Lovely Mix

Just a quick post to say I am really loving the Hollywood Olive Oil Creme/Shea mix. It's been keeping my hair so soft and locking in the moisture without being greasy. I had a problem with my hair feeling really oily with the castor oil and feeling oily and being weighed down with pure shea. Mixing these two together is absolutely perfect! I am really happy with this. Luckily, I have a lot. I made the mix in a an empty Lustrasilk Cholesterol jar. Most of you know how big that is. And that was only about half of the Hollywood Olive Oil and I have tons of shea butter. I'll be using this mix for a long time! Yay!

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!

Keep it simple

I was reading some hair site, not sure which one, and there was a woman with a fierce w-n-g. She wrote instructions on how she acheived hers. She had a long list of steps that were too much for a w-n-g in my opinion. To me, it's real simple: cowash, shake, moisturize and seal.

One good thing while reading her list was I remembered that my w-n-g turns out soooooo much better if I leave a little of the condish in when I cowash. So, using HETT, I did a cowash. I shook my head (I tend to use a washrag to cover my face so the condish doesn't get on my face). Moisturized with SoftSheen Carson Roots of Nature and sealed with castor oil. I let my hair drip dry so I wrap an old tshirt around my shoulders when I do whatever else I need to do. I've gotten to the point where I don't even blot my hair with the tshirt or a towel. It seems to work better for me that way because my texture easily gets frizzy. But to keep it from dripping too long, I do shake my hair for at least a minute to get rid of as much excess water as possible.

I immediately loved the results. My hair looked like it did when I just get out of the shower. Perfect curls with practically no frizz. And the curls were so well defined. I love it. A couple of people asked if I did a strawset. I've done it a 3-4 times with the same results.

One thing I can say, I don't like how my hair hangs down when it's dry. I fluff when it's 75% dry. I also think it's funny that the front seems to hang down like bangs if I don't fluff it a lot.  

One of my new favs!

Elasta QP Mango Butter Moisturizer. I had been wanting some for a while but was having the hardest time finding. Not sure why. I finally found some and I was super excited to try it. I co-washed immediately so I could use it on fresh hair. The smell is divine!!!! Everyone in my house was oohing and ahhing over the smell (mainly b/c I was pushing it under their noses saying "smell this!).

It's really thick which is something I and my hair absolutely love. The thick moisturizers work so much better for me. I was already aware that EQMB has silk protein so I was worried about using it. My hair doesn't require a lot of protein and will quickly feel rough from the application of it. On the ingredient list, silk was pretty close to the bottom so I felt a little bit safer. There's probably not that much in it. I still only used a small amount and followed that with the shea/softsheen carson mix that I made before (hoping to offset any protein overload). Then, I sealed with castor oil.

I did this for a couple of days before realizing using all 3 of these was too much. My hair was feeling really good. Well moisturized and strong and soft but...it was too much product. You could feel it on my hair when you touched it. So I washed with poo to clarify and tried again. This time I used shea to seal (shea doesn't moisturize my hair) but still used both moisturizers (still have this protein fear). It was lighter with the shea instead of castor oil but I still felt it was too much. I cut back on moisturizing though. I normally have to do it every day. Esp in this cold weather. But with this combo, every other day or two was working perfectly.

I'm going to be brave and try just using the EQMB and shea and see how that works. Either way, I love this stuff and will be keeping it in supply. I love the smell and it really does make my hair feel silky smooth. (lol...silky smooth...so corny!)

Back to our regularly scheduled program

My hair was so mad a me a couple of weeks ago. I ran out of deep condish and due to lack of extra funds, couldn't purchase anymore. My hair has gotten used to the weekly dc routine and was feeling dry and nothing was keeping me moisturized. I had also discovered that wearing protective styles caused my hair to dry out more than when I wore w-n-g's. Stretched hair means less of the natural oils my scalp produced was making it to my ends (due to gravity) thus leading to more dryness.

I attempted to give myself a couple of different dc treatments that turned out horribly! First I attempted oil using melted shea butter and evoo. I guess I used too much b/c it was running down my face and was just a big mess. I also don't have a dryer so I was just hoping for penetration w/o the use of heat. I didn't notice any results but I know I did it incorrectly.

Second, I tried a mixture. I mixed Creme of Nauture condish with honey and the rest of the shea/evoo mixture. In an attempt to incorporate heat, I wet a hand towel with extremely hot water and wrapped that around my head which was covered in a shower cap. I rewet with the hot water when it cooled off. It worked okay but just didn't give what my hair needed.

In the meantime, I wore protective styles and moisturized daily. When I realized my hair seemed much dryer as it stretched more, I switched to w-n-g's daily. I was finally able to get more dc and another product I was exited to try. More on those things in my next post.

My regimine...

well....sort of. It's wha't I've been doing for the past couple of weeks and I'm liking it. There will be adjustments along the way I'm sure but this is the basics.

