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Curly Temple is a Levittown, PA based natural hair care brand that infuses Ayurvedic herbs such as amla and fenugreek in its formulations. As founder Iyesis Gordon sought to improve the health of her own natural hair, she discovered oils, herbs, and butters that allowed her to keep her hair moisturized and retain more length. She founded Curly Temple to share what she had learned with other women with highly textured hair.
I purchased Curly Temple’s Lemon Gello “curl-cream gel” at the NJ Natural Hair & Beauty Expo. The product is described on the bottle as a “Lemon Butter and Flaxseed Gel Curl Enhancer.” Natural hair vlogger Michelle of NowIAmNappy was representing the product at the Curly Temple booth and said that this is her favorite product from the line, so I decided to give it a try. She explained that it behaves similarly to a leave-in conditioner. I currently DIY my favorite leave-in, so I was curious to try a ready-made product that could serve the same function.
What we'll discuss in this post
Curly Temple Lemon Gello Review
Lemon Gello is designed for all hair types, from wavy to tightly coiled. It comes in an 8 oz pump bottle, which is perfect for the thick, creamy consistency, as well as preventing the contamination that can happen when putting your fingers in a jar.
At the time of this writing, the product is listed at $16.99 plus shipping (and sales tax if applicable) on mycurlytemple.com. If you sign up for the mailing list, the company sends out occasional discounts and in-person events.
Lemon Gello has a strong herbal scent. I tend to prefer herbal scents over floral or sweet scents so I love it. If you are sensitive to smells it may be a bit overpowering at first, but it does dissipate over time.
The website indicates that the product should be stored in a cool place in order to maximize the shelf life. It has no parabens, sulfates, phthalates, mineral oil, or petroleum, and is not tested on animals.
Ingredients
The ingredients include plenty of good stuff for your hair and skin:
- Aqua (Water)
- Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice
- Flaxseed
- Lemon Butter (Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil and Citrus Limon (Lemon) Peel Oil and Citrus Limon (Lemon) Peel Wax and Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil)
- Stearic Acid
- Emulsifying Wax NF
- Glyceryl Stearate SE Self Emulsifying Blend (Glyceryl Stearate and PEG-100 Stearate)
- Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil
- Lavendula Angustifolia (English Lavender) Extract
- Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter
- Olea Europaea (Olive) Oil
- Wheat Germ Oil
- Optiphen Plus paraben-free preservative (Phenoxyethanol and Caprylyl Glycol and Sorbic Acid)
- Slippery Elm
- Marshmallow Root
- Silk Aminos
- Amla Powder
- Fenugreek Seed Powder (Trigonella Foenum-graecum)
- Cymbopogon Schoenanthus (Lemongrass) Oil
- Fragrances
Directions
The directions on the Lemon Gello bottle read as follows:
Apply to dry or damp hair. Finger detangle product through the hair until the level of curl definition desired is reached and diffuse.
Ok, so now that we’ve covered all the nitty gritty product details, let’s get to the most important thing – does it work?
My Lemon Gello Results
I wasn’t sure what to expect when trying this product. My hair is very coily (like tiny pen springs) but I normally wear it stretched, so I don’t have a lot of experience with products sold as curl enhancers. I thought maybe I’d get some softness, maybe a bit of moisture as I normally would with a leave-in conditioner.
I always see reports of “tangles melting away” in product advertising, Youtube videos and blogs. For me and my Type 4 hair, this is usually not reality. I have figured out ways to gently detangle my hair, but there aren’t a lot of products that I would say truly “melt” tangles. This one does.
When I put this product in my hair, my tangles did literally melt away. My hair slipped easily between my fingers – and I used it on totally dry parched hair just to see what would happen. My hair went from utterly dry and parched to soft and malleable enough to retwist it without even a little bit of snap crackle and popping. I didn’t even get out my spray bottle.
I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked. Reserving judgment, I waited for the results of the true test – what happened after the product dried in my hair? The next day I unraveled my twists to find that my hair was a bit drier and less flexible. It had a little less sheen. I decided I would try a spritz of water and Haitian Black Castor Oil to seal the next time I used it. This combination sealed the deal – pun intended.
After retwisting week old twists with Lemon Gello, using HBCO as a sealer, my hair is soft and pliable by midweek and isn’t showing any signs of getting dried out. It’s official – I’m a fan.
Does Lemon Gello have mold?
If you Google Curly Temple, you may come across a YouTube video indicating that someone found mold in their product. A few people commented that they did as well.
Since this product worked so well for my hair and I wanted to review it, I emailed the founder of Curly Temple to find out more about the issue. In a series of emails about the video and potential causes, Iyesis indicated that her (now former) supplier may have provided her with an ineffective preservative, or the product may have been unevenly mixed.
To prevent the issue going forward, Iyesis has since switched to a new preservative supplier and purchased a new mixer.
Lemon Gello Demo Video
If you’re like me, you want to see the product with your own eyes. Here’s a demo from NowIAmNappy showing how the product works on her Type 4 hair.
Over to you – what products “melt away” tangles for your Type 4 hair? Have you tried Lemon Gello or any other products from Curly Temple? Let me know in the comments.
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