Monday, January 24, 2011

Kinky Curly Review

Kinky Curly
Note: I did not use the Spritz.


Are you ready for a long Kinky Curly review? If not, grab some popcorn, sit back and relax. :)

I knew when I finally decided to give Kinky Curly a try I wanted to try it over a period of time so I first used it in July and have been using it on and off ever since. Here we go...



Day 1: I first started by washing A's hair and scalp with Kinky Curly Come Clean Shampoo, all was well until I decided to go against Kinky Curly's advice and mix other products. I took a look at the Kinky Curly Knot Today (leave-in detangler) and thought I would be better off using Suave Almond & Shea Butter Conditioner because A's hair was quite tangled and well, to be quite honest, I was being stingy with the more expensive product. I mean, I didn't want to use the entire bottle all at once! Well, let me tell you, NOW I know why they say do not mix products with Kinky Curly. After detangling A's hair with the Suave conditioner I applied Kinky Curly Knot Today then I applied the Kinky Curly Curling Custard over it in small sections (on her soaking wet hair). I grabbed our Denman brush to distribute the product evenly. Something weird was happening. It was very hard to get the Denman through her detangled hair. It was as if her wet hair was turning rock hard. I suspect this might have something to do with using that darn Suave conditioner. I continued applying the Knot Today and Curling Custard until I was finished. Pictured above is what her hair looked like when I was done. It stayed like that for a while and although her hair was wet, it was not dripping.

About 3 hours later, her hair was dry. I wasn't exactly pleased with the results. Some parts were stringy, some hard and crunchy, others poofy, the back was flat (pictured below). Enough said. Lets move on to day 2...





Day 2: On day 2 I realized I needed to wash her hair completely over and do it the right way. I shampooed her hair and scalp with Come Clean then added a ton of Knot Today to detangle her hair. I surprisingly didn't have to use as much as I thought. I left the Knot Today in and decided to add an extra step before applying the Curling Custard. I added a tiny bit of Kinky Curly's Gloss Pomade to each section, then added the Curling Custard over it. We had much better results on day 2. Her hair was still a little crunchy but it was defined and shiney. I was pleased but not thrilled. (pictured below)



Day 3: I wet A's hair with a spray bottle, smoothed each section between my hand (no reapplying anything), then smoothed over each curl with my finger. Kind of like what Teri (tightlycurly method) does. I twirled some pieces here and there. This process took about 30 minutes. There was very little crunch on Day 3. Pictures are below.

(still a little damp in this first picture)






Day 4: I put A's hair in a high ponytail for bed on day 3, I took that ponytail out on day 4 and this is what it looked like, no wetting, no applying anything. A little frizzy but I loved it! Pictures below.





Day 5: On day 5, I rewet her hair, applied a gererous amount of Knot Today, then put it half up, half down. On the bottom section I applied a little Pomade and Custard and lightly finger detangled. On the top part of the ponytail I just smoothed a little Custard over her pony. I used the Pomade to smooth the top of the ponytail down. Picture below. At this point, the crunch was completely gone. Her curls looked fantastic.



Day 6 & 7: On days 6 & 7 I put A's hair in a low ponytail, I smoothed the top of the ponytail down with a little Pomade and Custard. No brushing, no wetting. Pictures below.





Day 8: I wet A's hair at the end of day 7 and did some quick two strand twists. No reapplying any product. Below are the results. The flower is from Little Lady & Me. :)



Okay, if you made it this far, round of applause to you! I tried to cut it short, I promise. Since July I have also been using Kinky Curly Curling Custard to smooth down A's hair for ponytails or buns. You can view a picture below of A's bun. By the way, the adorable flower is from Flowerz in Her Hair, Check them out!



