Way back in the day, Miss Jessie’s Curly Pudding was one of the first products I tried when I started growing out my fro. It’s promises elongated and defined coils for natural curls and fros so I thought it would be a good fit. Ultimately, I loved the look of my hair when I used it but felt it did nothing for the health or feel of my hair. I recently began using it again to see if my opinion changed and I thought I’d share my experience with all of you. Enjoy!
Consistency: This was one of the first puddings I used after I started growing my hair out, so I have to thank Miss Jessie’s for at least giving me that direction. Whereas gels gave me clumped curls, my hair sopped up way too much product leaving my hair crunchy and full of gunk even on day one. This styling pudding is thick and has plenty of body to it, just like my hair. Ever since I first used this about two years ago, I have been looking for a replacement product that gives me the same thick consistency. Ironically, I do have a little bit if trouble raking in this product whenever I use it. It doesn’t slide down my strand as easily as I would like. That being said, while few other have come close, Miss Jessie’s Curly Pudding has one of the best consistencies…period.
Scent: Part nostalgia and part laboratory, I have a love-hate relationship with the scent of this product. First off, the smell is strong so those of you with a sensitive sense of smell and scalps should take heed. I’m actually convinced that the perfumey ingredients irritate my scalp which is why I don’t use this daily. When I first opened the jar, I was immediately transported back to my childhood and the sweet indulgence of Laffy Taffy. Seriously, this stuff smells (and looks) like Laffy Taffy. By the way, do you remember that terrible song?! Anyway, at times I love the smell, but more often than not I feel like it’s too perfumey for me and feel paranoid about people thinking I smell like some throwback candy.
Price: Curly Pudding will set you back a hefty penny. For $38 you get a 16 oz jar. An 8 oz jar will set you back $22 and the product is available in a 2 oz sample for $10. I purchased mine at Ricky’s on the ground and able to avoid shipping costs.
Overall Impression: There are things that I love and hate about this product. I love the stretched elongation and weight of this product but hate paying for it with crispy hair on days two and three. Luckily for me, it’s been humid in NY lately which helps with that stiff, dry feeling. All in all, this is too pricey to use as my everyday styler, but I’ll probably revisit every once in a while when I want to enjoy stretched, shiny hair that smells sticky sweet.
Have you tried it? What do you think?
Someone gave me a jar of this some years ago. I tried it, and the scent gave me such a headache. I had to wash my hair again. I tried it one more time after that. Same results. I gave the jar to someone else. But I did like the consistency of it.
Hey L, have you had success with any similar products?
I had the same exact experience with all of the Miss Jessie’s products. Loved the look of my hair when first applied, but they made my hair dry, resulting in the need to re-apply every day and the health of my hair suffered. I always warn people to watch out for this when using ANY product. If you hair only ever feels good when it freshly applied and/or you are using it daily, then that’s not the sign of a \miracle\ product, it’s the sign that the product is damaging your hair. I talked about that in a post on my site a while ago:
http://hairscapades.com/2011/11/18/miss-jessies-bogo-sale-at-target/
My sister was like … \Dang Shelli! All you had to say is that you don’t use the products.\ LOL!! But, I felt a duty to inform as I think it’s a travesty that their products are ridiculously expensive and actually negatively impacted the health of my hair rather than improving it!
Shelli