Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I was really VERY skeptical of this because I have been having the worst experiences with the last few hair products I've ordered but, if I could, I'd give this 20 stars. I am now hooked. I have extremely, nappy, kinky, DRY hair that I opt to wear in a natural (non-relaxed) style. In trying to moisturize and soften my hair, I had been concentrating on style sprays, oils, curl custards, curl "quenchers" and every kind of conditioner. Out of probably 20 products, I found a maybe 4 that worked under certain conditions (depending on how I applied, used, re-applied, or added something with the main product). In the 1 or 2 cases where a product worked as advertised, the price was too much for regular ongoing use. This is the very first of so many products that has solved my most major hair concerns: stripping and drying. When I used the bar the first time, my hair was softest while still damp. I purposely did not use a conditioner & once my hair dried out, it still wasn't as "crunchy" as before. In many online reviews, I had read that this works better with every use. I washed my hair with it again this morning. Since I usually only co-wash ("washing" with a conditioner) my hair every other week (or once a week if I'm worried about sweat, etc.), this much washing with a shampoo is kind of a real test with a shampoo to see if it is nourishing my hair or stripping it. I was so happy and relieved when my hair felt so good - even after it dried. It's true about not needing to use a conditioner. Not only was my hair softer than ever, but I didn't have to use a ton of products to retain the softness. This is much better than using leave-in sprays and oils because I don't have to worry about the oil residue and buildup. When I say that my hair is 'soft', I don't just mean it feels that way, but that it feels like it's being healed. One of the reasons that I was trying so many products to relieve the dryness is because of the damage I was doing. With my hair being so dried out (and its being naturally very kinky/curly), I was losing a lot just from the dryness, then losing more whenever I tried to comb/detangle or style it. Even worse, I wasn't retaining any growth because of all that. I still do need to apply some leave-in spray conditioner, but my hair is so much improved after just 2 washes that I might not even have to use the leave-ins after a few more uses. It's so true that my shampoos were stripping my hair. I can tell a huge difference in this shampoo. I'm yet to try the "Original Formula" that I also bought, but I can say that using the "Moisturizing" version alone makes my hair feel better than it ever did with a co-wash or with any of the other so-called 'non-stripping' shampoos. I'm going to be taking photos for the next few weeks just to track the improvement in the appearance of my hair. This stuff is amazing. If you have 4B/4C hair. I rarely recommend hair stuff this strongly, but I would be very surprised if someone with severely dry and damaged African-American type hair ended up disappointed with this. I don't know how it would do on straighter/finer or more Caucasian type hair because of the retention of natural oils. It might be good as a off-and-on type treatment though. I can't say yet how the "Original" is, but I sure can't wait to try it now. (By the way, I plan to alternate this one with the "Original" once I feel my hair is back in good balance.) I could go on and on about this shampoo bar! I also used it on my face and loved it. Usually, I clean my face only with oils but, every now and then, I do a soap wash just to maintain blackheads. I tested this on my face and it was super gentle. It didn't leave me with the tight, dried out feeling of regular cleansers. I think it's going to be a really good body wash. Barring something drastic, I will be using this shampoo bar permanently.