Denise Review-Alikay Naturals

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To summarize my experience with her products, I will say that I was  not impressed. There was NO "Wow-Factor". It was simply this, that, and the other (which is a mystery, and I'll explain later) with an obnoxious fragrance. While there were ingredients that I was impressed with (ie. Shea butter, Aloe Juice, Silk Amino Protein). I am not comfortable with mystery ingredients. Once you know how ingredients work for you and your hair, you want to use products that have what you want in them, and don't have what you don't want.

I tried all products (with respect to the shampoo and Leave In) with clean, clarified hair, to determine its true effectiveness. 

Test out time period: 2-3 weeks.

Product Breakdown

1. Shea Yogurt Hair Moisturizer- This product had a nice feel between my fingers, and initially made my hair feel smooth and soft. However, this feeling was not long lasting, and quickly turned into build up and later made my hair feel "dirty"; This led me to believe that it was just sitting on my hair, as opposed to being absorbed. I couldn't determine the reason for this problem because the maker wants to keep her ingredients a secret, masking it with the term "Herbal and Botanical Blend", which I did not like or appreciate. While I enjoyed the fragrance, it was a bit over powering and I am not particularly fond of artificial fragrances.

 3 out of 5 stars

2. Moisture Rich Hair Parfait- This product did not live up to it's name. While it did feel good going into my hair, the true test of a moisturizer is when it dries. After my hair dried, it did not have the plump, moisturized feel that I get when using my usual faves. The next day, my hair had a sticky, almost gummy feel to it. I made sure not to use much product to avoid this, and because her products go a long way in terms of application. Despite my efforts, my hair had buildup my the second day. The fragrance is nice (smells like Jolly Ranchers to me), but again, it was artificial and overpowering. 

 2 out of 5 stars

3. Caribbean Coconut Shampoo- This product wasn't too bad. After rinsing, my hair felt relatively clean and I did not have that stripped feeling that I typically get with other shampoos. It is extremely watery, which made me doubt it's effectiveness (and economic value). To my surprise, it produced a good lather, which made me question it's claim of being "sulfate free" (again, the ingredient label is mostly a mystery, and she claimed the cleanser is derived from coconut oil, which sulfates CAN be derived from). The smell was decent. 

   4 out of 5 stars

4. Lemongrass Leave In Conditioner- This product is light, watery, and in a spray bottle. I prefer my leave in conditioners to be creamy, and I didn't imagine it being very effective, despite the few impressive ingredients (the ones we're allowed to see, anyway). After doing a little research, I learned this product has a pH of 8. Yikes! I did not try it due to the pH level, didn't want to take any chances. 

    0 out of 5 stars

5. Caribbean Coconut Conditioner- This product left a waxy feel on my hair when I rinsed it out. So not cool. It didn't pack the moisture punch that I was hoping it would. Smelled like artificial coconuts. Not much you can say about this product. 

   1 out of 5 stars

6. Essential 17 Hair Hair Growth Oil- This was a very light oil, that didn't leave a very lasting impression on my hair. Some of the ingredients caught my attention and interest, like the Emu oil and the Horsetail Powder, but i didn't feel like it was making much of a difference. I'll try this product again and for a longer time period to see if I see any changes, but until then it gets 

    3 out of 5 stars

Final Consensus- Would I repurchase? No.