My hair today May 2nd

Put some Karen's Body Beautiful Butter Love (in Lavender Vanilla, yummy!) throughout and pulled it out a bit with my hands. Then pulled the sides back with side combs and smoothed them with Jane Carter's Nourish & Shine and some Eco Styler gel on the edges. Topped it off with some SheaMoisture Raw Shea Butter Elixir.

My Flexi-Rod Experience & Results: Take 1

Before washing out the SheaMoisture Souffle yesterday (see my last post), I decided that I wanted to try flexi-rods. So I dressed my son and let him scooter to the beauty supply store with me :) I really want to buy some Curlformers, but I can't drive myself to spend $60 on them with shipping. I saw on YT and read reviews that flexi-rods produced the same/similar results, so I decided to give them a whirl. The prob with buying curlers is you never know how many packs to buy. I decided to go with 4 packs of the short orange ones (5/8" wide) and 1 pack of the short grey ones (11/16" wide) for the front since I didn't plan on doing small sections. The brand is Diane and they were $2.99/pack of 6, so that ran me about $15, not bad.

When I got home, I washed my hair with the SM African Black Soap Deep Cleansing Shampoo (had to get that sticky souffle out), then the SM Raw Shea Butter Moisture Retention Shampoo (my absolute favorite!!), then conditioned with the SM Raw Shea Butter Restorative Conditioner. I decided since I was doing a roller set I would use light styling products to let it air-dry faster. So for each section of hair, I spritzed some water, then put some Jane Carter Revitalizing Leave-In Conditioner and her Wrap & Roll setting lotion and combed it through end to root with a small tooth comb. I really had no curling method, I was just made sure to smooth the ends of my hair on the rod, then I twirled the curler and bent each side to keep it put. I didn't go in a uniform direction or anything, I just did it. I swear, these chicks on YT make it look so easy! It wasn't hard per se, but it was a little tricky at times, especially since my hair isn't long so by the time I got into a groove, I was at the end, lol! I used the orange ones on the back and sides and the grey ones in the first two rows in the front. I was left with about 3 or 4 orange curlers, so I used about 27. Not bad, better than not having enough. I let it air dry the rest of the afternoon and night. Slept with my bonnet as usual. I have to say, it wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. Though I did end up with a headache in the middle of the night that I'm blaming on them :P

This morning I took them out and the results were good. Not exactly the smoothest, especially at the roots, but I think that's because it was my first attempt. I also didn't do it to achieve a smooth look, just some curls. I think I'll try the little papers with them the next time. 

The curls are tight and the only way not to look like a grandmother in my opinion was to do the mohawk look with the sides pinned back. That seems to be my go-to hairstyle since my hair is in that in-between length. This time I used hair pins instead of side combs. I separated each curl in 3 before doing that and used an afro pick to fluff the roots a bit. I sprayed some SheaMoisture Raw Shea Butter Reconstructive Elixir (LOVE!) throughout, put some Karen's Body Beautiful Hair Growth Serum on my edges and Jane Carter Nourish & Shine on my sides to smooth it a bit. Nothing with water to ruin my hard work! I ended up using Ecostyler Olive Oil Gel on my edges last minute to smooth them down as well. It looks cute...something I don't necessarily strive for, haha. I look like Little Bo Peep or something, lmao! As the week progresses, I'll pull it out more and mess it up a bit to create some volume and oomph.  

Shirley Temple or Little Bo Peep?

Close up, sides pulled back

Bang area needs to be fluffed more

 

Let's talk SheaMoisture

I took advantage of the Walgreens BOGO 1/2 off SheaMoisture sale a couple weeks ago and got my order last Tuesday. So this past Saturday, I had a date with SM products. I've owned a few of their products since April when I cut my locs, but never really did an actual review. Many other bloggers have been speaking about their products since last year, so I'm late, but here's my take.

