Cheapie Tip of the Month (For The Thrifty Natural)

Don't pay the usual retail price for the products you love. When you find a product you love, comparison shop online (and remember to google for discounts).

Sites like Sephora  (and even the store) will sell you a product at 'the suggested retail price.' But lesser-known sites (there's one called beautydeals.net) can sometimes offer you a better deal as they are often more eager to move inventory even if it's at a discount and will may even tack on additional discounts  through online coupons.  This is how I bought many of my pricier commercial hair products.

You may be thinking: 'But the shipping...!'
But without realizing it, sometimes we end up paying more in the store just to avoid shipping costs.

Here's what to do: Add the shipping in from the get-go, as though it were a part of the cost, then do the math. You will often find that even with shipping, it works out cheaper.

I have gotten pretty savvy at it, and I will actually search around different marketplace or lesser-known sites and divide the cost each vendor is selling the product at, by the number of ounces I get in total. This way I can tell which one will give me the lowest cost per ounce. I have found that sites like Amazon.com and, I'm sure, ebay will sell multiple containers for a single price, like two for one etc.

Be cautious though.
If you are getting your product from a lesser-known site (that you're not familiar with), do your research. This means looking at the About Us page and making sure they are legit; and googling reviews on their web store. If they have been in business for awhile they should have reviews.
Or, if you're shaky about online shopping in general, go through a marketplace site like Amazon or eBay. Amazon is great because if they don't follow through, you can demand a refund.

Product Review: DevaCurl Heaven In Hair Deep Conditioner

Hello, Curlies
Happy Saturday! It is hot and humid where I am, but I'm used to it. The heat, though, has made me even more lazy than ever  (I just woke up from a midday nap so I'm feeling extra relaxed).
So, as my Kerastase Oleo-Curl Intense deep conditioner is running out, I thought to branch out and look for a comparable alternative at a lower price.  I am on a tight budget these days and just cannot make my dollars stretch as far as another bottle of what has so far been my favorite conditioner.  If only I could find a sale - like 75% off (like that's gonna happen, right? L'Oreal, are you out there?  Can you hook me up?).

Until this magic sale happens, I decided to make DevaCurl's Heaven In Hair my new deep moisturing conditioner staple. 

I heard rave reviews about it from other naturals and I liked that, like my other fav deep conditioners (Phytokarite is one of them) it touts these great oils and butter, such as murumuru, among its list of ingredients.

I had planned to mix it with my existing deep conditioner, but after purchasing it, the first thing I notice is that it has a super-strong smell - that I don't like.  I don't know what it smells like - something like overly strong, old-time perfume.  It claims to have jasmine flower (which could be the reason for the strong smell?).Whatever makes it smell so strong, that turned me off.
I absolutely love, love, love the smell of the Kerastase Oleo-Curl so I was concerned mixing the two like I planned would have resulted in an overall but equally unappealing smell. I kept them separate.  After poo-ing my hair this Friday with my shikakai cleanser, I applied the Heaven In Hair to towel-dried hair.  I was hoping for a slippery, kind of silky feeling I get when I apply the Kerastase - but this didn't happen.  Thus I didn't get much help from it as a detangler, and the fact that I have been detangling after my shikakai poo while I have in a deep conditioner, means I needed detangling help from it.
To its credit, it probably didn't have that slippery feeling because it does not include silicones (which I have heard from other naturals is bad for our hair though the only reason I have gathered is that using products that have silicones will give a false sense that the hair is healthy when its not, because of the smoothness and shine silicones impart).  I think if you are paying close attention to your hair, as in inspecting it sans product, silicones shouldn't delude you. The only other thing I can think is using products with silicones excessively can be drying - not so much because silicones are drying, and they may be, I don't know, but because they make the hair feel strong and shiny, temporarily, so it's tempting to think, the hair has enough moisture and this is dangerous because silicones do not impart moisture.
The Kerastase, I think, contains some silicones (I think), which may have to do with the very slippery feeling I get when I work it through.

All in all, I don't hate the Heaven In Hair.  I  certainly plan to continue using it until it's done.  What I will do is use it to stretch my daily conditioners, not as a deep conditioner.  My plan is to mix it with my co-wash conditioner, hopefully to impart some of the great benefits of things like cupuacu and murumuru butters among other great ingredients - if only it smelled better.  If you don't mind strong smells, Heaven In Hair will probably work just fine for you.  My recommendation, though, is to smell it before you buy it and don' try to use it as a detangling conditioner.

On another note, I am almost out of my daily conditioner, my Everyday Shea (sad sigh).  I am on a tight budget so I was considering getting a cheaper conditioner like a Suave or something....in my next post I'll tell you about my little adventure to find another co-wash conditioner.
I hope you found my Heaven In Hair review helpful.
Later