Before my Hair Education Mixer at Carol’s Daughter in August, I was gifted with a set of products from the Carol’s Daughter Monoi Hair Repair Collection. I used them to achieve the twistout that I wore the day of the event, but I wanted to give the products a go for at least 2 months before reporting back on their ability to deliver on their promise of reducing breakage by 98%.
Collection Description
1 USE, STOP NO.1 CAUSE OF BREAKAGE. 13X LONGER HAIR LIFE. 96% LESS BREAKAGE. 92% STRONGER HAIR.
Monoi Oil—a repairing Tahitian blend of Tiare Gardenia, Coprah Coconut Oil and Coconut Water—is a nutrient-rich blend of vitamins and minerals.
The Monoi Repairing, Sulfate-Free Shampoo helps detangle damaged hair that’s prone to tangling while it adds strength back into fryed, fragile strands. 8.5 fl oz
The Monoi Repairing Conditioner goes straight to work, healing hair to leave it stronger than before so you’ll notice fewer snaps and breaks, plus hair that’s softer and full of shine. 8.5 fl oz
The Monoi Repairing Anti-Breakage Spray has double the fortifying power, and it instantly ends shedding, eases detangling, and protects hair around-the-clock. 5.0 oz
The Monoi Oil Sacred Strengthening Serum is a lightweight, silicone-free, miracle oil that reverses and prevents damage to even the most distressed hair caused by heat-styling, color-treating and chemical straightening. 1.7 fl oz
PLUS, No Parabens, No Petroleum, No Mineral Oil, No Artificial Colors.
Monoi Repairing Sulfate-Free Shampoo
CD: A Coconut-derived, sulfate-free cleanser that is gentle enough for the most fragile and distressed hair that detangles and leaves hair stronger and healthier, instantly. Perfect for any hair type that is damaged from hair color, heat styling and chemically-straightening.
KK: Thick, creamy consistency that suds up a bit in your hair but not excessively. For more sudsing power, squeeze into hands and lather before adding to hair. Has light fragrance, and spreads well. I needed about the size of three quarters, which I applied to my scalp of my sectioned, braided up hair.
Monoi Repairing Conditioner
CD: An intense repairing conditioner that revives damaged, lifeless hair and ends breakage, instantly. Perfect for any hair type that is damaged from hair color, heat styling and chemically-straightening.
KK: Has a medium thickness and slip but coats strands well. Used a dime sized amount on each section (for a total of 8 sections), which provided enough slip to lightly finger detangle.
Monoi Repairing Anti-Breakage Spray
CD: This leave-in conditioner has double the fortifying power. When shaken, it creates the perfect balance that ends shedding, eases detangling, and protects hair around-the-clock.
KK: Looks and feels like it’s got more than just water in it. Definitely needs to be shaken, as the particles/oils separate from one another upon settling. The spray power is more of a mist, which I like.
Monoi Oil Sacred Strengthening Serum
CD: This lightweight, silicone-free, miracle oil reverses and prevents damage to even the most distressed hair caused by heat-styling, color-treating and chemical straightening.
KK: This oil/serum is light scented, with a medium consistency that lies between olive/jojoba oil and castor oil. It is not greasy and ends up on your hair instead of your hands. I used 3-4 pumps per section when first moisturizing, 1 pump per section while rebraiding, or 6-8 pumps throughout my loose dry hair.
What it Does
The Carol’s Daughter Monoi Hair Repair Collection definitely does what it promises to do, reduce breakage. I had considerably less hair on the floor after detangling. Now, was it 98% reduction, I don’t know! I didn’t do a before and after weight comparison of my shed/broken hair (which would be gross), but the reduction was noticeable. I should also say that I began finger detangling (more on that in another post) the same time I started using the Monoi Collection, so the products combined with the practice have decreased It also smells HEAVENLY… literally. Below is all the hair that I lost from start to finish, including finger detangling, washing, and moisturizing. And by all I mean all, no hair were being strewn all across the floor!
What it Doesn’t Do
Using these products alone isn’t going to give you a sleek, well defined mane. At least for my hair, I had to use the Healthy Hair butter for twists to add some kind of definition. Because I’m so used to sealing with shea butter, I had to adjust to having only a serum on my hair when remoisturizing, but it worked just fine during the summer months. For wintertime use, my strands need a heavier product on top of the serum. The fact that it doesn’t create hold isn’t a fault against the collection, as it is meant for repairing and moisturizing and not for styling.
Final Thoughts
The ultimate test of a product is whether I would buy it with my own hard earned mulah. None of these beat out the Healthy Hair Butter as my favorite Carol’s Daughter product, but they definitely were a great addition to my regimen, especially after getting hair color. The shampoo and conditioner worked incredibly well together, but if you need to get just one thing, I would recommend the Serum or Anti-Breakage spray. I also recently got the Repairing Hair Mask from the collection and after using just once I love it and would recommend it as a great fortifying and moisturizing deep conditioner.
My hair has been experienced breakage for about the last 12 years consistently. I have tried many products over the years to try to create the best protein/moisture balance and where some things have lessened the breakage, nothing has worked totally. In the last couple of days I’ve been using this collection and I cannot believe that my hair has almost stopped all of its normal shedding. So, I’m on day 3 today and I maybe lost like 6 hairs today where normally that would’ve been hair breaking off every time I touch it. God forbid I try to twist it or do heavy duty manipulation. So in short, I’m saying the collection is a winner for me. The only thing is it is true with what an earlier commenter said about it not having any styling ability but, I really don’t care with the breakage stopping. I’ll experiment with using another “styler” product to see if I can get more texture. Hope this helps someone else.
Thanks for sharing your experience Esperanza!
I love the Monoi collection, I tried it first to save my hair from the damaging drying effects of Wen and my hair came back to life! It is as if 30yrs of wear and aging vanished! And unlike with Wen I have not experienced any rashes. I have tried several of the Carols daughters products and I love them all!!!
I haven’t tried the monoi collection yet but I plan to after seeing this post! I love CD products
Noir-creme.blogspot.com
Ahh! I love the Monoi collection! I have the shampoo, conditioner and repairing mask. They work so well together but I’m on that “need to save money for school” budget so buying the whole collection again is not an option. I definitely have to try the spray.