How's My Hair?: 04/01/2011

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Review: Biotera Volumizing Conditioner

I’m always on the lookout for affordable hair products that I can get on the ground. I hate ordering things if I can avoid it. I don’t have the patience to wait for it to arrive. So on my last trip to Sally’s I picked up a few things, and one of them was the Biotera Volumizing Conditioner. So let’s get straight into the review:

Sally’s Says:

Enhances volume without adding weight
Gives hair exceptional shine
Infuses fullness and thickness to each strand of hair
Natural botanical extracts help to add body, bounce and shine

A lightweight conditioner that replenishes moisture while detangling hair without weighing it down. Natural botanical extracts help to add body, bounce and shine. Hair looks and stays beautiful and healthy.

Mrs. Blacksten Says:

At only $7.29 (without a Sally’s card) for a 16.9 oz. bottle, this is probably one of the cheapest rinse-out conditioners that I own. I should mention I’m a bit of a product snob when it comes to my hair care. I immediately assume, if it’s inexpensive, that I won’t like it as much, as I like my more expensive hair care products. I don’t know why, and I know it’s silly, but it’s the truth.

Like a true product junkie, I tried the Biotera Volumizing Conditioner as soon as I got it home. The first thing that I noticed was the consistency, it’s creamy and rich, with an almost identical consistency as Devacurl One Condition. Score 1 for Biotera.

The second thing I noticed was the smell. The Biotera Volumizing Conditioner smells great, sweet but not floral or fruity, just a really nice clean smell. If you’ve used the GVP Conditioning Balm, the smell is virtually identical. Score 2 for Biotera.

So per my usual routine, I cleansed then used the Biotera Volumizing Conditioner as my rinse-out. It went on smooth and gave my hair a nice amount of slip. I was able to detangle effortlessly. When I rinsed it out, my hair was still smooth and felt moisturized. Score 3 for Biotera.

As far as being volumizing, I don't know about that. It contains proteins, so if you have fine hair, or porous hair, it'll probably help perk your hair up a bit. I didn't notice a big difference in the amount of volume I had one way or the other.

I’ve had the Biotera Volumizing Conditioner for a little over a month now, and I’ve used it as a regular rinse-out, as a leave-in, and mixed it with other conditioners for a deep treatment. I really like it, and would definitely repurchase it. It’s silicone-free, boasts decent ingredients, and is readily available. As a disclaimer, I should mention it contains alcohol, near the end of the ingredients list, although I’m wondering if it’s for preservation purposes. Whatever it’s reasons for being in the conditioner, it hasn’t had any effect on my hair.

On a scale of 1-5, I'd give the Biotera Volumizing Conditioner a 3.5.

If you’ve used the Biotera Conditioner, or any of the other Biotera products, leave me a comment and let me know what you thought. :)

Friday, April 15, 2011

Review: Darcy's Botanicals

Hey ladies, it's review time again. You can probably guess, it's haircare. Darcy's Botanicals offers natural, yet affordable hair care. Most of the time when I look at the natural beauty products out there, they're ridiculously overpriced. I’ve used the line before, and loved the products, so when I heard they released some new items, I reached out to Lysandra, the owner, about trying them. The products I tried include; Pumpkin Seed Curl Moisturizing Conditioner, Shea Butter Curl Moisturizing Cream, Daily Cleansing Conditioner Cream, and the Curling Cream Gel.

So let’s get started with the review:

Pumpkin Seed Curl Moisturizing Conditioner ($12): This smells awesome, like pumpkin pie or something. It’s thick, but thankfully it comes in a bottle with a pump. It makes detangling easy, and leaves my hair soft and moisturized. I’ve used some conditioners that feel great on, but once you rinse, the great feeling is gone and it’s almost like you never conditioned to begin with. This isn’t one of those conditioners. Love it!
Ingredients: Distilled Water, BTMS (a mild conditioning emulsifier), Pumpkin Seed Oil, Organic Virgin Coconut Oil, Japanese Camellia Oil, Cetyl Alcohol, Botanical Oil Complex, Hydrolyzed Oat Protein, Panthenol, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol and Fragrance.

Shea Butter Curl Moisturizing Cream ($12): This is a cross between a leave-in and a curl cream. For thicker, coarse hair I’d guess it’d be a better leave-in. For hair like mine, it’s a great curl cream. For me, it didn’t have a tremendous amount of slip, but that works in my favor. The less slip my leave-in/curl cream has, the better curl enhancement I get.
Ingredients: Distilled Water, Unrefined Shea Butter, Pumpkin Seed Oil, Conditioning Emulsifier, Cetyl Esters, Silk Protein, Copaiba Balsam, Gotu Kola Extract, Licorice Root Extract, Botanical Extracts, Vitamin E, Paraben Free Preservative, Fragrance

Daily Cleansing Conditioner Cream ($12): This is great! It’s a true cowash, so it’s not something that will remove silicones or mineral oil (neither of which I use). This is probably the most foamy cowash I’ve ever used. I love a foamy cowash, it makes me feel like it’s doing a better job cleansing or something. It also has a good amount of slip and moisture, so I don’t need to follow this up with a separate conditioner, which saves me time.
Ingredients: Distilled Water, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Rice Bran Oil, Organic Shea Butter, BTMS, Grapeseed Oil, Vegetable Glycerin, Cetyl Esters, Pyrus Malus (Apple) Fruit Extract, Vaccinium Myrtillus (Bilberry) Extract, Citrus Medica Limonium (Lemon) Peel Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Extract, Carica Papaya (Papaya) Leaf Extract, Cationic Guar Gum, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, and Fragrance.

Curling Cream Gel ($12): This has a light to medium hold, and it gave me an insane amount of volume, which I adore. I love big hair, I should’ve been born in the 70’s, so I could’ve rocked giant hair in the 80’s. Unfortunately I wasn’t, oh well. I usually use this to SOTC (scrunch out the crunch), when my hair is completely dry. It leaves my hair defined, and smelling delicious. Depending on the amount of hold you like, you could use it as a stand alone styler, or top it with a hard-holding gel.
Ingredients: Distilled (Aqua) Water, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Glucoside, Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose, Cetyl Alcohol, Organic Wildflower Honey, Camellia Oleifera Seed Oil, Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride (cationic guar gum), Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylyglycerin, Fragrance, Astrocaryum Mauritia Flexuosa Fruit (Buriti) Oil and Silk Amino Acids.