Oyin Handmade is a natural line for the hair and body that does not contain any petroleum, mineral oil, sulfates, silicones, parabens or fillers. They contain a lot of good for your hair, nourishing ingredients. Most, if not all, of their products contain honey. In fact, the word “Oyin” is the Yoruba name for honey. These products are handmade in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. I have blonde, color-treated Type 2C hair and this is how the products worked on my hair.
Whipped Pudding
Oyin says:
“This rich, dense, shea-butter-based moisturizing cream is Oyin’s first product. It’s a mixture of rich botanical butters & oils like shea butter, cocoa butter, and castor oil; blended with plenty of aloe vera gel and pure water for lightness & penetration. The result is superior, rich, penetrating moisture in an all-purpose, head-to-toe product.”
I say:
This is my favorite product of the whole Oyin line and is extremely versatile. First the smell. It smells like straight up chocolate milk!! Absolutely delicious. I like to use it as a leave in conditioner under any gel on wet hair. It makes my hair frizz free and gives added bounce to my curls this way. I find it to be super duper moisturizing but not greasy. I also like to apply it to days 2 or 3 hair, concentrating on the ends to add much needed moisture back to my hair. It works especially well in the Winter. I have also applied this if my hair is thrown up in a ponytail or bun for extra moisturization again and have slept with it in as a pre poo treatment. No matter which way I used this product, I got good results. It may be heavy for fine, thinner haired curlies but I think it is a must try if your hair is dry!
Read reviews & buy it here.
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Honey Wash
Oyin says:
For this all-purpose, luxurious cleansing product, we add a generous dollop of honey’s golden goodness to pure, organic castille soap . . . swirl in organic aloe vera gel and add a few drops of skin-loving oils like jojoba and walnut seed. Head to toe, HoneyWash is a smoothly lathering, moisturizing mild wash for skin, hair, face, or body. Results? Silky smooth skin, smoothly clean hair, happy delicious self.
I say:
Smell wise, this is my least favorite scent in the line. It smells like a weird mix of honey and I don’t know what else. As a body wash, it left my skin very soft. This product is very, very runny, water and thin in consistency. My hair and scalp felt clean but not squeaky clean which is okay. I still had to follow up with conditioner. This isn’t a bad product, but it didn’t wow me either.
Read reviews & buy it here.
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Honey Hemp Conditioner
Oyin says:
“A penetrating, detangling, seriously softening multipurpose conditioner, enriched with aloe vera gel, hemp oil, honey, and just a touch of hydrolyzed silk protein. (this is not your high protein rebuilding conditioner; we use just enough to make it silky ;o”> HH has got great detangling slip and serious moisturizing power. It rinses cleanly and also makes a nice pre-shampoo deep conditioning treatment. (add oil or extra honey for superior DC power!”> It can even be used as a creamy, nourishing leave-in!”
I say:
This is a really fantastic conditioner, my hair drank it right up! The smell grew on me after a while. It smells like a sweet honey. When I use this as a conditioner, I left a lot of it in on my ends. It made detangling so easy! It feels like a lotion- not too thick or not too thin. It helped with my frizz, added shine and I like that it contained omega fatty acids to help repair and moisturize my dry hair. I’m on the fence with repurchasing this one. As well as it did work for me, sadly I noticed my hair starting to get brassy. If you don’t suffer from that brassy issue though, you totally might want to give this one a try!
Read reviews & buy it here.
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Shine & Define Serum
Oyin says:
Designed to be nourishing, light & non-greasy, this soft creamy serum contains herbal infusions, pure Aloe Vera, flax seed extract, nutritive sea vegetables, shea butter, and more. It’s like a smoothie for your hair!
I say:
This might be on my holy grail list if I was allowed to wear it. The scent of this, which to me was light and fruity-herbally, had something in it to trigger my boyfriend’s allergies so bad it made his eyes tear. Because of that I don’t use the product (hey Oyin- make a scent free version?!”> That being said, when I did try it, it performed incredibly well on dry hair. I love silicone free serums. It has soft hold and I can’t use it alone but it worked the best on dry, second or third day hair. It added shine, helped frizz and also increased the curl definition. This serum is pretty thick, but thinner in consistency in comparison with the Whipped Pudding. A little goes a long way and on wet hair it was a bit too greasy for me.
