Disclaimer: I was provided with free product in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own and are not influenced by the developing company and/or its affiliates in any way.
Don’t forget to check out pt. 2 on the newer products available- the Quenched Cream Conditioner, Luxe Leave In, Taming Cream, and Curls for Days Finishing Spray!
www.instagram.com/p/Bx2wREjlgmk/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Price point: Cheap! $9.99 for everything except the mask which is $11.99 (available at Sally Beauty Supply starting 7/1/2019.)
General notes:
– Free of SLS/SLES sulfates, silicones, gluten, and parabens.
– Only one item is protein free
– Multiple items have isopropyl alcohol as one of the last ingredients, which if you modify the Curly Girl Method- but stricter CGM followers will need to skip them **But before skipping them, see note at the bottom of this post.
– Lots of the products contain glycerin. This is not a con and just a note for those who try to avoid it or seek it out. Some of the products it’s high on the list, some it’s low
– Scented, but the scent doesn’t linger when applied to wet hair.
No-Lather Cleanser
Smells like jasmine and I LOVE JASMINE. One of the best smells in the world to me is a plant that’s common in Pakistan and India called motia (I think it’s the Maid of Orleans jasmine in English) and this reminded me of that smell. This was super exciting to me. This is a thicker co-wash. It felt very similar in texture to the Daily Cream Conditioner, but it definitely left a light squeak on my scalp. Especially for those with finer hair or even just softer water, this could easily be a one and done cleanser without another conditioner after. Since I love my moisture, I still followed this up with a protein-free conditioner. This is one of the products that contains isopropyl alcohol.**
(Update 8/10/19: Gave this to my fine-haired, wavy best friend to try and it did work well for her.)
Lo-Lather Cleanser
As advertised. Didn’t leave my hair feeling too dry, but was definitely still a “low-poo.” This is a thicker gel-like cleanser (as opposed to creamy or liquid-y.) Smells a little floral, but not strongly. It smells like white flower and mix of other things that are normal smells for a shampoo, but can’t pin point them (I’ll try to remember to try again once my nose clears up, but it’s allergy season.)
Daily Cream Conditioner
This products contains isopropyl alcohol**, and smells like a mix of perfume and jasmine. I think I still prefer my conditioners protein free to keep my moisture-loving hair in balance, but I have friends with different hair needs that would probably adore this conditioner. It smells nice, it’s creamier without being TOO heavy (don’t have to worry about build up frizz.)
Divine Treatment
Smells the strongest of jasmine of the bunch (or maybe it just seemed so since I kept it on longer.) This product has great slip and advertises to leave on for UP TO 15 minutes. Most are a minimum of 15. This doesn’t seem to give me build up like a lot of the other shea butter based deep conditioners do. The texture is a lot smoother than things that are super heavy in butters, but it seems to penetrate well. Contains isopropyl alcohol.**
Soft Definition Gel
Smells like citrus. Has an interesting feel to it. It stuck to my hands extremely well, but didn’t feel sticky. I’m not sure how that sentence makes any sense, but that’s the only way I could describe it. It felt softer, like Aussie Instant Freeze, going on.
High Definition Gel
Seems to be the only protein free item in the line. Has the same stuck, but not sticky feel as the Soft Definition Gel, but smelled like dryer sheets instead of citrus. Definitely did have more hold than the soft definition, without making my waves stringy like some of the other harder hold gels can. That being said, not the hardest hold gel I’ve ever used, but I’m fine with that.
Boosting Foam
Advertised to be used on wet hair. But the first time I used this I used it on dry hair to refresh, using the wetness of the product itself for the refresh and my results were wonderful. Usually dry refreshes leave my hair feeling gross. I could feel that I had product in my hair when I touched it, but it didn’t feel overly sticky or gross. Second time I used it, I sandwiched it between the cream and the high definition gel. Didn’t get as tight of definition as when I used the two products without it, but definitely got more volume and more hold. Smelled lightly of dryer sheets, but especially being a foam the smell wasn’t very strong at all.
