Review of Tia Mowry’s New Line, 4U By Tia

At the beginning of 2023 Tia Mowry of Sister Sister fame, launched a natural hair care brand. Tia’s focus was to put curls first, by offering safe, simple, and effective products. So she launched, 4U By Tia. Naturally I wanted to try them out, especially since I grew up watching Tia & Tamera. Of course I had to do some research prior to purchasing, because that is what I do.

I have been using Twist by Ouidad and Maui Moisture as of late. Upon researching 4U By Tia, I saw a lot of controversy of her promotion of the product, which I won’t get much into, except to say she should have just stuck to saying it was for all curly hair types not just black women, since our hair is different from person to person. I also saw some people saying the products caused their scalp to flake. This made me hesitant on buying the products, but I wanted to support her and try them out.

Price/Hemi15

All of her products are pretty affordable and can be found directly on the 4UByTia.com website or at Walmart. Her products range between $9.99 – $10.99. Tia also introduced Hemi15 to many of us. Hemi15 or hemisqualane is made from sugarcane that is 100% ethically grown and sustainable. It is said to be a silicone alternative that protects curls and reduces fizz while improving elasticity. All the products are silicone, paraben, and sulfate free.

Products Purchased

I purchased the clarifying and moisturizing shampoo, the lightweight conditioner, the leave-in curl cream, the curl defining gel, and the curl refresher mist. The line currently also has a moisturizing conditioner and a multi-use hair oil. I didn’t purchase the moisturizing conditioner because I have fine, thin hair and prefer lightweight products as to not weigh down my hair. I also have hair oils and don’t use them often so I didn’t feel the need to purchase another. I did purchase the Reset & Revive bundle and added on the moisturizing shampoo and the leave-in curl cream to be a tad more cost effective.

Clarifying Shampoo

This shampoo is said to remove product build up. It has apple cider vinegar to balance PH. It does have a fragrance, but it is very light and is listed last on the ingredient list. I liked it and it didn’t bother me. This is a 13 oz squeeze bottle, which is great because pumps can be annoying.

Moisturizing Shampoo

Said to gently cleanse and soften hair, the moisturizing shampoo makes your hair clean and hydrated. This also has a light fragrance, that gives a bit of apple. There is also watermelon extract in it. It is definitely more thicker than the clarifying shampoo. It is also 13 ounces and a squeeze bottle.

Lightweight Conditioner

13 ounce squeeze bottle also contain sea moss, which is supposed to fortify curls against breakage. It says it detangles and gently moisturizes. It had a good slip to it considering it was lightweight. I found that it really made my hair very soft.

Curl Defining Gel

This 6 ounce squeeze bottle had a unique twist top, it clicks open and close. The negative about this is that if you don’t get all the product out before you close it then it’s all messy. It also can be slippery to twist closed as well. This product should be used on damp hair and gives a soft to medium hold. It has a bit of a snot sticky feel to it.

Leave-In Curl Cream

The leave-in cream has the same 6 ounce squeeze bottle as the gel. Tia’s site also says that it has thermal protection all the way to 450 degrees. The cream also smooths frizzes. It is nice as it glides across the hair.

Curl Refresher Mist

This mist is for days when you need to refresh your hair. It is supposed to hold curls 1.2x longer after 48 hours and maintain moisture for 24hours. I found that when I sprayed it, it took a bit to realize that it was coming out, it is a pretty fine mist. A couple days later after using it, my hair felt a bit too oily and then it needed to be washed.

My Results

Since I kept hearing, that 4U By Tia, was giving some people flakes, I didn’t want to go all out and diffuse my hair. I wanted to just wash it and braid it into 2 to see what would happen. The first time trying the products, I only used the clarifying shampoo, lightweight conditioner, the gel, and leave-in. I quickly noticed there were a few flakes, but nothing very noticeable unless you were digging around my scalp.

The second time I used the products, I decided to switch out the shampoos and use the moisturizing shampoo, the conditioner, gel, and leave-in. This time my scalp got extremely flakey. I tried to get it off, but it got worse and my scalp was really itchy. So itchy that I had to rewash my hair the next day.

Experimenting to determine what might be the cause of this was now my goal. I rewashed my hair, but didn’t use either shampoo, but instead a different brand, and only the conditioner and leave-in. I had no issues. The wash after that I used a different shampoo again, the conditioner, and only the gel. Again no flake issues. I had a feeling it was the shampoo, but wasn’t sure if the other products were also causing it as well. Turns out, at least for me, it was just the shampoos. My hair did feel very soft using the products.

I am going to continue to use 4U By Tia, minus the shampoos, but I don’t see me repurchasing these products unless there is a change, then I may reconsider.

Have you tried 4U By Tia?