Final thoughts: I am really loving Kinky Curly Curling Custard. It took me a while to get over the initial crunch, but the crunch is gone after 2-3 days. Her curls looked beautiful and I love that I have a product to rely on for those special occasions when I want to smooth down her ponies and not have any flyaways a few hours later.The down side is the Custard is a little pricey, around $20 (8oz) but as I previously mentioned, I have been using it off and on since July 2010 and I still have a little bit left (from the 8oz jar!). You also don't have to apply the custard every day. Depending on how you're wearing your hair, once a week is fine. Now, the Knot Today, for us, is another story. A's hair just didn't seem to like it very well. I have read so many wonderful things about it but the truth is, it doesn't help us in our detangling process, it doesn't even seem to moisturize her hair. I am going to give it another go so look out for a future review of the Knot Today. I was pleasntly surprised by the pomade! A little goes a long way and I love it for ponies! It adds a ton of shine as well. I didn't find anything too special about the Come Clean shampoo, it did what it was supposed to do and cleaned her hair. :)

I will definitely be purchasing Kinky Curly Curling Custard and Kinky Curly Gloss Pomade in the near future. You can purchase Kinky Curly from their website Kinky-Curly.com, you can also find Kinky Curly in select Target Stores.

I would love to hear what you think about Kinky Curly! If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Disclosure: The product(s) were sent to me free of charge from the company or PR agency for the purpose of this review. My opinions are my own and are not influenced by any other part.

19 comments :

  1. Great review!! I'll try it on myself before I try it on Anisa. Luckily, my local Target sells it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great review and beautiful curls!!! You really do a great job in takng care of your daughter's hair!!!

    Quick question: can the curling custard be used with another leave-in or does it absolutely have to be with the knot today?

    Thanks in advance and take care!!! =)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love Kinky Curly but it is not for everyone.

    I purchase from Whole Foods stores, I believe majority of them carry it as oppose to select Target stores.

    My fav products are the Knot Today, Curling Custard and Spiral Spritz. Kinky Curly products are known to NOT PLAY WELL WITH OTHERS so do a small test before wasting product and causing you to repeat the process. I can attest to getting week long results with the custard. For those that find the custard too heavy might want to try using the knot today as a light leave in and the spiral spritz.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Found the Curling Custard and Spiral Spritz to work nice for us in the spring and summer. When I first started using the Curling Custard on loose styles for my daughters, KC was the only product line we used for about half a year...but learned we needed more moisture than the Knot Today gave in terms of leave in and we needed a clarifying shampoo that worked heavy-duty better than the Come Clean. Never tried the pomade from this line, or any pomade for that matter on my kids' hair, because EVO Coconut Oil serves the same purpose for us.

    BTW, Kinky Curly Curling Custard and Spiral Spritz can be paired with VO5 Moisture Milk Conditioners, in particular the Strawberries & Cream (might be discontinued) one and the Peach one. For us it gave the same curl definition results as pairing Knot Today + Curling Custard or Knot Today + Spiral Spritz but better moisture retention. Those two products also work well with Alba Botanica Leave-in, which gave us the best curl definition and moisture retention.

    We also found that KC products did not pair well with Sauve conditioners.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I tried the Knot Today Leave In & the Curly Custard. Well, I wasn't pleased with either of the products. The Leave In didn't make a huge difference in detangling her hair. As for the custard I noticed some flaking around her edges, and way too much crunchiness for me. Needless to say, I opted to keep the Leave In & return the custard. I purchased fr Target to ensure if I didn't like them I could return w/o a prob. I tried both on my hair bc I go curly about 3 days a week, but still a NOT. I was disappointed:(

    ReplyDelete
  6. Interesting review! Thank you! I've heard so much about this company, yet have yet to try it. I am interested in the spritz as well - and what the ingredients look like :) I guess I'll have to research that myself!

    By the way, A is growing up so fast! What an adorable girl! and her hair is just to die for :) Good job, mama!

    ~Karli
    www.curlyhairdoideas.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have also used the curling custard on my daughters tight, tight curls and like it for puffs and smoothing ponies too. I have tried to cornrow with it since she has so much fuzz after one day but that doesn't work so well. Thanks for the tips

    ReplyDelete
  8. We've tried the Curly custard, and I couldn't get over the initial "crunch" I didn't like the way it made my daughter's hair feel. I may try the pomade though. Thanks for the review

    ReplyDelete
  9. I feel the exact same way about the Knot Today! It worked decently well, but it was not a "Holy Grail" product for us. I think Taliah Waajid's Protective Mist Bodifier works just as well as Knot Today on my daughter's hair (if not better) for almost half the price.

