Product Name: Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Curl Scrunching Gel (Aka Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Gel).
Introduction
Among the famous drugstore brands, you can find Herbal Essences. Although this brand is not very famous among the curly community, you can find a variety of curly girl approved products.
Today, we’ll take a detailed look at one of their products, the Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Gel, and I’ll bring my experience with this product. I will also take on an in-deep look at their ingredients and what I recommend based on them.
Product Overview
*The ingredients are described and further discussed in the Ingredients Review section bellow. Also, to know whether or not the product is CGM approved, I’m using the webpage, Is It CG? (isitcg.com)
This product is rich in sealing ingredients. Having too much sealing ingredients in a product means that they will seal moisture out of the hair, and potentially, dry your hair out. Also, this product contains one substance that is a formaldehyde donor, which we will discuss later on.
Because this product has too many sealing ingredients, this product is excellent for when humidity is either too high or too low. It keeps all the moisture out of or in the hair.
In other words:
- If your hair gets moisture overload with ease, this might be for you.
- However, if your hair has difficulty absorbing water (coarse hair), this is NOT for you.
- If you have thin or loose curls, this might be for you.
Ingredients Review
*This ingredients list comes from the list of ingredients labeled in the product I used. Also, I get a detailed description of the substances labeled from cosmeticsinfo.org and truthinaging.com.
Besides having a water-soluble silicone such as Peg-12 Dimethicone, it also contains two other sealants (PVP and VP/Dimethylaminoethylmethacrylate Copolymer). The last two ingredients mentioned will inhibit the hair’s ability to absorb moisture. Because of this, the combination of these ingredients could potentially leave your hair dry and stringy.
On the other side, we have ingredients that help to keep with the consistency of the formulation and to help ingredients mix well, such as Laureth-23 and Carbomer.
Also, we have an abnormal amount of preservatives, such as Methylparaben, DMDM Hydantoin, Propylparaben, and Disodium EDTA. Preservatives help to prolong the shelve life of a product. Most products have preservatives, and most preservatives are not damaging to the body. However, among the preservatives mentioned above, I am very concerned with DMDM Hydantoin as it is a formaldehyde donor.
A formaldehyde donor will slowly release formaldehyde to the product, and that is precisely my concern. The EPA has classified formaldehyde as a “probable human carcinogen.” I would advise you to do your due diligence, research more about this, and make a decision upon your research.
Lastly, you will find fragrance, which, as usual, has undisclosed ingredients. I recommend you to do an allergy test before using the product, so you know whether or not this product could give you an allergic reaction.
Personal Experience & Thoughts
When I used this product, I was doing a silicone challenge on Instagram (#curlsncones30), along with another five beautiful ladies. We wanted to know what effects silicones had in our hairs and if the CGM wrongly demonized this ingredient.
The first time I used the Herbal Essences Twist Gel, my hair felt very dry, and it felt as I had a protein overload despite this product having none. In the beginning, I was using another new product, and I didn’t believe that the gel was the culprit. I thought that the leave-in was too light for my hair. However, I was wrong.
I bought another leave-in, and my hair was still feeling dry. I combined both leave-ins, and I was still experiencing a bit of dryness. Later I decided to do not use the gel, so I could see how my hair felt, and it certainly felt very hydrated and moisturized.
Since I was getting such great results without the gel, I didn’t use it for the rest of the challenge. If I’m honest, I completely forgot about the gel, and after the challenge ended, I decided to give it a try. Well, as you might have guessed, this product made my hair dry again.
After that, I began to research the ingredients, and with the help of the lovely Shi (@shicurls), I found out that it had several sealing chemicals. If you add to the equation that my hair is coarse and that it has difficulty to absorb moisture, this product is just a nightmare for my hair.
I would not recommend this for coarse hair or hairs that don’t absorb moisture with ease, as this could be very drying. However, if your hair gets moisture overload with ease, you could give it a try.
**Disclaimer** I have no affiliation, sponsorship, or relationship with the brand mentioned above or any brands related to the brand mentioned above. Nor have I been paid by anyone in exchange for this review. I do this because it will be of great satisfaction to me to know that I’m helping other curlies out there. Finding a useful product can be difficult, this is why I’m trying to break down this info the best I can. Also, I am not a professional or scientist, that’s why I try to research this info from professionals who know what they are talking about.
I hope you enjoy the rest of your day! Also, if you want to keep in touch with me, and see more great content like this, make sure to subscribe to my Email List and follow me on Instagram.
xoxo,
