Hola Chicas!
The results are in…and the winner is……….. Carols Daughter Black Vanilla Hair Smoothie.
But let me tell ya, it was the unlikely champ. I’ve never been a Carols Daughter fan. I tried the Hair Milk back in the day before the reformulation and wasn’t impressed. Soon after that, they became very commercial and compared to other lines, their ingredients left much to be desired. I recently received a box of her products to review and the Hair Smoothie was amongst them.
After a long over due henna treatment, I deep conditioned with Heaven in Hair on one side, and Black Vanilla Hair Smoothie on the other. When I applied the Heaven in Hair (HIH) it glided on like butter! It was the perfect consistency — thick, creamy, and slippery. It felt so good initially that I was planning on styling with it later that day. I truly wanted to love it.
The Black Vanilla Hair Smoothie (BVHS) while wetter and less creamy in consistency, went on a little rough and didn’t give me the slip I crave. I was shocked considering that one of the first ingredients is amodimethicone (I was thinking it would behave like the Pantene DT Mask). I put on my plastic baggie and micro heat cap and went about my business for 2 hours.
Finally, it was time to rinse. When I took off the baggie to assess the situation, I was very surprised to find that the HIH side was hard and straw like…it felt horrible! The BVHS side, while still not very slippery, was soft and supple. It was much easier to work with and detangle under the water stream. Needless to say, I didn’t expect these results. I was really feeling the HIH ingredients — its cone free and contains lots of yummy butters. I guess my hair likes what it likes, regardless of what I think should be good for it.
Carols Daughter Black Vanilla Hair Smoothie– 8oz/$19
Product Description: The ultimate “smooth operator.”
This wildly essential Hair Smoothie tames your stressed-out hair with a mix of oils and butters that intensely condition and detangle.
- Detangles and conditions hair on the spot with a rich emulsion of natural moisturizers
- Features the intoxicating notes of warm vanilla and fresh coconut to feed the senses and soothe the soul
- Boasts Sunflower Seed Oil, Rapa Seed Oil, Olive Oil, Shea and Cocoa Butter for the ultimate in conditioning.
Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Cetearyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Amodimethicone, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed oil, Brassicamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Olea Europaea (Olive)Fruit Oil, Peg-40 Castor Oil, Prunus Amygdalys Dulcis (Sweet Almond)Oil, Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) germ Oil, Fragrance, Phenoxyethanol (and) Caprylyl Glycol (and) Potassium Sorbate, (and) Hexylene Glycol, Aspartic Acid, polysorbate 20, Cyclopentasiloxane, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Tetrasodium EDTA, Simethicone, Panthenol, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice.
Product Description: This moisture treatment is heaven for your hair! Experience maximum hydration from the rain forests of Brazil. Infused with Cupuacu, Murumuru and Cocoa seed butter. A wonderful deep treatment conditioner. Allow the botanicals to penetrate for 15 to 30 minutes under a plastic cap.
Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Aqueos Extracts of: Achilea Millefolium, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria), Cymbopogon Schonanthus, Humulus Lupulos (Hops), Melissa Offcinalis (Balm Mint), Rosemarinus Offcinalis (Rosemary); Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Esters, Glycol Distearate, Polyquaternium-7, Cetrimonium Chloride, Behentrimonium Chloride, Ceteareth-20, Quaternium-91, Cetrimonium Methosulfate, Hydroxyethyl-cellulose, Theobroma Cacao (cocoa) Seed Butter, Theobroma Grandiflorum (Cupuaco) Seed Butter, Astrocaryum (Murumuru) Seed Butter, Polyquaternium-10, PEG-6 Caprylic/Capric Glycerides, Citric Acid, Methyldibromo Glutaronitrile, Phenoxyethanol, Fragnance, Blue 1, Yellow 5
I’m not a fan of either of these ingredient lists. WAY too many names I can’t pronounce. Check out the NC.com reviews of HIH, you’ll see that I wasn’t the only one with this adverse reaction. I wonder which ingredient, or ingredient combo my hair hated. By the way, the HIH smells medicinal and has a lime green color..weird. The BVHS has a vanilla and cocoa smell that while not the greatest, is definitely not over powering.
In other news, the BVHS side felt so wonderful that I decided to leave a little in and style with Oyin’s Shine and Define Sytling Serum. I’ll give my review tonight…all I’ll say for now is that my hair looks great!
Will I purchase the Carols Daughter Hair Smoothie again? Maybe. It depends on how my hair holds up today.
Later Gators,
Nik
Love the review but I have to disagree. I love HIH! I also used it after a protein treatment (Aubrey Organics GBP) but had excellent results.