Bouncy Cream
Smell is a little perfume-y, but not specific- like the way a beauty magazine smells from the combination of the perfume pages. The texture was different from I was expecting. This didn’t have that typical shea butter feel to it, it was more slippery. I’m putting a photo below in hopes that it helps with the texture of the product. I generally emulsify product in wet hands before applying it and that was very difficult to do with this, it wasn’t emulsifying smoothly. But it went onto my wet hair surprisingly easily and felt easy to distribute on my strands even if I couldn’t distribute it on my hands. Definitely gave good definition, but I didn’t use enough to see how it would do for hold as a one and done. As a general statement I don’t use creams that way since my coarse strands would want more cream than my waves could handle. The other advertised use of this product was to use it on individual dry curls for shaping, so I tried this for refreshing just emulsified with a tiny bit of water on dry hair (emulsified fine when it was just a little bit of water at a time) and it worked wonderfully for that! The perfume-y scent did end up lingering when used this way.
**Zotos Professional did reach out to me (before I even posted this review) to let me know that the reason they listed isopropyl alcohol on the ingredients list of 3 of their products was to be entirely transparent. It is used as a solvent in the conditioning agent Behentrimonium Chloride and majority of the drying alcohol gets flushed out during processing. Some other companies that do the same process opt not to disclose what was used as a solvent. I can vouch that none of these products have felt drying on my hair despite a “non-CG” ingredient being listed as one of the final.
Update: Sally’s also started carrying a little travel kit for $9.99 that includes the No-Lather Cleanser, Daily Cream Conditioner, Bouncy Cream, and High Definition Gel. Great way to try it out! I wish other brands had a travel size kit for that price.
Did I miss anything? What other questions do you have on these products?
Hi
Thanks for reviewing these products. I’m really looking for styling products that will give me moisture, definition and hold. Wondering about combining the High def gel with the bouncy cream. I actually liked the bouncy cream when I applied to dry curls but haven’t used it on wet hair yet. I always need more than one product that’s why I’m curious about combining products. (Company doesn’t have much available info. What are your thoughts and what order would I apply them?
Thanks again for review!
Sure thing! I actually have used them together with success. The Bouncy Cream is hard to apply in small amounts on wet hair because it doesn’t emulsify super easily in your hands even though it applies well in your hair. That being said, since it’s not super buttery or anything I didn’t find any issue with the amount that I needed to use to get my hair coated. I always suggest gel after cream, just because you’d want to use the gel to lock in the moisture from the cream. I’d also suggest using more gel than you think you need because the first time I tried the High Definition Gel with the Bouncy Cream I was thrown off by the slick feeling of the cream on wet hair and used way too little. So use the amount that you normally would and ignore the voice in your head wondering if it’d be too much gel.
Do you think these products are similar to Deva Curl products?
Yes and no? My hair actually doesn’t like Devacurl gels and I didn’t have a problem with these. But if the part you love about Devacurl products is the way they work together and the protein content- I think you’ll like these. I like the Bouncy Cream better than the Devacurl creams because it’s not quite as buttery, the consistency is different. But with being low porosity I get build up frizz easily if I use things that are too buttery and these don’t build up as much. Let me know if there’s a specific comparison you wanted to know about that I didn’t answer!
Hi there! I just bought Sally’s sample box of All About Curls and I’m curious, do I use the no lather shampoo and daily creme conditioner every time I wash, or is one to be used more or less frequently than the other? New to the CG method!
That will depend on personal preference. I’m wavy-curly and get build up easily, so I tend to alternate washes for co-wash (I consider the no lather to be a co-wash) and a low-poo (which the lo lather would be.) Since I also have coarse strands I absolutely need conditioner every wash. I have friends that are curlier than I am that can co-wash every wash and their hair is still happy and I have friends with finer hair that can sometimes skip the conditioner depending on how moisturizing the co-wash is (I always suggest using at least a small bit of a lightweight leave in even if you’re going to skip the wash out conditioner since conditioning restores your hair’s pH balance after cleansing.)