I own and love their Raw Shea Moisture Retention shampoo, it leaves my hair feeling so soft. But I decided to use their African Black Soap Deep Cleansing Shampoo this time because my scalp felt itchy...and plus I had just bought it from Target last week with the $1 off coupon :D This line smells so good, the plantain in it gives it a banana scent. It definitely left my hair squeaky feeling, so much so that I actually was afraid it would get tangled! I'm not complaining though seeing as this is what clarifying and deep cleaning shampoos are supposed to do.

I took out the excess water from my hair and applied their Raw Shea Deep Treatment Masque (new purchase) and sat under my hair steamer for about 30 mins. A lot of naturals rave about this masque, and rightly so, it feels great in the hair. Good slip and I was able to detangle well with it. This particular line has a very strong scent because of the frankincense & myrrh so it should not be compared with their Coconut & Hibiscus line...or any of the others actually. When I rinsed, I then applied their Raw Shea Restorative Conditioner (new purchase) and rinsed out. This also felt nice on the hair and I was able to detangle with no problems. My hair was soft and manageable after. Sidenote: I love the pump on their conditioners. Makes it so much easier.

I then used the ABS Dandruff & Dry Scalp Elixir on my, you guessed it, scalp. I've had this for a while now and like it. It instantly relieves itchiness for me.
As a leave-in, I used their Yucca & Aloe Thickening Growth Milk and worked it into my hair. I LOVE the smell of this!! I'm still trying to figure out if it makes my hair thicker though, all I know is my hair feels nice and smooth once applied.

As a styler I used their Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie and also worked it in by finger combing. Then I put their Hold & Shine mist in and finished with their Raw Shea Reconstructive Elixir. This Elixir is a new purchase for me after only using my cousin's once the week before. It's great!! It gives my hair the best shine and sometimes I want shine from a spray bottle rather than a squeeze bottle, especially for wash-n-go's where I don't necessarily want to mess up my curls ;) 

I let my hair air dry instead of diffusing it since I wasn't in a rush and the outcome was shiny, healthy looking hair. Thumbs up!

I must say, I was a little afraid that I would have too many fragrances in my hair since each of their lines have such strong, distinct scents. But they worked well together and even now it still smells great.

Here is whether I plan on repurchasing or not:

Raw Shea Butter Line
Moisture Retention shampoo- LOVE, repurchase.
Restorative Conditioner (new)- Not sure yet if it needs to be a repurchase since a lot of cheap drugstore conditioners also produce the same soft hair.
Deep Treatment Masque (new)- Repurchase.
Reconstructive Elixir (new)- LOVE, repurchase.

I have the complete line.

Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Line
Curl & Shine Shampoo- I have a trial size, it's good, but doesn't need to be a repurchase.
Curl Enhancing Smoothie- Repurchase, good for twist-outs and wng's.
Hold & Shine Mist- I like, but I'm thinking it's more because I love the smell and not because it's doing anything extraordinary. It's a good curl reviver, but so are a lot of other products.

I don't have the Curl & Style Milk, but will get it sometime. I keep meaning to. The Souffle is still not available in New York City, but when it is, I plan to get it.

African Black Soap Line
Deep Cleansing Shampoo (new)- I'm not sure if I need to repurchase this since I can get lower costing "clarifying" shampoos that leave my hair feeling the same squeaky way.
Purification Masque (new)- Got it yesterday so I haven't tried it yet. But I have heard it's great for co-washing.
Dandruff and Dry Scalp Elixir- I'll keep buying this one.

I don't have the conditioner, not sure if I need to try it.

Yucca & Baobab Line
Volumizing Conditioner- Doesn't have to be a repurchase.
Thickening Growth Milk- Not sure if this will be a repurchase, the bottle is kind of small and I'm not sure it's any better than other hair milks. It does have biotin though...let's just say I'm on the fence about it being a repurchase or not.
Anti-Breakage Masque- Good, but doesn't have to be a repurchase.

Don't have the shampoo, not in a big rush to get it.

