Hair Products You Hate

We normally do lists of products we love and would recommend but I thought I would flip the script and ask which ones you hate and would never recommend to anyone.

I will go first

Hair type : 4 (curly and kinky)

Product: Organix coconut milk conditioner
Why: No slip, no softness, literally does not act as a conditioner should, the only product I ever threw out after 3 tries with no joy at all. It was not even worth giving out in my opinion. (Sadly enough I bought it because of the polarised views about it here and wanted to test it for myself.)

Product: Tressemme Naturals conditioner
Why: Not enough slip as a detangling conditioner but is ok if you do not intend to comb hair. Currently used as a cowash conditioner but would not repurchase once the two gigantic bottles (buy one get one free) are done.

Product: John Frieda Frizz Ease Serum
Why: Tried it for 'sealing' and hated it - left hair very dry.  Probably works well as a heat protectant, given out to friend who straightens.

Product: Motions CPR conditioner
Why: Another 'conditioner' that really does not work as a conditioner should.  No softness, had particles in it so no slip.....plain old weird. Given out to friend with relaxed hair who said she liked it.


Comments

  1. The only use for the frizz serum I've found: smoothing fly aways when I straighten my hair. Otherwise...Not so much.

    Moroccan Oil's leave in: stank to high heaven and dried my hair out. Worst product I've ever used and probably one of the most expensive (lucky for me, it was a gift!)

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  2. Lucky for you Alice - I wish that organix was a gift!

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  3. Kinky Curly Curling Custard - For one, my hair wet is still slightly shrunken due to the tightly wound coils that I have. No product would be able to stretch them in any way, so this product was not meant for my hair anyway! For TWO, I used this product twice, once on hair that wasn't drenched enough (sticky mess), and the second time on hair that mustve been TOO drenched....the product just dissolved and left my hair hard!

    Nope.

    I have kept it though, because I'm thinking it might do wonders on twistouts. Meh - that jar was too dang expensive!

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  4. Hi Jc, totally love your blog.

    I used organix once and I can't say I hated it, but I went out this lunch time to get the Herbal essence conditioner and will give it a try this weekend.

    From one of your blogs, I'd say I'm a type 4 (I honestly don't think you could get hair curlier or kinkier than mine) and I have never known how to manage it. In fact, I have different lengths of hair, front long, back really short as it absolutely refuses to grow! (someone said I have traction alopecia). So, having read various articles from your blog, I am trying to learn what my hair likes and dislikes.

    Thanks for all the info; super helpful and informative.

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  5. Hated Organix coconut milk conditioner for the same reasons. I returned mine to the store.

    Hate Sabino Moisture Block. I used it for heat protection, but it's so heavy; it dried my hair out quickly. Now, I'm stuck with two bottles because I bought them on sale (without ever trying them before, oy), and I can't bear to throw out full bottles.

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  6. I forget all my hates because I usually return them to store, but these two popped in my head:

    Hated Jane Carter's leave-in spray. My hair swelled so much, and it made my color look dull. No thanks.

    Mild disdain for Kinky Curly Knot Today. So many people love it that I was shocked (shocked, I tell you!) that my hair felt dry and looked dull after this too. Maybe I'm not using enough product, but I don't want to use half a bottle/jar of a product to make it work. That feels wasteful.

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  7. My hair hates coconut oil. I've tried it various ways, hair wet, hair dry, hair damp, as a sealer, hot-oil treatment, applied a little, applied a lot, etc, etc, etc. So I switched to a different oil. My hair also hates Carol's Daughter hair milk and shea moisture's curl enhancing smoothie. Tried it various ways and it absolutely does nothing for my hair. I have type 3c/4a kinky kurls, and it's prone to lots of knots if I don't keep it stretched. So I use the HE hello hydration for co-wash, olive/jojoba oil blend followed by shea butter for sealing, and that's it. Now my hair and I are headed to hair marital bliss :). Love you blog, so informative.

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  8. Type 4 Hair

    Aubrey Organics J.A.Y. (jojoba aloe yucca) Shampoo: made my hair feel dry and rough and for all the dryness it caused, it didn't even clean my scalp particularly well.

    Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle shampoo: completely STRIPPED the moisture from my hair.

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  9. Miss Jessies Buttercreme was totally useless on my thick curly frizzy hair - what is with all the mineral oil in it for a start? Kinky curly custard didn't do what it said on the tin and left a white residue on my hair and it was too expensive anyway.

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  10. Hi Jc,

    Greetings from Germany.I love your blog;I'm a big fan :).

    Hair Type 4 (kinky/curly)


    Product: Motions CPR- never did a thing for me. No slip, lots of tangles after using-ugh (flash back)


    Product: Henna-I got quite a bit of knotting and lots of single strand and double strand knots. I'm guessing because my strands kept rubbing against each other from having to rinse over and over again? I'm also not sure if it was that brand of Henna itself or the excessive washing to get it; out so I'm willing to give my other brands a try a couple more tries first.

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  11. KKCC man I have to agree it was WAAAAy to expensive and did such a crappy job. Hair was way too shrunken and way too hard. I'll just stick to regular conditioner and Castor oil for fabulous twist outs. I learned that expensive products aren't the best products. Thank you for your informative blog.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank you for all the comments! Surprised by dislike of KCCC...interesting

    ReplyDelete
  13. I have many problem products, but the two worse ones were:

    1. Miss Jessie's Baby Buttercream. Dried out my hair and made my scalp feel like it was on fire.

    2. Just for me daily moisturizer. Not good for hair and smelled VERY bad.

    As for the Kinky Curly Curling Custard, I tend to blame the aloe vera, since it's one of the products that sucks moisture out of my hair.

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  14. hate kinky kurly custard it feels so sticky/gooey on the hair, Jessie curly pudding too heavy, carols daughter curly milk doesn't help w/ any curl formation and can be heavy, Aubrey organics conditioner ( not enough slip)period. I have a love hate relationship with shea butter. I hated Shea moisture black soap shampoo.

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  15. My hair is some kind of type 4--very tight coils, lots of kinks

    ~Miss Jessie's Curly Meringue; no matter how I used it, it dried out and stiffened my hair and caused my scalp to itch. Not to mention, my brother's cat seemed allergic to it in my hair (???). The shampoo and conditioner irritated my scalp as well.

    ~Shea butter; this really made me sad that I couldn't make it work. It just sat on top of the hair, no matter what I mixed it with or how I used it. I even used it straight--nothing.

    ~Any of the Giovanni shampoos or conditioners. I've tried so many that I've lost track of which ones I bought. I was left with dry hair and the conditioners did nothing for my tangles.

    ~V05 Moisture Milks; not enough slip

    ~Any Organic Root Stimulator product irritates my scalp (I'm starting to see a pattern here) and they didn't do much for my hair either.

    ~Coconut oil; no matter how much I wanted it to work, it just wouldn't. I tried it on and off for a year and still couldn't make it work for me.

    ~Olive oil; absolutely not

    ~Jojoba oil; gave me strange little red patches on my scalp

    ~Suave naturals coconut conditioner; no slip

    There are so many more products that assaulted my hair, but I fail to remember them all.

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  16. Hi Jc!
    I hated Jason's products! and didn't care much for Jane Carter stuff either, especially that leave-in spray! my hair was a dry mess! same goes for that Elasta QP leave-in spray too!
    I am surprised at the comments about KCCC, i am one of its lovers! lol :)
    i have tried so many products, many i didn't like, but very few i hated, like the Motions line (only exception is the CPR leave-in, which i actually liked, but their moisturising cream was HELL on my hair!)

    ReplyDelete
  17. I was a real PJ at the start of my natural journey. The over time I went in the other direction and rarely stray from my trusted favourites. The products that I absolutely hated include:

    - Organix coconut conditioner - lumpy, no slip, not moisturising in the least, left my coils a tangled mess. Smells great though but that's not enough.

    - KK knot today - not impressed. Not moisturising enough for my type 4 kinky coils. Flakes as soon as any other product touches it, so you are held ransom to using it with only products from their own line and that is a bit pricey to sat the least.