Day 1: Co-wash for the purpose of detangling. Once detangled and rinsed, lightly towel/t-shirt dry (just enough for my hair to stop dripping). Apply deep condish. I don't use heat so I let it sit for an hour or two if I get sidetracked. Rinse with luke warm water. I do this at night so no styling necessary. Also, I shampoo every two weeks and protein dc once a month. Those steps are done after I detangle.

Days 2 & 3: Wash n gos. Currently, my hair is at this weird length where my WNG doesn't last a few days like it used to. My hair gets tangled and looks crazy even when I fluff and spray with water the next day. It's unbelievable frizzy and I can't make it looke good even the 2nd day. So, I usually end up cowashing both days.

Days 4-7: Some type of twist out style. I spritz my hair with water until damp, apply Herbal Essence Long-Term Relationship as a leave-in, apply moisturizer and sealer and then style. It can be simply a twist-out or it can be flat twist design with a twistout in the back. How I maintain this is by retwisting every other day or daily if I don't like how it looks on a particular day. I love doing this though because the more I retwist, the bigger my hair gets. I alternate between flat twistout and two strand twistout. for instance, on thursday I did two strand and that saturday, I did flat twist. My one issue is retaining moisture. My hair dries out really fast when stretched. I have to moisturize everyday. I need a better moisturizer!

Picture time!

This is how my hair looks when I first styled it. I'll retwist like this some nights also.

This is retwisting at night with bantu knots for extra curl.

This is how the style looks after 2 days. Big!!!!!

Quick update

Just a quick update on adding shea and whipping the SoftSheen Carson moisturizer. The longer it sat, the thicker it got. I love the thickness right now because it is very creamy. Only downfall, its not mosturizing my hair enough.

2010!!!!!!!!!!!

My resolutions for my hair:

1. Improve moisture. I don't know what I need to do but I have to work on this. My hair dries out entirely to quickly. It's truly worse since it's winter but I need to figure out something to cure this before winter ends so I know what to do next winter.

2. Retain length. This hasn't been an issue thus far but I want to keep the growing going.

3. Do a slight revamp to my moisturizing dc and protein dc (as well as decide how often to use the proteing dc). I really like my current moisturizing dc but a few months ago while I was experimenting, I liked it better. I will go back and review past post to see which condish I was using that I like the most. For the protein, every one of them makes my hair feel rough for a few days. I have 2 and will find a way to incorporate them together with moisturizers and see how that works.

And, I got a new phone which has a wonderful camera on it. I'm sure I'll be able to post more of the picts I take....such as these two! lol! These are picts of wet hair with no product.

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.

Mixtress

I know I haven't done much lately but complain about these twist in my head. So I promise not to do that...for a few days. LOL! Actually, I really am not going to post anything about them until I write the words "they are finally out."

So I've been thinking about my role as a mixtress. I've tried a weak mixture with my shea butter. I was looking to make a combo of moisturizer and sealer. I ended up with just a sealer. I know this is because of the HCO. It's too heavy and I think I used a lot.

There are so many products I wasnt to incorporate into a mixture: mango butter (i'm dying to try this) JoJoab oil and Coconut oil being the top of my list. I also want some type of scent to add. Like...strawberry kiwi or something. But I realized something very important: I don't have the funds for that! It's rare that I come across extra money and although I love my hair, this would be an unnecessary purchase. I don't have to purchase these things.

I am in need of a moisturizer. That is a need, not a want. In the next couple of weeks, I'm going to scrap together some money and purchase some Aloe Vera gel so that I can make some Shealoe. I have never heard anyone say a harsh word about the mixture. I'm going to give it a try. And it won't break my pockets!

Tarnished gold or...

Saturday, I got the Senegalese twist done. I was very impressed because the stylist did them in 5 hours. He also didn't do them tightly so my scalp didn't feel like it was being ripped out. I was very pleased with those two things. Oh, and he did them to my lower back which is a great lenght with these type of twist.

That is where my pleasure in this experience ends. I was disappointed because although he works with natural hair, he used a fine tooth comb to detangle my dry curly hair. (I should have said something.) The finished look, although overall fab, was full of fuzzies. (Fuzzies meaning the hair that is usually trimmed or burned away at the end. I actually did a bit of trimming when I got home.) While irritating, I felt like I could deal with those things. Not that big of a deal.

But, this final issue...a very big deal. When I left the salon, I felt like my own hair was sticking out of the twist too much. I just felt that next time I do these twist, I need to blow dry my hair. I'm thinking it was probably because my hair was in it's natural curly state that this was causing and issue. As the week went on, more and more of my hair seemed to be sprouting from the twist. Yesterday morning, Saturday, I woke up because my head was itching very badly. I hadn't washed since last Friday. I watered down some poo and massaged it into my scalp. I shook the excess water from the ends and used the tshirt method to dry my hair. (I'll explain that in my next post.) When I removed the tshirt, it looked like the twist had been in for over a month, not a week. My hair was sticking out everywhere!