The summary: Because they don't really have instructions/directions on their labels, some people are left confused, but I think it's because they're basically saying, "Use it how you want!" A little direction can't hurt though, I mean the most basic of products have instructions on how to use it.  I also think the bottles of their milks in the line should be the same size as the shampoos and conditioners especially since they are the same price (for less). Other than the "likes" I've spoken about above and below, I also like that their products are rich and thick and not watered down like some products can be.  
All in all, SheaMoisture is a good quality, natural hair line that is not costly and is readily available at Target, Walgreens and Duane Reade. Something I value because I hate paying for shipping :D When I'm done using up all the other products I've bought and been experimenting with since April, SM will definitely be a staple for me. I've mentioned it before, I don't need to spend $20-$30 on a deep treatment if I don't have to ;)

My hair today

Yesterday

-Took out the left side of my hair (cornrows), probably shouldn't have done that right before work :S

-wng with SheaMoisture Coconut & Hibiscus poo

-Condish- QH Royal Curl conditioner mixed with Garnier Pure Clean condish

-Styled with SheaMoisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie and their Mist in the same line

Today

-Dampened hair in the shower

-Put SheaMoisture Yucca & Baobab thickening Milk throughout

-Finished with SheaMoisture's Mist

-Karen's Body Beautiful Growth Serum on my temples

Makeup is all Avon, their Caribbean Sunset eyeshadow quad is my current fav. Bronzer is by mark, blush also Avon as well as waterproof Glimmerstick eyeliner. Lips, Avon again, coral. Mascara is Maybelline. I have yet to find an Avon mascara that I am in love with.

SheaMoisture gel on the way @ Target this Sunday Aug. 28th!

I am such a gel freak since the wash-n-go style seems to be my style of choice with my length of hair. It's quick and it's easy. That being said, I'm still on the lookout for a cheaper Kinky Curly Curling Custard (KCCC) alternative. I love how it defines each coil and I get multiple day hair with it. I like Queen Helene's Curl Shaping Creme and it's the closest I've found so far (see my past review). Imagine my excitement when I found out that SheaMoisture will be debuting their Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Gel Soufflé with Agave Nectar & Flax Seed Oil this Sunday at Target. I like SM products because they're natural, smell great, work for my hair and they're readily available at Target, Duane Reade and Walgreens for only $9.99 each. Let's look at the two main ingredients, Agave Nectar is also in the QH creme and helps with moisture and curl defining, and Flax Seed Oil (aka Linseed Oil) is helpful not only for heart disease and high cholesterol, but for the hair as well as it penetrates the shaft inside and out and promotes healthy hair growth (YAY!) The Omega-3 fatty acids is the "super-ingredient" in this oil and a lot of other products or vitamins you may have come across. You can't go wrong.

Here's a sneak peek from the SM FB page:

I don't want to sound like an obsessive hair product psycho, but it does look like KCCC :$

They say that it's "A curl gel like no other out there -- it defines curls with agave nectar, sugar cane extract and pectin, not plasticized chemicals such as PVC and polymers that can buildup up in hair, as well as cause dryness and damage! And, it's all-natural!"

Naturally Curly & Natural Selections Curly Pool Party!

Since I quite frequent www.naturallycurly.com and their forums, I was excited when they announced they were having a pool party in NYC! I was least excited that they said you had to wear swimsuits, but I guess I wasn't the only one because they did away with that rule. The main focus of the event was to let people with natural hair know that they should not be afraid and can go swimming with their natural hair. There were representatives from Jane Carter Solutions (she was there herself), Hair Rules (owner Dickey was there as well), Ouidad and SheaMoisture. The cost was $25, but with a coupon code, you could have gotten $5 off. Come on, $20 for an event at a posh boutique hotel poolside where you get to mingle with other curlies, try products, see demonstrations, hear great music, get a $50 gift bag, and the chance to win an iPad and other prizes?!! I'm in! I told my cousin about it and we got our tix and were amped! She was especially interested in how to keep the form of her twist-outs. 

