Flexi Rod Set Using Camille Rose Naturals Almond Jai Twisting Butter and Aloe Whipped Butter Gel

Hey everyone!

      This week, I will be reviewing Camille Rose Naturals Almond Jai Twisting Butter and Aloe Whipped Butter Gel combination. If you follow my blog regularly, you will recall that I did a product review for the Almond Jai when I used it with the Camille Rose Naturals Coconut Water Leave-In. I decided that I wanted to experiment more with this product by using it with other leave-ins and stylers because I wanted to see if I could still use this product without getting the "matte" feel that I got from using it with the Coconut Water Leave-In. The first product I tried it with was my absolute favorite leave-in, the Shea Moisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Strengthen, Grow & Restore Leave-In Conditioner. I used these two products together on a twist out and loved my day one results! My hair was shiny, super hydrated, and had amazing volume, body, and definition. The only con was that I wasn't too fond of my day two curls. They were a bit stiff and were not as "flowy" as my day one curls, but I rocked them anyway!

      I came to purchase the Almond Jai Easter weekend when I went to Target to purchase the Aloe Whipped Butter Gel and could not find it. I had been wanting to try the Aloe Whipped for a long while and learned from a fellow natural hair blogger on Instagram that not only did the Aloe Whipped work great with the Almond Jai, but it is really only sold online. With learning that new information, I decided to go ahead and purchase it off of Camille Rose Naturals' site. I was so determined to get my hands on this product because I have seen some really great product reviews and tutorial videos about this product and I also heard that it was very light and not heavy on your hair, which is what I always look for in my hair products. So again, I went for it and purchased this product online. It was a bit pricey, however. It was $16 plus shipping, so my grand total came up to $24. I was not too happy about this, but I really had high hopes and faith in the amazingness of this product. Thankfully, it most definitely lived up to and beyond expectation!

      The Almond Jai is a butter that results in soft, elongated twists while strengthening and holding the style in the process. Some of its ingredients include: sweet almond milk, jojoba oil, hemp seed oil, castor oil, aloe, and honey. The Aloe Whipped is a cream based gel that is rich in vitamins that nourish the scalp while it provides definition, a light hold to curls, and maximum moisture. Some of its ingredients include: aloe vera gel, macadamia oil, avocado seed oil, jojoba oil, sweet almond oil, castor oil, and vitamins C and E.

      When it came to styling, I wanted to try a style that I knew would last and one that I felt would yield good results. I was attending my best friend's college graduation that weekend, so I wanted to try something that would be a bit more dressy and sophisticated! With that being said I decided to try flexi rods for the second time. My first encounter with flexi rods was less than amazing. I used the As I Am Curl Defining Cream to achieve the style and I didn't end up loving the results. They really only lasted for a day, but even after I took them out of the rods and separated them, they began to poof and lose the structure of the curl. I figured I just hadn't used the right curling product, so I decided that i would try again this time around with the Camille Rose Naturals. Here is how I achieved the look:

I deep conditioned my hair using the Shea Moisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Strengthen, Grow & Restore Treatment Masque. I applied the product in sections of four, covered my hair with a plastic bag and sat under my bonnet hooded dryer for about 15 minutes. I then rinsed my hair completely with cold water and wrapped my hair in a t-shirt to absorb all of the water. When I started to prepare my hair for the flexi rods, I parted my hair into four sections. One section at a time, I applied the Almond Jai to the entire section of hair. I then took a small amount of hair from the larger section and applied the Aloe Whipped. I then smoothed the product through my hair thoroughly, detangled, and then took one of the flexi rods and curled my hair around it being sure to curl towards my face as opposed to in the direction of the back of my head. I continued to do this until my entire head was finished, which ended up taking about 45 flexi rods in total! I then sat under my bonnet hooded dryer again for about an hour and a half. After my hair was fully dry, I left the flexi rods in for another hour or so just to make sure they were fully set. After the hour was up, I removed the flexi rods and did not separate and fluff. I let them stay as they were for the rest of the day and overnight. When I went to sleep, I pineappled my hair (put it in a high bun on the very top of my head), tied my silk scarf around my head, removed the hair tie I used to pineapple so it wouldn't create a crease, and then put on my silk bonnet. The next morning we drove to my best friend's school to attend her graduation! For the course of the road trip, I decided not to separate and fluff my curls just yet. I wanted to make sure they had the time to really set into the pattern of the curl, so I left them as they were until we started getting read to leave for graduation.

      Before I began separating my curls, I smoothed a little bit of the Shea Moisture Tahitian Noni & Monoi Smooth and Repair High Shine Glosser over my entire head of hair. I then proceeded to separate. To separate, I twisted the curl in the opposite direction that it was curled in, carefully separated the curl into smaller pieces, and softly twirled the smaller pieces back in the original direction of the curl. I did this all over my head.

      The end results were amazing!! My hair had so much shine and body that it was, honestly, unbelievable! The oils from the butters came through so strong and provided such a soft and hydrated feel to my hair without weighing it down and making it fall flat. I wore my separated curls for two days and then on day three, I separated my curls and fluffed at the scalp some more in order to achieve more volume and wore those curls for two more days. My hair maintained its high amount of shine, softness and elongation up until the day I washed my hair a couple of days later. The curls lasted for about  five days, but they would have lasted longer, but I was in a rush to get a fresh head of hair so I could try out some new products (lol), so I washed my hair before my curls lost their luster.

