hair product review: syd & mea’s finishing slick
i recently won a giveaway from the awesome and generous brokey mcpoverty. i received a jar of syd & mea’s finishing slick in the mail. it’s taken me longer than originally intended, but here is my review with pictures.
* let me preface this by saying that i do not in any way, shape or form have the same hair type as brokey, who also reviewed the slick and shared pictures. i’m definitely a kinky curly, with areas of 4a and 4b, and i’ve only been able to come up with one comparison for my hair’s texture since i big chopped last year: cotton candy. super light and fluffy when freshly washed (practically to the point of not being able to do anything with it as-is). and then when dry and allowed to sit around for awhile, transformed into a thick, tightly-wound mass of…stuff. don’t get me wrong. i love the crap out of my hair. going natural is one of the best decisions i’ve ever made. i’m just saying, mileage may vary is an understatement in this situation. brokey’s review showcased very well-defined curls by just applying the product on wet hair. my hair has .5% definite curl pattern when it’s wet. so, it takes a lot of manipulation for me to get defined curls. just a disclaimer. *
on to the review!
THE SLICK IS GREAT! natural hair products have so many feels to them: liquidy, gunky, sticky, thick, thin, oily. i think that the way a product feels in your hand is a good indication of how it’s going to feel in your hair. the slick is some of the best-feeling stuff i’ve used and i’m pretty sure my hair thinks so, too. the consistency is medium-thick, with a very slight granular quality, i’m guessing because of the avocado butter and beeswax in it. which leads me to my next point: the stuff smells AMAZING. the maker (and brokey) have touted it also as a skin moisturizer, and especially good for eczema, which i have. my eczema doesn’t flare up til winter, so right now i’m hoarding most of the product for my hair :) but i have used some to moisturize my hands and it’s lovely. a tiny amount goes a long way, and when applied while the hair is wet and combed through, it leaves mine extremely coated, feeling silky smooth and ready for styling. here’s my general routine:
my hair pre-wash. just pretend it’s yelling clean me! in this shot, because it was.
no shots of my washing process, but i keep things pretty simple. i co-washed this time around, using aubrey organics honeysuckle rose moisturizing conditioner, and did my detangling in the shower. one of these days i’m going to hype myself up enough to try sectioning and detangling before getting in the shower and then washing in sections, but right now i can’t be bothered. so many people claim it’s quick and fast, but it seems like it would take longer to me, and waste more water while i’m retwisting each section. maybe i’m wrong? who knows. one day i’ll find out. gotta get my twisting speed up first. after washing, i applied a leave-in, johnson’s no more tangles (i know this is primarily for kids, but i do most of my product experimentation these days with leave-ins and this happened to be the one i chose for this washing). but not much, since i knew from brokey’s review that the slick could really be used as both leave-in and styler. so i didn’t want to weigh my hair down too much with product.
hair post-wash.
the tight, tiny curls and lack of definition i was talking about. this is my naked, unaltered hair. i love it dearly and its the makings of a gorgeous picked-out fro, but it’s not my style of choice for the every day. so, gotta do some styling. my current weapon of choice is 2-strand twists. they’re simple and don’t require any extra money.
i part a section, clip the rest of my hair out of the way, spritz with a water / rose water glycerin / aloe vera juice mix if neccessary (my hair responded best to the slick when dripping wet), apply a quarter-sized amount of slick to the section from root to tip, and brush through using a denman d14. at this point, my hair morphs into wavy, defined curls. it never ceases to amaze me. i should’ve taken a pic of the transformation (damnit). but instead, here’s a finished twist!
it takes about 12-20 medium-sized twists to cover my head. i vary the size depending on how lazy i’m feeling how big/small i want the finished curls. sometimes i’ll oil my scalp at this point, but i found that with the slick, i didn’t need to. my hair was ridiculously moisturized.
it takes forever for my hair to fully dry. and of course, for any curls, hair should be fully dry to get the best results. so, i leave my hair twisted for at least 24 hours. at least. it usually takes so long for my hair though, that i’ll leave it for 2-3 days. during these periods, i pin my hair up and slap a headband or scarf on. my pin-up inspiration comes from this video done by the also awesome andrea pippins of fly (love her!).
it’s an easy way to kill 2 birds with one stone and rock yet another style. if you’re in a rush, you can use a hair dryer to zap the rest of the dampness.
to un-twist, i apply an oil (jojoba, tea tree, olive, etc.) to my fingertips and divide from the root. i know people have different methods for this, but i get the best results just by finding the space between the 2 part sections with my finger and pulling gently. the oil helps expedite this and gives my sections added moisture.
un-twisted sections.
i then divide most (not all) of the sections into 2 more sections and fluff the curls into a style that shapes well to my head and face. my curls are pretty stubborn, so this takes awhile. sometimes i’ll take a break and go do something else to prep for the day, let them settle, then go back and finish fluffing. you dont want to do too much tugging and primping, as it could quickly make all your hard work disappear, depending on your hair type.
the finished product.
and that’s about it! all in all, i definitely recommend trying the slick and i will be buying more when i run out. it will leave your hair moisturized for days, smells great, and feels great. i’ve used my small jar on 3 twistouts so far, and still have a little left. of course, i have just past twa-length hair, so it might not last as long for those with more hair.
let me know what your results are if you give it a try, and my ask box is open if anyone has any questions!
