Little Penguins Ella Jelly Review

I bought Little Penguins Ella Jelly, along with quite a few other things, on my big post-Thanksgiving sale shopping spree. I've been using it ever since. On myself. I didn't really buy it for myself, but I thought I could try it once or twice. Once or twice led to every single day. I kept it in the girls' bathroom for a long time, until I realized how dumb it is to tiptoe past sleeping girls to get to their bathroom so I can put product in my hair each morning.

Ella Jelly is a soft hold styling aid. In consistency, it's more jelly than gel. It's scented with lemon and vanilla and I think it smells like a fresh lemon-filled donut. Mmmm. Ella Jelly contains: distilled water, aloe vera juice, organic raw brazillian honey,vegetable source glycerin, natural raw shea butter, golden jojoba oil, fractionated coconut oil, scletotium gum, marshmallow extract, comfrey extract, horsetail extract, seaweed extract, radish ferment (leuconostoc), essential oils of lemon and bourbon vanilla. It is $8 for 4 ounces and available on the Little Penguins website.

I have used this on the girls. As I styling aid for twists or braids, I have to say I wasn't too impressed. It does provide some hold, but it isn't a ton and it absolutely requires a strong leave-in underneath. Since I have already have a rock star of a moisturizing styling aid and I want lots of hold for my longer term protective styles, I didn't bother to test it over and over for those types of styles.

I think Ella Jelly's real strength is as a curl definer for those who have some curls that could use a little encouragement. Namely, mine. That isn't to say it isn't a good curl definer for curls that curl just fine on their own. It works nicely on them as well, but my curls need the help, so the Ella Jelly finally migrated to its home on my bathroom counter.

I scoop a little out, rub it between my palms and add it to my hair. The consistency and method used to put it in makes for pretty even distribution in the hair. 

It can be used on damp or wet hair, over a leave-in. I appreciate that Ella Jelly is easy to use and dries without looking crunchy, wet or otherwise odd. On the rare occasion when I make an effort with my hair, adding Ella Jelly and pinning a few curls for a couple of minutes, the results are really great. And I smell delicious.

While preparing this little review, I noticed that the Ella Jelly ingredients listed on the website are different from those on my jar. Sigh. I was so happy with this product, I don't know if I want to try a new version or just back to my old curl definer (which was very nice too). What would you do?


Scratch that last paragraph. I've had an update from Little Penguins (see comments on this post). The  product ingredients on the Little Penguins web site were not in formulation order. The product has not changed at all. This makes me really happy. I'll be buying Ella Jelly for myself again. 

Little Penguins Fresh Cream Review

Little Penguins products have been on my list of things to try for some time. When they announced a Black Friday sale, I jumped at the chance to buy and try. We've now spent some time testing out the products I chose, and I'm ready to report on two of them. Today, I'll give you our impressions of Fresh Cream.

Fresh Cream is a detangler and leave-in, meant to be used on damp hair. It has the consistency of a silky cream. It's soft and easy to scoop; it doesn't to be melted, but it isn't so liquid it drips. The scent is a sweet floral with a bit of citrus. It's a mix of neroli, ylang ylang and jasmine. I used to work in for a company that used ylang ylang to scent baby products, and I like babies, so I have very positive associations with it. It can be heavy though, and it can be hard to define and get used to for those unaccustomed to it.

Little Penguins Fresh contains: distilled water, BTMS, broccoli seed oil, golden jojoba oil, fractionated coconut oil, rice bran oil, Monoi De Tahiti oil, castor oil...(something I can't read on the bottle because it has rubbed off)...aloe vera juice, silk amino protein, panthenol, ...(something else I can't read)..., (Leuconostoc) radish root ferment, essential oils of neroli, jasmine, and ylang-ylang. It is $12 for 4ounces and is available on the Little Penguins website.

In the first days I used this on Little R, I loved it. I was beginning to think we'd found a new everyday leave-in. Her hair was soft and it was easy to detangle with Fresh Cream. Each morning, I sprayed her loose hair to dampen it and then applied Fresh Cream. After those first few days passed, I noticed that the product scent was really starting to bother me. It became cloying and I started to dread opening the jar. Little R didn't seem to mind though. After her next wash, I cut down on the amount of product I added daily and the scent issue went away. Unfortunately, so did any benefits of the product. Her hair would look great in the morning and feel soft, but later in the day it felt quite dry. I found myself adding leave-in at night too, which is a bit unusual for us. Over the course of a few weeks, her hair got so dry I had to abandon the Fresh Cream altogether and go back to our regular leave-in.

Little B's hair was in a protective style when we first received the Fresh Cream, but when that was ready to come out, I tried this product on her too. I started with freshly washed and conditioned hair, intending to try Fresh Cream as a detangler. I sat down with Little B and her damp hair, a spray bottle, willing fingers, The Comb, and Fresh Cream. Try as I might, I could not detangle Little B's hair with it. I used my normal detangling methods, but in the first section I tried, I couldn't get the hair to move. I tried for a few minutes, adding more product. Eventually, I gave up and detangled easily using another product. The next time I tried it on Little B, I used it after detangling. I added it to her damp hair as a leave-in before styling with Little Penguins Ella Jelly. I styled large cornrows, which were spritzed as usual every day. When I took her style out, I was really surprised by how dry her hair was. In fact, I've never seen it that dry before. Ever. That was the end of Little B's Fresh Cream experience.

I wanted to like this product. Looking at the ingredients, there was every reason to think it would work well for us. When BTMS is high in the ingredient list, we are usually pleased with the product. This is a good reminder that knowing which ingredients make the girls' hair happy is only part of the equation. The formulation of those ingredients is another part. How and when the product is used, and what with, are other things to consider. I think that it came down to formulation for us; they are good ingredients, but apparently not in the right amounts or combination for my girls' hair. I see that according to the Little Penguins website, the ingredients have changed slightly since I purchased this and some are now in a different order. I'm on the fence about whether or not I'd try a new formulation of this though.

Have you tried Little Penguins Fresh Cream? What are your thoughts?

Next up: Little Penguins Ella Jelly Review

Update: Little Penguins has let me know that the ingredients listed on the jar are correct and in the correct order. The ingredients listed on the web site are not in order they appear in the product. The formulation hasn't changed at all.