    I am extremely happy with the results I achieved by using the Almond Jai and Aloe Whipped! I was nervous about trying a new brand of hair products, mainly because I have been an avid Shea Moisture user since my transitioning days, so I have a hard time trying out new products from other brands. However, I have heard way too many great things about Camille Rose to not give them a try and I'm SO glad that I went for it! I also was hesitant to use butters on my hair. I try my absolute hardest to avoid them because they are always too heavy for my hair. They overwhelm each strand and result in my hair looking wet, clumping up, and lacking in volume, body, and movement. However, these Camille Rose Naturals butters are extremely light and provide ample amounts of body, so I don't even have to worry about my hair getting weighed down. In fact, I don't even know that I would call them butters. They have more characteristics of a cream rather than a butter, so I think that's why it works so well in my hair! Another great thing about these products is that it didn't take a lot of product for me to achieve such a strong hold so I know that these products will last for a long while! Considering the prices of these products, I am very happy to know that I can use them sparingly and still yield great results! I have used the Almond Jai four times already and I'm not even halfway through the jar yet! And as far as the Aloe Whipped goes, I have barely made a dent in it. It still looks brand new and completely full! A little bit goes a long way with these products, so there's no need to feel like you have to use a lot in order to get the a good result, which is amazing! I will definitely be keeping these products around as staples!

I really hope that you found this post helpful and thank you so much for supporting my blog! Be sure to check back next week when I do a product review of the Kinky-Curly Knot Today and Curling Custard! Also, be sure to cast your vote for the monthly poll question. It's under "The Purpose" on the left side of the screen! Thanks again and I'll see ya on the next post!

Product Review: Camille Rose Naturals Coconut Water Leave-In Detangling Hair Treatment and Almond Jai Twisting Butter

Hey everyone!

This week I'm going to do a product review for two Camille Rose Naturals products: the Coconut Water Leave-In and the Almond Jai Twisting Butter. I have been wanting to try Camille Rose products for a while now, but could never really gather the drive to do so. I know that my hair doesn't react well to all hair products, so I was really nervous about trying a new line, especially one that's a bit pricier than the other product lines I'm used to. But a few weeks ago, I built up the strength to dive into a new product pool, mainly because I have seen some AMAZING product reviews and tutorial videos featuring this product line. Obviously, this was my first time using Camille Rose on my hair and I have to say that I was impressed for a few reasons, which I will discuss later on. At this point, I hadn't done a twist out in a while, so I figured since I was trying out the Almond Jai Twisting Butter, what better style to try it out on than a twist out?! :)
The Coconut Water Leave-In Detangling Hair Treatment is a part of Camille Rose Naturals' Coconut Water collection that provides superior moisture. Some of its ingredients include: coconut water, shea butter, grapeseed oil, flax seed oil, and yucca root. I wanted to try this product mainly because I read many reviews on it that said that this product was very lightweight and that it was perfect for fine hair, which I have. I loved that it had the benefit of hydration and that it promised awesome slip. Since I prefer to finger detangle my hair instead of using combs, I love to find products with a good amount of slip so that I can detangle with ease and reduce the amount of breakage and splitting. As an added plus, this product smells SO good!! It smells like a light breeze of fresh coconuts!
The Almond Jai Twisting Butter is a styler that strengthens and softens hair and elongates curls. It contains ingredients such as: almond milk, jojoba oil, castor oil, aloe, and honey. I originally wanted to try the Aloe Whipped Butter Gel, but did not find the product in the Target I was in, so I opted for the Almond Jai. (I recently found out from a fellow natural hair blogger that the Aloe Whipped Butter Gel is only available online, so I just purchased it and will be doing a product review as soon as I use it). I normally don't purchase butters because they are oftentimes way too heavy for my hair. I love hair milks, curling jellies, and light creams because they give me an amazing hold without weighing my hair down. However, I was not at all disappointed with the results I got from using this butter. It is not heavy at all and my hair still had SO much body and volume! Also it smells absolutely amazing! I kid you not, it smells like vanilla cake batter! Sooo yummy!! Let's get started with how I styled my hair!
To start off this style, I deep conditioned/cleansed with Shea Moisture's Superfruit Complex 10-in-1 Renewal System hair masque. After I cleansed, I parted my hair into four sections. I then took one of those sections and separated it into fourths. I took one of those smaller sections and dampened it with a bit of water and applied the Coconut Water Leave-in from end to root as I detangled on my way up the section of hair, being sure to focus on my ends. After I thoroughly smoothed the product through, I then took a little bit of the Almond Jai and applied it to the same piece I just applied the leave-in to. After the products were smoothed into my hair, I then did a two-strand twist. I continued this process all over my head until I was done. After wards, I allowed my hair to air dry over the course of the day and overnight. The first thing I noticed was that it dried much quicker than I expected, so that was great!
The next day, I took my twists out, separated and fluffed my roots. Y'all...when I tell you that this Almond Jai is amazing...I truly mean that!! My curls were defined, yet still SO full! My hair was also extremely hydrated! The only flaw I came across was that I had a slight "matte" feel to my hair that I wasn't too fond of. However, this does not discourage me from using either of these products ever again. What I want to do is try using them separately so that I can see how they do on their own or with other products But overall, I highly recommend these products. The leave-in had amazing slip and I was more than able to detangle with ease. The Almond Jai was so amazingly lightweight and smooth that I wouldn't even consider it a butter. It has more of a creamy, thick whipped texture, which I absolutely love!

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I hope y'all found this review helpful! Be sure to come back and check out my next post and don't forget to respond to the poll question under "The Purpose." See ya on the next post!