Haircare Review: TRESemmé - Naturals vs Botanique

Hi loves,
I'm back with another hair product review; this time it's TRESemmé, they recently launched their expert selection botanique range in South Africa...
Now I need to rant just a little bit, TRESemmé discontinued the Naturals range two years ago and thne just left us high dry and dry no bye, no explanations. Meanwhile everywhere else, the Botanique range was launched and we had to wait for 2 years...why?

TRESemmé Naturals was the holy grail of conditioners for curlies and coilys everywhere; it's sulphate-free, silicone free and multipurpose. It could be used as a co-wash, a pre-poo, a leave-in or just as a regular rinse-out conditioner. My preferred use for this: Pre-poo detangling, I add some Jamaican Black Castor Oil to my conditioner and use it to detangle my hair on washday.
Anyway, let's not dwell on by gones.

I recruited my closest curlfriends so that we could do a  comparison review:
New vs. Old - Naturals vs. Botanique

We all had a bit of the old formula because we love it so much, we've been hoarding. I compared with Naturals - Radiant Care to the new Botanique, and the Llozanne and Cynthia compared the new conditioner to the Naturals - Nourishing Moisture.  I picked up a bottle of hte new conditioner at Pick n Pay for R 79.99.

Here's the list of the ingredients
TRESemmé Botanique Nourish and Replenish
Water (Aqua, Eau), Cetearyl Alcohol, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Fruit Extract, Fragrance (Parfum), Behentrimonium Chloride, Dipropylene Glycol, Lactic Acid, Potassium Chloride, Disodium EDTA, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone

TRESemmé Naturals Radiant Care
Water, Stearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Capric/Caprylic Triglyceride, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Fragrance, Caprylyl Glycol, Aspartic Acid, Distearyldimonium Chloride, Lauryl Lysine, Benzyl Alcohol, Citric Acid, Alcohol, Isopropyl Alcohol, Cymbopogon Schoeanthus (Lemongrass) Extract (Organic), Citrus Aurantium (Orange) Peel Extract (Organic)

TRESemmé  Naturals Nourishing Moisture
Water, Stearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Capric/Caprylic Triglyceride, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Fragrance, Lauryl Lysine, Caprylyl Glycol, Brassica Campestris (Rapeseed)/Aleurites Fordi Oil Copolymer, Aspartic Acid, Distearyldimonium Chloride, Persea Gratissima (Avacado) Oil (Organic), Citric Acid, Alcohol, Isopropyl Alcohol, Aloe Vera (Aloe Barbadensis) Leaf Juice (Organic)


Cynthia's Review: (compared the new condtioner to Naturals Nourishing Moisture)

1. What do you like about the product?

I love the strong smell of coconut...mmhm yummy 

The slip is good too 

It's quite cheap for the size you get 

All the ingredients we as naturals like 

2. How does it feel on your hair ?

It makes it soft and easy to comb through, especially for my kinky 4C hair

3. Botanique vs Naturals
It's runnier as compared to Naturals and so will finish quicker than the Naturals

The slip is also not as good as Naturals

But I love the fragrance more than Naturals 

I kinda like the packaging more as well lol - it's prettier with the writing haha 

4. Price 5/5

5. Effectiveness 4/5

6. Repurchase? I would definitely repurchase it

The Llozanne Review:
(Botanique vs Naturals Nourishing Moisture vs Dark & Lovely Au Naturale Knot-out Conditioner)...My bestie does not do anything in half measures

Photo Credit: #thebestie

1. What do you like about the product?
it's moisturising and thick

2. How does it feel on your hair ?
it sits on the strands; it seems to get absorbed if you work it into the hair.Leaves the hair feeling filmy, it might be the coconut oil (not a fan).

3. Botanique vs Naturals vs Knot-out
vs Naturals  - it has less slip than the old formula and more product is neededfor detangling.
it's not as moisturising as the old formula. On the upside, it gives his curls crazy definition and curl clumping.

vs Knot-out - it lost! knot-out slip is way superior, especially with added JBCO. However, curl definition from the Botanique conditioner was way better than knot-out conditioner.

4. Effectiveness 3/5. It does the job.
5. Price 5/5
6. Repurchase? If its only sale yes, and only if my others were out of stock and I had no choice.

Final thoughts: I don't forsee myself using this as a rinse-out conditioner because it doesn't soak into the hair and it leaves a residue on the hair. Detangling wasn't great, it was more of a hassle than I'm accustommed to.


My Review:
Compared Botanique against Radiant Care for pre-poo/detangling
I divided my hair into two sections, one side Botanique and to the other I applied Radiant Care.

