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09 January 2010

[review] afroveda's PUR whipped hair gelly

aloe vera whole leaf gel, coconut oil, almond oil, herbal oil complex, vanilla essential oil.
picture was graciously provided by shae, from afroniquely you!


i've had this gel for maybe a month or so now and i have been playing with it a lot, so i've been very slowly writing this review in my mind. :)

afroveda has a sizeable following on the online community and with good reason: all natural products, great prices, and excellent customer service. aaaaand, of course, i was never interested. i don't know why, but there was nothing about the line that drew me to any of it. my first interaction came from meeting charzboss over the summer. she was kind enough to give me some of their curly pudding, which left no impression on me (hence, no review). i'd also tried their ginger butter (or something like that), and ended up giving that away. i can't really say why it is, but maybe that will change in the future. after all, hairveda was (and still is) a wildly popular brand and i've only very recently (as in this year) became interested (so interested that i am now a stan for life, hollaaa!). i suppose the same could happen with afroveda, but i don't really see that happening.

i'd decided to purchase their whipped gelly on a whim. i'd been scouring their website and being a sucker for gellys/jellys, puddings, jams, gels, etc., i'd ordered this product. a few people said they liked it, so i'd ordered it. it was right for the price, 9 dollars for 8 oz of product. if i ever repurchase this, i'll be most definitely getting the 16 oz, which is only $15, so this line obviously has great price points. shipping was agreeable, which was a miracle because companies STAY tryna get you with shipping rates, and i think turn around was two weeks. no bad at all. it also came with a little card where for each purchase you make, you get a stamp. fill the card with a certain amount of stamps, and you get a percentage off of your order - cute! (the only reason i didn't give the percentage off and number of stamps is because i don't remember.)

packing is straightforward - a white jar with a label and a clear screw-on top. now, the top is different. you flip it open! i thought that was cool, novelty-wise, but it is rather bulky. the label isn't my favorite... one thing i've noticed with afroveda is that they fail to streamline; no color scheme (there are 12 colors on the label alone), and at least four different fonts all on one label, making the packaging less than eye-pleasing. not that i mind because in the end, it's all about the performance of the product (and i leave it in a drawer), but how many times have i bought something because i liked the packaging? quite a few. the packaging is just as important, if not more, than the performance of the product, and afroveda didn't score well in that category.

according to the website, the pur whipped gelly has a light vanilla cream scent and of course, i smell everything first. the night i got it, i thought it smelled wonderful! very, very light with just a hint of vanilla (not so much cream). the scent wasn't amazingly delicious, but it was pleasant enough. i did notice that it had a bit of a tinge to the end of the scent, like a sharp, but not overpowering hit of... ingredients. i know that sounds weird, but there's an almost metallic scent at the tail end. no clue what that was about. now, this was back in early december, if not late november. i'm sniffing as i write this review and it definitely doesn't smell as good as the day i got it. not that it explicitly stinks, but like the vanilla has gone bad. i don't really know what to tell you about that, but i like weird scents, so i don't really mind it in the least.

the product has the consistency of a light pudding. not heavy at all, but stretches and elongates my curls like nobody's business. i like the consistency - smooth and creamy, without being sticky or soupy.

performance-wise, i love this gel. my shingles are amazingly defined and my finger coils are shiny and have incredible staying power (and i am a wild sleeper). whenever i used this product, i used it on freshly washed or cowashed hair, with nothing under it, which is typical for me - since my gels are natural, they typically have other moisturizing ingredients in them. now, i can't say for sure that this accounts for the crunch or not, but as my hair gets long enough to twist, i will probably use this gel over top of something. it gave my shingles a hard crunch, which i didn't mind at all. the crunch would be gone by day two after a spritz from my water bottle, so like i said, i don't mind crunch. i'm sure it's avoidable though, when layered and not used alone.

i love this gel and while i can't say whether or not it will become a staple, i know i will repurchase eventually!


ftc disclaimer: i am in no way affiliated with afroveda. i was not paid for this review and the product was purchased with my own monies.

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