I cannot stand Carol's Daughters products. They might be heaven sent to some, but my hair reacted to it like "Men on Film" hated it! Even the oil did my hair dirty, so I'm just going to give some less costly ways to naturally moisturize, condition and cleanse your hair.
Moisturize: glycerin + aloe vera gel/juice + water...believe me it's worth it! shine and your hair will thank you for the goodies you added. If you moisturize at night, spray on until damp and seal with either Vitamin E oil (fine/thin to medium textured hair), shea butter (use as much depending on your hair density/texture), or Castor Oil (for coarse wiry hair). This also helps with adding moisture to a braid/twist out.
Conditioner: you can always add a lot of good stuff to very cheap conditioners: coconut oil, olive oil, castor oil (I recommend only for winter time though), aloe vera, avocado oil, or melted shea (or cocoa) butter. Two good conditioners to use as bases are Suave Tropical Coconut and Tresemme Moisture Rich (you'll see it on other blogs referred to as Vitamin E). Both are great to have in your collection anyway, plus if you want to really spruce them up, you don't need to add that much. My last treatment I did for a deep moisturizing conditioner: 2 tsps. of glycerin, 10 drops of peppermint essential oil (can be bought at Vitamin Shoppe along with other oils), 1/8 tsp of Emu oil, and 1/4 cup of Aloe Vera juice to about a cup of Tresemme Vit. E conditioner. I left that in for about 5 mins. with a plastic bag over my head (hey no point in buying a shower cap when I get these with my grocceries), and rinsed with a cool rinse. My hair felt so velvety smooth (fyi I decided to just go ahead and relax my hair instead of keeping my hair texlaxed), and my scalp felt refreshed. As for a leave-in you can dilute your regular conditioner with regular water, and then seal with your favorite oil.
Shampoo: Dr. Bronner's baby mild castille soap, or a lovely tea rinse using herbal tea bags (homemade or store bought). I cheated and used Elasta QP Creme Lather Shampoo (SLS free and pH balanced), but I did from time to time use the baby mild soap. These options are a lot better than the Carol's Daughter shampoo I used (it was in a give-away bag of products my friend hated, she has very dense/coarse 4b hair and I have thin 4a/4b hair).
Pomade: Shea Butter with aloe vera gel, a little bit of castor oil (this oil is very heavy/ thick), and a whisk. Just melt the shea butter in a double boiler or microwave for 15- 30 seconds, add the aloe vera and castor oil a little at a time and whisk. Throw in the freezer for a few minutes, and pull out again to whisk. This speeds up the cooling process, and allows you to incorporate air to give it smoother texture. Apply to damp hair (using your moisturizer maybe), smooth with a brush, and tie your hair down. OR you can just use the Fantasia Sparklelites Pomade (not the gel), at little goes a long way...no joke!
I did these when I was natural and now relaxed; using these methods my hair is still in good condition. Every now and then I do use SLS shampoos, but that is because I'm doing reviews for my lovelies (you guys!).
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