Hiya,
So I am starting a series here on hair products I have found that are made in Nigeria, not packaged here, not imported but MADE here by our very own. The aim really is to review products to find out if they are diamonds in the rough or just amongst the sea of products that should be trashed with petroleum oil, paraffin and all the bad chemical orshirishi.
The first product up for review is this product I stumbled upon at Ebeanor, Lekki called
EMILY MILLIONAIRE COCONUT OIL AND HERBS WITH ALOE VERA.
Ingredients;100% natural coconut oil & herbs, soya beans oil, carrot oil, bergamot oil, saint basil, banana jam, vitamin E, refined palm oil, Placenta, Protein, D pathenol, African shea butter, avacado pear oil, almond oil, honey, vegetable oil, orange peels, jojoba oil, olive oil, aloe Vera.
Whew!! Madam Emily MILLIONAIRE you sabi concoct oh!! To be honest some of the ingredients listed made me laugh, which one is 'saint basil' I'm guessing she wanted to write 'scent basil'? Then placenta? whose??lol or the ingredients on the list that are a bit vague, like where she writes 'herbs' what herbs? Or where she writes Protien, is it hydrolized protein or which one?
Anyways, even if some of the ingredients listed confused me, I wasn't about to walk away from this product because of all the other good stuff listed; coconut oil, vitamin E, jojoba oil, almond oil, honey, avocado oil, Shea butter plus some stuff I have not heard about like bergamot oil and banana jam...this lady didn't hold back!
If you watch diners, drive ins and dives you will get me when I say I can just imagine this woman in her lab throwing into a stirring pot every and any thing she could lay her hands on!!
Now unto the directions as listed on the container; for best results, every other day at night, part your hair, rub a little quantity on the scalp, massage very well and allow to penetrate. Use on permed hair, curled hair and also virgin hair.
She also recommends using a teaspoon of the product on your scalp and heat under a dryer for 3 to 4 minutes for proper penetration...
Result; this product claims that using it helps in the correction and restoration of damaged hair, enriches growth of relaxed, curled and natural hair. If properly used, silky, dark and healthy, dandruff-free hair is your assurance.
So did this product live up to its claims? Well I've had this product for a few months now and used it a few times. At first I used it as a moisturizer but the after smell of this product is extremely herbal and pungent plus as you can see from the ingredients, it an oil based product and has no water in it so for daily use, I would recommend this product as a sealant and not a moisturizer, I personally put one of my posts to work and repurposed this in my DEEP CONDITIONING MIX and it worked GREAT. I have it on my hair right now, mixed it with Organics cholesterol and tea tree oil.
Will let it penetrate into my strands all night long as I sleep with a shower cap on.
In summary let me list;
The pros of this product and made in Nigeria products in general;
They are cheap and affordable; this tub was just about N250 .
They are readily available, unlike the imported products, you can go to any market where cosmetics are sold and you will find these products.
You can trust that the organic ingredients are the real deal because we dey Africa!!
As for the cons;
Im guessing you already noticed that there are some vague ingredients listed as I already stated; that's a bit worrisome because it's either they are not being truthful about what's in it or they just don't know what to call a particular ingredient and call it 'a herb'. This is a major issue with made in Nigeria products!
Another issue I'm having with this particular product is, I wonder what informed the manufacturer to put ALL of these many ingredients together! Every product should have a purpose, this product with all these many ingredients is all over the place!
Then there's the funny claim on the bottle that states '4 day action'! Lol
prepare your mind to read such on made in Naija hair products, 5 day miracle, 4 day magic!! Yeah right!!
But again I cannot knock down their hustle because they have used the wrong words or tried to persuade buyers with plenty grammar. So will I recommend this product? YES, for the price and for deep conditioning, not so much for daily use.
Is it a diamond in the rough? Ehhh if the recipe is tweaked a wee bit, maybe if it was water based, less ingredients used ( I mean why add vegetable oil with all the other oils listed) then this product could definitely be a diamond in the rough.
Why am I always talking about HAIR PRODUCTS you ask?
Simply put, hair products are your hair's diet and just like with food where if you starve yourself or you don't eat healthy it starts to tell on your body, if you don't use good products, products that will help nurture your hair and cater to its needs, your hair will never be healthy so that's why I've taken it upon myself to tell you all about any products I find as its important to have as many options as possible because our hair needs keep evolving and everybody's hair is different but you will never know how a product works for your hair except you try it.
If you ever stumble upon this product, give it a try will ya! If you know of any made in Nigeria product that you think is a diamond in the rough, feel free to send me an email telling me about it and I'll be sure to try it and give it the needed exposure!!
Xxx
Dabs