Juicy Juicy

I recently won a gift hamper from Body Beautiful on D'Avenue and when I went to collect I went gaga when I saw their recent shipment of Naturalista Cosmetics' Juicy Leave in. I have been following Naturalista for a while, ever since their Facebook page was attacked by spammers, and I have really enjoyed seeing the outpouring of support for the brand as well as their astounding growth in such a short period of time. I always wanted to try it so I was beyond ecstatic when Allison of Body Beautiful offered me a small sample to try.

The ingredients list reads as follows:

• Butyrospermum Parkii (Organic Shea Butter), 
• Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, 
• Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil,
• Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, 
• Cannabis Sativa (Hemp) Seed Oil,
• Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, 
• Organic Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, 
• Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Organic Sweet Almond) Oil, 
• Cinnamomum Cassia Leaf Oil, 
• Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, 
• Tocopherol (Vitamin E), 
• Panthenol (Vitamin B), 
• Vegetable Glycerin, 
• Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, 
• Raw Organic Honey, 
• Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Peel Oil,
• Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil, 
• Natural preservatives, 
• Fragrance

This first thing I noticed was its light whipped texture, I haven't used a product with this consistency before and I quite like it. The second thing was the smell. OMG can somebody say heavenly!!!! It definitely smells like I should be eating it rather than putting it in my hair. The first thing I did was to massage some between my fingers and into my skin. I was concerned that juicy might mean greasy. Initially it did feel a bit greasy to touch but that feeling soon went away. 

Nice and whipped and delicious smelling

On wash day I tried an experiment. On one side of my head I moisturized with my usual homemade leave-in,  the other I used my 2oz Juicy Leave In sample. And I did use all of it lol. 

Right after application and twisting. Left side - my homemade leave in. Right side - Naturalista Cosmetics' Juicy leave in

I did medium sized twists all over which I planned to rock as is for the work week. My initial impressions as I was applying and twisting was that on the Juicy Leave in side, there was less frizz, a little more shine, somewhat more stretch  and definitely smelled better than my homemade leave-in.

Juicy Leave in side

On my home made leave in side, it defined my curls better, detangled my hair way easier, was much less greasy and felt more moisturized to the touch. The white stuff eventually goes away but I guess its a plus for Juicy that you can twist and immediately leave the house without ppl's minds wandering to the gutter thinking about what is all that creamy stuff in your hair lol.

Home-made leave in side

Three days later I examined my hair for differences again. Both sides were equally frizzy (remember I didn't use any styling aid for hold). The greasy feeling from the Juicy had for the most part gone away and both sides felt about equally moisturized,  although I will say the ends of my hair with the homemade leave in felt better than the Juicy leave in side. This may most likely be due to the acidic ph of my homemade leave in. 

Three days later

 A week later, my hair stayed moisturized about equally on both sides. I ended up retwisting mid-week using Shea Moisture hold and shine moisture mist and it looked about the same on both sides.

One week later after retwisting midweek with Shea Moisture hold and shine moisture mist

Verdict - I like Naturalista's Juicy Leave-in. It definitely leaves your hair juicy and moisturized so if you aren't into mixology it would be a convenient leave in product. While I don't like greasiness, this product does smell divine and the greasiness goes away over time. I think this product would also be good for stretching on dry hair although I haven't tried it like that yet. At US$23 for an 8oz jar it is kind of pricey compared to similar leave-ins. You can check their website for purchase or my trini naturals, you can try it and buy it at Body Beautiful on D'Avenue.