A natural way to curls.... (Boots Essentials Curling Cream)

Member Name: xxfoxyredxx

Product:	Boots Essentials Curling Cream
Date:	04/10/08 (659 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, nice smell and works ok

Disadvantages: Takes work to get the best from it but it is good!

My hair when I wash it goes into beautiful ringlets alot of people would be jealous of! However that's when it's wet and well before I dry it off with a towel! When I've done that I end up with waves covered in frizz and the limpest ends you have ever seen! I hate my hair when it's unstyled it's an awful mess and it really depresses me. hence why I buy so many hair products lol

I have no choice but to style my hair every day. I really can't let it dry natural with no products because even just tying it back looks a mess with flyaways and frizz everywhere. So even for a day dossing around my house I do, if nothing else try to sort my locks out but it really isn't low maintence and I haven't as yet found an easy regime to achieve gorgeous hair and believe me I do try really hard lol!

If I'm going out of an evening I do blow dry my hair and straighten and at the moment this is on an everyday basis since meeting a lovely new man! However to get my hair straight it takes alot of hair products, very hot straighteners on 220c, a lot of perseverance and a prayer simply because my hair wants to be curly but it's actually easier to straighten it though I do get curls sprouting out and a huge cows lick no matter what I do if I'm not careful.

I've never really worn my hair curly as no matter what I use I don't get amazing results though my curls are really there! I do experiment and own alot of products of this type but as yet am still looking for something that really does work for me!

Hence why I bought this product. Feeling brave and this being really cheap I thought it was very worth a go and I do like alot of other 'Boots Essential' hair care products (I own loads lol). If it didn't work for me.... well so what I lost £1.29 and if it did work it struck me as a bargain and it could change my hair forever... ok I'm an optamist lol

The Packaging....

250ml clear plastic, recyclable tub pretty similar to the one on the review photograph at the top of this page. The tub is identical with the screw on/off matching see through lid and the only bit that is different is the front labelling. All the writing you can see on the review photographs front isn't the same now and it's obviously been updated a bit in the packaging stakes. On the front I'm told it's Boots Essentials, Curl Creme, 'natural control and defines'. On the back I'm told how it works, how to use it, ingredients are listed, contact details for Boots are there, sized is stated (as I've listed already), the recycle symbol is on there along with a bar code. I can see the light pink shimmery cream through the tub which I like because I can see how much I've used and all in all it's simple enough packaging without looking tacky and provides me with all the information I could possibly need to know whilst remaining an economy product!

About The Product....

Make the most of your natural or permed curls with this high definition styling creme. It controls and nourishes to smooth away frizziness, enhance shine and hold your curl without weighing it down.

Directions For Use....

Use on damp or dry hair, work through evenly, from root to tip.

My Experience Using The Product....

The first thing I noticed when I first opened the tub up was the lovely fresh smell. It's floral to my nasal passages and smells a bit soapy really but it is nice and not too strong and if for any reason a guy wanted to use this he could as it's no more feminine than a lot of family shampoos and conditioners on the market at the moment in my opinion so not too feminine.

The creme itself isn't a cream as such. Don't think it's like the texture and consistency of a face cream or a body cream type of thing as it isn't. Although the consistency is rather thick it is quite greasy in appearance and shiny and of course pink and reminds me a bit of blamange only greasier lol. If you tip the jar upside with no lid on it doesn't run out though if you tip it upside down with the lid on it does eventually move of course so it's moist and its wet when you tip it onto your hands.

Now I use this after I've thoroughly washed and dried my hair and I'm happy to use this without any other products i.e heat protection spray. It doesn't say I need to use heat protection spray but at same it doesn't say anywhere on my packaging that this will protect my hair from heat damage. Though I've used this a very long time now and I haven't noticed any bad side effects to my hair so I'm happy with that and prefer not to use too many styling products on my hair on one go!

Now because this is quite greasy looking in the pot I don't use much as I do suffer with greasy roots after a few hours of washing my hair and I use about the size of a 10p (if that). I rub it between my hands first so I can easily spread it and it goes white and soapy looking though without the bubbles of course lol. I then gently run it through combed or brushed hair evenly coating every strand I can and the colour vanishes in easily without me rubbing it hard at all. As I do this I coax my hair into curls by cupping it and scrunching as I go, paying attention to my straggly ends in particular. You can feel the product in the hair and you can feel where is has and hasn't coated. Curls appear more defined and controlled and frizz is banished completely to my eyes but you do have to be gentle when applying it and hair feels a little bit greasy and hydrated.

Now please be aware that you get the best out of the curls you already possess on your head. This won't give you them and is no good on say straight hair to use for styling (my friend tried rubbing this over her poker straight do and putting some heated rollers in and the results were disapointing at best lol. This doesn't give you better curls than what you have as such. It gives you as I said the best look of what you own on your bonce already and we need to be clear on that lol.

Drying time is the same as ever for me. I either blow dry and scrunch with my hands being really gentle as I go as to not mess up my curls or I dry with a scrunch attachment on my big shot hairdrier that I've owned for years!

The Results....

Well this for me is a really good start in achieving curls and this is the only product I can use and simply blow dry my hair and tie back in a pony tail without looking like I've been dragged through a hedge backwards. It still doesn't look amazing but it does give a nice shine, does give me more defined curls and defines and controls my hair slightly. I don't even need hairspray to hold my hair back and frizz is very almost completely gone from my life. The smell is lovely and fresh and stays like that for hours and it's a great solution for me to look tidy with minimal effort and having to really go to town on straightening my locks. It's not a perfect look but it is wearable and the curlier your hair is the better the results would be with this I presume.

However using it to say go out of an evening is very different as I want to wear my hair down and be all girly and this on it's own isn't enough though it is a good styling base to be fair. I find worn down that yes my hair is still shiny, feels smooth and not sticky but in warm atmospheres i.e clubs it starts to feel a bit greasy and it plays havoc with my tempermental roots. The frizz doesn't stay banished when I go outside in any weather and the curls drop out after a while and give way back to frizz I originally almost got rid of. This does give root lift if you want it and that drops out after a while along with the curls.

This though can almost be prevented with a little extra effort. I have a curling spray (not a Boots Essentials) and I can use that after this to 'lock' in my curls in and some hairspray to also help set it all. However it does take extra effort of course but again is that worth it to you is the question?

I think it is worth using it and I'm happy enough to go to the lengths required however as I previously stated it doesn't work so well in warm conditions on my hair so I wouldn't bother as even with loads of hairspray and the likes my curls won't hang about and they give way to waves and me not like that! But for a day time look..great.

It washes out easy as anything and when removed through conventional washing it comes out like a cream and hair feels soft before washing and conditioning it and I don't feel like any residue is left or that my hair is left limp and lifeless.

Overall....

If your expecting miricles then this really isn't for you. This doesn't create dramatic curls and it does take time to get the hang of i.e how much you need etc. If you have curls then this is good stuff at not weighing hair down and if you have particulary dry hair I think this would be very good for you indeed. Me, well I shall use it for a day to day basis but if I want something to use for going clubbing or anything where I need to rely on my hair looking good then this isn't so good for me but this is a very nice day to day product and cheap as chips to boot!

Only available in Boot's at a price of about £1.29 per pot.

Summary: Worth a try if interested in curls!