Botanique vs Naturals

Right off the bat the big diffrence for me is the consistency...
Radiant Care: thick and creamy with slight tackiness
Botanique: it's creamy as well but runny

Fragrance: (this is not really important to me, I have prodcuts that smell like after shave)
Radiant Care: faint citrus
Botanique: coconut (but not as strong as Palmers)

How it feels on my hair...
The old formula absorbs and adsorbs to my hair strands really well, coating my hair strands for easy detangling (finger detangling followed by Denman D3 brush). The Botanique conditioner feels like a co-wash on my hair, it coats my hair strands in a layer that doesn't seem to get absorbed and detangling is not as easy; there was defintely a bit of snagging and snapping of hair strands .
The advantage the Botanique conditioner has over Naturals is that  it elongates my coils, so there isn't as much shrinkage.
I keep the conditioner on for 30 minutes before I rinse out. After rinsing out both sides were soft and manageable, so in that regard the results from both condtioners are similar. The definition and clumping of my coils with the new formula was amazing. 
I like that they've removed the alcohol and isopropyl alcohol, which can be drying on the hair 👏👍. Cape Town Curly has a post on alcohols in hair products (Click here for the link)

My Final thoughts: It's an ok conditioner and it's decently priced, but I've found better alternatives (for pre-poo) to TRESemmé conditioners since the Naturals range was discontinued; I especially love the Baylis & Harding Coconut Conditioner R 59.99 for 500ml (Dischem) and the Garnier Ultimate Blends  Conditioner - The Nourishing Repairer R 59.99 for 400ml (Dischem and Clicks).


Condtioner and shampoo are both available in Pick n Pay, Dischem, and Clicks stores for R 79.99 each. Dischem currenlty has a special, you can get them for R59.99 each.

That's it from me, thank you to my curlfriends for saying yes to the collab, 💜💜💜💜💜

See you in my next post, 

xoxo

Hair Product Review: SheaMoisture Masques

Hi all,

It’s been a while since my last post. It’s not that there’s nothing to write about, I just needed to take the time to sit down and write. So, I promised I’d come back and do a review of the Shea Moisture products I’ve added to my hair regimen. Here, I’m going to give my thoughts two of the masques/masks I’ve been using for the last four months.

Purification Masque (African Black Soap range)

*

Is part of the African black soap range which is designed to relieve dry, itchy scalp. Its suitable for use as a deep treatment following shampoo and as a co-wash, since its designed to remove product buildup.

Ingredients:

Deionized Water, Cocos Nucifera(Coconut) Oil*, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter)*, Mangifera Indica(Mango)Seed Butter*, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil , African Black Soap Extract, Sea Salt, Cetyl Esters, Kaolin Clay, Grapeseed Oil, Simmondsia chinensis seed (Jojoba) Oil, Behentrimonium Chloride (Conditioner), Salicylic Acid, Salix Alba (Willow)Bark Extract, Melia Azadirachta (Neem) Seed Oil, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil, Sorbitol Esters, Aloe Vera Leaf Juice, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Rosemary Extract, Salvia Officinalis (Sage) Extract, Plantain Extract, Lonicera Caprifolium (Honeysuckle) Flower (and) Lonicera Japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle) Flower Extract

How does it look? Its grey in appearance and looks a lot like a clay mixture.

Smell: its faint with hints of banana and vanilla

The consistency: It’s not thick or runny ...it’s got the consistency of mayonnaise

My thoughts:

I’ve been using this purification masque as a deep treatment, co-wash and as a scalp cleanser (for when I had braids installed).

As a deep treatment masque: I have thick hair, so I need to be quite generous when applying, since it doesn’t spread very well. It doesn’t have much slip so I would recommend detangling before you shampoo. BUT, when I washed it out after 30 minutes my hair felt soft and manageable.

As a co-wash/scalp cleanser it works really well; I’m trying to shampoo bi-weekly and this has been working out for me really well. I don’t shampoo my hair when I’ve installed braids; I’ve been using the purification masque diluted with water, which I then apply with a spray bottle.

All in all, this one is a keeper.

Strengthen, Grow & Restore treatment (Jamaican Black Castor Oil)

*

Part of the Jamaican Black Castor Oil range that is geared towards dry, overprocessed and colour-treated hair. It works as a deep conditioner following a shampoo.

Ingredients:

Water (Aqua), Cetyl Alcohol, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Glycerin, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter*, Stearyl Alcohol, Fragrance (Essential Oil Blend), Behentrimonium Chloride, Panthenol, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein PG-Propyl Silanetriol, Cetrimonium Chloride, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil*, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Hydrolyzed Keratin, Mauritia Flexuosa Fruit Oil, Yeast Extract, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Tocopherol, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Vinegar, Caprylhydroxamic Acid, Caprylyl Glycol, Butylene Glycol, Acetyl Tetrapeptide-3, Niacin, Dextran, Trifolium Pratense (Clover) Flower Extract, Caramel, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Leaf Extract

How does it look? Toffee colour

Smell: Peppermint vanilla toffee ...think werther's toffee

The consistency: thick, creamy

My thoughts:

I’ve been using this as a deep conditioner exclusively. I use it conjunction with shampoo and leave-in (both to be reviewed soon). I love the way this one feels …it’s just great...lots of slip and a little goes a very long way. I leave it in for a half hour and then rinse it out with cool water. When used with other products in this range, the results are amazing. Here’s a picture of my hair after a braidout on a blow out.

Availability: In South Africa, you can get these online from www.african-flair.co.za for R 319.00 for 12oz (it’s on sale right now for R 265.00). 

See you in my next post,
xoxo

N

*Images from the Shea Moisture website