A couple of months ago I won a sample of Mireille Liong-A-Kong‘s Silky Shea Aloe Butter and feel head over heels in love with it. Of course there was the matter of the butter’s fragrance being a little more "perfumy" than I prefer, but as far as doing what’s it’s purposed to do (keeping hair soft and moisturized) it more than fit the bill. Well since it was such a small sample I was only able to use the butter a couple of time, and primarily used it to keep my edges smooth, I really didn’t get the full benefit of it’s abilities. But for the little bit that I had I can honestly say I was pleased with the butter’s results.
Much to my surprise, a couple of weeks ago Mireille contacted me to extend and invitation to write for her magazine, and of course I happily accepted. Since she’s a small entity working with a limited budget we worked out a compensation arrangement that included a copy of her book, "Going Natural: How to Fall in Love with Nappy Hair" and a couple of products that I could review. Well fortunately for me, one of those products included a jar of Silky Shea-Aloe Butter! To quote Andre3000, I giggle like a piglet when I saw the container cause it meant I got to experiment a lot further with the product. In addition to the butter I was gifted a container of Mireille‘s Herbal Styling Gel which was indeed a bonus because I’d been looking for a new gel to do twists with. So this was a delight for me and when my goodies arrived last week I couldn’t wait to use both products.
Because I’ve grown accustomed to wearing washouts due to my work/school schedule, I typically used the butter as a morning moisturizer after I spritzed my hair with water and fluffed. This action resulted in well defined curls that resisted shrinkage that remained soft and moisturized the entire day. To date this is the hardest working moisturizing agent I have used, even topping my beloved Carol’s Daughter Hair Milk, because it does not evaporate from the hair even after a night of sleeping with my hair unwrapped. One thing that I did learn, the hard way, is that it’s not necessary to reapply the butter every morning, or to use more than a "dollop" at a time. Doing so will result in a overly greasy feel to the hair. Not so greasy that it’s noticeable to the eye, but so greasy that you will come away with a coating of product on your hands after styling. So as it says on the label, a little bit of Silky Shea-Aloe goes a long way. Once this bit of knowledge sunk in I was able to go two or three days before having to reapply the butter to my hair, and could get what I’d already applied "reactivated" simply by spritzing with water and finger combing/shaping. My only dislike when it comes to this product, and it’s not a very strong one, is the fragrance. While it is quite lovely and not at all overpowering, I’m just not a "perfume-y" type of girl. However it’s not a big enough drawback to make me stop using the butter, especially since like most fragrances you stop smelling it after awhile.
The consistency of Silky Shea-Aloe Butter is comparable to plain shea butter but a bit more "grainy". The ingredients are pure African Shea butter, organic aloe vera gel, pure virgin coconut oil and vegetable glycerin (as listed on the Going-Natural.com Website). The cost per jar is $10.88 (sales tax included) and while it comes in a relatively small jar, again a little goes a long way so one order should last about a month or month and a half depending on the length and style of your hair. All and all this a quality product and can be used to dress a variety of styles.
And on to the Herbal Styling Gel. Upon first inspection I was highly amused by the gel candle-like appearance of this product but was a bit concerned that it was going to leave my hair tacky, stiff and dry looking once it dried. Although the Website suggests placing the jar in warm water in order to make it more pliable, much to my surprise, without the warm water technique, with just a light swipe of my finger the product was ready to be applied to my hair. The feel is very light to the touch and, unlike most gels, when I massaged it into the pads of my thumb and pointer the gel seemed to be immediately absorbed into my skin without leaving a tacky feeling. As a matter of fact, I could still feel the gel on my finger tips but it was so lightweight it may as well had not been there at all. Very impressive. I used the Herbal Styling Gel on my first attempt at flat twists and came away with this result:
The gel provided an almost instantaneous hold to the flat twists (that you can barely see but get the gist of) and still, there was no tackiness to either my fingers or hair. Additionally there was also no stiffness to my twists; the hair simply felt as if I’d applied the shea-aloe butter alone and twisted! As for the duration of the hold… I did the twists on a Tuesday and they remained in place until I took them out on Thursday. No retwisting necessary despite the fact that i did not secure the ends of the twists with clips or rubber bands and even when I slept with my hair unwrapped. I have yet to use this product for two strands but I am very confident the result will be no less than gorgeous and am looking forward to trying it out.
The listed ingredients are coconut, olive, safflower, peach basil and aloe oils, African shea butter, Calendula flower extract, Coltsfoot, Horsetail, Birch, Neem, Rosemary, onions, plant proteins, vegetable placenta extract, Biotin, d-Panthenol, vegetable glycerin, essential oil of Rose and natural preservatives with vitamins A, B, C and E (as listed on the Website). The price is $10.88 with tax included, and while the jar is relative small, just like with the Silky Shea-Aloe Butter, a little Herbal Styling Gel goes a very long way.
And the JB2M rating?
Going Natural Silky Shea-Aloe Butter 
Going Natural Herbal Styling Gel
As you may have already guessed both products come highly recommended by me and I truly look forward to trying more Going Natural products in the very near future.
Healthy Hair Wishes,
