Oils for my hair - Yes!

I really like this. I gave the Tropical Coconut condish another as a co-wash and used the VO5 Tea Therapy as my leave-in. This was followed by using the TW oyl and wow! My responded so well to this oil it is truly unbelievable. I still had tangles but after combing through I was able to pull my hair back into a afro puff instead of twisting as I usually do. Combing through that night to sleep was really bear but the next day, again I was able to easily put my hair in a fro. The fro was easier to comb down that second night.







I can see that my hair is getting thicker, which I really don't need.
It's also growing like crazy. I really don't have a goal for hair length I just want healthy hair and skin with minimal breakage. I hair has always been shoulder length, maybe an inch longer, so if it never grows any longer I'm ok it's more than enough to deal with. But here's a thought, if growing my longer so women that you can have natural hair with length and volume without using chemicals and without any heat than I am up to showing the world.


What did I learn this time?
Wash n go - Never. I think my hair is way to coily for that.
Taliah Waajid African Healing Oyl - Yes to oil even if it's not TW.
VO5 Tea Therapy - Yes, as co-wash or leave-in works great for me.
Suave Tropical Coconut - Yes, great for co-washing. Might work as a leave-in if I add oil.
What's next? I need hair bling! Now that I am able to wear my hair up occasionally I need pretty flowers, butterflies and all kinds of shiny, dangling, glittery stuff for my hair.

VO5 Tea Therapy Conditioner

Well needing to try a different leave-in conditioner, on Friday I went back to my Family Dollar to see what else they had. Well new supplies were in and with them was VO5 Tea Therapy Conditioner. Wow, I think my hair really likes this one. I could immediately see and feel the difference in my hair. It became softer right away and was so easy to manage as I flat twisted for the evening. This morning when I took my twist out I definitely was able to smile! I give this products two thumbs up for sure!!!
I don't know, I actually got this conditioner as a leave-in but I'm thinking it will work very well as a co-wash for me. Oh and the smell, because it's tea it's very pleasant, not perfumey or overpowering at all. If you are familiar and love the smell of Roots of Nature Shea Butter Green Tea stimulating scalp oil (I know it's a mouthful) then you will love the smell of VO5 Tea Therapy.
Today I was able to get Taliah Waajid products for $4.99 each! Now this was not back at the dollar store. I was in town and found this little store called Mini Mart & Beauty Supply on Maryland Ave about one blk above North Ave. If you live in or near Baltimore and know the area pop in. There's a couple of really cool guys who were very eager to help me find what I was looking for and get anything for future visits. I was hoping to get some castor or olive oil when I saw the TW. I couldn't believe the price and they had the entire line. Not being able to find the olive or castor oil I bought the African Healing Oyl and Lock it Up for my twist. I can't wait to use the Lock it Up tomorrow when I twist my hair. Its smell is delicious, like sweet coconut. The oil, or rather oyl, really doesn't have much of a smell at all. Wait, if I take a reeeeally deep drag I get a faint whiff of fragrance but it doesn't matter because I'm about to pass out from working so hard to smell something. LMBO
So what now? Even though I have the oyl I still have to get castor oil because I plan on joining a castor oil challege on blackhairplanet.com and I don't think I can use a different oil.

Five days later

Ok, comments about my spa day. I loved the clarifying treatment with baking soda. Immediately after pouring in I could feel the softness, the hair seemed to stretch as after a long slumber. I love the smell of the Suave Tropical conditioner though I can't say that I was very pleased with it in my hair. The Elastra for deep conditioning felt really good and was happy that it doesn't seem to have much of a smell so I was able to retain the light coconut smell. I'm not even a fan of coconut eaten or smelled but I like this. I think I followed the directions well but my hair seemed to have more tangles at the end and is frizzier than usually. I tried one of the homemade leave-in conditioners (Suave, water and oil). I spritzed to death and twisted my hair. I was able to see that my hair definitely looked different, I guess this is the sheen that I have read about because I certainly don't have much shine. When I took my twist out on Tuesday night I was not very happy, I didn’t see the look I usually get. So I think maybe I need to get a store bought leave-in and make sure I didn't miss a step in there somewhere. Oh, did I mention I think I'm allergic to the oil I bought. Yeah, thought I had picked up olive oil but I didn't. I looked at some many different things I ended buying the wrong one, Super Grow or something like that.
All in all since I am still in the tweaking phase I can chalk this up as growth.

Still hanging in there

It's getting close to my anniversary, or should I say my hairiversary. Getting through the first year and beyond was very difficult. So many times I wanted to throw in the towel and go back to the chems. I am so happy I didn't do that.
So often my hair becomes a conversation piece. Total strangers have walked up to me and boldly asked questions about my hair. I have to admit, I haven't gotten any really stupid questions or comments other than when a sista told me my hair needed to be raked and it looked like grass that needed to be mowed. Funny, I'd forgotten these comments until I started this posting. Anyway, I wasn't offended at all, instead I looked her square in the eye and said, "Yeah but this is my real hair not store bought so whatever I do with it, it's all good. That ended the whole conversation becuase, eh she wears wigs. LMBO
I still have so much to learn about doing my own hair and it's so much fun. I have been noticing that my looks really dull and I was not pleased with this at all. On recent visits to hair care sites such as the coil review and motowngirl I discovered that I need to clarify my hair to remove chemical build up. There is great information about homemade, chem-free recipes for your hair, video links about hair styles, product reviews and all kinds of yummy information on these sites. I discovered that pretty much all the products I have been using on my hair are the wrong products for natural hair. I'll find some place to donate these product. There are places where people need help and the products are not really harmful, just not good for natural hair.
So for me, today is my spa day. I'll be at She' Bejai getting the works!!
*Baking soda and water to clarify my hair thus removing all the nasty chemical build up.
*Suave Tropical Coconut Conditioner for co washing
*Elastra Conditioner for deep conditioning
*Olive Oil to moisturize my ends.
*Double strand twist for styling.
*Air dry
The fun doesn't stop there folks!! After all this I need a facial scrub and a foot soak & scrub. I should have some things around the house I can use for this as well. When I went shopping for my hair products I also bought eggs, apple cider vinegar, honey, and brown sugar. I know there's a home recipe in there somewhere. It seems the only thing missing is a massage to round out my day but seeing as how I can't do that myself...maybe a nice hot bubble bath will do. Of course this means I'll be home all day and probably night too but no one said beauty was easy. LOL. Anyway, when I go to work Monday there will definitely be a noticeable glow to my skin after so much self-pampering.