Knock off of Bumble and Bumble conditioner?

October 22, 2015 9:49 AM

Bumble & Bumble's "curl conscious smoothing conditioner" is amazing. It does great things for my daughter's fine, curly hair. But it's made out of fairy tears and saffron, and costs one bazillion dollars per ounce.

She's tried so many brands; this one is the one that works for her. But it's expensive, and the bottles aren't great (they're hard to get the last bits out of, especially with smaller hands). Has anyone found a cheaper version?

posted by The corpse in the library to Shopping (14 answers total)

Dang. That's expensive. Perhaps one of these alternatives might work as well?
posted by blob at 10:00 AM on October 22, 2015

I love love love this leave-in conditioner - you can use it as a rinse-out, but it's even better if you leave it in. I can usually find it at Whole Foods.
posted by Mchelly at 10:11 AM on October 22, 2015

Very sadly, I have never found anything as good either. :( I will recommend the large-sized pump bottles, which are a big investment but are easier to get the product out of, and it ends up with a better price per ounce.
posted by rainbowbrite at 10:12 AM on October 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

You can find B&B products on amazon for cheaper than B&B website prices but half the comments are always "this is FAKE AND BAD" while the other half are calling the first half crazy.
posted by poffin boffin at 10:20 AM on October 22, 2015

Response by poster: > I will recommend the large-sized pump bottles

They stopped making theeemmmmmmmmm (imagine me shaking my fist up at the rain)

> I love love love this leave-in conditioner

Have you used the Bumble and Bumble one? I'm hoping to find a clone; we've spent so much money trying various brands. So much.
posted by The corpse in the library at 10:36 AM on October 22, 2015

I hesitate to recommend it, but the Deva Curl is a staple for many of my friends. No idea if it's a B&B dupe, sorry :-(
posted by barnone at 10:42 AM on October 22, 2015 [2 favorites]

I have very curly hair and while trying to manage it learned the main agent used in many curling conditioners is tranglutamasine. This powder can be bought pure online and mixed with oils of your choice and an emulsifier to create a conditioner. But YMMV.
posted by parmanparman at 10:52 AM on October 22, 2015 [5 favorites]

Bumble and Bumble is owned by Estee Lauder and they do have outlet stores - they are called The Company Store. We have one in our office building concourse and they frequently have Bumble and Bumble hair products. It would take a little legwork or phone calling to locate a Company Store that has it in stock though - they're true outlets and you can't count on a particular product being there at any given time. But still - it's a great way to buy those overly expensive products.
posted by rdnnyc at 11:58 AM on October 22, 2015

Oh, boo, on the big bottles. In re-reading your question I realized I use the B&B super rich conditioner and you use a different B&B conditioner for curls. Sorry. :(
posted by rainbowbrite at 12:05 PM on October 22, 2015

It looks like the key ingredient is Transglutaminase. I haven't found other conditioners that have that in them so far.
posted by oneirodynia at 4:41 PM on October 22, 2015

I have supercurly hair (though disclaimer: I didn't like how B&B worked in it), and the Andalou Argan & Sweet Orange Conditioner makes it look fantastic--even my Deva Curl hairdresser admits this! I usually pick up a bottle onsale for about $9.99 at the Vitamin Shoppe.
posted by TwoStride at 4:46 PM on October 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

As a dude with curly hair, I agree that B&B is The Best. Every once in a while, I used to see B&B stuff in the beauty section at TJ Maxx, and I would scoop it up.
posted by rachelpapers at 7:43 PM on October 22, 2015

When you buy your bottle of conditioner carefully transfer it into a different bottle, and then add a bit of water to the dregs and sloosh it around until you can pour all of it out into the new bottle. It might help the conditioner last a little longer if it is slightly watered down and your daughter wouldn't be the one trying to get the dregs out.
posted by Jane the Brown at 11:26 AM on October 23, 2015

Bottle scraper
posted by parmanparman at 1:12 PM on October 23, 2015