Shea Moisture Gel Souffle: Review

In my September favorites post, I talked on and on about how wonderful the Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Restorative Conditioner is.  It really is that amazing.  So I figured I'd try out some products from the rest of their line, especially the curly girl ones.  Each of their lines has a different smell, but judging from the conditioner, I figured I'd like it.  To be honest, I may have set the bar a little high, but hey a girl can dream can't she?

Now, I haven't gotten around to using the Curl & Style Milk pictured with the Gel Souffle as I was finishing up my Neuma Smoothing Creme which I picked up when I got my hair trimmed at an EXCELLENT salon and spa here in Philly.  I will do a full post on them soon.  The Neuma stuff was really good and did wonderful things for my hair, but it costs $22 and while I realize the bottle lasted me a full two months, I am always on the lookout for natural products that are curly girl approved and don't break my budget.  I will be sure to give the Curl & Style Milk a review when I have used it a bit. 

The one thing I did notice about both products is that they have an intensely sweet smell (Coconut & Hibiscus).  Cloyingly sweet.  The gel more so than the milk and enough to make me gag.  From what I have read this doesn't stick around for long after styling thankfully.  I certainly don't like the smell of my DevaCurl Ultra Defining Gel, but this stuff made it seem like my regular gel was the best smelling product around. 

Getting past the scent, I noticed upon opening the "gel" that it was really more of a liquid.  In fact, unless I got a bad batch, it's not even close to gel like.  Maybe it should be stored in the fridge, but that isn't really all that convenient to me, nor do I want to put cold gel in my hair in the morning as the weather is swiftly getting chillier. 

(One tub of liquid sugar coming right up!)

But, I figured I'd try it out anyway, who knows, I might love it.  Not really.  First of all, trying to scoop out this liquid goop was incredibly messy.  Due to that fact that it is not actually a gel, it just runs through your fingers like water, so the tub just seemed like the wrong container to have it in. 

But, more importantly, it gave me what I can only describe as greasy hair.  I find this amazing as my hair can soak in Argan and other oils and not have this problem.  My locks are always looking for more moisture.  This stuff seemed like it sat on the surface and never absorbed.  I didn't use much since the tub's instructions say to use sparingly, and yet I still ended up looking like a grease ball. 

Not only that, but it left a residue on my finger that was nearly impossible to remove.  Here is a picture of my fingers after I have put it in my hair:

As you can see they are still shiny with product.  You literally have to wash your hands to get rid of it.  Wiping it on a terry cloth towel did nothing for me. 

Like I said, maybe I got a bad batch, but in my honest opinion, this stuff stinks (quite literally) and you can focus your dollar on a better product.  I plan to return this and get the Curl Enhancing Smoothie which is a thicker version of the Styling Milk. 

Did you have the same problem with this product?  Let me know in the comments below.  As always you can hit me up on Twitter and Facebook as well!

XO - Bekah