Dove Intensive Repair Daily Treatment Conditioner

I am usually leery of hair products that are not specifically marked for ethnic or African hair so I almost turned down the opportunity to review the Dove Intensive Repair Daily Treatment Conditioner. However, my dove body wash has been making my skin really happy for the past few weeks, so I decided to give the hair conditioner a try. So far, I'm glad I did.

The truth is that summer is my favorite season, but if I realized after last year that if I'm not careful it can also cause a lot of damage to my unrelaxed hair, leaving it dry and rough. I put my hair in a protective style (corn-rows and twists) before going to Nigeria and while there, I got a weave put in. These meant my hair had a pretty good deal, and since it was the rainy season season in Lagos, it was not so hot and humid as to adversely affect my hair.

On the other hand, the past few weeks since we returned, the weather in our area has been almost bipolar. Temperature in the hundreds for a few days, and then back down to the sixties. I removed the weave-on when I got too hot and then regretted it when my hair turned brittle almost overnight. I know I'm not the best person for taking care of natural hair, don't get me wrong, I try, but I don't spend hours or have a ton of products I put on it.

I do go to the salon every couple of weeks or so (who knew JCPenny had a fantastic salon with great hairdressers and affordable prices?) and that keeps my hair happy. Unfortunately, for one reason or the other, I have not been able to make an appointment since I returned. And now my hair is crying out after several rounds of self shampoo and conditioning with the little products I have. Sometimes, I touch it and it's so rough, I think again of cutting it all off.

Well, my Dove Intensive Repair Daily Treatment Conditioner came in a week ago and I may have a rethink on the issue. Dove claims to have the following patented technology to repair and nourish dry hair:
- Fiber Active technology penetrates deep inside the hair strand, helping rebind damaged proteins
- Patented Micromoisture Serum targets damage, repairing the surface of hair by sealing lifted cuticles

I don't know about the big English but I'll tell you what I like about the Dove Intensive Repair Daily Treatment Conditioner

1. I only have to leave it in for one-minute as said on the bottle. I actually left it on as long as it took me to soap down, about 5 - 7 minutes. This is one of my problems with a previous conditioner I used that directed me to leave it on for 15minutes. That just did not gel with my routine, but this one, iLike.

2. The first thing I noticed was the feel of the conditioner as I put it in my palm. The conditioner was thick and rich and felt weightless, and I loved the scent too as I rubbed it into my hair.

3. The feel of my hair as I rinsed the conditioner off and later as I toweled and dried my hair. My hair felt very light, smooth, soft and quite well moisturized.

4. I think I have been having the least shrinkage after washing that I've ever had since I went unrelaxed!

5. I very easily combed through the hair as I did a quick blow-dry, and this meant there was little to no breakage too.

I have used Dove Intensive Repair Daily Treatment Conditioner once more since then and it's been great. I'll keep you guys posted as I keep using it.

So which non-African-specific hair products do you use and what has been your experience?

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