Read reviews & buy it here.
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Hair Dew
Oyin says:
This creamy, conditioning leave-in is light enough for every day. It’s great on ‘naked’ hair immediately after a cleanse, or as a way to reinvigorate tired hair all the way through your hair care cycle. Looking for a product to wake up and moisturize your second-day hair? Looking for a way to make your hair pliable enough to re-style without a full rinse? Just want to refresh your coils and curls and give them a shot of moisture before sealing? This leave-in is your answer! Plays well with other Oyin leave-ins and stylers.
I say:
The smell is delicious. Like burnt sugar with vanilla undertones. I didn’t like this as a leave in conditioner on wet hair. It wasn’t moisturizing enough for that purpose for me. It also formed white clumps when used under my gel on white hair, but they disappeared once dry. However, this is another nice product for dry day 2 and day 3 hair for me. It helped take away any frizz that may have sprouted and added bounciness back to my hair where it went limp. This is even thinner in consistency than the Shine & Define. I was surprised I don’t like this more than I do, as it contains two of my hair’s favorite ingredients- aloe vera juice and coconut oil. I don’t think there is much wrong with this, but there is other stuff I like better to justify a repurchase. However, if your hair really likes lighter weight products, this might wind up on your Holy Grail list.
Read reviews & buy it here.
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“The Juices” Nourishing Herbal Leave Ins
Oyin says:
“Our nourishing herbal leave-in tonics have been our most popular products since we first introduced “Greg Juice,” the original citrus-herbal version, in 2004. Now available in three unique scents, this oil-free mixture of vegetable moisturizers and herbal essences remains hugely popular among people with many different hair types and needs!”
I say:
I haven’t yet tried the Frank Juice so I can’t comment on that one, but both Greg Juice and Juices & Berries smell AMAZING! Juices & Berries remind me of the red, white and blue rocket popsicles I used to get off the ice cream truck as a kid. Greg Juice smells like herbal citrus. I love these as second and third day hair refreshers. I would place them in my “Top 5 Favorite Refresher Sprays” category. The thing I notice the most with them is how they add spring back to my curls. It also helped with frizz and add life back to my dry hair. I found these to be extremely lightweight. I also like that these have a lot of hair growth herbs inside such at nettle, lavender, and chamomile. If your hair isn’t too thick or too dry you also might like them as a light leave in.
Read reviews & buy them here.
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The Sugar Pomades
Oyin says:
“Does your hair love oils? Our “Sugar” Pomades are nourishing all-vegetable pomade and styling products named after the uniquely sweet, translucent, and fragrant quality of warm, homemade caramel.”
I say:
Both smell yummy. The Burnt Sugar Pomade really smells like burnt sugar. It reminds me of caramel-vanilla. The Sugar Berries Pomade smells deliciously fruity like the Juices & Berries spray. I kind of love how they both smell so much they’ve been doubling as hand moisturizers just so I can continuously get the scents. These have great ingredients and are very, very thick. The consistency reminds me a lot of coconut oil. A little goes a long, long way. A jar is going to last a while! They are way too heavy for my wet hair but I like them on dry hair applying on my ends to form a temporary split end mender and also if I wear my hair back, they made nice edge tamers. If I am going out for the night, sometimes I will take very little and run it through all of my hair to help frizz and insure my hair for the night. I most likely would repurchase, that is if I could ever get to the bottom of my jar.
Read reviews & buy them here.
Summary
When I started really learning about hair products that treat my hair while styling and really moisturizing it, Oyin Handmade was one of the first lines I tried. I find these products to be excellent quality but the reason I will not repurchase some of them is because being a light blonde, too much honey can result in unwanted brassiness and added warmth in my hair color. But if you don’t have lighter hair, they are completely worth trying out!
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