Review (4/5): Curl activator creates bouncy curls but not gentle on fragile hair
I am a white woman with longish hair past my shoulders. On a good day it's like Shirley Temple. On a bad day it's like Pattie LaBelle circa 1985. It looks great when freshly shampooed, but shampoo destroys my hair, as does conditioner, as does the dozens of other products (including homemade) I have tried before finally settling on plain water rinse, as infrequently as possible (one a week in the winter), which leaves my hair a tangled mess and nary a curl in sight. So I tried using Bouncy Curl as a conditioner, knowing that I can't leave any styling product on my hair as it's too fragile. After rinsing my hands, I put a dollop on my palm and lightly spread it through my hair, rinsing it off immediately. Then I let my hair dry naturally.
It does just what it says. Once my hair was dry (using a tee shirt instead of a terry cloth towel to minimize breakage), I had bouncy curls, and scrunching gave them more lift. The curls lasted a couple of days but then I re-activated them with my clothing steamer (since my hair, unlike most curly girls, loves humidity). It's now been a 6 days since I used the product and I still have bouncy curls.
The only reason I gave it four stars instead of five is that I did have some breakage when I used a pick to comb through it when dry. There are some ingredients my hair doesn't like that causes breaking (but that is my fussy hair - it doesn't like anything, not even plain coconut oil). I'm going to try Kinky Curly custard, as I checked their ingredient list and I think my hair should be okay with it.
Bouncy Curls probably works even better as a styling product but I was using it more like a co-wash. It does activate the curl and I imagine it works even better on African or mixed-chicks hair. But it works pretty well on European hair. Try it if you have curly hair that isn't prone to breakage.