Taking you beyond first impressions and sharing my full experience with these haircare products on my short curls. With all due grace.
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In this first round of haircare empties, we are reviewing products from Donna’s Recipe, DevaCurl, and California Naturals.
DONNA’S RECIPE Leave-In Conditioner – Sweet Potato Pie Extra Creamy
An extra rich, sticky-sweet gourmand smelling leave in conditioner with a nutrient-rich formula crafted to moisturize, hydrate, and protect hair.
CALIFORNIA NATURALS Deep Repair Hair Mask
A botanically-aromatic rinse out deep conditioning mask with key ingredients: Rose Water, Shea Butter, Argan Oil, Castor Oil, and Chebe Powder.
DEVACURL SuperMousse Coconut Oil Infused Volumizer
A coconut oil infused and humidity resistant curl-styling mousse designed to give you day 3 volume from day 1 while delivering shine, bounce, and a no-crunch hold.
DEVACURL Styling Cream Touchable Moisturizing Definer
An ultra rich curl cream meant to hydrate, define and nourish while boosting shine and controlling frizz.
In the haircare beauty space we have an overwhelming plethora of product choices, all promising to be the next best thing for our locks. Being a curly-girl, I know better than to assume any one product will be a perfect fit for all. Curls come in all different shapes, textures and sizes–and even then, our needs may change seasonally, hormonally, or with chemical processing, heat styling, and other individual factors. When it comes to reliable and relevant product reviews, context is important!
With that said, your reviewer, *myself*–has short 3b and 3a curls, high porosity, frizzy, poofy, generally thirsty fine/medium hair. I am actually growing out a pixie cut right now, so nourishment and protection are high on my priority list to grow the healthiest curls possible and retain length.
I typically have to drench my hair in moisture in order to clump and define my curls and control poofiness and frizz, but it is pretty easy to weigh my hair down. When I was keeping my hair in a very short pixie style, I didn’t mind my hair being weighed down, but as my hair grows in length, I appreciate some complimentary volume to fill out the growing shape.
Now that we know one each other a little better, let’s jump into the reviews.
DONNA’S RECIPE Leave-In Conditioner – Sweet Potato Pie Extra Creamy
The first thing that I noticed about about this super decadent leave in conditioner was the SCENT! It has the most heavenly, realistic sweet potato pie scent–resist the urge to have a taste. Despite the brand describing this one to be lightweight, I actually found it to be super rich and buttery. Without applying it alongside water / onto super wet hair, it was dense enough to sit on top of my hair. It was an easy solve once I realized I needed more water to thin it out and help it absorb. With that said, I also realized I didn’t need to use so much of the product itself since it’s such a rich, concentrated formula. I quickly got through these learning curves and fell absolutely in love with this one, and have been using it on myself and my boys. Watch my youtube first impressions / wash n go style here.
Who would I recommend this for?
Someone with thicker or drier hair that can tolerate heavier products, but can be tweaked to suit someone with a finer hair type when used sparingly. Must love sweet smells!
Would repurchase? YES, this is the friendly whole-household leave in conditioner right now, I already have repurchased 2x!
GOOD GRACES RATED:
CALIFORNIA NATURALS Deep Repair Hair Mask
I immediately appreciated how easy to use (with the packaging style,) and lightweight this deep conditioning mask was. I also really liked the natural rose scent. After a couple uses, I found this product to be more of a nicely moisturizing conditioner for daily use rather than a majorly effective treatment-style mask. That said, once my expectations were balanced, I really enjoyed this one and reached for it nearly every shower following shampoo to maintain adequate moisture and shine in my curls.
Who would I recommend this for?
Someone with fine-to-medium hair who is looking to maintain or add a boost of TLC to generally healthy hair. I wouldn’t recommend this mask for drier and coarser hair textures, or as a remedy product for severely damaged or stressed hair.
Would repurchase? YES – and utilized as a daily conditioner rather than a mask (for me.)
GOOD GRACES RATED:
DEVACURL SuperMousse Coconut Oil Infused Volumizer
This mousse is full bodied, firm and drier than I am used to for mousses, but that firmer texture and drier formula really stood my curls up with volume while holding their shape & spring exceptionally well for a curl mousse alone. This one leaves a slightly buttery, oily feel in the hands–I’m assuming from the coconut oil, but that butteriness served my hair well. It left a beautiful moisturized softness and high shine to my curls. The only thing is I went through this one quicker than I would like to for the price point, but it’s totally worth a repurchase.
Who would I recommend this for?
Definitely someone with my hair type who doesn’t mind oils on their hair, but really anyone with curls that are looking for an air-light styling product that will amp-up their curl volume and add moisture & shine.
Would repurchase? YES–I consider this a splurge for a mousse, but I will gladly treat my curls to another.
GOOD GRACES RATED:
DEVACURL Styling Cream Touchable Moisturizing Definer
This became one of my favorite stylers. This silky, lush cream was the multitasker of my dreams. It was a perfect leave in and base styling cream for me, providing more than enough hydration, slip and curl definition to get my style nearly complete. I personally always finish with a strong hold gel to lock my style in and fight back an enormous force of frizz, but aside from holding power, you could almost consider this product a one and done to prime and style without being heavy or greasy. Smells amazing too! I went through this one quickly as well and just wish it came in a bigger size.
Who would I recommend this for?
I would recommend this to all curl types except maybe those with ultra fine hair. Regardless if you use this alone or as a layer of your wash-n-go hair cocktail, I think all curls would appreciate the hydration and manageability it gives the hair.
Would repurchase? YES
GOOD GRACES RATED:
When it comes to product reviews, you just can’t weigh a first impression the same way you do an empty bottle debrief! These were all good products in their own respects. I’m happy to share my honest opinions with you! If this post was helpful, I encourage you to subscribe to GOOD GRACES for more and to get fresh beauty posts right to your inbox.
Have you tried any of these products? Would you? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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Discounts and Disclaimers
THIS IS A NON-SPONSORED POST:
Hey friend, this blog is non-sponsored, meaning, I was not asked, obligated nor incentivized in any way by any brand or retailer to create this post, recommend the products included, or discuss/describe them in any directed way. Please be assured that all opinions are always my own regardless of a post’s sponsorship status, and I will always disclose when a post is apart of coordinated partnership with any of the products or services mentioned.
Affiliate Disclosure:
Some of the products linked in this post are affiliate links. This means that if you choose to make a purchase through one of the links provided, I may earn a small commission—at no additional cost to you. These commissions help support this blog and the content I share. Thank you for supporting my work in this way!
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Katrisha Rose 
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