I decided to wear a romper with my bikini under even though I had no intention of swimming since, well, I can't :/ I'm more of a poser :D

My cuz also wore a romper, she looked adorable!

Of course, the MTA was being its normal self and made us later than we wanted, but we still got there in good time. When we walked in we got our gift bags right away. The ambiance was great, nice "club" lighting with ladies mingling and snacking in the first room with the bar, then around the corner poolside was where all the action was. Ladies swimming, others sitting and chatting, the dj and SheaMoisture were set up upstairs on one side. We checked them out and got some samples of their Raw Shea masque and some body scrubs and just scoped out the venue from high up. Then I spotted there was another section to the other side, wow, more?! So we went back down and back up to the other side. That place was buzzing. Jane Carter, Hair Rules and Ouidad were set up over there and it had normal lighting so you were able to see products and read labels and pamphlets. They even had someone re-twisting locs.

We went to JC first, she was so sweet. I basically told her that her Curl Defining Cream didn't do much for defining my curls for a wash-n-go, so she put a bit in my hair and did a finger-twist. I took that to mean that for my hair type, maybe it's best used for twist-outs. So I will try that. I actually didn't go to Ouidad, and Hair Rules was a mob scene! So we just took in some music, man that dj was good! They did the prizes shortly after, which I didn't win, I don't know what the deal is with that. We went back to the bar area and got a drink, whoa, hi there, $16! Hehehe, fine, it was the city and a hotel, we get it ;) Karen Tappin of Karen's Body Beautiful popped in, her hair was FIRE! I snapped a pic with her and we chatted, she remembered me from the Huetiful event at her store. We spoke about different peoples' perceptions of natural/curly hair. Then I saw Jane Carter by the bar, we also had a chat and she spoke about why she started her line. Basically she had an allergic reaction one day to some products and decided to start her own. Why the heck don't I think of these things? She gave us some more product recommendations. She really is a nice person, she said she felt like a celebrity when I asked for a picture because in NJ no one recognizes her. Ha! I actually didn't even know she was right here in NJ. Taren916 was also there, man do I love her YouTube videos. She was probably the first person I subscribed to when I first cut off my locs back in April. She's done a big chop since then, and still looks fab. When I saw Michelle of NaturallyCurly, I told her that I'm on her site basically all day and she said she wanted to interview me, so I met her outside and she asked me some questions with her iPhone 4 (that phone can do anything apparently) and I had to pretend I wasn't nervous and gave her answers. Let's hope it turned out okay! I love events like this. It was nice meeting the people who's products you use and chatting with other natural ladies with similar hair in different styles. It gave you style ideas, encouragement and just a "feel good" feeling about your hair.

View of pool area from the DJ area, the section with Jane Carter is right above

Jane Carter doing her thing

Jane giving my cousin advice

Ladies by the pool

Pool on the other side, so it was a swim-up bar

My cousin's pretty flower

Jane Carter and myself

Karen Tappin of Karen's Body Beautiful and myself

Taren and me

Dickey of Hair Rules and myself

Michelle of Naturallycurly.com and myself

Prize time!

More pictures here

In my goodie bag:

SheaMoisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl & Shine shampoo, 4oz

Jane Carter travel sized Curl Defining Cream and Revitalizing Leave-In

Hair Rules travel sized Nourishment Leave-In Conditioner

Ouidad Climate Control Heat & Humidity Gel, 6oz

I also grabbed samples along the way. This is a great way to decide if you like something without committing. Like I discovered that I love the Shea Moisture body scrubs and I now have to purchase one!

I can't wait for the next curly girl event which should be at Karen's Body Beautiful in two weeks.

