My research lead me to finding two brands, Shea Moisture Vs. Mielle – which are specifically designed for curly-haired people.
Curly or natural is a rather difficult hair type to manage. I have had my fair share of curly girl hair problems over the years!
From dry hair, to frizziness, to hair breakage, to dealing with my hair and roots standing limp, curly hair has faced it all.
In this article, we will be comparing Shea Moisture vs. Mielle and discussing their different features and benefits. Decide which hair care brand is best for you and make the switch today!
Shea Moisture vs. Mielle
| Aspect | SheaMoisture | Mielle |
|---|---|---|
| Brand Origin | Founded in Sierra Leone, family recipes, now based in the U.S. | American, founded by Monique Rodriguez |
| Founded | 1912 | 2014 |
| Product Range | Extensive range for hair, body, face, and men | Focused range primarily for haircare, with some body and children’s products |
| Target Audience | Diverse consumers with a focus on natural, textured hair | Focus on hair health, catering to women with textured hair |
| Key Ingredients | Organic shea butter, natural botanicals | Organic ingredients, herbs, and oils such as mint and pomegranate |
| Availability | Global, available in drugstores, supermarkets, and online | Global, available in select retailers, salons, and online |
| Price Point | Mid-range, accessible to a broad audience | Mid-range to premium, slightly higher price point than SheaMoisture |
| Ethical Stance | Fair trade ingredients, socially responsible practices | Emphasis on community outreach and empowerment, especially for women |
About Shea Moisture
Shea Moisture was inspired by Sofi Tucker in 1912 and was founded as a home-based industry in the Republic of Sierra Leone.
She was an entrepreneur who started off with homemade beauty products at first with her signature ingredient, shea butter. Later, in 1991, Shea Moisture was founded by Nyema Tubman and Richelieu Dennis.
Sofi Tucker’s vision was to build the handcrafting community by the women in Africa and every product that was bought, indirectly supported her mission of reinvesting in their community.
They believe in making their products free from harsh chemicals, but instead using naturally-derived ingredients.
At Shea Moisture, they have a good range of products that are designed for anyone to use. They have products for hair care, skin care and body care as well.
About Mielle
Mielle was founded by Monique Rodriguez in the year 2014. The reason she founded Mielle was that she had super healthy and long hair that she would frequently talk about on social media and no sooner, she gained a lot of followers.
She believed that using herbal blends, amino acids and minerals can help support all aspects of the body from hair, to skin, nails and even the physiological bodily system of a human being. It was all about using it the right way!
Today, Mielle sells their products in over 85 countries. The founder believes that Mielle should be a business that supports women all around the world.
Mielle products are formulated with the best and finest quality ingredients that are naturally-derived, as Monique thinks that healthy ingredients are those that can bring your hair life!
Brand Comparison: Shea Moisture vs. Mielle
Shea Moisture as a brand does not believe in testing any of their products on animals. That’s why every product of theirs is completely cruelty-free, as they aren’t animal tested. Mielle too has products that are cruelty-free, similar to Shea Moisture.
What I observed is that neither of these brands talks about their inclusion in environmental sustainability. So that’s an aspect I couldn’t touch upon here.
Ingredients
The ingredients used in Shea Moisture are all-natural and contain absolutely no sulfates, parabens, mineral oils, petrolatum or phthalates!
Some of the ingredients they use in their products are tamanu, yucca, sea buckthorn oil, sea kelp, sacha inchi seed oil, peppermint, quinoa, olive oil, orange, honey, hibiscus, jojoba oil, green tea and many more such natural ingredients and of course, all these are in addition to Shea Moisture’s signature ingredient – shea butter.
At Mielle, they also make products that are free from sulfates and parabens. They make products that contain natural ingredients like almond oil, mongongo oil, mint, avocado, ginger, honey, and babassu oil.
Range of Products
Shea Moisture has a wide range of products for hair and hair care like shampoos, conditioners, hair masks, hair treatments, hair styling products and wigs.
In addition to this, they also have body care and skin care products that include soaps, lotions, scrubs, washes, oils and bubble baths for the body, along with cleansers, face masks, face treatments, face wipes, lip balms and moisturizers for the skin.
