When it comes to maintaining braids, locs, and twists, it's essential to have a product that provides exceptional hold and promotes hair health. African Pride Black Castor Miracle Extra Hold Braid, Loc, Twist Gel aims to do just that. Enriched with black castor and coconut oil, this gel has become a staple in many hair care routines.
Key Features and Benefits
Exceptional Hold
The most notable feature of this gel is its exceptional hold. It keeps braids, locs, and twists in place throughout the day, eliminating the need for frequent touch-ups.
Frizz-Fighting Superhero
African Pride's Black Castor Miracle Gel is a frizz-fighting superhero. It effortlessly tames flyaways and frizz, leaving styles looking sleek and polished. What truly sets it apart is its ability to control edges.
Nourishing Ingredients
What is most appreciated about this gel is its focus on hair health. The inclusion of black castor oil and coconut oil provides nourishment, promoting growth and preventing dryness. African Pride's commitment to quality is evident in the absence of harmful additives like parabens, sulfates, mineral oil, or petrolatum.
Versatile Use
Whether creating intricate braid styles, maintaining locs, or styling simple twists, this gel adapts seamlessly. It has a smooth consistency that makes application easy and evenly distributes through the hair.
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Ingredients Breakdown
Let's take a closer look at some of the key ingredients in African Pride Black Castor Miracle Extra Hold Braid, Loc, & Twist Gel:
- Water (Aqua): The most common skincare ingredient. The water used in cosmetics is purified and deionized, meaning almost all mineral ions are removed.
- PVP: These three letters stand for Poly Vinyl Pyrollidone, a big molecule created from repeated units of Vinyl Pyrrolidone, aka VP. Its main thing is being an important film former. It was the first synthetic polymer introduced as a hair fixative in the 1950s instead of insect-derived Shellac. So PVP likes to attach itself to surfaces such as the hair and the skin and forms a nice, thin, even film there. The film is useful for holding a hairstyle or extending the wear of color cosmetics and sunscreens. The disadvantage of PVP is that the film is a bit brittle and that PVP loves water (hygroscopic) that tends to destroy the film. This is the reason why hair styled with a PVP based product loses its style in high humidity. To fix this problem, there are now several versions of VP containing film formers that are less sensitive to humidity, for example, the molecule called VP/VA Copolymer.
- Glycerin: A clear, light yellow water-loving oil that comes from coconut/palm kernel oil and glycerin.
- Corn Glycerides: A pale yellow, corn-derived liquid that works as a humectant ingredient helping the skin to cling onto water. This ingredient name is not according to the INCI-standard. :( What, why?!
- Fragrance (Parfum): Nice smelling stuff put into cosmetic products so that the end product also smells nice. If you are someone who likes to know what you put on your face then fragrance is not your best friend - there's no way to know what’s really in it. Also, if your skin is sensitive, fragrance is again not your best friend. It’s the number one cause of contact allergy to cosmetics. It’s definitely a smart thing to avoid with sensitive skin (and fragrance of any type - natural is just as allergic as synthetic, if not worse!).
- Ethylhexylglycerin: If you have spotted ethylhexylglycerin on the ingredient list, most probably you will see there also the current IT-preservative, phenoxyethanol.
- Linalool: Linalool is a super common fragrance ingredient. It’s kind of everywhere - both in plants and in cosmetic products. The problem with linalool is, that just like limonene it oxidises on air exposure and becomes allergenic. That’s why a product containing linalool that has been opened for several months is more likely to be allergenic than a fresh one.
- Hexyl Cinnamal: A common fragrance ingredient that smells like jasmine. It is one of the “EU 26 fragrances” that has to be labelled separately because of allergen potential.
- Benzyl Salicylate: It’s a common fragrance ingredient that has a light floral smell. It’s one of the “EU 26 fragrances” that has to be labelled separately (and cannot be simply included in the term “fragrance/perfume” on the label) because of allergen potential.