    - Aussie moist 3 minute miracle conditioner -all lies, no slip, blah!

    - Yes to carrots shampoo - very drying and stripping. Their conditioner is great but cannot even compensate for the stripping nature of their shampoo.

    - Komaza Care califa care leave in conditioner - Really oily and left my hair feeling dry and greasy

    - Giovanni direct leave in - left me with lumpy bits and flecks in my hair. would be blend into my hair. a real dissapointment.

    That's all I think of for now.

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  18. Hair Type 4
    I saw some aussie miracle moist conditioner on offer at savers for 2 quid, which is the cheapest i've seen it anywhere. Its usually at best 2 for 6 pounds at super drug.
    My hair hated it, the instant i put it on my hair, my hair felt rough! like all the cuticles were raised or something. Wet and dry it doesn't agree with me. The slip was not great seeing as it made my hair rough.
    I know lots of people like the conditioner, but i've noticed its mostly americans. The vlogger louloumatou noted the formulations were different from the US and UK version.

    I also hate darcy's botanicals coiling jelly, it didn't work for wash and go's or twist outs. Left my hair really shrunken and kinda dry.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hair type 4
    1. Definitely agree on the organix line.
    2. No thank you to ANY Ms. Jessie's product.
    3. Giovanni shampoo & conditioner, but my hair does like the leave-in.

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  20. I don't have type 4 hair (more like type 3) but I do love the Tressemme Naturals Conditioner. I didn't like it the first time I used it. It didn't have enough slip which you mentioned. But I put a little EVOO and Coconut milk in the bottle and it is heavenly now! It has slip for days and very moisturizing. Since you bought 2 big bottles (I did too. Sales will get you every time) you may want to try that.

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  21. Thanks everyone for the comments!
    Ashley thanks for the tip on improving tressemme!

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  22. I agree with both anonymous' at 5:40 and 8:15 Miss Jessie's curly pudding and KCCC..both dried my hair out and left it feeling crispy and greasy :-/ I returned the Miss Jessie's to the store, but I still have the KCCC..hoping to be able give it away because it's almost full

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  23. JC I meant to say Virgin Coconut Oil not Coconut Milk (I hope you didn't try it yet!)...Let me know how the tip helps!

    ReplyDelete
  24. I just discovered your blog, i will visit you every week and I hope you will visit mine too.
    God Bless.

    www.minasek.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  25. Kinky Curly Curling Custard left a white residue and did nothing for my type 4 hair. Tried it more than once and got the same results. Costly mistake as it is expensive. Aubrey Organics Conditioners have been discovered as the reason for my hair shedding recently I'm trying to figure out if there is a particular ingredient that my hair is just not agreeing with. I like their conditioners unfortunately they moisturize but provide no slip, something I feel is important in conditioners for our hair type.

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  26. HI Jc. I forgot to ask. Have you done a post on conditioners with good/great slip. I think a lot of people might be interested in this topic. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie. Great ingredients but wow, I may as well have been scooping cake frosting onto my head. Feels soft at first but later in the week it dries out and leaves a white residue. not a good look.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hi Jc:

    First off, I must add to the chorus of kudos - I LOVE your blog and turn as many people onto it as I possibly can.

    Hair Type: 3c in the front, 4b in the crown, 4a in the back (so all over the place) - curly and kinky

    Products:

    Kinky Curly Knot Today - wasn't horrible, insofar as it didn't damage my hair, but for the price, I expected more; plus not a lot of slip (sorry, let me revise that, no slip!).

    Kinky Curly Curly Cream: maybe I can't read (label directions and/or website video tutorial), but this left my hair looking like a crispy jheri curl with a distinctive white film. No bueno!

    Herbal Essences Totally Twisted: my hair did NOT like this (but it loves HE Hello Hydration)

    Shea Moisture Deep Treatment Masque: It was just ok on my hair; no angels sang after application, but my scalp HATED, HATED, HATED this. I gave it three tries, but the itching was just unbearable.

