Honey? Chocolate? Coconut?
It’s not a dessert curlfriends, it’s African Pride’s Moisture Miracle Nourish & Restore Conditioner! I’m happy that I got to try it out and experience the sweets craving myself, so you won’t get hangry in vain!
I had a tall order for this Best of the Best conditioner winner. I took my hair out from my neon braids in a RECORD shattering 8 weeks (as opposed to my usual…cough cough…16 cough”>, so I decided to skip the deep shampooing, and scrub with the same conditioner I’d leave on afterwards.
I don’t know how many would approve of my methods, but I’ve only been getting fluffier, so I’m doing SOMETHING right!
What’s in it?
First of all, chocolate! I’ll try any gimmick once, and although I prefer fruity sweets over chocolate to EAT, I have a WEIRD thing about anything that isn’t a coconut going on my hair, but this I was totally fine with. Go figure.
Beware though, for anyone avoiding fragrance, caramel, or dimethicone, this won’t be the conditioner for you. And if you fall on the side of veganism that’s anti-honey, take care because it’s not just a figure of speech about the consistency—this actually has honey in it!
First impressions!
It’s THICK! And that brings back my favorite old chestnut—packaging design. It’s hard to get this stuff out of the bottle! Considering the actual cacao and cocoa powder in the formula that’s to be expected!
Fun fact, the difference between the two powders is how high the heat of processing goes, with cocoa powder being refined at higher temperatures.
But cool, chocolatey trivia aside, my real issue is that this didn’t come in a tub, “upside down” bottle style, or more flexible plastic.
Scent-wise, it’s very interesting! Imagine if a cup of hot chocolate were stirred with a sheet of fabric softener. I know that sounds gross, but it’s a sweet, yet fresh, yet familiar scent, and I kinda dig it!
So did it work?
Dear reader…no. Not at all. Unfortunately.
It’s rare that I have a non-co-wash product give me 0 slip, but that’s what happened here. Detangling during conditioning was nothing short of ROUGH, and a far cry from the Fantasia co-wash I reviewed and loved.
Post-rinse, my hair wasn’t “dry, dry”, but considering I’d washed AND conditioned with this stuff, I was expecting a lot more out of it. I have a post-wash test for all my conditioners: if my hair doesn’t feel like I COULD forgo leave-in afterwards, it didn’t do the job.
Disclaimer—I DO always put a butter, leave in, or other treatment on my hair every time, because it’s never ACTUALLY the case that I can’t; but my point is, a good conditioner will give me the fleeting illusion that I could skip a step.
With Moisture Miracle, my hair felt less like ‘freshly conditioned’ hair, and more like ‘Just got out of the pool having applied leave-in the day before yesterday’ hair. Not good enough for my Swiss-cheese porosity, I’m afraid.
Who’s it for then?
Honestly, I think this is for wavies and straight hair. I really do. And considering the brand, that’s disappointing. That’s NOT to say not having type 4 hair makes you less black (because it doesn’t“>, but I AM saying a product that can’t get a wide-tooth comb through wet, conditioner-coated 4A hair doesn’t have much business talking about the motherland. Or miracles for that matter.
I think this exact same formula could be very effective if rebranded as a moisturizing solution for less-curly, less-porous, and more naturally silky hair though! In all honesty, it made me wish I still had my ex’s amber waves to experiment on, because I really think this was the kind of product made for him, and others with a similar hair type.
I was pretty excited for this conditioner, but I’m afraid it’s just not right for me. Those of you with moderate density, 3B and looser? Step right up!
Have you ever had chocolate in your coils? I wanna know! Share your sweet secrets in the comments section.
