I absolutely adore Cantu as a brand. Almost all products that I’ve tried from Cantu have worked great on my hair. Cantu Creamy Hair Lotion is my absolute holy grail cream. Cantu Curl Activator Cream is a staple among many of my readers. So the Cantu Shea Butter Define & Shine Custard was the next one I tried.

Description by Cantu: Ultra moisturizing ingredients make the driest curls defined and healthy. Define & Shine Custard helps reduce hair bulk, elongates curls and provides enough hold for long lasting styles that stay. Made with pure shea butter and formulated without harsh ingredients. NO MINERAL OIL, SULFATES, PARABENS, SILICONES, PHTHALATES, GLUTEN, PARAFFIN or PROPYLENE.

Price: Around 1500 INR. You can buy it here (India) or here (US) -#CommissionsEarned

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Ingredient Analysis:

Water
Glycerin – Humectant
Carboxymethylcellulose – Film-forming humectant
Fragrance
Shea Butter
Pectin – Film-forming humectant
Coconut Oil
Aloe Vera Leaf Juice

Ingredients after the first 5 to 8 ingredients are in negligible amounts and can be ignored if you are not trying to avoid any ingredient in particular –Read the Ingredients List, Not the Product Claims

There are 2 film forming ingredients but they are not polymers and thus will not give long lasting hold. They do give a good cast. It’s high on humectants and so tricky in humid weather and really dry weather. Shea butter is also high up on the list. If you check the Description by Cantu at the beginning of the post you can see they’ve mentioned “reduce hair bulk, elongates curls” which I owe to shea butter.

Almost over!

CG Friendly: Yes

Texture: Slimy non sticky thick gel

Smell: The usual lovely Cantu smell *heart eyes*

Packaging: Fat plastic tub

Performance:

Here’s how to apply curly hair gel – Curly hair gels: Everything you need to know

+ Gives such a beautiful cast just minutes after you’ve started drying your hair – this is absolutely great when I wash my hair at night and don’t get time to diffuse it. So I just wait for the cast to form and go to sleep in wet hair

+ Gives mild hold to curls

– Flakes after drying every time I go even slightly overboard with the quantity

– Weighs down my hair if I apply too much

– Can give a tacky feeling to your hair after it dries if you apply too much

– I would have preferred some more hold

So I think the only trick here is to find just the right quantity for your hair type and length. What I do sometimes is to apply a gel underneath, and use a tiny amount of the Cantu Shea Butter Define & Shine Custard on top to get that yummy cast.

In short: I actually find the Cantu Shea Butter Define & Shine Custard a close cheap contender to the Kinky Curly Curling Custard but for 1 thing – It can weigh down the hair so it is the opposite of a curl enhancer. But if you don’t go overboard, it’s perfect and gives a great cast