Hello,
I have natural curly wavy long blonde colored hair my curls look great when my hair is wet but is dry and frizzy when it’s completely dry,that is when I hate my hair I’m getting married next summer and want my hair to look soft curls and beautiful. Will these products reform my hair ?
First thing I’m going to say is there is no such thing as a miracle product, but on the brighter note time is in your favor!
Do you have color or heat damage? Can you tell me a little more about your hair? Are the strands fine or coarse? Do you have a lot of strands?
If your hair looks good wet that’s a good sign. It sounds like you primarily just need to lock in that moisture from the shower- which is what hair products are often designed to do. But I need a little more info before I can say if these products would be best for you.
I’m just dipping my toes into this curly hair process. I do not have naturally curly hair. I swim in chlorinated pools almost daily and have a regime of products to limit that exposure. I am really not inclined to add a different shampoo/ conditioner to the process. Is that a deal breaker? Could I still have success achieving a wavy curl with just the “add on” products? Today Sally Beauty was offering buy 1 ,get 1 free, so it seemed like a good time to test it out. Any recommendations on what I should get? High def gel, boosting foam, divine tmt. and /or bouncy cream? Thanks for sharing your experience with these products.
First off, you’re welcome. Second, you’re saying you don’t have naturally curly hair. Is it a little wavy or stick straight? Ultimately I’m trying to figure out what your goals are to figure out how to advise you. Are you trying to define waves? Are you looking to create volume? Something else?
I have thick, curly, frizzy (especially at the crown) hair. I’ve tried everything to get the frizz to settle. Some parts of my hair on in the 4a range while others are in the 3a/3b on the curly guide.. Color my hair about every 6 weeks in an effort to keep the grey under control. Not sure if this is damaging my hair at this time in my life. Looking for a product that will really help control the frizzy, unruly part of my hair. Would appreciate your thoughts on how you think this product would work for me.
Chemicals will always cause damage to your hair, so yes- coloring is causing damage. But you can mitigate the effects of some of that damage by taking good care of your hair. I definitely suggest using a deep conditioner with protein in it (the one in this line has some protein.) Depending on how much damage you have and the natural porosity of your hair will determine how much protein you need and if you’d get enough benefit from spending money on something like Olaplex No. 3. The other thing to note is that grey hairs tend to be significantly coarser- so what works for the rest of your hair may not be working for those greys coming in. I can’t say any one product line is going to work for you or not, but I’d even just play around with products that you already have and see if those coarser hairs maybe like a heavier product than your lengths like. Things that weigh down your lengths may be fine closer to your roots. You can also try to apply a little extra of your styler once your hair is 50% dry to get extra hold out of it to tame those halo pieces- I often do that when I’m using lighter hold products since I have naturally coarse and dark hair so it’s obvious when my halo pieces are sticking out.
I’d be happy to answer any follow up questions as well!
Hi-
Thanks for the review. I am new to the enhancing your curls business. I have recently been using Curlsmith co-wash and Quidad gel and this morning I added just a little All About Curls Cream and my hair looked like I put too much product in it, my curls/waves were stringy and I had some frizz. Ugh. Tomorrow I will try the All About Curls shampoo, conditioner and gel and see what happens. Any additional suggestions. I think my hair would be considered 2b.
I’ve found that I can only use a little bit of the cream without getting some frizz from it. I haven’t had a problem with it making my hair stringy, but definitely a build up frizz feel if I use too much. I love the shampoo though, it’s probably one of my favorites in the line! If the cream might be too much for your hair, I’d just try leaving some of the conditioner in (or rinsing out and reapplying the conditioner in the quantities you would use leave in or cream) and see how that goes. But also, even if not today, I’d suggest using the shampoo and conditioner and then style with your normal Ouidad gel so you can actually see which results are from which products.