I’d heard about Karen’s Body Beautiful — the brain child of Karen Tappin Saunderson, owner of Clinton Hill’s Karen’s Body Beautiful Dayspa — from my literary G_dmother, Linda Dominique Grosvenor, who has also started her very own journey to natural, so I decided to surf on over to the Website and check out the product offering.  Still loyal to my Carol’s Daughter Hair Milk and Healthy Hair Butter, I just wanted to check and see if Karen had anything comparable… Ya know… In case I needed to switch due to financial reasons.  Well lucky for me, KBB also offers a Hair Milk… and a Hair Butter, both priced a bit less than CD‘s listings.  And even better than that, KBB bundled these 1 and 2 oz.bottles of the two products in what they call their Heavenly Hair Sample Pack, which includes a 1 oz container of hair cream and a 1 oz bottle of hair oil!  I was overjoyed that for a “mere” $25 I could sample four products, without having to “commit” to full size bottles (an advantage over CD, who has “kits” but no sample sized products).  In addition to that, KBB gives you a choice of eleven fragrances to add to your products!  Woot-tacular, right?  Needless to say, I placed my order (grumbling all the way about UPS being the only shipping option at $8) and waited with baited breath for my goodies.

And I waited.

And I waited some more.

And still I waited…

I’d placed my order on May 10th and received confirmation that my order shipped on May 8th via UPS Ground.  I started getting antsy when the products hadn’t arrived by Memorial Day weekend, so I went to UPS to track the package.  Turned out they’d delivered it to the apartment complex office in lieu of walking up three flights of stairs to bring it to me door.  NOT a good look, considering any other package I’d gotten via UPS was delivered into my hot little hands directly.  It was more a UPS issue than err on the behalf of KBB, but I was a bit miffed that the company only offers one option for shipping… and it’s the most expensive one to boot.  But no worries and no bother, by the 26th I had my hair treats, with two lotion samples (sultry sandalwood and pomegranate guava), and was anxious to try them on for size, so I immediately washed my tresses and prepared to dress them.

First came the coco lime Hair Milk, which smelled so delectable it almost made me hungry.  Compared to CD‘s Hair Milk, KBB‘s was lighter in consistency with a slightly “oilier” feel to it.  While I did not mind the oily feel, I did hold trepidations that the product would be too water based for my thick hair.  But I applied, leaving my hair damp enough to help distribute the milk evenly.  From there I applied a bit of the lavender vanilla Hair Butter to my edges, just as I do with my CD combo.  The butter is creamier than CD‘s, which is cool, and did not gum up when coupled with the milk, and obvious plus.  The combination left my hair feeling soft and supple, although it played up my coils in a way that made it harder to comb through than when I use the CD products, and the fragrance combination was complimentary.  I styled my hair in two Afro puffs and allowed it to dry like normal.  The softness lasted on the base of my hair for about two days, which proved the milk was not overly watery, which would have been sucked up by my hair within a couple of hours, but the ends were unruly and needed something more.

Next came the Hair Oil, a mixture of carrot and rose hip oils infused with Egyptian Musk, one of my favourite scents in the Universe.  Because I suffer from slight scalp build up from time to time, I don’t typically use a lot of product very often, so when I began to feel my tresses deplete themselves of the milk and butter, I freshened them up with a quarter sized amount of the oil, paying special attention to the ends.  The oil is very light, in comparison with the Africa’s Best ultimate herbal oil I used to use when I first started out, so a slight coating was all I needed to make the most of it.  I loved the sheen the oil gave my tresses, and the fragrance was not overpowering, yet I gifted with uplifting whiffs of it all day which was a bonus.  I treated my hair with this serum every other day in the morning, in between washings and using the milk and butter combo, and my ends stated well moisturized.

And finally, the honey oatmeal Hair Cream.  Beyond the consistency, there really isn’t much different between this product and the hair butter, so my idea was to use this product for twisting purposes.  After a good cleansing and deep conditioning, I applied a few drops of hair milk to my scalp and hair shaft, then combed through.  While my hair was still wet, I began to twist the hair by applying an ample amount of the hair cream to each section.  The result was a head full of luscious twists — that I didn’t manage to get any pictures of cause I’m a slacker — that remained twisted and well moisturized for four days!  Even after washing the twists, they remained in tact, and with the water “reactivating” the cream, I did not have to apply much more when it was time to tighten them.  I applied a couple of drops of oil to my scalp in between each twist and the entire style looked refreshed, renewed and revived!

Now because the hair milk and hair butter were all I really wanted out of the bundle, and they didn’t work on my hair quite the way I’d expected, I gifted the items to my daughter who’s hair is a lot finer than mine.  Just as I’d suspected, the hair milk worked wonders for her, leaving her hair moisturized a lot longer than it did mine.  She’s able to go at least four days without having to reapply.  The hair butter and cream work perfectly to reduce frizziness, and the hair oil keeps her scalp well… uh… oiled. *lol*  As with everything, all products don’t work well on all hair types, but I am glad I was able to find someone who could benefit from KBB‘s hair goodness.

Price wise… for all you hair divas who love Carol’s Daughter but aren’t too fond of her prices, Karen’s Body Beautiful is sure to be a winner for you.  For the hair milk, KBB offers 8 and 16 oz bottles for $16 and $24, respectively (CD offers 4 and 8 oz bottles for $12 and $18).  Compared to CD’s Lisa’s Elixir, KBB‘s oil is $1 cheaper for 8 oz, with a 4 oz option that is $6 cheaper (trust me, a little goes a long way here), and compared to CD‘s Tui Hair Smoothie, KBB‘s hair cream is $3 cheaper.  As for the hair butter, KBB only offers an 8 oz jar for $16, $0.50 less than Carol’s Daughter, but CD offers a 4 oz jar as well  for $6 less than KBB.

The one major disadvantage I can see, and part of the reason I probably won’t be a regular Karen’s Body Beautiful customer, is availability.  Whereas with Carol’s Daughter you can walk into virutally any Macy’s or Sephora and stock up on your favorite items, the only way for consumers who live outside of Brooklyn to get their hands on KBB products is to order via the company Website.  This may not be convenient for everyone.  Be that as it may, here’s my rating:

JBTM Rating:

Hair Milk

Hair Butter 1/2

Hair Oil

Hair Cream

All in all, KBB products do as promised, are shipped as promised (delivery… not so much), smell great, feel great and come recommended by me.

Healthy Hair Wishes,