Has anyone ever tried these products? I had a Spanish godmother who used to use these products, but I could never find them, and today I was at Shop Rite and they happened to have a new Hispanic product section, and are carrying the entire line of Mirta's shampoos, conditioners, rinses, and even "setting gel"s (which I love because that is SO grandma-ish -- I mean nowadays everyone uses styling gel, but grandmas always used dippity-do and other fun "setting" products) anyways, the ingredients are:

sulfated castor oil, purified water, hydrolyzed silk protein, fragrance, methylchloroisothiazolinone, methylsothiazolinone, FD&C Yellow no. 6 D&C Green no.5 and D&C Red no.33 (has anyone ever noticed that it's always red no. 33? I mean what the heck ever happened to the other reds?)

The stuff smells great -- kind of like pineapple or fruit punch, and the instructions are:

Use twice a week. Apply oil on dry hair with a cotton ball, opening hair lines 1/2 in. away from each other until scapl and hair are saturated with oil. Keep oil away from face: rinse any oil which may have fallen onto face, neck, and ear area. Interlock hands. Place palms on center of scapl and massage back and forth for 15 minutes. Rinse by applying small amounts of tepid water at a time and lather into a foam, until the oil has disappeared. Apply shampoo around hairline and then rinse well. Follow with conditioning rinse on ends.

I'm going to try it tomorrow, and will report back..but it looks interesting and I'd love to hear from anyone who has tried it!!!

ok this is the website for the products:

http://mirtadeperales.us/index.htm

however, it is in spanish, so it may not be of any use to many of you! but I will try to keep looking for an english version for those who can't read spanish...

and conforming with the political correctness, they are a Latina line of hair care and have been around for AGES. Mirta de Perales is a well-know Latina entrepeneur and has been selling her products for many years...so they must be successful.

I used the shampoo once or twice when I was a kid. It left my hair very soft. The products are very good for dry to extremely dry hair.

Hope you have a good experience with them.

haha...you're correct -- as Mirtha's is from Cuba, they would be Latina not Hispanic products -- my family is Hispanic, and I have the tendency to claim everything in the name of Spain! (Maybe it's in the blood line ;) )

ok my experience with the oil shampoo:

I used a cotton ball to apply it to my hair. It was VERY sticky, so even though the instructions said to massage your hair and scalp for 15 minutes, I didn't for fear I'd rip all my hair out...

It did lather up and wash out nicely. And my hair is very shiny and straighter than usual. I'd use it again. B+

I am Hispanic too and I really don't have any real qualms as to the whole Hispanic/Latina debate. Just doesn't make a difference to me, but I am trying to get used to incorporating it into my vocab...never know who might take offense these days.

Where is your family originally from?

Mine is mom = Dominican Republic and dad = El Salvador...so I am a real mutt ;)

Half my family is actually from Spain (so they are REALLY Hispanic) -- I believe near Cordoba, the rest of my family is Italian and Arabic -- I'm all Mediterranean...

And often wishing I was a red-headed Irish woman, but the grass is always greener... ;)