Hi Nikky,
If you still have the HIH, try to use it as a leave-in and over some One. My hair is very similar to yours (including, mine loves shea butter. Just loearnt it from your experiences, thanx!). My results with HIH are a lot better when I use it as a leave-in than as a mask. My next chalenge is trying One+HIH+shea butter. This tip was given in Devacurl FB page, to use as a deep condition treatment, but I am gonna to let it in to see how my hair will turn out.
Wow,
I use the HIH fairly regularly. I leave it in overnight and partially rinse it out the next morning. It does leave my hair a little crunchy if I leave in too much, but the coils come out so neat and organized. Even the parts of my hair I didn't think had an organized pattern. Sometimes I don't get the right amount out and it will take forever to dry (looking a little white until then cause I shun the dryer) or a few sections will dry white if I applied too heavily. But I just wet my fingers and smooth the product out of that coil.
If I use the right amount, my hair comes out very soft and I just spritz in a home-made leave-in.
Days I don't want a wet head I dilute the One-Conditioner and spruce up my day-old coils.
I haven't tried the newly formulated CD. Maybe I'll try again some day as an option.
Carol's daughter Hair Smoothie is great for my hair. It melts like butter in my natural hair and my hair feels soft and bouncy. It is a staple in my hair regime for life!
I went to Sephora a few days ago and got a free sample of the Carol's Daughter hair smoothie. I really liked the smell and it felt nice in my hair. I will have to go back and purchase it. $19 doesn't hurt as much when you don't have to pay for shipping. I wasn't going to try her product (too many bad reviews online) but since you and Oprah used it now I have to buy it LOL
I too bought Heaven in Hair. I returned it the next week. It dried my hair out something fierce. Horrid product.
Great review! I actually love the Tui Hair Smoothie, it melted through my hair like butter and I loved the smell. I was actually surprised I got a couple of uses (about 4) out of that small jar (as I am very heavy handed with conditioner). I would buy it again in the future however I have a ton of other conditioners I'm using up first. KBB Hair Mask is a great one as well. I absolutely love the way this one makes my hair feel
When I first went natural last year, I tried the Tui Hair smoothie. I did not like the gooey consistency nor did it make my hair soft. I didn’t feel any benefits from it at all. I stopped using it and the jar is still in my drawer. I brought it back out a few months later and added some oils to it to help smooth out the texture of the smoothie. It did help with that, but still, I was stuck with hair that ended up like your DevaCare side, very straw-like. I guess it’s the -cone my hair didn’t like. I wish she could make it so that they aren’t in there.
Couldn't agree more about HIH. It starts out like your best friend but then turns its back on you when the heat is on. I will give the smoothie a try. I fell out of love with CD a while back, but I'm willing to give her one more try based on your recommendation.
Whew! So glad I didn’t buy that! I do like Carol’s Daughter but only Lisa’s Hair Elixer and anything Tui. Other than that my nose can’t handle the smell. The Black Vanilla does smell great but I just prefer a sweet smell-Tui. Pretty soon I hope to try Curl Junkie Rehab Moisturizing Hair Treatment. Hopefully that works out! Thanks again. Oh and I agree with KBB her stuff is crazy good-the milk is my new bff 😉
Nik, I told you when I used that HIH it felt like HELL IN HAIR!!! That product is absolutely awful!!! The ingredients had me interested as well… but I lost so much hair as I began to rinse it out I almost cried… it took an hour or more to detangle… I had to use additional oils and conditioners to detangle and I lost CLUMPS of hair…. a lot of it was matted!!! I’m not a carol’s daughter fan ever since she became commercialized. Very solid review tho… sorry about the HIH… Karen’s Body Beautiful is the new CD in my book!!! Give her products a try!!!
solid review. i’m glad you are our personal guinea pig because i would have been mad if i had paid whatever it costs for HIH and gotten the results you got. I use some deva products but don’t need to try this one. thanks.
hmmmm now you have me tempted with the carol’s daughter hair smoothie! my current DC is organix coconut instant repair (my hair adores anything coconutty), but my sisters have raved about CD’s tui hair smoothie too… it’s just the price differential ($7 v $19) that has me hesitant.
Ooh I wish the screen had a scratch and sniff LOL the Carol’s Daughter hair smoothie just sounds delish. I can’t believe how expensive the HIH is! OMG! Thanks for the review and please let us know how your hair felt/looked once dry.
I heard so many bad things about Carol’s Daughter products that I was tempted not to give them a try. However, my husband bought me a whole bag full of stuff and I fell in love. I haven’t tried the Black Vanilla but I AM IN LOVE with the Tui Hair Smoothie conditioner. I think I may like it a little better than my AO white Camilla—(not sure yet)
Aww man! lol. just kidding. Well, I like the way the CD BV leave in smells even though it was wack on my hair, so I dunno. Maybe I will try in order to give her hair prodz the benefit… Well, cant wait to end hear the day’s end results 🙂