So I finally got around to using the Dark and Lovely Au Naturale range after receiving it at the launch event 3 weeks ago. I decided to use the whole range for this wash day because I wanted to get a wholesome and solid impression of the range. I usually read on the blogs where other bloggers encourage using a whole line of products because they are meant to complement each other; so that’s what I did.

So I will go through my wash day, let you guys know how I used the product and then give my thoughts; you can find  a breakdown of the product range in this post. This will be a first impressions post, it’s not a review because I’ve only used the products once.

So this will be like the wash day posts which I used to write weekly in 2015 – so for ol’ times sake, let’s go!

Prepoo 
I used coconut oil (like I always do) for 6 hours – totally unintentional. I usually prepoo for 20 minutes with heat

Shampoo
I used the shampoo from the range. It does contain sodium laureth sulphate as a 3rd ingredient – so definitely not for you if you are not about the sulphates life. I found that that the shampoo lathered up nicely, and a little goes a long way. I found that it didn’t strip my hair at all.

Instant conditioning
I used the Knot-Out conditioner to instant condition my hair and detangle. Unfortunately, the product did not give me the slip that I am used to with other products that I use. It did though give good curl definition – my hair clumped up nicely and my curls were popping. This for me is an indication of my hair being moisturised to the core.

Hair saturated in knot out conditioner

After rinsing out the conditioner

Deep Conditioning
This range does not have a deep conditioner, so I used the Dark and Lovely Amla Legend Rejuvenating Ritual Replenishing Hair Mask ( I wrote out the product name without having to check it, that’s how much this product is bae to me). This is one of my staple DCs and I thought it would fit in nicely with the Au Naturale range.

Leave-In
I used the Plating Cream Pudding as a leave-in before I plaited my hair into braids and left it to dry. I think I used more product than I should’ve because my hair took forever to dry! The actual product left my hair feeling soft. My curls were still defined at the point, so awesome!

Styling
I decided to thread my hair this wash day in prep for my weekly hairstyle. So I went ahead and undid the braids and applied the Afro Moisturizing Butter (sparingly this time), sealed with whipped shea butter and then proceeded to thread my hair. The product is creamy and does provide that extra moisture to the hair, it does a similar job to my beloved Design Essential Curl Stretching Cream. After taking out my hair, it was soft and quite easy to manipulate to tie into 2 and rock my Mickey Mouse style.

Overall thoughts
The shampoo was OK, it worked as well as my other shampoos that I have used. Even though it has sodium laureth sulphate, it didn’t leave my hair feeling stripped. I will not be using it every week though – because I prefer non-sulphate shampoos for my weekly washes.
The Knot-Out Conditioner did not knock my socks off at all, I expect more slip from my detangling products. The detangling step is where I do the most manipulation to my hair during my wash day, so I want to use a product with great slip to give my hair that protection.
The Plaiting Cream Pudding – I don’t think I can judge it fairly as yet because I used way too much so it left my hair feeling sticky – totally my fault. The good thing was that even though I used a lot of product, there was no residue left after my hair had dried.
Yes to the Afro Moisturizing Butter, I love using thick creams to give my hair that added moisture. This product did not wear my hair down after it had dried.

One thing I noticed when using the products was the curl definition that my hair had throughout – dare I say that I want to try using them again, this time for a wash and go and see what happens. I’ll keep you updated 🙂