My Hair Gets *Really* Dry But Mielle Organics’s $13 Hair Milk Refreshes My Curls in No Time

• Value: 19/20
• Functionality: 20/20
• Ease of Use: 19/20
• Aesthetics: 17/20
• Moisturizing: 19/20
  TOTAL: 94/100

My hair has a love-hate relationship with moisture. After wash day, it offers sweet promises that it will stay bouncy and shiny. But just a day later, my hair doesn’t waste any time kicking moisture out the door, leaving my once-defined curls looking like a raving beehive.

At the beginning of my natural hair journey, I had my wash day hair routine down. But when it came to the days in-between shampoos, I was completely lost. I wasn’t going to do my whole routine every time a curl was out of place. So, I walked down the beauty aisle at my local drugstore (and did some extensive research) and the Mielle Organics Moisturizing Avocado Hair Milk ($13) caught my eye.

I have to admit, it wasn’t a love at first sight kinda thing. There were actually three reasons why I made the purchase: brand, price, and ingredients. First, Mielle Organics is a Black-owned business that offers natural hair care products catered specifically to people with 3c to 4c hair. Secondly, it wasn’t too pricey—one bottle costs $13, to be exact—which is great for someone like me, who likes to stock up on my faves. Lastly, avocado oil is one of the ingredients I know (and trust) to work well for maintaining my hair. Avocado happens to be the OG ingredient that curly hair gals use to keep their locks looking soft, shiny and defined. So yeah, you could call this an educated impulse purchase.

The moment I poured the Hair Milk on my hand, I was relieved to find the texture was thick and creamy, but it wasn’t infused with an overpowering fragrance. Instead, it smelled like a subtle hint of lavender and the fragrance didn’t attack my nose like some products do (seriously, I’ve tried creams that went from smelling like a fruit bowl to laundry detergent—no thank you). The scent wasn’t headache-inducing because of the all-natural ingredients (jojoba seed oil, aloe vera, lavender and sage), all of which deliver even more nourishing and hydrating benefits to my strands.

I worked just a dime-sized amount through each section of my dry hair, with a focus on my driest areas (aka my hairline and ends) and was surprised to find it was enough to bring back the moisture that had ghosted my strands just the day before. It made detangling my hair easier too. My hair looked and felt like it was wash day, which actually meant I didn’t have to undergo my whole curly hair routine during the week. It only took seconds—yes, seconds—for my curls to be defined once again. It was the lightweight hydration hack I so sorely needed, all in an 8-ounce bottle.

One Amazon reviewer even echoed my sentiments, stating: “I love this product! It’s lightweight but coats my hair very well. It’s hard to find a product that I don’t have to use a lot of to keep my hair from being frizzy and flaky.”

Armed with this hair milk (FYI, I now have five bottles in my cabinet), I never have to worry about looking like the Bride of Frankenstein again.