Product Review: Jane Carter Solution Hydrating Invigorating Shampoo

Hi guys! I wanted to write this post and share with you my experience of this product. In short, I hated it haha. But let’s go into more detail shall we?

Ooh pose for me baby, yeah!

I bought this Jane Carter Solution shampoo at the 2012 ‘Afro Hair and Beauty Show’ because I had heard so much about the brand. It was supposed to be an amazing product for naturals whether your hair type is kinky, curly or coily. I wanted to give it a fair chance, and following a previous blog post I thought I should give it three tries at least. Using my own rating system, this is how I scored this product. I’ll give each heading a score out of two so we get an overall rating out of ten. 0 being awful, 1 being ok and 2 being amazing! So here we go – lemme give ya the low down!

Ingredients: Aloe Barbadensis Gel, Purified Water (aqueous extracts of nettle, burdock and rosemary), Sodium Methyl Sulfolaurate, Disodium Sulfolaurate, Sodium Sulfoacetate, Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate, Sodium Lauroyl, Sarcosinate, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Cocoamidopropyl Betaine, Disodium Lauroamphodiacetate, Glycol Stearate, Sodium PCA, Polyquaternium-7, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, PG-Propyl Silanetriol, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Extract Fragrance, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Citric Acid

Consistency – The consistency is actually quite nice. It’s thicker than most shampoos and because of this I really hoped it would clean my hair without the overly clean feeling. We’ll discuss that ‘squeaky clean’ feel in a moment but it is creamier than most shampoos. There’s not much I can use to describe the consistency but until you see the product, this is the best I can do! Sorry :S I give this a one out of two.

Scent – Okay, this is completely down to a matter of opinion but I really hated the smell! It’s extremely minty and overpowering - the type of scent that would be lovely to clean a bathroom but other than that, doesn’t quite work. So yeah, not so great when the wind goes through your scalp but it does wash out. It just leaves a milder version of a not-so-nice smell. I give this a zero out of two. 

Moisturisationess – OMG. I was proper disappointed when I used this! My afro felt so dry afterwards. I could literally hear the crumpling noise when I put my fingers through my hair lol! This is where I get into the ‘SLS-free’ notion.  The product claims to have no sulphates but after further inspection contains a fair few. They are milder sulphates which aren’t supposed to damage or dry out natural hair, but I’ll let my hair do the talking - literally in this case. :/ I give this a zero out of two. Without a doubt! 

Slip – I don’t think slip is really worth mentioning with a shampoo product so in this case I won’t make a comment. Instead I’ll talk about…

Packaging - I think the packaging of the shampoo was quite nice. It’s a simple squeezy bottle that is easy to use and gives you the right amount of product. I like that the bottle is clear around the label so you can really see the consistency of the shampoo which was an important factor when I decided to try the product.  I give this two out of two.

Price – This is an American product so would generally be much more expensive, but it was £5 as I bought this at the hair show. The cheapest online price is on Amazon.co.uk which is £8.59 + £2.25 P+P!  It’s a 237ml bottle of shampoo, and you do only need a small amount to get a lather but tbh, any product I don’t like will never be worth the price I paid for it, even if it was a few pennies. Realistically, £5 is okay considering that there are others that are extremely expensive (Miss Jessie’s - which isn’t so great!). But for the online price, I give it a zero out of two. 

So overall, I wasn’t very fond of the product, and have given it:

Sometimes I find that when you look at the models on the packaging, you can usually (emphasis on SOMETIMES and USUALLY guys) find out whether it works for you. Jane Carter products would most probably have been made for someone with a similar hair type to hers which seems to be a 3a/3b curl pattern. 

You do have to route around sometimes in order to find what works for you as no two naturals are the same. It’s bloody tiring though and isn’t really helping my pocket too much! But alas, I do it for you guys, and I shall continue to review the products I come across as often as poss. 

BTW, contrary to what Mariama said, I’m not lazy (grr) I’m a student midwife and it’s difficult to find the time for these blog posts. But I swear they’ll be coming thick and fast if I don’t collapse from exhaustion! Until next time y’all.

Zee xx