What's up with Nilotiqa?

Hey, lovelies. A while back I was in desperate need of hair products, lockdown had just started and I had just discovered the joys of e-commerce ( I'm a late bloomer, lol). This combination lead me to jump at the opportunity to purchase the Nilotiqa range from naturalhair.co.za. I mean they were offering me 5 full-sized products for R450.00, who was I to say no? In fact, I paid R400.00 *shipping included* using Sean's promo code! What a steal.

Apparently it was an actual steal- because someone swiped up my box y'all.

But more about that later! If you are particularly sensitive to coconut as an ingredient in any of its forms I'm going to stop you right here and redirect you to Sean's latest blog post about a coconut free wash-day ( you can thank me later).

Ok.

For those of us who can tolerate or even worship the coco, grab a cup of something warm and let's dive right in.

The washday box consisted of 4 products from the Creamy Collection, the latest offering from Nilotiqa. This included the 2 in 1 Cleansing Co-wash, the Moisture Recovery Leave-in Conditioner, the Daily Hair Lotion and the 48-hour Scalp Spray. The box also included a tub of the Deep Moisture Butter, a cult favourite from the brand's Shea & Coco Collection.

2 in 1 Cleansing Co-wash

The 2 in 1 Cleansing Co-wash smells like a tropical dream. The instructions suggest using the product between shampooing and deep conditioning days. However, I reach for this co-wash regularly as I find it to be thoroughly cleansing while leaving my hair soft. So I might do two weeks co-wash and on the third week, I'd do a clarifying wash. The surfactants (cleansing/foaming ingredients) of choice for the co-wash are coco-glucoside and behenamidropropyl dimethylamine. Coco-glucoside can be derived from coconut or fruit sugars and is a favourite on the ingredients list because of its biodegradability. Behenamidropropyl dimethylamine could also be used in shampoo formulations, as a non‐ionic surfactant with two main functions: conditioning and protecting colour from fading. It can also be used in hair conditioners for natural and damaged hair (Minguet et al, 2010). The conditioning agent of choice is dipalmitoyl hydroxyethylmonium methosulfate that has antistatic, detangling and conditioning properties. Also featured in this co-wash are shea butter derivatives and castor oil. Overall, it's true to its word: it's a rich and creamy formula, it doesn't strip natural oils and deeply moisturises. I would definitely repurchase, this co-wash retails for R99.99 at Nilotiqa.com stores.

Moisture Recovery Leave-In Conditioner

The leave-in conditioner has a delightful coconut scent which makes a lot of sense because the second ingredient in the conditioner is Cocos Nucifera (coconut) oil. Coconut oil has been found to reduce the protein loss for both undamaged and damaged hair when used as a pre-wash and post-wash grooming products and is also able to penetrate the hair shaft (Dias, 2015). This leave-in also contains shea butter and the amino acids arginine, serine and threonine, which I found very interesting. Serine has conditioning properties, arginine might have anti-breakage properties and threonine well I don't really know and I'm falling down a rabbit hole of articles so I'll stop. This leave-in is a lightweight, creamy leave-in that adds moisture to the hair and it's become a wash-day favourite. Oh, and might I add that a little goes quite a long way I have nothing bad to say about this leave-in at all and I would absolutely spend my coin on this again, you can purchase this product at Nilotiqa.com for only R99.99.

Daily Hair Lotion

This daily lotion is like our beloved hair-food grew up, got a bursary, went to private school and is now all grown up and bougee. I don't use this product on wash-day but rather two or three days later when my hair is need of a moisture boost. I've used it on an old blow out style- and wow- it added moisture right back into my hair without needing to spritz any water on at all (Ps. if your hair needs hydrating- use a spritz of water). The formula is filled with emollients such as C14-22 alkane, glyceryl stearate and jojoba esters. An emollient is a type of cream that acts as a moisturizer to the external layers of the skin/hair to make it softer and more pliable. I can't seem to detect any coconut oil in the ingredients list- so if you're a coconut fearing girl- this might still be a go.

This sweet scented product makes moisturising between wash days much simpler and I've enjoyed implementing it into my hair routine. It costs R99.99 at Nilotiqa.com.

48 Hour Scalp Spray

The scalp spray is marketed as a soothing scalp spray with the first four ingredients consisting of water, aloe vera extract, coconut oil and avocado oil- all pretty soothing ingredients. The coconut-y scented scalp spray should hold moisture to your scalp for up to 48 hours. I haven't actually tested it on the whole 48 hours thing because I forget (lol). This might be the product I use the least from the range mostly because I don't tend to have too many scalp issues except when I'm wearing a protective style like braids. However, on the occasion that my scalp is itchy or dry, this product provides a soothing factor. The verdict is still out on whether I would repurchase this or not purely because of how little I use it, but it would be a good product to use if you have a dry scalp and it can be found Nilotiqa.com for R99.99.

Deep Moisture Butter

The butter is not quite what I had expected. I'd read reviews that noted that it's still best to use a sealing oil with the butter, but I wasn't prepared for how light it feels. That being said I still feel that it's a pretty hydrating butter chock full of shea butter, castor oil and coconut oil. This is my first butter so I don't really have much to compare it to but I do enjoy this product. It's become a part of my wash day routine and follows the leave-in conditioner. It leaves my hair soft, super moisturised and smelling good. It retails for R55.99 at this size (125ml) so it's a great size and price to try it out for yourself from Nilotiqa.com.

So judging by the fact that I did this review- I finally got my products. Someone parading around as me- signed for my package and then vanished from the face of the Earth apparently. However, wherever they are, they have super moisturized hair.

Nyaki and Co from naturalhair.co.za were complete angels in navigating the mess that was my missing/stolen parcel. Their customer service was exemplary and they generously replaced my missing/stolen parcel and I cannot thank them enough. Additionally, head you can head on there to purchase any of their washday boxes. Each box for the specific month is sold below retail value (so you can save moneys).

Overall my experience with Nilotiqa has been very pleasant. It's a South African brand (check), produced and manufactured in South Africa (check) by a woman of colour, Thokozile Mangwiro (check, check, check). Nilotiqa delivers high-quality products at affordable prices and I will be spending my coin here again. You can read more about the brand and ranges at www.nilotiqa.com.

Edit (04/09/2020): Removed link from Clicks website. Added link to shop directly from Nilotiqa website because we cannot spend our hard earned coin at places that still view our beautifully textured hair as dry and damaged, while other hair is "Normal". Additionally, added that Nilotiqa can be purchased from naturalhair.co.za because #supportlocal.

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I hope you enjoyed this review. I respect your coin so I'm as honest as possible with these reviews. If you have tried these products before please be sure to drop a comment about your experience with Nilotiqa.

Thank you so much for dropping by lovely