pack sample of some curl cream. Yuck. At least I didn't pay for that mess.)

I'm sending the SheaMoisture back (even though that means printing out a return label and praying I didn't toss the box it came in... ~sigh~)

I hate SheaMoisture so much that I don't want to spend anymore time discussing it. So, back to the positive.

The next product is one that I tried for the first time a long while back. I think I got the mostly empty bottle from a family member. There was only a little bit left and I loved it, but had to search for the bottle to get the brand name. It's Curl Envy 24-hour Moisture from the Marc Anthony Strictly Curls line.  At $7.99 for a 4.5oz bottle, this is super affordable. (Side mention: My dumb self, I thought that the singer Marc Anthony owned the line! "Tell me, baby girl, coz I need to know...") 

What I love, love, love about this leave-in is that it's perfect for doing my twists at night. Before finding this, I was just spritzing my hair with water at night. That worked great for styling my hair, but it didn't really boost the moisture throughout the night and after I took down the twists. When I use this moisturizer, I have a lot less dryness in the morning. My routine now is to spritz my hair with water, add a little bit of this product, then do my twists. I can really feel the difference in the elasticity of my hair when I'm doing the twists. There so much less breakage and pulling. LOVE it. 

                                                 

While I also love the KeraCare, I have to say that I think that the results are a bit similar with the Curl Envy. The KeraCare moisture lasts longer, but... At the price, I can always afford more Curl Envy.

So that's the rundown on a few products I've been trying out. I will try to come back and update this when I've used the KeraCare and Curl Envy for a longer period of time. Also, a friend of mine saw a leave-in by Dr. Miracle when she was at WalMart. She said she thought it would be something good for me to review so she picked up a bottle to give me. Isn't that sweet? Anyway, I will do a review of it when I've tested these other products for a while. 

Peace

--Free