Budget friendly panacea alternative?

**chloeishere** · March 16th, 2012, 12:37 PM

I understand wondering if there is a knockoff (I would have wondered the same thing as a new person on the forum). It is fairly cost effective to purchase it from the source, when you have more funds.

Fox's Shea Cream is nice, but is nothing like panacea, which I have also tried. They are so different I would not venture a comparison (regardless of the "similar ingredients.") I have two sample containers of panacea (that I got off the swap board), and I need barely any (a dab on the fingertip of my index finger) on my near-tailbone length hair as a leave-in (I don't use it as a deep treatment, personally). My hair is finer and less thick than yours, so you may need to use more-- but it's not a product you need a giant tub of, especially at first, IMO.

That said, you certainly do not need to buy panacea to grow long, healthy hair. I like plain old coconut oil as a deep treatment, I gob in a bunch and put a plastic bag over it to keep my head warm. Using coconut oil and shea butter combined by themselves as a leave-in will probably be sticky and close to solid unless it's very warm where you live, just FYI.

I don't think it was necessary to tell the OP she should "get a job", as we don't know her situation-- not everyone wants to spend a lot on hair products (and that's not a bad thing). When I first joined the forum, I was hesitant to spend a lot of money on ANYTHING for my hair, since I didn't know what would work for me, and I didn't know if it would be a long lasting interest of mine. The OP may not have known that Nightblooming is a shop owned by an LHC member, and since she's never used it, she might not realize how different it is, and therefore difficult to find a comparable product.

ETA: Those who have never tried panacea (which is fine, it's none of my business what you do or don't buy or why), are probably not the most qualified to suggest substitutions for it. Purchasing emulsifying wax, shea butter, and coconut oil (and it would be hard to find small amounts for cheaper than a sample size) will almost certainly require a larger initial financial output for a product that is not at all similar, and also may not work well for the OP. I have several pounds of shea butter, cocoa butter, jojoba oil, etc. sitting in the basement, slowly going bad because I bought a lot of stuff when I joined here, thinking it would be a good investment, but they don't work especially well for my hair or skin. Having a larger quantity of a product that doesn't work is not better.

Welcome to LHC, jennescence!

**jennescence** · March 16th, 2012, 12:55 PM

Well than, I would just like to simply add that i do have a job. Making $11.00 an hour liftinng about 1,400 50 pound boxes a day. I do not have extra money because My oldest brother died from diabetes a year ago and i now care for his four children. 1 girl and 3 boys. At 19. All by myself. So shame on you for telling me to get a job. I have sacrificed everything for these children. Given up my hopes and dreams of college for them. But i love them so it does not matter for me. As far as collecting cans. Well i do that too lol. I cannot afford one thing right now. It does not mean i will not buy it in the future. I love what Nightblooming is all about. So please watch what you say. You never know someones situation or what they are going through. I come here to let go and have some time to myself. It seems harder and harder sometimes to come here and enjoy myself.

**SimplyViki** · March 16th, 2012, 12:56 PM

Another one who has tried both Fox's cream and Nightblooming's Panacea here!

I came across the recipe for Fox's cream when I was lurking around the boards before I joined. I tried it out, and found it was sticky and unpleasant to use on my hair.

Later on, when I found Nightblooming's Panacea, I didn't buy it for a while because I recognized some similar ingredients and also figured that they were essentially the same thing. I'm glad I finally tried it, though, because it turns out that they're not the same at all - they behave much differently in my hair. The Panacea is smoother and silkier, so I actually enjoy using it. Plus it smells pretty!

ETA: Jennescence, I'm sorry you're going through a tough time right now, and that you've been made to feel like you have to explain your personal life to us.

**jennescence** · March 16th, 2012, 01:01 PM

ETA: Jennescence, I'm sorry you're going through a tough time right now, and that you've been made to feel like you have to explain your personal life to us.

I never wanted this place to be about my personal life , but people must understand they cannot say certain things.

**jennescence** · March 16th, 2012, 01:09 PM

I'm pretty sure i am going to buy the small one asap

**Deborah** · March 16th, 2012, 01:10 PM

Originally Posted by jennescence

I never wanted this place to be about my personal life , but people must understand they cannot say certain things.

You poor little thing. I hate the way snotty people have trashed you on this thread. If you will PM me your real name and mailing address, I'll buy some and have it sent to you. I'd love to do this for you, so please let me.

Deborah

**jennescence** · March 16th, 2012, 01:15 PM

You poor little thing. I hate the way snotty people have trashed you on this thread. If you will PM me your real name and mailing address, I'll buy some and have it sent to you. I'd love to do this for you, so please let me.

Deborah

i will pm you

but just to be friends. I dont want people to feel bad about me

**LaceyNg** · March 16th, 2012, 01:21 PM

Originally Posted by Deborah

You poor little thing. I hate the way snotty people have trashed you on this thread. If you will PM me your real name and mailing address, I'll buy some and have it sent to you. I'd love to do this for you, so please let me.

Deborah

that's so sweet of you, Deborah! its nice to see the compassion we can have for people we've never even met

**princessp** · March 16th, 2012, 01:48 PM

I think you will love the panacea jennescence! And I would send you the remainder of my small size too, but it looks like Deborah will be sending you a brandy-new one-cool.

With that said I think the issue people are having is simply with the word "knock-off", it sort of rubs people the wrong way (me included, I was like "oh no you didn't!" lol). I know the OP meant no harm though. This community just has a long history regarding this. In my short time here I have witnessed some of the hair product/hairtoy wars that have gone on. So please jennescence try not to take it personally, it isn't you.

With that said I love, love, LOVE you Nightshade (you know that right?)

and you must know I love your products (BTW, I've just tried your annointing oil and it is to die for). But I also agree with gretchen_hair that LHC should not be a place where we make people feel bad for not buying products from one vender or another. We should all feel like we can give honest reviews of products without retribution. Regarding Nightblooming mine happen to be all good, but that doesn't mean someone else has had the same experience with her products. I think these reviews are vital and we should not beat someone up for recounting their experiences/giving alternatives or the information will be biased. We all have different hair. For instance people at LHC seem to overwhelmingly love SMT, but it didn't work for me. I'm thankful I was able to post that in the SMT thread without getting "beat up" for it. Now people know it doesn't work for someone with hair like mine. The OP's concern is not about quality, but about price. Ktani, I think it was kind of you to offer the OP a possible solution. And mira-chan added some really good additional information regarding that. Isn't that one of the reasons why we are here? To help one another out and try to find ways to manage our hair better?

There might be some background "bad blood" floating around this thread among members that I'm not aware of, so I'm sorry if I've stepped on any toes. I'm just saying I believe asking for alternatives and giving suggestions is 100% reasonable.