- Coconut Oil: There is definitely some craze going on for coconut oil both in the healthy eating space (often claimed to be the healthiest oil to cook with but this is a topic for another site) and in the skin and hair care space. We will talk here about the latter two and see why we might want to smear it all over ourselves. Chemically speaking, coconut oil has a unique fatty acid profile. Unlike many plant oils that mostly contain unsaturated fatty acids (fatty acids with double bonds and kinky structure such as linoleic or oleic), coconut oil is mostly saturated (fatty acids with single bonds only) and its most important fatty acid is Lauric Acid (about 50%). Saturated fatty acids have a linear structure that can stack nice and tight and hence they are normally solid at room temperature. Coconut oil melts around 25 °C so it is solid in the tub but melts on contact with the skin. The saturated nature of coconut oil also means that it is a heavy-duty-oil ideal for dry skin types. A double-blind research confirmed that extra virgin coconut oil is as effective in treating xerosis (aka very dry skin) as mineral oil. Another study found that coconut oil is more effective than mineral oil in treating mild to moderate atopic dermatitis (aka eczema) in children.So when it comes to dry skin, coconut oil is a goodie, no question there. The question is if it is good or bad for acne-prone skin. Its main fatty acid, Lauric Acid has some research showing that it is a promising ingredient against evil acne-causing bacteria, P. acnes but at the same time, both Lauric Acid and coconut oil have a very high comedogenic rating (4 out of 5). Though comedogenic ratings are not very reliable, anecdotal evidence (i.e. people commenting in forums) shows that people have mixed experiences. While some claim that it worked wonders on their acne others say that it gave them serious blackheads and zits. Try it at your own risk. As for hair care, coconut oil has pretty solid research showing that it can penetrate into the hair very well (better than mineral oil and sunflower oil) and it can prevent hair protein loss as well as combing damage. If you have problems with damaged hair, split ends, coconut oil is worth trying as a pre- or/and post-wash treatment. Labmuffin has an awesome blogpost explaining in more detail why coconut oil is good for your hair.A couple of other things worth mentioning: coconut oil might help with wound healing (promising animal study), it has some antifungal activity (against dermatophytes that cause the thing known as ringworm) and it also works as an insect repellent against black flies. Overall, coconut oil is definitely a goodie for the hair and dry skin. If that warrants for the magic oil status it enjoys, we don't know.
- Phenoxyethanol: It’s pretty much the current IT-preservative. It’s safe and gentle, but even more importantly, it’s not a feared-by-everyone-mostly-without-scientific-reason paraben.It’s not something new: it was introduced around 1950 and today it can be used up to 1% worldwide. It can be found in nature - in green tea - but the version used in cosmetics is synthetic. Other than having a good safety profile and being quite gentle to the skin it has some other advantages too. It can be used in many types of formulations as it has great thermal stability (can be heated up to 85°C) and works on a wide range of pH levels (ph 3-10). It’s often used together with ethylhexylglycerin as it nicely improves the preservative activity of phenoxyethanol.
- Limonene: A super common and cheap fragrance ingredient. It's in many plants, e.g. rosemary, eucalyptus, lavender, lemongrass, peppermint and it's the main component (about 50-90%) of the peel oil of citrus fruits.It does smell nice but the problem is that it oxidizes on air exposure and the resulting stuff is not good for the skin. Oxidized limonene can cause allergic contact dermatitis and counts as a frequent skin sensitizer. Limonene's nr1 function is definitely being a fragrance component, but there are several studies showing that it's also a penetration enhancer, mainly for oil-loving components.All in all, limonene has some pros and cons, but - especially if your skin is sensitive - the cons probably outweigh the pros.
- Coumarin: A common fragrance ingredient that has a sweet, vanilla, nutty scent. When diluted it smells like freshly-mown hay.It’s one of the “EU 26 fragrances” that has to be labelled separately (and cannot be simply included in the term “fragrance/perfume” on the label) because of allergen potential.
- CI 19140 (Tartrazine): Ci 19140 or Tartrazine is a super common colorant in skincare, makeup, medicine & food. FDA says it's possible, but rare, to have an allergic-type reaction to a color additive.
- CI 42090 (Blue 1): CI 42090 or Blue 1 is a super common synthetic colorant in beauty & food.
How to Use
For best results, use on damp or dry hair. Apply a small amount of gel to hair roots or hairline. Braid, twist, and style as desired.
About the Brand
African Pride Black Castor Miracle products are designed to maintain & detangle natural hair while moisturizing, hydrating, & combating frizz. The ingredients within African Pride products are free of harmful components, including parabens, mineral oil, sulfates, & petrolatum.
Final Thoughts
African Pride Black Castor Miracle Extra Hold Braid, Loc, Twist Gel has undoubtedly earned its place as a staple in many hair care arsenals. Its exceptional hold, frizz-fighting prowess, and edge control capabilities are unparalleled. The inclusion of nourishing ingredients and the absence of harmful additives demonstrate a commitment to both style and hair health.
If you're seeking a gel that not only keeps your styles in place but also promotes the vitality of your hair, I wholeheartedly recommend giving this product a try.
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