Hey everyone! It's been a minute since I posted a blog review and that because I am finishing up undergrad this semester and life has been crazy. Between my capstone project, my fellowship in business, applying to law school, and debuting the Crown kit, I just didnt have the time to write on here like I wanted to. However, now that the semester is winding down, the blog reviews are back!
What better way to come back than with an amazing experience with a black owned hair care brand that is truly the curly world's best kept secret : Mane Krush. I've been following Candace (the owner of Mane Krush) for a few months now and I have watched her business grow exponentially these past couple of months. Not only does she have absolutely beautiful, healthy, long curly hair, but she is also super down to earth and great to chat with. She delivers superior customer service and is super duper professional. As far as the integrity and ethics of this company goes, its a 10/10. Now let's get into the products because for real yall are in for a treat.
The full line
Mane Krush consists of 7 products total. They are as follows:
1. Mane Bath (cowash)
2. Mane Essentials Deep conditioner
3. Detox (detoxifying mask)
4. Knot-less Leave in detangler
5. Curl Re-phresher (Daily moisturizing mist)
6. Growth elixir
7. Daily Oils
Thus far I have tried everything but the Detox and the Growth elixir, however I will mention the detox in this review as far as first impressions go because I do have a bit to say about that.
So before I even get into the details of this product, I want to first add that the specific ingredients list is not on the labels of these products. Personally, I dont mind because I have been following Mane Krush for so long and I know for a fact that she makes the products from scratch and the only way to do that is with real wholesome ingredients. However, I know new customers would probably like to have that list readily available to them for 'security purpose'. Dont fret, if they had poison in them or cause some sort of adverse reaction to your hair, I'd be screwed right now. I took one for the team and guess what...the grass is definitely greener on the Mane Krush side. Reminds me of that TD jakes sermon I watched recently "Walk by faith, not by sight" (lol).
At the end of this review I will also give you a rate out of 10 of the overall brand. Happy reading!
Step 1: Prepoo with the 'Daily Oils'
Just a little background information, prior to this wash day my hair was blown straight for a week (and it was looking fabulous. I was kind of sad that it was wash day but my scalp was not about to tolerate another day). I was depending on Mane krush to restore my curls flawlessly and give me the nourishment I needed for my curls to come back better than before. I normally do not pre-poo, but like I said because my hair was straight I wanted to take extra precautions before cleansing my hair.
Let me tell you.. this pre-poo is the truth. It smells amazing and it immediately softens your hair and makes it really easy to detangle. My curls started to revert back immediately. I think it wouldve worked even better if I let it sit in a little longer with heat, but I am a lazy natural and only let it sit for about 5 minutes before rinsing it out. At this point, my hair had pretty much completely reverted back to curly and I hadn't even cleansed my hair
So far I am thinking to myself "Whoah!!" I can honestly and truthfully say that I wasnt expecting to love this oil as much as I did. Ya'll know I am NOT big on oils and sometimes it does annoy me when I get sent oils because theyre never good enough for me to want to use them more than once. However, this will be the first time I will ever say that I can actually see myself actually emptying this bottle and replenishing this oil in the future. It is definitely a big big big big WIN.
Step 2: Cleanse with MANE BATH
Now that my hair is completely reverted back to curly and super soft, I figured that the rest of wash day should be a breeze from here. One thing us naturals really have messed up is that whenever we straighten our hair or protective style our hair, the wash day following has to be 10 hours long and we gotta do a mirage of treatments to restore our hair back to health. Thats not the case. Your regimen can be cute and simple under any circumstances. If the products that you are using are top quality and the way you are physically treating your hair matches -- then trust me, you'll be fine.
The Mane bath cleanser is not necessarily a shampoo but it does have clarifying agents that help to deep clean the hair shaft and scalp of residue. The active ingredient is rhassoul clay, which is not necessarily my favorite but it definitely gets the job done. This cleanser does not sud AT ALL. You have to be a little bit heavy handed to distribute a liberal amount around thicker tresses and I say if you've been putting a lot of product in your hair, you should probably go in twice or follow up with an actual gentle cleanser. I would only use this on its own if I were co-washing mid week, but not as my cleanser to get rid of a lot of build up. Candace is coming out with a shampoo though so stay tuned for that.
Overall, I can definitely live with this product and because the line is pretty amazing overall, I wouldnt mind picking it up again and again until the bottle is finished.
Step 3: Deep condition with Mane Essentials Deep conditioner
Okay. Im going to keep this very short and very sweet. This deep conditioner is hands down in my top 3 favorite deep conditioners.. and I have a collection of about 60 deep conditioners right now. I have tried probably 100 deep conditioners in the last 3 years and yes, I stick to my statement that this is easily in my top THREE favorite deep conditioners of all time. The scent, the slip, the moisture, the softness, it doesnt need any assitance to penetrate the hair shaft.
Candace has seriously outdone herself with this and I seriously wish I can know what's in this.. I'm convinced its sugar, spice, and everything nice. If you dont take anything away from this blog.. be sure you at least take away this deep conditioner because its really the truth. In fact, Candace should make this available in 16oz and family sizes. I can foresee myself reaching the bottom of this bottle in no time.. and then crying because I banned myself from purchasing any products for the entire 2018.
For those of you adamant about using Shea moisture and any of that other main stream garbage, please give this product a try and thank me later for introducing you to REAL quality products.
My hair felt so soft, bouncy, and defined after rinsing and air drying this product that I did not add anything else to my hair for two whole days. I rocked a LITERAL wash and go and my hair was looking fabulous (check out my gram). The only reason I decided to move on to this next step is because I couldnt resist how amazing that Mane tamer was looking on my shelf and I had to dive in!
Step 4: Style
After 2 days of rocking my literal wash and go (by literal I mean wash, air dry, and go about my business... none of that extra stuff), it was time for me to stop playing and twist my hair because I have a big presentation coming up. A few weeks back I gave yall sort of a scale of leave in conditioners. Mane Krush has a creamy leave in conditioner, and they also have a refresher which I consider to be a daily leave in conditioner. Because my hair isnt really high density, I tend to stear clear of creamy leave in conditiners if I plan to layer another product on top of it. I dont really like super defined hair -- I'd much rather loose, fluffy curls so I opt for using mist/light weight leave ins and pair them with my favorite butter to seal in the moisture. In this case, I used the Kurl Refphresher and mane tamer to style. I absolutely love both products but the Mane tamer really took my breath away. It is a super soft butter that melts right into the hair shaft and give you that soft, supple, juicy looking twists everybody is in love with (disclaime: if youre hair is damaged, this will not fix that like a magic wand). The Mane tamer is yet another product that should come in bigger sizes... seriously Candace.. stop messing with people's lives here.
And by the way, I lied earlier, I also didnt try the knot less leave in yet. I have even analyzed the texture so I can say nothing on that. I wont say much on the growth elixir either since I havent used it, although I'm curious to know what the difference is between that and daily oils. but I do want to say something real quick about the detox. Now, this isnt a write off but for some reason it leaks out of the bottle on its own even when closed shut. I am also not a big fan of the scent. Judging on the other products I am sure that it gets the job done, but I'd have to be able to get over the scent to actually try it.
Overall, the Mane Krush is a 10/10 despite my reservations about the detox. These products are worth every penny and quite honestly, I think she's low balling herself. My experience was nothing short of amazing and I am happy that she kicked off my last month of product reviews for the year on such a high note.
Follow Mane Krush on instagram @Manekrush
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