Cruelty Free Conditioner Review-Nature's Gate and Giovanni's

There's no feeling quite like finding holy grail hair products. The ones you forge meaningful relationships with, the ones you reach for time and again, those 

conditioners that make your hair feel like marshmallow puffs or that no-flake no crunch gel that keeps the sass level of your curls off the charts.

​When I was living in Vegas, I tried dozen's of different conditioners and none of them were as affordable and worked as well as Suave coconut conditioner. It has plenty of slip, comes in a big 'ol 30 ounce bottle for less than 3 dollars and my hair seemed to really love the coconut oil infusion.

However...it's not cruelty free.​

This isn't as important to some people but I'm trying to make an effort to be kinder to animals and to the planet when I purchase products for my home and myself. I'm in the process of transitioning to cruelty free everything which is a LOT easier said than done!

I've been looking everywhere I can to find a new conditioner that is bunny certified. It's frustrating to say the least-conditioning is such an important step in the styling routine for curly hair and if my hair doesn't react to it the right way odds are that my final style is going to look completely jacked up. Trying a new conditioner and just hoping that it will work out well is disheartening at times.

In my trials I've used two cruelty free conditioners enough to offer my opinions on them-one I recommend and one I absolutely do not. 

Nature's Gate Shine Enhancing Jasmine and Kombucha Conditioner

​When I was younger, my mom had this Jasmine body mist from Bath and Body Works that I loved. It smelled so feminine and exotic and ever since then I've loved the smell of jasmine, so I was so excited to try this conditioner by Nature's Gate. I believe I found it on a list of cruelty free conditioners and it was one of the more affordable options so I decided I would give it a try. (And by decided I mean I got straight up and practically ran all the way to Target to buy a bottle.)

Well.

I wanted this to work. I really wanted this to work. But...well, issa no for me dawg. Lemme tell you why.

• Size-When you have curly, kinky or coily hair, you will likely go through 4 or 5 bottles of conditioner before you ever finish up one bottle of shampoo. (Whip your hair back and forth if this struggle is too real.) For 18 ounces at 5 or 6 dollars a bottle, this conditioner just doesn't cut it for me, especially not when I'm used to a gigantic bottle of Suave. When I need to cowash my hair, it's basically just me in the shower having a conditioner party and I need a whole lot more than 18 ounces.
• Consistency-It's just way too thick and clumpy. This conditioner feels like it just lays on top of my hair instead on absorbing and penetrating the hair shaft. Additionally, when my hair is super dry and tangled, all I really have to do to avoid a detangling nightmare is hop in the shower, glop conditioner all over it and slide the tangles right out. That is basically impossible with Nature's Gate. I tried, I really did, there's just not enough slip.
• Smell-Remember that Jasmine smell I was so excited about? This didn't smell like that at all. It doesn't smell bad but it definitely didn't smell like I was hoping (not that smell affects functionality but it's definitely a nice touch).

So, all in all, not enough product for the price, awful consistency and a smell that barely ranks above "meh". Zeros across the board. Except in the cruelty free category-kudos for that, Nature's Gate!

​Giovanni's Tea Tree Conditioner

I probably should have reviewed this one first because I'm about to sound like a total hypocrite but I wanted to save the best for last! Due to it's price point, I probably never would have given it a try but a YouTuber with hair that is very similar to mine (Chime a.k.a. Haircrush) used to rave about Giovanni's conditioner and when I saw the bunny, what can I say? I caved!  I love this conditioner SO MUCH for a lot of different reasons. 

• Essential Oils-This conditioner is infused with Tea Tree Oil and Peppermint among others. I don't usually care for anything pepperminty but I can definitely say that that is about to change. The combination of peppermint and tea tree oil made my scalp feel so tingly and refreshed when I used this and that is so important when you're co-washing instead of shampooing; conditioners that feel thick and oozy don't leave you with that clean feeling. I also noticed a cooling, soothing sensation which I adored!
• Smell-I found the smell I didn't know I was looking for in this conditioner. I love the smell of tea tree oil and when you add it to eucalyptus, peppermint and all the other good stuff in there, it's definitely a winner.
• Slip-YES. Tangles and knots did not stand a chance against this conditioner! I felt like it was thin enough to where I was able to really work it into my hair and the slip allowed me to get my fingers in there and slide any tangles right out, which is exactly what I'm looking for. If you have thick, natural kinky-curly hair like mine, this conditioner is a dream!

So I'm going to stop gushing for a minute because there are a couple of cons here. This conditioner is relatively expensive, at 8.5 ounces for 7 dollars. I know, you're totally thinking, wasn't she just going on about affordability and size? I don't know what to say...whatever happened to quality not quantity?

I do recommend this conditioner because it is literally so amazing; it makes my hair weightless, shiny and moisturized and it smells and feels amazing. However, the fact remains that for the price, the units are just too small for me to realistically use it as much as I need to; I have 4a, natural, thick, thick, kinky-curly, crazy-long hair (my hair is down to my waist, two inches away from my goal, which is tailbone length). I literally need gobs and gobs of conditioner. I'm going to have to find something that I can use to supplement this one because I'm not giving it up!

So to recap, Nature's Gate Jasmine Kombucha Conditioner is a hard decline. I'm just not willing to pay that much for a conditioner with such mediocre performance. (Note: If you have a completely different hair type from mine this might work out very differently for you, so don't take my word for it!) The Giovanni's Triple Treat Tea Tree conditioner is a yes almost everywhere it counts-cruelty free, moisturizing, refreshing and cleansing, smells amazing and has tons of slip. It's just too pricey for someone with as much hair as I have to use on a regular basis.

So my search continues. Have you tried either of these products? What are your favorite cruelty free conditioners?