Shea Moisture, Yay or Nay?

Aldro

I'm looking for new products that better define my curls without the crunchy feel of a gel. I currently use Studio Mineral Invisi'Gel by L'Oreal, which is silicone- and alcohol free, I'm but am still searching for that one product that just does it for my hair.

I'm very curious about a few Shea Moisture products, particularly the Curl Enhancing Smoothie and Moisture Retention Shampoo. I read raving reviews about the Smoothie over at Makeup Alley, though they all say to use very little, because it tends to weigh your hair down. However, I've read nothing but bad things about it here, which makes me wary of trying it, especially since it's rather expensive. What do you ladies think?

Edited to add: I live in The Netherlands and have found that a lot of CG products mentioned here are not available in my area. I can order them online, but the shipping costs are often very high. But please, keep those recommendations coming! If it's availabe where I live, I am more than stoked to try them.

BotticelliBrit

I personally love Shea Moisture's shampoos. Absolute holy grail products for me. Their conditioners are nice too. I rec them always.

BUT, I personally didn't have any luck with their smoothie styler and felt it really weighed my hair down, didn't define my curls well and left a lot of surface frizz

eveum

I can't afford to try their whole line of shampoos and conditioners but I have tried several of the masques and like them a lot. The JBCO is my favourite although it is expensive for me. It's supposed to be peppermint but to me it smells like vanilla playdough I can put them directly onto my scalp and roots with no issue of greasiness. I haven't tried the smoothie because I need something with a lot of hold to style my hair.

JunyJu

I think the smoothie is okay. I let one of my favorite YouTubers coax me into buying some (and I got it on a sale day, so I got two) and I've used it a couple times. I haven't quite mastered it yet, as it is a bit thick and just sat on my hair the last few times I tried it. But when I used less my hair was too frizzy. It's sitting under my sink now and I don't know when I'll try it again. I do love the smell, and I heard it can be used alone and work fine, so I do want to try that again soon. But for now, I'm pretty stuck on my current products. Plus my heat damage is stubborn, and I don't feel that the smoothie did much for that section, so I might not use it again until that part is cut. I WILL say that it does give you the 'crunch' of a gel, though, so it can be used as a styler on it's own, but not in the summer.

Some say it works wonderfully with the soufflé, but I really didn't like the soufflé (too sticky and weird).

If I can make a suggestion? Curls Goddess Curls is a lightweight, water-based gel that doesn't feel sticky or leave much of a crunch at all. There's also DevaCurl Light Defining Gel, if you can splurge on that. My hair is thick but a quarter sized amount works fine for me.