I have a love/hate relationship with AfroVeda.
They have great, great products, but they hiked up their prices by 80-90% a few years ago and I only buy them when they are on sale.
So when a forum member (Hey necey!) alerted me to a sale a few months ago, I grabbed a jar of their Shea Amla Whipped Butter (Hair Butter Cream).
I used it on my two-strand twists and it’s too bad the picture doesn’t convey how soft my hair feels right now.
It is literally like butt-ah!
Shout Out to KeKe
I first learned about this company through one of my favorite two-strand twist queens on YouTube. Her username is keke52284. Unfortunately she no longer does videos, but thankfully she left behind plenty of inspiration.
I remember admiring her two-strand twists when I was transitioning. I couldn’t wait to be fully natural so I could have a luscious head of twists like her.
She was a loyal fan of the AfroVeda line until the price increase.
No Flakes and Great Hold!
If you saw my most recent YouTube video, you know I’ve been struggling with product build-up. Many of the twisting gel products have hold to help the twists lasts, but that gel is what can cause flaking.
What I like about the Shea Amla Whipped Butter is that it does give you hold (without crunch) even though it’s a butter instead of a gel. And after scanning the ingredients, I wasn’t quite sure which one actually helps with hold, but I like that this product is loaded with lots of leaf extracts, natural oils and herbs.
And if you are one of those who shakes your head at the “naughty ingredients”, it has no mineral oil, parabens or sulfates.
The label also states this product is good for hair that is dry, frizzy and prone to split ends.
Any Negatives?
Unfortunately there is one major drawback…
The smell. 🙁
Perhaps I’ll try adding a few drops of an essential oil next time to see if that helps.
Fortunately it goes away (for the most part) when the product dries.
The Verdict
Overall, I would use this product again and continue to buy — when it’s on sale, of course. 😉
I also like that it seems to stretch my hair a bit. I suppose that’s due to the thickness and weight. There’s nothing wimpy about this butter at all. It’s super rich, and as I already mentioned, I was pleasantly surprised with the added hold without the flaking.
So if you can put up with the strong smell for a few hours, you’ll probably love this product too.
Now if I can just figure out what they use to make it hold the hair so well, I can make my own concoction at home.
If you’re a regular reader, then you know that I love whipped, creamy products. The Shea Amla butter fits the bill. At first glance, I thought that it would be hard, like pure shea butter. When I saw that it was whipped, I thought perhaps it had the consistency of KBB hair cream , but it actually seems to be a bit fluffier. (It is also considerably cheaper than the hair cream) It’s still pretty heavy moisture, though it did not leave my hair greasy the next day.This may be somewhat heavy for finer hair types.
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This product is so good that I actually purchased a second jar. I rarely do that since I have product ADHD. Initially I purchased this because I thought it would elongate my curls. Nope it did not do that. My hair shrank as close to my scalp as possible. After I had a good laugh, I tried this cream to do twist outs. When I was air drying my hair, my twist shrank up to two inches. I guess it is the nature of my 4a/b/c and porous hair. But when I unraveled my twist, the wave pattern was just gorgeous. My hair didn’t frizz until day three but I was playing in my way too much and I didn’t do the pineapple method to maintain the style.This creme leaves a soft hold to my hair and as shocking as it was, I didn’t need to use a lot. I made the first mistake of saturating my hair with this cream and it left it a bit greasy but my hair still looked cute. It left my hair moisturized for a week, which impressed me by miles because usually my hair has trouble holding on to moisture. I also used this for coil outs, wet rollersets (with an aid of a setting lotion to make it last), etc and it has worked beautifully. Also I don’t if anyone has experienced this but this product also helps to detangle my hair while I am sectioning my hair. Some folks might not experienced this but for me this is huge because my hair likes to wrap around itself.I was so close in purchasing Miss Jessie’s (the Butter Creme and the Meringue) line but with the results I am getting with this product, I don’t have to bother. What it lacks in amount, it comes out cheaper in terms of price per ounce. The only con is I wished that it came in a bigger jar but then again I don’t need a lot of product. I usually catch this on sale at my local drugstore. When it goes on sale again, I will buy two jars.
Troy I wish you had posted this yesterday. They JUST had a sale for 30% off and it only lasted one day. I bought another jar with the sale. I agree I love the soft hold. I never thought of trying a rod set with it but I bet that would work great due to the fact it has some hold. And you’re right, a little goes a long way.
my hair hates shea butter and i’ve tried both raw, refined, nilotica and west african. it doesn’t absorb and makes my hair hard and greasy.
This is a nice butter cream for my hair. I used it in conjunction with the PUR Whipped Jelly for hold and moisture. Then I used it on its own to moisturize my curls. I like these products so far.