Over the last few years, I'm sure you can agree that the growth in the natural hair movement is undeniable. More and more women embracing their beautiful natural hair, whether they have waves, curls or kinky coils. Shea Moisture has finally made it's way across the pond and is readily available in your local Boots and Superdrug. Shea moisture provide natural, organic products that are free from parabens, mineral oil, petroleum and other harmful ingredients; they have different hair care ranges that are targeted to your individual needs.

In this blog post I am going to be sharing my experience and thoughts with using some of the Shea Moisture products.


Superfruit Complex 10-in-1

The 10-in-1 range contains Marula Oil and Biotin and claims to help to perfect and renew vibrancy to dull and lackluster hair. This range will provide anti aging benefitts, colour protection, hydration, nourishment, rejuvenation, strength, anti-stress, manageability softness and shine.


This shampoo is sulfate free. This is something I look for as it means I can use this more frequently to cleanse my hair without stripping it completely. I found that this shampoo had very pleasant scent that was not too overpowering. I didn't need to use a substantial amount to make it lather, and if anything lathered very well and additionally did not dry not my hair out at all.

The SuperFruit complex conditioner had an equally pleasant smell as the shampoo. I found it very easy to distribute as it was not too thick; and because it's not too heavy this also means that it is suitable for Caucasian/European hair as well as Afro-Caribbean. This always leaves my hair smelling nice and feeling super moisturized and works wonders on my weaves and wigs too!


Jamaican Black Castor Oil

The star ingredient here is Jamaican Black Castor Oil. An essential key to thick and healthy hair growth aimed towards natural, chemically processed hair, coloured or heat treated hair. This range contains shea butter, peppermint, keratin and apple cider vinegar to nourish and repair your hair.


Jamaican Black Castor Oil Strength & Restore Leave in Conditioner* - £12.99
If I had to choose a stand out product from all of the Shea Moisture products I have tried, this is the one.
I cannot rave about it enough! I first used this when I was transitioning (9 months post to be exact). This product has a very distinctive yummy, sweet scent... almost finger licking (in a weird way!) This leave in conditioner is very light, but deeply moisturises and conditions your hair. You can use it on damp or dry hair, and if you're transitioning this is a great product to use when styling or detangling your hair; it makes the whole process quick and pain free. The best part of this product for me, is that it instantly elongates and defines your curls and coils! You get a lot of product for your money and hand on heart I can guarantee that if you try this you will not be disappointed.

Jamaican Black Castor Oil  Strengthen & Restore Edge Treatment* - £12.99
This product has a very pleasant smell, it's a styling gel that also nourishes, deeply moisturises and treats your edges at the same time. Unlike other gels which contain alcohol and other bad ingredients, the Shea Moisture edge treatment is free from all harmful junk and you can definitely be sure that this is doing more good than harm to your hair. When using this I found it to be quite sticky, so you have to be cautious to not get it everywhere and to store it appropriately. My hair is quite kinky, so whenever I used this last minute in the morning, it has not done the greatest job at slicking down my edges but it still does an amazing job at moisturising them. This is not really an edge control, it's more of a treatment. The times I have used this as advised, which is at night time and then proceed to wrap my hair in a silk scarf, I wake up with that 'laidddd and slayeddd' look which we all love! 

Jamaican Black Castor Oil Strengthen & Restore Treatment Masque (Not pictured) - £12.99
This product like the rest of the range has a very pleasant smell, the consistency is cream-like, not too thick but not too thin, suitable for many hair types. It's advised that you sit under a warm dryer for 10-15 minutes after applying the mask, I didn't follow these instructions instead I left it on for longer to try and compensate for the lack of heat. After rinsing I noticed my hair felt instantly moisturised, my curls were 'popping' more and I had less shedding when detangling and styling.

Jamaican Black Castor Oil Strengthen & Restore Shampoo - £12.99
This shampoo promises to cleanse and nourish your hair, it's sulfate free and safe for coloured hair. It claims to strengthen damaged and chemically processed hair, reduce the appearance of breakage and shedding and regulate the PH levels on the scalp. This is not your conventional shampoo, it's an unusual colour and the consistency can be watery so you have to make sure you shake it up before using it to give it some viscosity. This shampoo definitely does what it claims to do when it comes to cleansing, however it didn't really feel my hair feeling nourished, it definitely felt a little stripped. Even though it felt stripped it definitely felt stronger which I assume is thanks to the Keratin and added Protein. Make sure you follow with a moisturising conditioner or deep conditioner when using this shampoo.




Raw Shea Butter

The main ingredient from this range is Shea Butter, infused with Sea Kelp and Argan Oil aiming to enrich and protect damaged transitioning hair. 


Raw Shea Butter Restorative Conditioner (not pictured) - £10.99
This was one of my first Shea Moisture products that I ever tried and purchased, this was before they launched in Boots and you had to purchase at a silly inflated price in Afro-Caribbean shops :( Compared to the SuperFruit complex conditioner, this conditioner didn't really have a scent; once again I really like the texture of this conditioner it made it easy-peasy to apply. My only issue was that it didn't feel very moisturising at all. When I used this conditioner my hair was relaxed which may be why it didn't respond well, if at all to this shea butter conditioner. This range is aimed at transitioning hair so maybe if you are transitioning you would have better result than I did.

Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment Masque - £12.99
I purchased this at the same time as the restorative conditioner and similarly found that it didn't have a distinct smell, it didn't smell yummy like some other Shea Moisture products but it also did not smell bad, if you're familiar with shea butter I'm sure you know what I mean (it's not the nicest smell, but it's also not the worst). Unfortunately I did not see amazing instant results with this treatment masque. I'm sure it still did more good than harm, but I would be lying if I said a noticed a difference in my hair, and I wouldn't repurchase this or recommend it to anybody. Unlike the conditioner I used when my hair was relaxed and also when transitioning/natural and I got the exact same results. Nada.



Coconut & Hibiscus

The sweet smelling Coconut & Hibiscus range is enriched with Silk Protein and Neem Oil targetted towards those with thick curly hair., promising to reduce frizz, moisturise and define your curls.

The smell of this product is hands down the best out of every Shea Moisture product that I've tried, (even my beloved JBCO Leave In!) it literally smells like a smoothie! This product is enriched with Silk Protein and Neem Oil and it's designed to be used when doing braidouts, twistouts and wash-n-go's and it hellps to smooth and define curls and also reduce frizz. When I used this product, I found that it did an excellent job at elongating my curls and kinks, clumping them together and giving them definition that lasts all day. Although this is marketed to thick curly hair, it still worked wonders on my 4b/4c hair and I have also used it on my looser textured curly wigs and got the same amazing result!

I would definitely recommend Shea Moisture, but you have to be open to the hits and misses. Depending on your hair type and texture some ranges will be better for you than others, my hair absolutely loved the Jamaican Black Castor Oil range but hated the Raw Shea Butter one. Not all the ranges will be for your hair so unfortunately if a product doesn't work, don't be discouraged and try something else. I promise Shea Moisture has something for everybody and when you find your 'click' you will not be disappointed.