Product Review: African Naturalistas

Hello loves!

The African Naturalistas review I promised is here.

At our last Naturals in The City meetup, I was given a nice bag of African Naturalistas products to try out. April was all about me and them.

Though I did not buy these products, you have (and always have) my deepest assurances that this is just another honest review on the blog! Everything cannot work well, or work the same for everyone, so in my reviews, I’m not worried about hurting anyone’s feelings. Different people, different experiences with the same products.

Alright. So I got the following: Leave-In Conditioner, Black Moisturising Natural Shampoo, Moisturising and Detangling Conditioner & Deep Conditioning Mayonnaise.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The mayonnaise comes as most mayos do, in a tub for easy scooping. The rest of the products are light plastic bottles that are easy to squeeze. White containers with transparent labels stuck on. this minimalist presentation and packaging works for me.

The products share the same base fragrance. At first I was thinking- fruity? But I concluded that they smell unlike ny fruit I know, but they definitely smell like Vitamin C. The regular sweet, orange, round Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) tablets easily found at Pharmacies and dispensaries. The Deep Conditioner smells kinda different- I believe I smell the honey in it somewhere in the mix. It is also worth noting that all four products are water based, they have water as the first ingredient.

OKAY, OKAY. THE REVIEWS!!

Deep Conditioning Mayonnaise

Aqueous (Water, Aqua Purificada, Purified), Cetyl Alcohol, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Glycerine, Centrimonium Chloride, Honey, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ceteareth 30, Aloe barbadensis (Aloe Vera), Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Milk, Elaeis guineensis (Palm) Fruit Oil, Egg Protein, Urtica Diotica (Stinging Nettle), Guar Gum, Euxyl, Fragrance.

Thick, creamy and with good slip for detangling.

I used this on three occasions, and on the first 2, my hair felt a littttttle bit strange. Maybe strange isn’t the word as I’ve felt this feeling many times before. On the lowest of keys, it felt similar to how it normally feels after a henna treatment- or interacting with protein: coconut milk, coconut oil… Soft because it’s wet and freshly washed, but somehow not so moisturised. If you’re protein sensitive, maybe you can relate? I can’t scientifically say what this all meant, but this does contain protein: Coconut oil, Coconut milk and Egg protein. Each time, I remedied this with a quick co-wash with my trusted Hello Hydration to replenish moisture.

The 3rd use though (last Sunday), my hair was actually okay. I didn’t have the weird feeling and I didn’t need to co-wash after, I just rinsed the DC out. My hair was soft enough.

Black Moisturising Natural Shampoo

Aqueous (Water, Aqua Purificada, Purified), Cocamidropropyl Betaine, Honey, Aloe barbadensis (Aloe Vera), Camwood, Cetyl Alcohol, Glycerine, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Milk, Glycerol Monostearate, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Elaeis guineensis (Palm) kernel Oil, Ash, Euxyl, Fragrance

This sulfate free shampers is the star lol definitely my favourite product of the 4. It doesn’t lather like that, but my hair felt clean enough afterwards and SUPER SOFT. MUDWASH SOFT. My hair was much softer post-shampoo, than it was after using the deep conditioning hair mayonnaise. Good stuff yo.

See? Not So Sudsy

Leave-in Conditioner

Aqueous (Water, Aqua Purificada, Purified), Glycerine, Cetyl Alcohol, Centrimonium chloride, Glycerol Monostearate, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Aloe barbadensis (Aloe Vera), Vitamin E, Urtica Diotica (Stinging Nettle), Guar Gum, Tocopherol Acetate (Citric Acid), Euxyl, Fragrance

The leave-in conditioner is very very light. Easily absorbed by my hair because, light- but the slip wasn’t too nice. I used it on its own after washing and deep conditioning, and sealed. By the next day, my hair would be leaning towards dry. No bueno. When used as a refresher though, instead of a post-washday leave-in, it was good.

Moisturising & Detangling Conditioner

Aqueous (Water, Aqua Purificada, Purified), Cetyl Alcohol, Glycerol Monostearate, Centrimonium chloride, Polyquartenium 7, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Glycerine, Urtica Diotica (Stinging Nettle), Guar Gum, Tocopherol Acetate (Citric Acid), Euxyl, Fragrance

This is the Instant conditioner in the line. The way my hair regimen is set up, I mostly shampoo and deep condition, moisturise and seal. I rarely co-wash these days- except between Washdays, I feel icky and I have to do something. As I hadn’t had the best of times with the DC and leave-in, I wasn’t in a hurry to try this but I finally did. It’s thicker than the leave-in, with much better slip. After use, my hair felt really nice and soft. Good one this!

SO. In order of preference:

1. Shampoo

2. Moisturising & Detangling Conditioner

3. Deep Conditioning Hair Mayo

4. Leave-In

All in all, good stuff from African Naturalistas! These products are suitable for use on all hair types. Atilola who’s on top of all this also happens to be a recently certified trichologist. Yep, she’s an expert with the diploma to prove it! For your hair problems, hair loss, patches, stunted growth, scalp craziness, any and every hair consulting, she’s your girl! Call: 07061141501

African Naturalistas products can be found here: africanaturalistas.com/ourstore.

If you’ve tried these products, your own reviews are welcome in the comments!

Love,

AB,

xx