It’s been about three weeks since I first started using Kinky-Curly’s Come Clean shampoo and Knot Today Leave In/Detangler, and honestly my feelings on the products are mixed.  Coming from a strict weekly co-wash regimen I was a bit reluctant to go back to using a shampoo in any form because I was hyper content with the fullness and texture definition that co-washing gave me.  Since I’m not a style maven I’ve taken to primarily wearing WNG’s with occasional twist outs, and those are styles that work best with hair that has a lot of body to it.  But I was curious to see what effect Come Clean would have on my hair since it’s far and away different ingredient-wise than my Garnier Fructis Wonder Wave shampoo which contains a touch of sodium hydroxide.  I usually only shampoo once or twice a month, or if I’ve been experimenting with different products, followed by a deep conditioning in order to combat the “stripping” effects of the shampoo, but felt the experience with Come Clean would be different since it didn’t contain SLS and I’d be find returning to a shampoo regimen.  As I’d stated before, I was a little less enthusiastic about the shampoo since it’s a gel and my hair doesn’t seem to like gel cleansers all the much, but after reading the ingredient list I wasn’t as skeptical.

Because I’d played around with the KC Curling Custard and Spiral Spritz earlier in the first week of receiving the products my first lather up with Come Clean produced disappointing lather results when using just a half dollar sized dollop so I found myself having to add more which I wasn’t too pleased with.  This may have been due to the fact of my having other products (primarily my homemade conditioner which I co-wash with and YNB’s Honey Hibiscus leave in which I use for daily refreshing of my WNG) on my hair in addition to the KC products which contributed to build up that the shampoo couldn’t quite “overcome” in such a small dose.  I typically skip the “repeat” part of shampooing because I know the second cycle is really just a marketing ploy only get you to run through your product quicker, so I was none too happy with having to repeat with the Come Clean in order to feel as if my hair was actually clean.  In addition to that, as I’d predicted, my hair did not react well to the gel shampoo, resulting in a tangled mess that I was not pleased with.  I also wasn’t all that thrilled with the “squeaky clean” feel of my hair once the product was rinsed away.  However there was a significant difference in the feel of my hair with this shampoo as opposed to when I’d used other gel based shampoos in the sense that my hair felt silkier and not at all brittle and dry, which gave me hope that I’d have a different result with prolonged use of the shampoo since it can take several cycles of use for hair to get acclimated to new product.  This is why I didn’t want to review the product right off in addition to knowing that product work better in tandem with other items from the same product line.  I figured the shampoo would have a different effect once I was only using Kinky-Curly products to maintain my tresses.

Next came the Knot Today, which I slathered my hair with under the premise that its “thin” consistency would not work on my hair’s thickness in small doses.  Almost immediately the conditioner worked to define my curl pattern and I found it very easy to finger comb through my strands despite the tangled effect of the shampoo.  The feel of my hair was soft and “sleek” and not at all weighted despite using such a large amount (slightly larger than a half dollar) of the solution.  Although I know it’s a leave in product I did rinse a little out of my hair (as suggested on the company Website) just to make sure it would not take forever for my hair to dry as well as to make sure there wasn’t a lot of build up in combination with using the curling custard.  But even with rinsing some of the product away, once my hair dried I noticed a white coating on some portions of my hair which let me know I’d underestimated just how much was necessary to coat my hair type.  A liberal spritzing with water and further finger combing remedied the build up problem and the after drying result of the product on my hair was this:

Very  “nice” definition and a somewhat looser curl effect than what I experienced using the curling custard for WNG styling which I was very pleased with.  My hair was soft and supple, easy to finger style and smelled great.  As one might expect I did not like how it reacted with the curling custard for WNG styling, however, but on its own I loved my hair’s reaction to the leave in and decided it would be my product of choice for wash ‘n goes from then on out.  Of course I couldn’t comment on the actual condition of my hair as a result of using Knot Today since it was my first experience with it, but just on the aspect of styling alone I pegged it as a winner.

Come the second week of usage of the two products, single cycle use of Come Clean was easier and my hair didn’t tangle as much but I was still dissatisfied with the “squeaky clean” feel of my hair once it was rinsed.  I made it a point to used only a quarter sized amount of the Knot Today while my hair was soaking wet in order to make sure the modest amount was evenly distributed and again my curls sprung to life and finger combing was extremely easy.  Initially I didn’t apply any other product to my hair because I was fine with the result of the leave in, but later in the week I opted to try the Spiral Spritz to see how well it worked with the Knot Today after a couple of days of having the conditioner in my hair.  As one would suspect, I wasn’t impressed with the combination, but I’ll leave the full details of that till next week when I submit my assessment of Spiral Spritz.

Week three and by this time my tresses were used to the cleansing/conditioning combo and I could actually see a difference in the surface condition of my hair.  While the difference wasn’t overwhelming I can say that I experienced less frizziness and a “smoother” appearance of my hair.  I was still on the fence as far as Come Clean was concerned because of the “squeaky clean” effect but by this time my hair hardly tangled at all when the shampoo was applied and lathered.  I would like to note too that the shampoo itself took very  little effort to rinse away each time I used it whereas I’d have to rinse other brands away two or three times before I was sure my hair was “free” of the bulk of the shampoo.  Again, using the Knot Today was a delight.  Since I’d planned to two strand twist my hair this week I applied a more generous amount to my hair to compensate for having to wet my hair once I twisted.  It took me a couple days to actually get to twisting and my hair held up just fine with my morning water spritzes and moderate styling.  Unfortunately, however, when it came time to twist my hair was a “dry”, tangled, matted “mess” that was difficult to comb part despite me finger combing and wetting it earlier that morning.  I can’t necessarily attribute this to the product itself but just mentioned that to say that the “detangler” claim of Knot Today is only relative to initial application on wet hair.  At least this was my experience.  It wasn’t a horrible experience by any means, just difficult enough for me to not wait more than a day after application of the conditioner to twist my hair.

So with all of that being said, I will chalk my experiences with these two products up to positive at this point.  Although Come Clean would not weigh in as one of my favourite cleansers it did work well in cleaning my hair (maybe a little too well) and in complimenting my texture once my hair became used to it.  I am not sure how it would work with a conditioner from another product line, but in tandem with Knot Today I can say it did better than I expected for a gel shampoo.  As for Knot Today, this is definitely a product I would be willing to invest money in and place in the JB2M Conditioner Hall of Fame.  Like with the shampoo I’m not sure how it will work with other products from a different brand, but I love the effect it has on my hair and its detangling effects.  I love the smell of both products and the fact that it doesn’t take a whole lot of either in order to receive likeable results.

And the JB2M rating?

Come Clean Natural Shampoo

Knot Today Natural Leave in/Detangler 

Come Clean would have received five picks if it were not for the “squeaky clean” feel, but provided it does as it claims and is very gentle on the hair as stated via Kinky-Curly’s Website I wasn’t going to hold my personal pet peeve against it.  Each 8 oz bottle is reasonably priced at $12 plus shipping and handling and worth every penny in my opinion.  Knot Today, an Essence Magazine Best Seller, is also available in a 32 oz. size via the Website for $44, which is a $4 savings that if you’d buy four of the 8 oz. bottles.  And much to the delight of many who don’t cotton to the idea of Web-exclusive products, the Kinky-Curly line is readily available at various Whole Foods Stores, which is another plus (I’m not sure of the pricing there yet).   Another plus.

So there you have it.  I recommend both products for all textured hair types, but only when used in tandem with one another.  Maybe in the near future I will try them with other products to see what the effects are, but for right now I’m content to use them exclusively as a duo.

Healthy Hair Wishes,