A few of months ago I wrote a beauty review of a Pure Shine’s Curl Lotion. Wonderful, Alleghany Pharmacal Corporation, sent me a giant box of their Pure Shine line and number of Hask products as well (Thank you Alleghany Pharmacal!). I vowed to test them all and write my honest review of the products on my naturally curly hair, in either its curly or flat ironed state. It took me a while (Hey, there were a lot in that box.) but, I finished and here are the results.
Pure Shine Frizz Remedy: The directions on most hair products say to use a coin sized amount, and Pure Shine’s Frizz Remedy is no different. However, as all curly haired girls now,
it takes a whole lot more than a coin sized amount to do anything with frizz. I used at least $1.25 worth (5 quarter sized dollops) of Frizz Remedy on my dry curly hair. Frankly, it did nothing. It did not smooth away any of my frizz nor did it add shine. I was very disappointed in this product.
Pure Shine Curls Mousse: I loved it! I loved it! I loved it! I used this on my wet hair after applying Pure Shine’s Curl Lotion for frizz, scrunched with a towel and added two handfuls of Curls Mousse if for hold. I finished by gently blow drying my hair with a diffuser. It added tons of volume and bounce and I did not have to use as much mousse as other brands usually more like 3 handfuls). My curls were nice and held together without being crunchy until about 4 p.m. It was a damp day outside and let’s face it; NO product can keep the frizz beast at bay on a rainy day. I was so super impressed with how long this product tamed my curls.
Hask Moroccan Oil Exotic Shine Treatment: I used a quarter sized amount on my wet hair and combed it through. I added a little extra to the ends
because I was due for a trim. It smelled great! Once my hair was dry, it added nice shine but, no frizz control. I used this again on my dry hair before putting in hot rollers. After using that much heat, my ends usually look fried and crispy and this kept my ends smooth, moisturized and soft. I’ve used the Moroccan Oil a number of times on my ends after flat ironing. With this product a little really does go a long way. The only drawback is that it tended to curl my ends after they were straightened. Every curly girl who flat irons will tell you, stay away from any product after straightening or the moisture from the product will put waives or curls back in to your hair. If you want that super straight look you have to go over them again with the iron after product. Overall, it does a really nice job at keeping my hair protected and healthy looking.
Pure Shine Polishing Serum: Initially, I used it on my shampooed wet hair. I combed it through and then pulled my hair back into a bun. I can not say that I saw an extraordinary amount of extra shine on my hair that day. Next, the true test of a frizz/shine product is when a curly girl’s hair is dry; I used roughly $1.25 worth and it added some frizz control and shine to my hair. It lasted until 1:00 p.m., then “the poof” reared its ugly head. I would have had to reapply the Polishing Serum at that point to continue the look for the remainder of the day. It is very difficult to find a frizz/shine product that will last you morning till night.
Pure Shine Suddenly Straight: My first impression was the consistency, it was much thinner than I expected. It had a really nice subtle fragrance and
I only need 2 pumps to coat my whole head of hair. I let my hair air dry and I flat ironed it stick straight. After three days my hair was surprisingly still very straight. Suddenly Straight held the straightness longer and better than other products and it also kept my frizz factor very low. There was only one piece missing, the shine. There was no extra shine apparent; my hair still seemed the same in that regard.
Hask Natural Essentials Leave-in Instant Conditioning Treatment: Be careful when using this product because it looks creamy in the bottle but it is very thin and watery. Please be advised, to keep your head over the sink when you apply it. Four vials of the treatment come in the box (It is so awesome that you get so many!) and I used one entire vial for my long hair for this test. I combed it through my wet shampooed hair and styled it curly after. I liked the idea of the leave-in conditioner soothing my hair after so much abuse and blow drying. But once I was done styling, I felt that it weighed-down my curls.
Pure Shine Spray-it Curly: In my opinion, the box doesn’t say this but, this product is intended for people with wavy or straight hair that want to add curly 
or waves for the day. It reminded me of L’Oreal’s Springing Curls spray (which I no longer think is on the market). Since I already have curly hair, I decided to experiment and use it as a revitalizer. What does that mean? Well, after two days my curls go limp and lifeless. My hope was that Spray-it Curly would bring life back to my mane midweek. It did. I really enjoyed the spring it put back into my curls that first day. However, after the second day of use, I could feel the heavy build-up of the product on my hair and it felt sticky to the touch. I think this is a great quick fix for when you don’t feel like doing your hair. Spray, scrunch, and go. I would love to have a wavy girl try this out and share the results. Hint hint.
Hask Natural Essentials Complete Conditioning Treatment: This treatment again, smelled really great. I combed it through my wet hair and let it sit for a fifteen minutes and rinsed it out. It was simple and easy. My hair felt clean and nourished, I liked that. Once I dried and styled my hair I was a little disappointed because my ends were still dry and crunchy. No hair mask in the world can cure split dry ends like a nice trim. So technically, that was not the Conditioning Treatment’s fault but I sure was hoping. The rest of my hair felt great, plus there was enough in the packet for a second treatment. They should however, put like a zip-lock top on the package so you can reclose it if you find you don’t use the whole packet.
Pure Shine Shine Luminator: I liked the fact that it was a spray instead of a serum. I found that when sprayed evenly over my dry hair both curly and 
straight it did indeed look shinier. Be cautious though, if you do not spray evenly and get too much in one spot it will look greasy. Another word of caution, just like any other shine product, if you flat iron your curly hair and spray this on, the moisture in the product will make it curl/wave-up again. Also if you use hair spray over the Shine Luminator it will dull it instantly. Out of all of the shine products Shine Luminator was my favorite and the trickiest to use.
Hask Macadamia Oil Hot Oil Treatment: This was the best mask/treatment of all of them. It was the quickest, at 5 minutes, and the most effective treatment. Hask uses the best fragrance I tell you, it is just so light and lovely and the Macadamia Oil Hot Oil Treatment was no different. It has been many years since I’ve tried a hot oil treatment and I’m mad I’ve forgotten about them for so long. This is my new go-to. My hair felt moisturized and nourished and it felt thicker and stronger. When I styled my hair it styled nicely and my curls seemed less dry. I loved it!
The last thing I want to mention about the Pure Shine and Hask lines (both produced by Alleghany Pharmacal Corporation) is that they are incredibly affordable and I found my first Pure Shine Curl Lotion at my local Rite Aide. I am a firm believer that you do not have to spend a lot of money to get great quality hair products. You just have to find the right ones for your hair. That unfortunately adds up to a lot of money in testing and tossing. I hope that this product review will help weed out and save you some money when shopping around for new hair products.
Look forward to more product reviews? Coming up on LadyBowTie:
1) Contributing writer Latashia from Earned Beauty , will review some of the same Pure Shine and Hask products. Why? Because on the back of each of their products it says that this product is for all hair ethnicities. My hair is Caucasian her hair is African American. Let us just see what happens when two different women with different hair ethnicities think of the same hair product.
3) Skyn Iceland
