Vlog:Hair Disaster! + Product Review: Straight From Eden Plant Derived Repairing Oil

The product I used was Straight From Eden Plant Derived Repairing Oil. This is a product by Cream of Nature which is a brand that has been around since I was a child. Its a brand that I would generally trust. The box and bottle do not come with ingredients list so I had to do the research myself. The main thing that stood out to me was Dimethicone. I knew immediately that this was a type of silicone because of the prefix. After a little research this is what I found out:

(Dimethicone) Polydimethylsiloxane is a non-biodegradable silicone that belongs to a group of polymeric organosilicon compounds  and is also known as polydimethylsiloxane or PDMS. In hair care products, dimethicone is used to reduce frizz and aid in easy de-tangling. Dimethicone being a silicone will coat the hair strands and is more likely to leave a build up in the hair.

Dimethicone also has possible side effects on the skin: dryness, slight irritation, and allergic reactions.

I believe it was this chart found at CurlyNikki that breaks down the types of Dimethicone and whether or not it is supposed to be one of the "easier" silicones that are less likely to cause a build up in your hair. Certain forms of Dimethicone are said to be more likely to be broken down in the process of co-washing and that you would not need to use a sulfectant to remove it from your hair. This is the part I misread and then decided to give this product a try. This product does not contain a form of Dimethicone that is easily broken down by co-washing or clarifying.

What I learned: I had an allergic reaction to this product which included scalp irritation and itching. It caused a ridiculous build up in my hair as well that even after 4-5 washes (with my favorite sulfate free clarifying shampoo) did not remove. Even after 2 co-washes it was not removed from my hair. 

I originally decided to use this product to see if it would reduce the amount of frizz that I get in the front crown area of my hair. This product actually made my hair more frizzy, I got tons of single strand knots, and my hair became insanely dry. I always advocate "embracing the frizz". This is one case where I decided to try something new and it did not work out. I am sure this is a great product for some naturals who want to wear their hair straight & use cones & sulfates all the time, but here still is an obvious risk of having an allergic reaction to it. 

Truth in the packaging:The thing that I found to be the most shocking is the obvious key words that were used on the packaging to prey on unsuspecting naturals like "all natural" & "plant derived". It never says that it is a serum which it obviously looks like. A serum would imply that it contains silicones which would send off alarms in most peoples heads. On their website it boasts being paraben free, sulfate free, mineral oil free, petroleum free, and alcohol free. The blatant use of Silicones is omitted. I actually had to go to a third website such as Walgreens to look at the ingredient list for this product.

In retrospect: I just wanted to share all of the information that I found as well as my experience. I know this is a long post and you can easily watch the vlog, however the vlog does not contain all the facts that are here.