This leave-in conditioner makes my hair feel like a silky hair ribbon

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Can make hair feel sticky

Styling thick, wavy hair into a sleek blowout is a balancing act. As someone with the aforementioned hair texture and type, I’ve found it difficult to search for styling products that won’t weigh my hair down and instead allow me to achieve my go-to bouncy blowout. Furthermore, I want all of the products I choose to provide protective benefits. In other words, most—if not all—need to hydrate my strands and protect my hair from heat-inflicted damage, as I reach for a hair dryer at least three times a week. So when I heard Sol de Janeiro, a body care brand known for its incredible scents, was coming out with a leave-in conditioner, I decided to take it for a spin to see if it could prove to be a blessing in my hairstyling routine—and worth the nearly $50 price tag.

The Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Joia Milky Leave-In Conditioner uses Brazil nut oil, Cupuaçu butter, and Babaçu oil to mend split ends and protect the hair from heat-related damage.

Sol de Janeiro’s Brazilian Joia Milky Leave-In Conditioner is a hairstyling product that claims to combat frizz for up to 72 hours, in addition to providing hydration and shielding the hair from heat-related damage. It also purports to revive split ends and other signs of hair damage, though the brand doesn’t elaborate on what those are. The leave-in conditioner, which claims to work for all hair types and textures, contains three key ingredients: Brazil nut oil helps “strengthen” strands, babaçu oil “locks in weightless moisture and blocks out frizz-causing humidity," and cupuaçu butter “quenches thirsty strands and smooths frizz without weighing hair down.”

Like many of the brand’s other products, the leave-in conditioner comes with an inviting smell, specifically the “Cheirosa '62 fragrance” that’s also found in the bestselling Brazilian Bum Bum Cream and the Brazilian Crush Cheirosa ’62 Bum Bum Hair & Body Fragrance Mist. The scent features traces of vanilla, salted caramel, and pistachio and is categorized as a gourmand fragrance. The conditioner comes in a 7.1-ounce bottle and retails for $48.

Over the course of a week-and-a-half, I applied the leave-in conditioner to damp hair for a total of four times post-shower. Placing the formula in-between my palms in a praying-hands formation, I glided the product from the mid-length of my hair down to the ends. Once my hair was about 80% air-dried, I reached for the Conair SmoothWrap Hair Dryer to dry the rest of my head and see if the conditioner could nix frizz and give my hair a smooth finish.

The Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Joia Milky Leave-In Conditioner leaves my strands feeling soft and silky.

I’ve used leave-in conditioners before trying Sol de Janeiro’s version—the Ouai Detangling and Frizz Fighting Leave-In Conditioner being one of my go-tos—but none of them ever made my hair feel like a silky hair ribbon the way Sol’s did. I’m not exaggerating when I say that on the days I used the Sol product, I ran my fingers through my hair multiple times a day just to feel the texture on my fingertips. It’s a refreshing feeling—especially because I went five years or so without using any sort of heat protectant because I didn’t know any better (if you ask me, the early 2010s were not the most cutting-edge years for styling products and hair tools).

For me, frizz is inevitable, as I have wavy, thick hair that will never quit, regardless of how many smoothing and frizz-fighting products I gloss over my strands. But I’ll have to give this leave-in conditioner an A+ for effort because it cut the amount of frizz I have by 50%. It’s a start, given that eliminating frizz has been a lifelong struggle of mine.

If you love the fragrance of the Brazilian Bum Bum Cream and Brazilian Crush Cheirosa ’62 Bum Bum Hair & Body Fragrance Mist, you’ll be thrilled that your hair can get into the Cheirosa ‘62 scent as well. I found that the sweet, dessert-like aroma lingered in my hair all day, though I didn’t find myself reaching for my strands to get a whiff of it every now and then—gourmand fragrances aren’t my top pick. However, if Cheirosa ‘62 is one of your favorites, then I’m sure you’ll be thrilled with this.

I learned the hard way that a little goes a long way. In one instance, I decided to coat the hair on the top of my head with the product to nix out frizz from root to tip, but it ended up making my whole head feel sticky. This probably happened because, to accomodate for the extra hair, I dosed out a quarter size amount on each side of my head instead of the pea-size quantity that’s adequate when only coating half the length of my strands. If you’re someone who can get heavy-handed with hair products, be warned, because too much of this one can make your hair feel as if drips of honey were drizzled on it. Otherwise, it makes my hair feel like a silky smooth dream as long as you don’t use too much.

Other than the one sticky situation that occurred, I think the Brazilian Joia Milky Leave-In Conditioner does a great job fulfilling its primary goals of smoothing hair and smoothing frizz. Though I can't speak to the product's claims of protecting and repairing the hair, as these aren't exactly measurable, I saw a major difference in my hair's smoothness. Assuming it makes good on all three of its claims, the $48 price tag is justifiable to me. And if you’re a Brazilian Bum Bum Cream fan, you’ll also love the addition of the famed cream’s warm scent to the formula. As long as you're careful with the amount you apply, this leave-in conditioner is worth every penny—and by using a light hand, it will last longer for the price.

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Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.

Can make hair feel sticky

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