**REVIEW** Miss Jessie's Jelly Soft Curls

Well, shame on me. Isn't that the way the saying goes? "Fool me once..."

~sigh~

Here's what happened: I was strolling through one of the local malls and, since I was having one of those days when my hair couldn't decide whether it wanted to curl or coil (and, yes, there is a difference), I let my feet take me into one of my favorite beauty supply shops. Damn feet.

If you remember, we Alaskans just received our annual Permanent Fund Dividends. I can't go crazy and spend mine like most people do/did, because I have too much financial instability going in my poor, pitiful, nothing-like-Oprah life. What I can do though is combine 3 months of my normal pittance of a budget for miscellaneous expenses into a lump sum without starving. With Christmas and some birthdays in the family coming up, this is perfect. And I gave myself a small allowance. So...

As I'm browsing the store and asking the clerk (who knows a little something about black haircare) if she can recommend anything for the current state of my hair which seems to be off its medication, she points out two products: Miss Jessie's Jelly Soft Curls and Mizani's Curl Stretch Cream. (I hope the Mizani's will be as good as the other stretch cream I've used!)

Now, I have tried (and liked) a couple of Mizani products. They are expensive so I only get them on deep sale or on that Burlington's Coat Factory shelf where just about everything is discounted. I hadn't ever tried this particular Mizani product though and it was priced at $19. Oh boy. The Jelly Soft was $17.

Of course, I have tried (and not loved to death) Miss Jessie's Pillow Soft Curls. I didn't like the same way most folks hate skin on their pudding. After using that product, I spent too much time wondering what the hell kind of prison-issue, stiff and crunchy pillows Miss Jessie slept on.

I relayed all this to the clerk. She told me that she did nt carry Pillow Soft but that she had heard back from other customers that they liked Jelly Soft. And since I didn't have access to any handy Amazon reviews just then, I hemmed and hawed. The clerk promised that I could return and get a refund on any product I didn't like. I stopped mid hem-haw and went for it. I got both. 

I will review the Mizani in another post, but let's talk Miss Jessie's, shall we?

Obviously, Miss Jessie has as much of a problem with understanding the softness of jelly as she does pillows. Pillow Soft was not as horrible as Jelly Curls. In the case of Jelly Curls, at least the name fits. After I applied the product (according to the directions) and let my damp hair dry, I wondered if there wasn't actually a little bit of jelly in the ingredients. Jelly, yes. Soft, no. Not soft, but dry. Dry as if I had sat with a hair bonnet connected to a dehumidifying machine that could suck all the moisture from an ocean.

Lies, lies & more lies

Take one more look at the pic and read that description of Jelly Soft again. Know what's missing? The word "DON'T". As in:"For people who don't want..." all that soft and touchable hair that the product is promising.

Damnit.

What the hell is with all the hype over Miss Jessie's products? Was she ever one of Oprah's favorite things or something? I mean, how did these products get so much positive recognition? So far, all I can tell you about them is that they are expensive and don't live up to the descriptions on the labels. 

truth-free hype

After using the gel, my hair felt gunky and stiff. I had to wash it out and deep condition just so that I could detangle the desert that was my hair. Thank goodness I can return this mess.

With the Pillow Soft, I could at least say that I found a way to make it work. And it seemed to function as a conditioning agent. Once I rinsed that product out, my hair seemed as if I had retained some moisture. With the Jelly Soft... nothing good. I wouldn't have wanted to let anyone touch my hair because it was so stiff and icky feeling.

***Forgot that I got a pic. This is after using Jelly Soft. My hair has dried & you can almost hear the crunch through the photo***

Shame. Shame on me. 

So, all after the fact, I went over to take a look at some Amazon reviews.

Guess what? Only 7 bad reviews, but they all echoed my sentiments. Of the good reviews, I am thinking that maybe some folks have never experienced a good hair day. (That was mean of me, but Miss Jessie's does not deserve any good thoughts from me at this point.) Even for reviews that were positive on how Jelly Curl worked for them, the complaint was that the same results could be had with more reasonably priced products. 

With the returned funds I wasted on Jelly Soft, I picked up 2 other products (and had change left over). Even though I got my refund, I am holding a grudge against that other store and made sure to buy my replacement products at Sally Beauty Supply. They have never mislead me about products before.

I will soon be reviewing the Mizani and the other two products I got. For now, I have to go and release my hair from the ICU into rehab. Damned Jelly Curl almost put it into flatline...

I have learned and been burned. No more Miss Jessie's for me.

Peace

--Free

**REVIEW** Mizani H2O Intense

$9 @ Burlington Coat Factory
$3000 elsewhere

This stuff is my new love. Good thing Burlington Coat Factory wouldn't give me a cash refund when I finally returned a Christmas gift. I only used part of the exchange because the only thing I could find was the Mizani. So glad I took a chance and bought it.

I paid less than ten dollars for the jar, but I priced other Mizani products at places like Sally Beauty Supply. The product website informs us that "Mizani" is Swahili for "balance". It could also mean "gold" because that's how the products are priced.

After trying my "discount" jar of the H2O Intense, I have to say that it's worth paying double what I did pay.

Pros:

• Not greasy or sticky
• Has a very pleasant (and faint) scent
• Takes very little to treat thick hair
• Leaves hair soft (no "crunch") without feeling heavy, damp or oily

Cons:

• I might have to jack a child's college savings to afford it

Now, I don't know if you saw the freak show that was my hair yesterday but, as awful as the pic was, you can see that my hair has been growing quite a bit in the past weeks. (The photo of me on the sidebar was just taken in December.) The Mizani Intense as made that mop of a mess as soft as it's been since I was twenty and wearing Gheri Curls, minus the nasty mess.

Seriously, this is the best hair product I've used since going natural. The instructions suggest using the cream 2 to 3 times a week but, in the name of all that is cheap, I've stuck to 2 times a week for the last two weeks. Results: Awesome-soft hair.

Like most quality products, the Intense might seem pricey off the shelf, but could be cheaper to use in the long run. I was going through quite a bit of my other (cheaper) products by having to re-apply or over-apply. By the way, not all of the other products I've tried have been that much cheaper than this one. 

Because I have to use so little of the product, this 5-ounce jar is going to last me a very long time. Also, I will be scraping the lid and crevices to get out every last dab! 

Finally, I noticed another of the Mizani products I'd love to try: the Butter Rich hairdress. If I get my hands on a sample, I'll be sure to do a review. (By the way, Mizani is a division of L'Oreal.)

Peace

--Free