Review of M&M Products Sofn'free Milk Protein & Olive Oil Strengthening Crème

Recently I was introduced to the black hair care line Sofn'free® GroHealthy® through Twitter. I'm always hesitant to try new black hair care products because I wonder whether the brands are just trying to get rich off the hair care industry or do these brands really know about black hair types. However, after receiving a Sofn'free GroHealthy full set of products, curiosity made me want to check them out.

The M&M Products Company was established in 1973 by two African-American pharmacists. Owners changed twice and the products are now owned by Iqbal and Yunus Kalla and include the brands Sofn'free n'pretty, Bump Patrol, Curly Perm, Easy Wave, Salon Quality and GroHealthy.

The Sofn'free products haven't taken off in Chicago yet. I contacted about 10 different beauty supply stores that hadn't heard of it before finally reaching Cosmo Beauty Supply, located at 13047 S. Ashland Ave., in Calumet City, IL.

"We have the children's perm kits, adult perm kits, children's shampoos and conditioners," said the Cosmo Beauty Supply representative. "But it's moving slowly."

When asked why, he said, "Nobody's really heard of it."

Evergreen Beauty Supply Store in Evergreen Plaza shopping mall also said the same thing-they have the products and it's moving okay, but they're not quite sure why it's not moving faster.

Neighborhood Sally's Beauty Supply locations were also unfamiliar with the products, but I knew my most dependable black beauty supply store, Am's Beauty Supply, would have them.

"It used to sell in '96, '98, early 2000s for the curl and the perm, but for whatever reason it slowed down," said Angela from Am's Beauty Supply.

Now I never wanted a curl, but I've had a perm since I was four. One of my biggest challenges is finding a hair oil that I like. When I look for hair oils in beauty supply stores and retail stores, I usually leave unsatisfied. The products either smell entirely too strong, will stain a pillowcase because they're too greasy, they're too thick to comb through or the hair oil leaves my thick mane too stringy. So I gave one of the five products a shot.

Sofn'free GroHealthy's Milk Protein & Olive Oil Strengthening Crème is ideal for hair like mine. After researching why mineral oil and petrolatum are not good for black hair care types, I'd been searching for alternatives from the few hair oils I was comfortable with. Although this product is soft like lotion instead of pasty like Vaseline, it combs into my hair without leaving strands stringy. The dryness and itchiness of Chicago's ridiculously cold weather-in addition to the 12.5 inches of snow that was recently dropped on us-left my hair dryer than usual and at a more rapid pace. The Milk Protein & Olive Oil crème gave my hair much needed moisturizer, and it smells great. The fragrance reminds me of cake mixture before its poured into a bundt cake pan.

I've also be tested out Sofn'free GroHealthy's Daily Growth Lotion, Leave-In Treatment, Three-Layer Growth Oil and Really Deep Conditioning Treatment. Although hair growth has never been an issue for me, there's nothing wrong with using products to hopefully make my hair grow even more.

After I tried the Strenghtening Creme, I called the locations that didn't have the product encouraging them to try it out. Stay tuned for more Sofn'free hair product reviews.