    I also got the KC Curling Custard but haven't tried it out yet. (This week, maybe?) I did not purchase the Gloss Pomade because it seemed like an unnecessary product, so I'm surprised to read that it worked so well. Now, I may have to buy one to try out!

    Thanks for the thorough review! And if it helps, I didn't think your review was too long at all; I read every word. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love Darcy's Botanicals Daily Leave-In Conditioner and Natural Curls Coiling Jelly. But I have heard lots of great KC reviews and have been wanting to try the Knot Today and the Curling Custard in place of our Darcy's products. Two things are holding me back. 1) The price!! and 2) You are supposed to apply the product to sopping wet hair. I just can't let her hair go dripping wet in the winter time. Reviews like this make me waffle a bit, but I'm trying to hold out till the summer when the wet head won't be such a big deal.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love Kinky Curly, especially the curling custard on my daughter's hair. I agree that the Knot Today isn't the best leave-in for her hair, but it's actually pretty awesome in my son's hair. It detangles and softens his hair very easily, which is nice b/c he's a busy 2 year old who doesn't want to sit long for his hair to be combed.

    I also use a little of the custard in my wavy hair. What I found is that you have to experiment with this product and once you figure out the right method to use it - it is a great product and you also know you are using a product with good ingredients and not junk on your kids' hair, which is one of the reasons I can deal with it being on the pricey side. I also love when I find one product that I can use on all of us as well - that fact alone helps cut down on hair products costs.

    ReplyDelete
  12. the whole thing with applying it to sopping wet hair is hard for me,since Avi's hair eats up moisture so quick. I can pour a huge cup of water over her head in the tub and a minute later it is far from sopping wet lol

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love this product so much, the texture is great and it smells great. If you use it correctly you will have beautiful bouncy frizz free curls. The knot today works okay but I think there are cheaper options for detanglers. The custard is worth the roughly $20 and it lasted me about 2 1/2 weeks. I have medium length curly hair. This product is not a gel, first of alll gel dries your hair out, this product actually strengthens your hair and it is easy to manage and stays shiny

    ReplyDelete
  14. After reading your review, I am going to try out my KCCC this weekend. I've had it for a while but was so scared of the learning curve (you know applying too much or not enough). Thanks for the step by step instructions & pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I happen to be a big fan of the KC products. The knot today is my favorite product (of all products), it detangles, moisturizes, and my hair stays moisturized for days (once sealed with a custard/cream/butter).
    The custard is an amazing product.. however, it is very difficult to learn how to use right. It took me until the 4th try to get it right. It took my friend even longer to get it right. But once I got it right... it lasts 1 wk plus. To reactivate, I just use a spray bottle and rewet my hair. By adjusting my leave-in:custard ratio, I no longer get the crunchies, and a little bit of the pomade goes a really long wayto help seal and avoid crunchies.

    M

    ReplyDelete
  16. I didn't care for this product. It seems to be for people who already have hair that curls up without this product. It did nothing for my 7 year olds hair. A big waste of money in my opinion.

    ReplyDelete
  17. OMDG!!! i literally GASPED for air when i saw yur daughters hair!!its thick, long, and healthy!! but my fav hairstyle for her was when it was super kinky no product and HUGE! thats right mom u go girl!.. shes such a beaut, does she model? and i love kinky curly product aswell:) blessings in abundance to u and ur little princess <3

    ReplyDelete
  18. Your daughters hair is beautiful! I can only wish I had hair like that and I am 27!

    ReplyDelete
  19. I love the curling custard(pricey but worth it),I haven't tried the gloss pomade yet, I don't really care for the spritz, the knot today doesn't really help my daughter's hair (it smells good), and the shampoo to me is just another organic shampoo.

    ReplyDelete

We love comments! Please do not use our blog to advertise or promote anything without our permission. Also, remember this is a children's blog so lets keep it friendly! Thank you.