I was familiar with the basics of doing the twist so I carefully untwisted one. I examined the way he braided the hair into mine and then took it all the way out. I retwisted and then tackled the next one. (I'm using shea and ic fantasia gel to twist) I must say, I'm doing a pretty good job. My hair is looking better than it did last Saturday. Hardly any fuzzies at all! So although I'm upset that I paid for a style that should have lasted 3 months and barely lasted a week, I learned how to do Senegalese twist!

Silver lining people....silver lining.

Moisture....or lack thereof

I'd been saying for a while that I would make a mixture with my shea butter. I made a mix but didn't say anything about it. Although I was feeling okay about the mix, I wanted to add som EO (essential oils) and other butters to it. I just never got around to doing it.

Currently the mixture is Shea, EVOO and Hollywood Castor Oil (it had a bunch of stuff that I can't pronounce mixed in it. I'm sure I won't be using it in the mix but I needed to add something and it was what I had. I have a lot because it's so heavy and thick, only a small amount is needed. I'm thinking I'll use it on my scalp this winter while I have the Senegalese twist in so I can try and get rid of it.)

Since I had the shea and HCO in the mix, I figured it would work as both moisturizer and sealer like pure shea does for me. WRONG! It wasn't doing any type of moisturizer, just coating my hair. My hair has been dry and rough for weeks and I couldn't figure out why. At first, it was feeling this way and the suddenly...dryness. I talked to MSatch and tossed around ideas like maybe it was because of my monthly cycle (she laughed at me) and that I wasn't drinking enough water and eating properly.

A few days later, I realized the problem. I had stopped using my beloved NHCP because I'd run out and the store I get it from was out of stock also. So I was just using the mix hoping it would tackle both moisture and sealant jobs. It totally wasn't cutting it. My hair would feel soft the day of a cowash but after that, dry and rough.

Now that I see the issue, I have started using pure shea to moisturize and the mix to seal. I'm thinking it the HCO that is preventing the shea from penetrating and moisturizing my hair. That's a big reason why I will not use it again when I make a mix. Since my hair is going to be gone for the winter, I won't be able to experiment with this issue til spring. I'll probably purchase some EOs and mango butter this winter so I'll be prepared though. (oh, and I am drinking more water. have to start with the inside and work my way out!)

Shower caps, combs and other randomness

I've been working on not wetting my hair everyday. So today, I'm getting ready to get in the shower and I look over at the shower cap that I use when I do deep condish. I look at it and debate whether or not I should put it on. I mean, I'm not wetting my hair. But then I decided not to put it on. I'd just let the steam from the shower refresh my curls. I'll probably only use a shower cap for condish. Wonder if other natualistas use shower caps in the shower.

I was in the shower and looked over at a wide tooth comb. It has been sitting in the same spot for a month and a half. I haven't touched it since I decided to finger detangle and use more HEHH (which btw I love b/c it enhances my curls). It's the only place in the house that actually has a comb and it's just sitting there all lonely. Maybe I'll use it again when my hair gets longer.

Almost wondering why I still have an umbrella. The only time it's come out of the truck since my bc was when permed friends have asked to use it.

Speaking of my lovely permies, they all ask me the same question: "How do you deal with nappy edges." I've read a few blogs where the women are always devising ways to get their edges to lay flat. They use gels, shea butter, head wraps and a multitude of other things. One of my friends who has no understanding of natural hair is always telling me to use brown gel or that Jam crap to lay my "baby hair" down. (I truly hate the term baby hair, we are adults!) I actually don't think about my edges. They blend with the rest of my hair. Nappy and curly. I do use gel for certain styles but for the most part, I don't even think about making my edges lay down.

Okay, think I'm done with randomness.

Why is this a secret?

Why haven't my fellow naturalistas and healthy hair journey goers been singing the praises of the retail chain The Vitamin Shoppe? I was YouTubing again and came across a woman talking about her shea mix and she had a note saying she purchased ALL her essential oils (EO) from TVS. I stared at the screen blankly and then said "duh!!"

That should have not been something I never thought about. They are clearly a store that sells things that are good for your body. Why wouldn't the sell EO and things of the sort? I guess I just assumed it was a store that only sold supplements to be taken internally.

So I go the website and burst into a Koolaid smile when I see how inexpensive this stuff is. Every EO was under $10, some less than $5. Veggie Glycerin was $14 but it was a pretty big bottle. They have all types of scented oils also. And I just checked out the blog The New Napptural Me and this chick said she got coconut oil there. I checked TVS and they have a 14oz jar of organic coconut oil for $5.99!!!!!!!!!!

Again my healthy hair sisters: Why is this a secret?!?! We need to be shouting out TVS from the rooftop of every building! I will so be there tomorrow. I've made my list and checked it twice....sure I've been naughty but TVS seems to be so nice. Lol! Sorry for the rhyme, the writer in me came out! I'm just excited to go to TVS tomorrow.