** I apologize for the delay, I wrote this since July 29th and had it sitting as a draft until now! **

My hair today

Yesterday:
wng co-wash using Queen Helene Royal Curly Conditioner
Curl Junkie Curl Assurance Smoothing Lotion as the li
QH curl shaping creme as my styler

This morning:
Wet it a bit in the shower
Put 4 mini comb clips on the sides
Spritzed SM Hold & Shine spray
Connected by MOTOBLUR

Did a braid twist-out

Sunday night:

Pre-poo'd with Dabur Vatika Enriched Coconut Oil under a cap for about an hour
Washed with SM Raw Shea MR poo
DT- CJ Deep Fix with SM Smoothie
Steamed with Huetiful steamer
R/O- Oyin Honey Hemp
LI- Oyin Hair Dew
Used SM CE Smoothie and their hold & shine mist and did flat twists to take out in the a.m. My bangs, did bantu knots at the end of twists to shorten it to match the rest of my hair.

Yesterday, took out the twists and put some of Kyra's Ultimate Indulgence Sweet Mango Butter throughout. Parted the bangs in the middle and pinned each side. Didn't end up liking the style by the time I got to work, looked like two pony puffs at the side of my head, which I wasn't in the mood for.

Last night I picked it out and did some big braids, spritzing each section with water and a bit of Eco Styler Argan Oil gel. This morning, took out the braids and got rid of the parts with my fingers and put some of Kyra's mango butter again, but just on the canopy to tame the frizzies. The result is the picture above :)

Carol's Daughter Monoi Repairing Shampoo & Repairing Hair Mask- First Impression

Heyyyy, so I got samples of the above at the natural hair meet-up last Friday and used them both Saturday morning. When I first saw that the line was coming out, I was interested because anything "repairing", I want a part of, my hair is a bit damaged because I picked out my locs and didn't do a "big chop" at the new growth. I plan on trimming the damage as I go along. I absolutely love the smell of this line ever since I first smelled it when it debuted on May 9th (ummm, I just happened to be on my way to Target when I passed by the Carol's Daughter store, I swear). Anywho, the shampoo went on nicely (it's sulfate-free by the way) and made my hair soft where I was actually able to detangle with it. I put the mask on and a plastic cap for about 1/2 hour and when I washed it out, my hair didn't feel soft, it had that squeaky feel to it where you feel like if you pass a comb through it, it will break off...so I put some Oyin Handmade's Honey Hemp Conditioner in and washed it out and it was all good.  The sweet Monoi smell was gone though. Not sure if I'm a fan of that Honey Hemp orange peel smell, but let's leave that for another post, lol. I'm wondering if I used the mask too sparingly seeing as it was a trial size and maybe that's why my hair didn't feel moisturized? Not sure, but I'm going to use it up and give my final verdict when I do ;) I wish I got a sample of the conditioner, I love conditioners :)

The 8.5oz Repairing Shampoo is $18, $16.20 if you're a Carol's Daughter member, which I am because the membership was $5 at the time :D (10% discount).
The 8.5 oz Repairing Conditioner is $20, $18 for members
and
the 7 oz Repairing Hair Mask is $29, $26.10 for members

My hairstyle:
After I applied the Honey Hemp condish, I passed some Karen's Body Beautiful Heavenly Jojoba Hair Oil throughout my hair. Then I used some Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie (great natural-ingredient line and everything is $9.99 at Target) and Eco Styler Blue gel (Stockngo is the BOMB btw!) and did a two-strand flat twist on my wet hair and took it out the next day to go to another natural hair meet-up that I will post about later. My hair looked great I must say. I'm really digging the flat twist method more than the individual ones. There are less gaps and it looks more cohesive, which is ideal for my hair length right now. Chunky twist-outs look better when your hair is longer in my opinion.

How to do a two-strand flat twist-out you ask? I can't remember, but I think I got the idea from PrettyDimples01 on YouTube, I love her vids, check it out. I am entertaining the thought of starting my own vids, but I'm not sure, I feel like there are enough natural hair chica's doing hair videos, lol.