Beauty Review: Queen Helene Royal Curl Collection

Posted by Amber in Featured, Hair Care, Headline | 2 comments

Hey there, beauty lovers! I promised last week that I would be sharing more of the products for natural hair that I’ve been trying lately. So here I am with a beauty review! Today I’ll be dishing about the new Queen Helene Royal Curl Collection, $8.99 each. The products claim to turns “dry kinks and frizz Into silky smooth curls” without harsh ingredients such as alcohol, sulfates, petrolatum, parabens or phthalates.

Instead, it aims to nourish hair with Royal Jelly which contains 17 amino acids, vitamins A, B, C, D, and K. Now, I’ve been known to pick up a tube of the cult classic Queen Helene Mint Julep Mask from time to time over the years, but I’ve never tried much else from the brand. So how did Royal Curl do?

Stay Clean Shampoo

This shampoo was my favorite item from the line, which can be a good or bad thing, depending how you look at it. I had a lot of product build up from ODing on another brand’s styling gel and wasn’t sure if Stay Clean was up to getting it all out. After one shampoo my hair felt coated, so I lathered up a second time which did the trick. My hair didn’t feel very moisturized, but it felt very clean without being stripped.

Moisture Rich Conditioner

The conditioner is where things started to go south. After the shampoo did well I had nothing but high hopes for the Moisture Rich Conditioner. Sadly, when I rinsed it out my hair felt hard and dry. Plus my hair had a film on it that left it feeling dirty. It’s usually pretty hard for a conditioner to do wrong, but this one really did a number on my hair.

Curl Shaping Creme

I proceeded with the regimen and raked the Curl Shaping Creme with my fingers through my wet hair in small sections. The texture of Curl Shaping Creme is extremely similar to that of Kinky Curly Curling Custard. Usually when I apply a gel/custard product I can see my curls defining right away. I didn’t see a many curls while wet or after letting my hair air dry. In fact, it was as though my curls had disappeared into a dry, crunchy frizzy mass. I mean, my hair actually looked dusty.

Curl Smoothing Oil

I then tried to salvage the situation with some of the Curl Smoothing Oil. The texture was very light, but was emollient when I rubbed a bit into my hands. I applied the oil to my hair, but I think it was too far gone to make a difference at that point. I didn’t get a drop of shine and the crunch/dust situation was no better.

Needless to say, the conditioner and curl creme were absolute no-go’s for me. I would certainly use the shampoo again and I think the oil would be good for lubricating twist outs. A dab of the oil would probably work well with relaxed hair, too. Of course, these things can sometimes be subjective, so if you’re in need of a budget-friendly hair care line this may be for you. I found mine at my local Whole Foods, and it’s rolling out at other stores as well.

Have you tried Queen Helene Royal Curl? What was your experience like? Share in the comments!