Hollywood Olive Cholesterol Deep Conditioning Creme

So this was the free sample size deep condish that came with my newly beloved Hollywood Olive Oil Creme. It has the same gross smell that all cholesterol conditioners have. Since I love mixing stuff, I made a crazy mixture with this.

First of all, I'm always confused as to whether or not cholesterol deep conditioners are supposed to be protein or moisturizers. I read something different on every site. I was in dire need of protein and I wanted to use this new condish. I also didn't want to use the entire container on one usage although that would have been possible since it was just a sample. I ended up using half of the Hollywood Olive Cholesterol (2 oz), about the same amount of Lustrasilk Olive Oil Cholesterol and about 3 oz of Nubian Heritage Coconut & Papaya Conditioner. (I'm not sure if I work about Nubian Heritage C&PC. It completely organic and 100% Black owned. It's unfortunately hard to find. Just like the moisturizer that I loved but haven't been able to get more of. I'm not happy about paying for shipping on a 4oz moisturizer that already cost $8. It has really strong proteins in it. Ingredients: Coconut oil, Jojoba oil, Olive oil, Filtered water, Veggie Glycerin, Kaolin Clay, Coconut Milk, Wheat germ oil, Aloe vera, Veggie Wax, Pro-vitamin b-5, Veggie gum, Papaya extract, Vitamin E and Rosemary extract. Proteins are in bold. It was expensive: &9 for 8oz but a great product.)

These 3 mixed together turned out really good. The Nubian Heritage has a very strong clay smell and the cholesterols have that chemical smell. I really didn't like the smell. They worked well together though. It gave me the protein and strength I really needed and when I rinsed, my hair was actually feeling pretty good. I have been staying away from protein because of how rough it makes my hair feel. It was not the case here. My hair actually felt soft and had some curl definition (normally lose that after protein also).

Even if I never purchase the Hollywood Olive Cholesterol, I will continue to mix the Nubian Heritage with a cholesterol condish. My hair was a bit easier to detangle after the protein treatment.

Hollywood Olive Oil Creme

In my last post, I talked about all of the products I purchased at Walgreen's. I'm going to start doing reviews on them. First up: Hollywood Olive Oil Creme (HOOC). I purchased this to use as a sealant. When I opened the jar, it was really creamy (hence the name but I had a duh moment. lol!) I was worried that with it being so creamy, it wouldn't seal in the moisture. I immediately decided to whip it with shea. I have tons of shea that I wasn't really using because I didn't like how it made my hair feel coated. I actually thought I was the only one with that problem but I have found out that some peoples hair just doesn't like oils. Their hair works better with creamier products. I knew this from using products too watery but didn't make the connection to oils until just recently.

Anyway, I whipped the entire container with a a little less than equal parts shea butter. I also added 2 tbsps of olive oil but I just did that because I felt like I should be adding something to the mix. I'm sure it didn't need it. It came out really fluffy and creamy. When I scoop it out, it looks like whipped cream!

I used this to seal after applying Elasta QP Mango Butter. The combination was perfect! The HOOC mix didn't leave my hair feeling coated and oily like most sealants do. When I touched my hair, it felt smooth and moisturizer, not oily. I kept touching my hair, expecting to pull back oily fingers but nope! None greasy moisturizer hair. The only thing I don't like is the smell. YUCK! It smells like Cholesterol Deep Condish from Lustrasilk or any other cholesterol dc. Those smells remind me of perms and always make me nervous when I use them. I keep thinking I'm going to rinse and end up with permed hair. lol! The mango butter and shea balance out the smell a bit but not enough for me. I'm going to have to get some type of EO to mix in there asap! But I love it despite the scent.

4 more products reviews to come. Stay tuned!

Liquidy yet creamy

If you remember, last week I was talking about the SoftSheen Carson moisturizer I purchased and how it was too liquidy for my hair. I was contemplating whipping it or something to thicken it up. Reason being, I'm broke so even when I get a product that doesn't give stellar results, I'll work with it and see how I can make it work with my hair. I have only purchased 2 products that I haven't used (because they had mineral oils) and even those, I gave away to people who wanted to use them.

Taking the advise of other naturals, I decided to whip the SSC with shea butter. I didn't want to use too much shea butter because I feel it doesn't act as a moisturizer for my hair, but a sealant. I melted the shea using the double boiler method (Or in my case, double cups. I use a microwave safe cup to heat up some water. I scoop shea into a disposable cup and set that inside of the heated water until shea is mostly melted). I poured both into an emptied and cleaned jar that once held Cholesterol deep condish. Since the mouth of that jar is really wide, I was able to blend them while in the jar. I have a hand mixer so just had to remove one of the blades to fit in the jar. I mixed for about 5 minutes and them put it in the freezer to help set it.

Initially I was disappointed. It was still pretty liquidy. I let it sit for a few days before using it and it thickened up a little bit. The consistency right now it okay but it's still not creamy enough for my personal preference. I'm thinking of whipping it again but I'm afraid to add more shea and end up with no moisture making it to my hair.

I've still got quite a bit of this stuff left though. I'm not sure what I'll do with it. Lessons learned from both moisturizers: 1. research before purchase to make sure it's not a protein since my hair doesn't like that stuff. 2. ONLY purchase cream moisturizers as the liquid forms aren't thick enough to work.

Finally, protein success

I was informed the ORS pack I used was a moisturizing condish, not protein like I thought. So that kind of changed my prespective on it but only a little. I still like how soft my hair was but it pretty much gave the same results as the mixture I've made.

I was still wondering what to do for a deep protein condish. I had almost enough LustraSilk Cholesterol left for one use. I added the rest of the ORS pack, EVOO, honey, and some HEHH (only added because there wasn't enough of the other 2 condishs to cover my hair). I remember the condish breaking down a lot when I added salt so I didn't want it to be in the mixture too long. I mixed it in just before application. I let it set, no heat, for an hour.

As I rinsed, I was pleased that my hair didn't feel as rough as it normally does when I rinse out LustraSilk. It's not the normal softness but it felt really good. It was almost 230am by the time I rinsed and I wanted it to dry faster. Being very horrible to my hair, I rubbed a towel over my hair to absorb most of the water. My hair was poofy and curls were pretty much non-existent. I generously applied Nubian Heritage Coconut & Papaya Hair Butter. Some of my curls came back but it will require some work to look good tomorrow.

My hair is about 95% dry. It has never felt so soft after protein. I'm going to stick with LustaSilk Cholesterol as my protein. I realize now that I just have to add a really good moisturizing condish.

Oh and I had been thinking my hair was breaking off from lack of protein. When I rinsed my hair, I took the time to check out the hair I lost. Hardly any of it was broken hair, it was mostly shed hair. I saw the white bulb things on the ends so I knew there were shed. All of the strands looked really thick and strong.