    Organix Coconut Milk Conditioner: At the beginning of my hair journey (full disclosure, I'm 10 months post-BC), my hair loved this, but the egg white proteins are a bit much for me now. My hair seems to enjoy proteins within the Giovanni line (I believe they are hydrolyzed).

    Keep up the great work Jc!!!

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  29. My Hair HATES any product that has lots of glycerin in it (unless the product is rinsed out of my hair).

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  30. I use Frizz-Ease to polish the front of my stainless steel fridge!

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  31. PK

    HAIR TYPE:4 TIGHTLY COILED little kinky

    PRODUCT:Jane Carter Shampoo-tried it several times its just drying. Leave hair stiff almost

    PRODUCT:Cantu leave in!-Now this is junk. One of my first buys for natural hair. It felt ok on my wet hair but when it dried ut felt like I had cheap lotion on my hair. Yes I tried working it in. Even the ingredients and warning labels are reason to avoid it. I didn't read it well bc everyone seemed to it online

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  32. Jane Carter leave-in - makes my hair really clumpy and sticky

    Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie - what is this supposed to be? It's just this weird pudding nothingness.

    Ms. Jessie's Creme de La Curl - It feels (and smells) like Ajax for the head. The thing is I got this for free and I don't want to be wasteful, so I am using this all up, BUT the bottle lasts forever. Plus, I have been thinning it (Oh God, it is so crazy thick!) with water which makes it last even longer. I don't think it is doing anything bad to my hair, but I can't wait til it's all used up!

    ORS Olive Oil moisturiser - even the smallest amount just sits on top of the hair making it like dull and attracting dust. Yuck!

    ReplyDelete
  33. -Shea Moisture Organic Yucca & Baobab Anti-Breakage Masque. I put it on my hair and took it out in like 2 mins coz my hair instantly became this horrible straw like tangled disaster.

    -Shea Moisture Organic Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment Hair Masque. Meh, just sat there didn't do squat. No moisture, no sheen, nothing.

    Both of these products were a total waste of money. Its been 1 yr and they are still sitting on my countertop. Interestingly though the Coconut & Hibiscus Moisture Mist and the Conditioning Milk work just fine.

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  34. -Anything by One 'n Only Argan Oil is Aweful. Period.

    In my 5 months so far my hair hasn't liked ANY conditioner on it's own. I've used:
    -Giovanni (50:50 & Tea Tree Mint)
    -Organix (Tea Tree), and
    -Organic Root Stimulator Replenishing pack

    but when I mix them I get the results I'm looking for. My favorit for co-wash is the Giovanni Tea Tree Mint + Organix Tea Tree. For DCs, adding oils and honey does the trick.

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  35. Hair Type: Type 4.Really kinky, really curly, massive shrinkage...and I mean 50%
    To start....
    Shea Moisture Organic Raw Shea butter Restorative conditioner- I was expecting MOISTURE not a flaky, itchy mess. I spent all week wondering what had happened...and of course, found out it was this. I even added olive oil to it to "help" it out (since I bought the whole bottle) but nope. NADA. A dry mess

    Of course I bought the"
    Curl Enhancing Smoothie with it-omg. I don't understand. It's got all these GREAT ingredients but it does NOTHING! It's almost like putting flour and water in your hair. What a waste. Also improvising by adding Coconut oil to it and jojoba...Can't WAIT till it's done.
    JC...investigate this product. How can sooo many good ingredients feel this bad???? shocked!

    Carols Daughter Vanilla & Tui Conditioner
    Sadly, but relieved, my relationship with this has to end. This was the reason my hair was dull...and my hair isn't that dark to begin with. Goodbye! Moved on to Aubrey :)

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  36. I am so glad I found this blog. Type 4a/b and
    the worst products used so far have been *Organix Tea Tree shampoo. My hair was so dull.
    *Cantu Leave in - The absolute worst conditioner. My hair felt like straw. I moved to Shea Moisture products that I add some oils to. I am not impressed with the Shea Moisture Shampoo. The first time I used it, my scalp burned. UgH....

