Last week, I ran out of Kinky Curly Curling Custard. And rather than buy a new jar, I was out and about, and wandered into Sally Beauty Supply. I mean…I don’t know how I got there, it just happens. Hair stuff draws me in. Anyway, I was about to get some As I Am products (although I was skeptical of the protein and glycerin in the winter climate) when I saw this Proclaim Argan Oil gel. It was like, $3.99 for 32oz. I was like, oooh, okay then, and opted for that instead. The ingredients…are not that stellar:

**Side Note** No, I did not use that much gel in a week, I transferred half of the jar over to empty jar of Kinky Curly.

But…it did have argan oil and it wasn’t the last ingredient, so I was like meh, whatever. However, after using this gel for the past week, I don’t think I am going to use it again, so I thought I’d just get the review out of the way. Now, let’s get to the OBJECTIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE REVIEW WHICH CANNOT BE DEBATED AND THEREFORE MAKE REVIEWS USEFUL EVEN IF I ENCOURAGE YOU ALL TO LISTEN TO YOUR OWN HAIR AND EXPERIMENT ON YOUR OWN (Was that shade? Yup.)

Texture: The texture of the gel, if you can see in the pic, is very thick and goopy – similar to Eco Styler. I certainly felt like I wanted to use a finisher after applying this gel to loosen it up some. You’d have to beat it out of the jar or transfer it to another container using a spoon (which I did in case I wanted to take half of the jar home with me). I didn’t feel like I needed to use a lot.

Smell: I like the smell – it’s perfumey, a bit fruity, but certainly not overpowering enough that it burns my nostrils. Would I wear it as body spray (like I would with say, Curl Junkie Curl Rehab)? Heck no. But for a $4 hair product, it will do.

On the Ingredients: Chock full of stuff I can barely pronounce, but kudos for not having glycerin or protein. Weirdly, the ingredients list on the Sally site lists some better stuff in there, like aloe vera, vitamin E, and panthenol. If I could find a jar listing those ingredients, I’d probably try it again.

So, why don’t I want to use this stuff again? Well…long story short, I hated how my hair felt after it dried and during my next condition, and this happened multiple times using various leave in conditioners. My hair looked great, actually. Last night, I had used this gel and went to visit my mother, and even she commented on how pretty my hair looked and how full it was. Although the hold claims to be maximum, I found this gel giving me a soft, natural hold. So soft in fact, that when I put my damp hair in a bun, my curls were so mussed up the next day that I had no choice but to rock a messy bun – a clear sign my gel lacks hold. This is not an issue for me as long as I don’t style my wash and go at night. There was no flaking using this product and it seemed to mix well with my leave-ins and did not leave me with white head. The frizz control was great – just like Eco Styler but without the super hard hold when it dries. Great and great.

BUT. All of those positive notes aside, I just felt like my hair was dry!!! I used it with DM Hair Whip, Oyin Hair Dew, and Lush American Cream…every time…my hair felt kind of sad, and even looked a bit dull. Rather than use another moisturizer just to fluff my hair out, I was actually re-moisturizing my hair when it dried to make it feel a bit better. Something that I RARELY have to do. When I rinsed it out, each time my hair felt a bit rough. Some may want to dispute that it’s because I colored my hair…but no, I used Kiss My Face UMG in between testing this one, and my hair felt like it’s fun self (I even rocked 3 day hair). This Proclaim gel is definitely not a product that I would want to use long term, because I think it would end up having a negative effect on the health of my hair. However, if I were in a pinch, I’d use it again and just be sure to DC my hair after I rinsed it out. I still might take the other jar home with me in order to experiment mixing it with conditioners and oils to try to get some additional moisture in there. But…I’m lazy, so no promises.

‘Til next time, pals…

xoxo