UPDATE:
THE GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED .
9 READERS INDICATED INTEREST IN JOINING ME TO REVIEW "APHOGEE CURLIFIC CURL DEFINER".
THANK YOU ALL FOR PARTICIPATING
THE WINNER WILL BE SELECTED VIA A RAFFLE APP AND ANNOUNCED ON THE 12th DECEMBER 2014.....WATCH THIS SPACE!!!
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This heading though...it is almost a complete post......hmmm....

Hi people, what's been on?

I've got two products I stumbled upon (in Casabella) on a recent shopping trip.

On getting home, I wasted no time in trying both of them!
I sectioned out some hair in front, rinsed out all products from that section with water, divided into two parts, applied one product on the left, the other on the left, waited for it to be reasonably dry  and had this...


Defined elongated curls on my type 4 natural hair!
I promptly uploaded the pic on Instagram @nappilynigeriangirl ,played a lil guessing game and promised to send them to whoever guessed right....which understably wasn't easy because they weren't products I'd normally use.

I revealed both products and promised to share my review of both of them and here it is....

Intro...Miss Jessies Jelly Soft Curls and Cantu Shea Butter for Natural Hair Define and Shine Custard.



This will also be a sort of tutorial on how to use the Curl definers included in the personalised NappyGirl Kits for those who purchased. I know even though we all have candy floss kinks, our textures are almost as unique as our fingerprints. I'll try to include tips over a range of textures I've been opportuned to handle.....so let's go!



HOW TO USE CURL DEFINERS.

Step 1.
To get any sort of curl definition, your natural hair should be well moisturised and healthy. This can be a challenge as the weather gets dry...so my first tip is to
Convert the conditioning step to deep conditioning
After shampooing your hair, divide your hair into manageable sections and generously slather your conditioner to each section, loosely twist and cover with a shower cap.
If you have more time on your hands, you can do a prepoo with an oil before you shampoo then deep condition.
Then rinse off and blot off excess water.

WHAT I DID: I combined all this step in one by doing a Bentonite Clay Treatment because that's what was going to get my curls hydrated enough to pop and clump after a month of straight  hair and lots of coconut/palm kernel oil.



Step 2. Curl definition.
This step will depend on your hair texture. Since this blog is targeted at Nigerian naturalistas, I'll make a wide assumption that our natural hair pattern falls within the Type 4 Category with variations in thickness, density and porosity.

For those who have kinks with no visible curl pattern when wet, apply your curl definer to manageable sections ( about 6 if your hair is longer, 8-10 if your hair is shorter).
 Scrunch in (squeeze in) so your hair soaks up most of the definer.
 Then fingercomb or smooth using praying hands until curls clump. Loosely twist that section away and repeat for the rest.
Let hair dry (about 90% to avoid it being a twistout), then gently untwist and style to your taste taking care not to unclump.

For those with kinks that have visible curl pattern when wet, repeat steps above but make your twists much looser to avoid the twistout look.

WHAT I DID: I fall into the latter category so after blotting my hair, I applied on different occasions the Miss Jessies Jelly Soft Curls and the Cantu Shea Butter Define and Shine Custard using the method I just described.




Tip: Twistout is also a fast form of curl definition but in my experience it works much better with leave ins and styling butters than gels.

Step 3: Maintenance
After all your work on day 1, you don't want your style to go to waste abi?
Maintain your style by making loose twists or by loosely pineappling your hair. In the morning, either apply leave in conditioner (if compatible with your curl definer) or wet your hands and scrunch into your hair. Just enough to rehydrate not wet the hair.
To elongate your wash and go further, make loose twists and release once hair is dry.


So which of the two products do I prefer?

Here's my experience with each of them.

Miss Jessies Jelly Soft Curls


Pros:
- The tube packaging make it easy to get just enough product to work with and in my opinion is more hygienic.

- The scent. I liked the perfumy scent though I'm a fan of more fruity scents.

- It's a clear gel and it mixed well with the leave ins I had (Kinky Curly Knot Today, Shea Moisture Restorative Conditioner, Pantene Relaxed and Natural wrap and Set Lotion)


- It enlongated my curls without flaking.

- Compared to Ecostyler, this ish doesn't leavr your hair feeling sticky.

Cons:

- Gosh, I wondered what was so gelly softy about this product when it dried crunchy. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
However I learnt to work with it by applying it over my leave in and I could finally say "Jelly Soft Curls" without snickering.

P.s. The leave in should be totally absorbed before applying the gel or you might say bye bye to hold.

- The ingredient list is just plain plastic in my opinion. Very basic ...apart from the Wheat Protein, I found it difficult to pay the almost N4000 for 8.5 oz of "basicness" ......but mehn...I'm impressed.



- No slip. I felt uncomfortable raking it through my hair and it had this foamy thing before it dried. I felt better when I could layer it on leave in and still get good definition.




CANTU SHEA BUTTER DEFINE AND SHINE CUSTARD.

Pros:

- Amazing slip! I could forget this was a styler and use it as a detangler (nice slimey consistency)....don't do it sha, I'll explain why....because using it as a detangler means you use more which increases the likelihood of terrible flaking.





- Coconutty scent...though I have a love hate relationship with the undertones of the scent. Sometimes I love it...other times I don't. It's 50/50.

- Decent ingredient list at N3200 for 12oz...lots of organics so I don't mind too much if it touches my scalp. Miss Jessies was totally off limits where my scalp was concerned.

- Great definition!

Cons:

- Though my hair was defined, I had more shrinkage with it than I did with Miss Jessies Jelly Soft Curls....not complaining though...I've embraced my shrinkage.

- Flaking. Now this didn't happen to me, happened to my sis and a friend of mine....dandruff like flakes....Miss Jessies was okay. I'm beginning to suspect it's a porosity thing.....I feel the need to find out why because the definition and slip is so good, it'll be a shame if the flaking makes one feel like trashing it!

- Crunch. Though the crunch factor is better than Miss Jessies Jelly Soft Curls, it doesn't play well with my leave ins so no cure for that.



So which do I prefer?

Complicated me wants both for the pros but I'd repurchase the Miss Jessies Jelly Soft Curls in a heartbeat because it has less drama.


Have you tried any of the products? Did you like, dislike or were you "meh" about it?


Also,

For being patient enough to read through my long review, here's the GIVEAWAY!

One reader gets to join me in the review of my next curl definer,

"ApHogee Curlific Curl Definer!" . 

It has been included in the "Best of 2014" list on NaturallyCurly.com and I'm eager to see how well it works in our Nigerian weather and on a different Type 4 natural hair texture.

If you're interested,

- Simply comment on this post saying why you'd like to try this product and leave an email addy so I can contact you if you win.

- Please this GIVEAWAY is open to readers resident in Nigeria.

- The GIVEAWAY deadline is 10th December 2014 and the winner will be selected randomly.

P.S. If you win, don't forget to send in your own review so I'll publish it with mine!

THE END!

Live Beautifully.Naturally.
Hadassah A.