The range of products at Mielle is also very wide. They have hair care products like shampoos, conditioners, scalp treatments, hair oils, moisturizers and hair masks. They also have skin care products, accessories, product bundles and vitamins on sale.
Pricing Comparison
The products at Shea moisture are quite affordable in my opinion. They start at $4.99 and go up to $36.00, which is a good price range.
Your product price will vary depending on the product you choose and quantity you wish to buy. I feel this is a reasonable price range for all classes of people.
Mielle too has a reasonably priced product price range, which starts at around $6.00 and goes up to even $40.00 (for product bundles), again all depending on what product or accessory the customer is looking to buy.
So pretty much I’d say that both these brands definitely have products that are affordable to most people.
Shea Moisture Curl Shampoo vs Shine Coconut and Hibiscus Shampoo
One of my favourite things to do is review products! Yes, I love to try and experiment with new products every now and then.
This time round, I tried out shampoos from both Shea Moisture and Mielle. What I did here was, I tried out shampoos that were specifically designed to rejuvenate curly hair to be able to give a good product comparison.
So well, here you go with my review guys!
From the brand Shea Moisture I tried out the Shea Moisture Curl and Shine Coconut and Hibiscus Shampoo and from the brand Mielle, I tried out the Mielle Organics Pomegranate Honey Moisturizing and Detangling Shampoo.
Well, to get into the product details, to start off with, my first try at a Shea Moisture was definitely worth it! It brought back life to my locs after many years and it did moisturize my hair pretty well. It really enhanced the definition of my curls.
On the other hand, the Mielle shampoo too worked like a charm. I tried this a few months after I stopped using the Shea Moisture.
In between, I used another shampoo brand that made my hair feel dull again and luckily, the Mielle shampoo revived my hair like never before. It made my hair feel soft and silky.
The ingredients used in this shampoo are pomegranate seed oil, silk proteins, babassu oil and citric acid. Again, these worked as great ingredients for my hair.
What I loved was the fact that both these shampoos had absolutely no sulfates, parabens, phthalates, mineral oils or any other such harsh chemicals and were all natural!
These shampoos were super easy to use; they had a great texture and lathered very well into my scalp and hair.
I bought both these shampoos as a set, along with their conditioners. So for the Shea Moisture shampoo I paid $ 17.27 for two 384 ml bottles of shampoo and conditioner, while the Mielle shampoo cost me $23.50 for two 355 ml bottles of shampoo and conditioner.
So clearly, Mielle seemed to be slightly higher priced in the pricing aspect. I bought these off of Amazon.
But I would like to make a mention about the pricing here. So when I checked the official website of these brands, the same Shea Moisture shampoo would cost me $11.99 (without the conditioner). It was more expensive than it was on Amazon, is what I found.
As for the Mielle shampoo (only) on its official website, the price was $12.99, which was the same price as I paid on Amazon.
Shea Moisture and Mielle: FAQs
Can both these shampoos be used like any other shampoos?
Yes definitely! Both these shampoos are regular cleansing shampoos and can be used like any other shampoo.
You will need to wet your hair well before applying a little shampoo and lathering it in. You can also dilute the shampoo with a little water for easier use.
Are Shea Moisture products only meant for African people?
No, anybody can use Shea Moisture products. They have products specifically designed for different hair types and textures.
They also cater to all skin types. So each customer can choose a product based on their requirements.
Finally, Is Shea Moisture or Mielle Better For Hair?
Well, if you ask me to choose just one brand as my favourite, I will definitely not be able to do that!
In my honest opinion, both these brands are equally at par with each other. In terms of brand ethics, in terms of their ingredients, their price range and also their range of products, they are very similar to each other.
They have a wide range of products to choose from that come in different price ranges that can cater to all classes of people. So this is something I liked.
The only thing that I felt was lacking in both these brands was their involvement in sustainability. Maybe they are sustainable brands, but since their official websites make no mention about this particular aspect. Hence, my thoughts are that they are currently lacking in this aspect.
But since they are world-renowned brands that have good brand ethics, I’m sure that this aspect would definitely be one that they would have considered, as global brands.
Also Read:
- OGX vs. Herbal Essences
- Loreal vs Matrix
- Shea Moisture Vs Not Your Mother’s
- Carol’s Daughter Vs Camille Rose
To Summarize