Oyin Handmade

So far Oyin Handmade is my favorite hair product line that I have found for Little Miss.

I am using their shampoo: Head-to-Toe Honey Wash and it's just simply freaking fabulous. I started out only co-washing her hair, but as a two year old she gets dirty and I felt like she needed a shampoo as well. Her hair can be a little on the dry side and so I was worried about drying it out with shampoo, but we don't have that problem AT ALL. Her curls look and feel even better on the days that we shampoo. It lathers easily and I don't need a lot to wash her hair. It has a pleasant and light scent. It just smells sweet and natural and fresh. I love it. We also use it as a body wash. And in case you aren't understanding how much I love this stuff I use it on the boys for their hair and skin too. Oh, and sometimes I steal it and use it in my bathroom as well.

It comes in several flavors, but I've just used the honey because I'm clearly in love with it. If I were to try another scent I would choose the Black Cedar. I'm extremely anti "fruity" scents so I really like that of the four scents for this shampoo only one is a fruit.

The first time I bought it (and then forgot it at my mother's house) I paid $9.00 for 8 ounces from CurlMart. When I went back to repurchase it I wanted the bigger 16 ounce size, which they did not have in stock. I went to the creator's website. I paid $17.00 for 16 ounces which I think is a very good price as well considering how long it lasts and the price of comparable products. I was a little concerned when I ordered it because it has rosemary extract in it and I do NOT like that smell since I've experienced it in other products (anyone know why it's in them?), but I couldn't smell it in the shampoo so hooray!

Since I was shopping off the Oyin website and since I like their shampoo so much that I want to marry it (sorry, flashbacks to elementary school) I decided I should try a few others thing as well.

I decided on the 4-piece sampler. I paid $17.50 for it which is sort of a lot just to try things, but I did get four different products and the sample amounts are substantial! I've had ours for over a month now and I still have plenty of product in all of them. So they're not in the least skimpy.

Honey Hemp Conditioner: Of the four samples this was the one that I was the least excited about, but I really like it. I will buy more of this when our sample is gone. I was using before (and still am using) Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose Conditioner and so I wasn't really looking for something else. I like both of them and will probably continue to use them both for different things. I use the the Aubrey Organics on the days that I just co-wash. I heard that they honey/hemp combination is really good for moisturizing when it's allowed to stay on the hair. So, on the evenings that I shampoo I put this conditioner on and leave it on overnight. I rinse it out in the morning and then style her hair while it's wet. So far it's working for us.

Greg Juice Leave-In Spray: I wanted to try this product as well since Peanut's "adventure" left me in need of a new spray product. I like this pretty well. I think for the length of hair that she has it's not a necessity. Even though now that's I've said that I think I would be sad without it. At $11 for 8 ounces it comes down to $1.375 an ounce. Curly Cake Shake which is $19.50 for 8 ounces and comes down to 2.4375 an ounce. The products aren't exactly the same thing, but they're the closest equivalents I've used and they are similar. I prefer the smell of the Greg Juice and the price, by far! The Greg Juice is substantially lighter than the Curly Cake Shake which is more lotion-y. I do not think that I could detangle with Juice even with her short hair, it's just too coily. (I could be doing it wrong though.) When we had the Shake we weren't combing her hair, but I do think that I could detangle with it. I also think that the Shake gave her curls a little more spring than the Juice. The Juice is easier to use because it actually comes out in a mist as opposed to the jet stream of the Shake. We keep the Juice downstairs by my purse. :) We use it to complete our "emergency hair kit" (the Juice, a comb and a few rubberbands) that I keep in my purse. When she pulls her bands out in the carseat we don't have to walk around looking like fools now.

Shine & Define-Gentle Styling Serum: This is my least favorite of all of them. There's nothing "wrong" with it. I just don't see any difference between this and using shea butter. Again, if she had longer hair or we were doing more styles I might feel differently about it. I'd certainly be willing to try it later when her hair was longer, but for now I don't think it's something we need. I do like the texture. It's very creamy and easy to work with and maybe if we were doing braids or twists then I think that would be a nice product.

Whipped Pudding: This was the product that I really wanted to try. It's shea butter based, but is much creamier and light than even whipped shea butter. It has a light scent, but nothing that I've found that lingers. I use this pretty regularly on her hair. I put it on while her hair is wet and also use extra little dabs to smooth out our sections. It says that it can be used on skin, but I haven't done that yet. (We use the Honey Wash on her skin and then coconut oil when she's out of the tub.  Beyond that she hardly needs any lotion. If I notice that she's starting to look a little dry I'm using California Baby, but only like once a week.) In the winter when her skin is drier I think this would be LUSCIOUS on skin. It says on the ingredients that is has castor oil in it, which sounds kind of strange, but I have no idea if it's actually good for skin/hair yet. I should check into that, but I hope it's okay because I like this product.

Clearly, I highly recommend these products. I would say to buy an 8 ounce bottle of the Honey Wash to start with and definitely try the 4 Pack Sampler. You will be glad you did!

I do have some pictures of not using Oyin and then using Oyin, but they're on the other computer so they'll have to wait a little bit.