How Rihanna’s Fenty Hair Performed On My Curly Afro

Rihanna’s new Fenty Hair line was announced with a short video posted online. It was a somewhat understated debut for the beauty mogul. With the less than dramatic reveal, a short window between the line’s announcement and the products going on sale, I didn’t have much time to mull over what to expect. If anything, I wondered how much development and thought went into the line before it was rolled out to the public. When the products arrived on my doorstep and I tore into the box, I found a collection that felt intentional and performed quite well on my curly, natural hair.

The Fenty Hair Buying Experience

Fans who signed up for early access were sent a special link to purchase a few days before products officially went on sale. I logged in on a Tuesday and purchased roughly $200 worth of products. With that budget I was able to buy the Deep Moisture Repair Full-Size Bundle ($110 on sale), the Comeback Kid Instant Damage Repair Treatment Bond Builder ($36), the Homecurl Curl Defining Cream ($28) and the Controlling Type Hair Thickening Edge Control Gel ($18). By Thursday mid-morning the products were at my door, a surprisingly fast turn around time.

Immediate Takeaways

Overall, here are my immediate takeaways from using Rihanna’s Fenty Hair products:

• The shampoo has an incredible lather
• The deep conditioner is very moisturizing and left my curls defined post application
• The line has a wide range of product offerings, but I wish there was a “traditional” leave-in
• The curl defining cream had a nice texture and left the hair soft and voluminous
• The price point felt reasonable and it was nice that the bundles were on sale during the line’s launch
• Packaging was simple and effective; however, there are no written directions on the bottles

A Review of the Fenty Hair Products I Tried

I ordered several products, but learned once receiving them that all should not be used together. Because of that, I only reviewed four of the line’s offerings.

The Rich One Moisture Repair Shampoo

The shampoo lathered beautifully, and it did not strip the hair at all. After shampooing my hair twice, my curls still felt soft, and the smell was not overpowering.

The Richer One Moisture Repair Deep Conditioner

While I did purchase both the regular conditioner and the deep conditioner, I only tried one for this review. The products descriptions said to not use both at the same time. I opted for the deep conditioner since I had not deep conditioned in several weeks.

The product was easy to apply, and it didn’t feel like it sat on top of my hair like conditioners sometimes do. I placed a plastic cap on and let the the conditioner sit for 20 minutes. After rinsing it out, I noticed that my curls seemed very defined even before applying any styling products. The conditioner also left my hair soft. Detangling was also quite easy, but my hair was trimmed the week prior which likely played a part.

The Comeback Kid Instant Damage Repair Treatment Bond Builder

This product can be used as either a leave-in or it can be rinsed out depending on your level of damage. For me, this product felt the least impressive; however, I believe this is an item that takes time to see results. With that, it is hard to make a fair assessment after one use.

This is where my issues with packaging started. The products in this line do not have written instructions on the bottles. Instead, they have cartoon images that explain graphically how the products should be used. For many intuitive items, such as the shampoo, that’s not a big deal. However, for this product which is unique to the Fenty Hair line, it became an issue. I couldn’t exactly decipher how I was supposed to use the bond builder from just looking at the graphics. It required me scanning a QR code on the bottle, and following a link to the website to read detailed instructions. I felt this was an unnecessary and honestly annoying extra step.

The Homecurl Curl Defining Cream

This was probably my favorite product from the line and if I could only buy one item again, it would be this cream. I often wash my hair, define my curls and then diffuse, so I am very familiar with how this style looks on me. The Homecurl cream gave an amazing amount of volume from day 1, something that doesn’t always happen. It also had a luxurious texture that made it easy to apply and dry. The curls that resulted were soft and defined. However, on day two, after sleeping on my hair, I did lose some of that curl definition. I think this is the result of the product being softer than your traditional gel that may be used for curl definition.

Fenty Hair Compared to Cécred

While Rihanna’s Fenty Hair and Beyoncé’s recently released Cécred should be viewed as their own unique entities, I can’t help but draw some comparisons between the two. One of the major differences I noticed was that Fenty Hair offered more products than Cécred. It was nice to have the additional options with Fenty Hair. Both line’s product offerings were strong with the shampoo and conditioners doing a stellar job.

Similar to Beyoncé’s rice water treatment, I wasn’t sold on Rihanna’s bond builder. That is likely due to there not being enough time to give either a fair shot. Overall, Cécred had a more impactful scent and better packaging design. However, Fenty Hair’s products felt easier to return to time and time again.

Overall Pros and Cons

Simply put, I would buy several of the items from the Fenty Hair line again. While the curl cream was a stand out, I also was impressed with the shampoo and deep conditioner. While the packaging left some things to be desired, that con wasn’t significant enough to deeply impact my experience using these new products.

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