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  37. Hair type : 4 (curly and kinky)

    My hair is generally not picky when it comes to products. There are only two I can think of that she (yes I said she lol) alright rejected. They were:

    Product: Afroveda's Ashlii Amala Red Raspberry Deep Conditioning Mask. My hair strands seized with this stuff. Dried it out completely and tangled it. :(

    &

    Product: Bee Mine's Avocado Conditioner. Granted this did make my hair soft....but it burned my scalp. Totally felt like I was on fire :-/ Never touched it again.

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  38. Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose
    This was bad. Really, really bad. My hair has never felt that horrible, my ends were just CRISPY when I rinsed it out, I was freaking out trying figure what to do to fix my hair.

    Shea Moisture Purification Masque
    This got so many good review I thought there was no way it wouldn't work for me. It dried my hair out AND it caused breakage. I gave it to my grandmother, and luckily she loves it.

    Kinky-Curly Knot Today
    I've used this several times and my hair HATES it. If I use it as a co-wash, my hair gets hard like it's had an EXTREME protein treatment, and if use it as a leave-in my hair breaks off. Blegh.

    Yes To Carrots Conditioner
    This just made my hair dry and crispy and nasty feeling. I had used it as a co-wash a few months ago, and it seemed fine, as long as I rinsed it out. I tried it again yesterday, planning to use it as again, and my hair just DRIED OUT as soon as it touched my hair, it was like I'd put bleach or shampoo or something in it!


    Oyin Handmade Hair Dew

    This was a weird one. I used it a leave-in, a moisturizer, and a DC, and at first my hair would be SO SOFT, and then after a couple of days it would get super dry, and after using it for awhile my hair started to gather these huge DUST BALLS, I was like, "Wtf, is this??" That has never happened to me before or since. I gave it to my friend Sasha, and she loves it.

    Using these in the first place was probably my own fault but I've since discovered that my hair hates glycerin (AOHR), castor oil (OHHD) olive oil (YTC and OHHD) and anything involving mango (KCKT and SMPM). I guess I should have known better but you only find out from trial and error, right?

    Anyway, the conditioners that are working for me right now are Jessicurl's Weekly Deep Conditioning Treatment (btw, they need to put that stuff BACK IN THE JAR) because nothing that thick should be expected to squeeze it's way out of a bottle) and the Curl Junkie Curl Rehab Moisturizing Hair Treatment.

    Since I don't want to mess with a good thing, I them both as a co-wash and a DC interchangeably, even though they are both extremely expensive to get in Canada.

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  39. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who has had no luck with glycerin!

    A note to ladies stuck with a jar of KCCC they didn't like for wash 'n' go styling - I use it for twist-outs and it works great to give a light hold but keep my hair soft.

    ---

    Hair type: 4 (curly and kinky)

    Products: Any leave-in with glycerin. It severely dries my hair out, which is why I enjoy KCKT. I have very coarse/dry hair and I think glycerin sucks all the moisture out of my hair strands rather than out of the air.

    Products: Miss Jessie's. I haven't tried them all, but the few I did try left little white balls of product in my hair.

    ReplyDelete
  40. type 4c hair

    as for me, Mis jessies buttercreame and curly pudding. both left my hair crunchy and dry! it was a nightmare. Mind you I tried the multiple times in different seasons and still got the same result
    Aveda Brilliance styling creame. did nothing to my hair!

    i'm currently having a battle with hair gel and protein treatments. My hair never use to mind them before, now it does. hair gel makes my hair too dry and stiff and protein treatments makes my hair dry, regardless of the type and duration of moisture DC treatment. so i'll keep trying till the end of the summer to see what happens.

    themanecaptain.blogspot.ca

    ReplyDelete
  41. Type 4C in bang, 4b in crown and front sides, 4a back and back sides. Yeah real mix with some bone straight strands behind my ears.

    Products: The Original Moxie Line. Left my hair dry as straw. That stuff is sooooo expensive and everybody raved about it. The Shea Moisture Coconut line itched like I had head lice. Coconut oil dries it out and itches. Pretty much anything with coconut in it is a no-no.

    I love products with glycerin - in the summer. Seems drying now that it is cold.

    ReplyDelete

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