Product Reviews

Good morning bloggers!
It's probably about time for me to do another length check but I don't think my hair has retained much length pass bra strap so not in a big hurry. I've been battling with cutting a few inches just for manageability. I like wearing my hair loose and wild in the summer but the longer it gets the harder it is to manage/tame at the end of the day. If I'm tired and get lazy...trouble, trouble, trouble in the morning.
So anyway, my new product list:
-Taliah Waajid Curly Curl Cream
-Taliah Waajid Detangler
-Garnier Fructis Leave-In conditioning cream
-Organic Root Stimulator Tea Tree Oil
-Ultimate Organic Therapy Coconut Oil
-Cantu Shea Butter leave in conditioning repair cream

A couple of these move to my permanent list while others will never grace my shelves again.
Top of my list is ORS tea tree oil! Love this stuff!!!
Not to crazy about the smell but I think it's growing on me, sorta like Jamaican Black Castor Oil has to grow on some of us. I actually used the ORS as a hot oil treatment yesterday. I damped my hair, applied my usual conditioner (anything cheap but usually a Suave product), then instead of putting on a plastic cap I put heaps of the ORS on my hair. I put my hair in four big twists and put my cap on for probably four hours as I cleaned the house, did some knitting and even dozed in front of the tv. I used a black soap to shampoo because I knew there would be lots of oil build up to wash away. The oil made my very, very soft, I could still feel the oil clinging to my ends after a good soaping and rinsing. My hair looks great and smells 'sexy'...his words, not mine :) So two thumbs up to ORS, a new keeper on my stable shelf.

Another keeper is the Ultimate Organic Therapy Coconut Oil. One reason I love this is that I tried a coconut oil before, a solid one, and it irritated my scalp. The UOT oil does not irritate my scalp and is wonderful for my face after showering. I'm able to apply it directly to my scalp because of the application tip so that's a plus. I also add this to my shea aloe and to my homemade leave in conditioners.

The other keeper is Cantu Shea Butter leave in conditioning repair cream. This is a light weight cream that does a great job of helping me retain moisture. In the middle of the afternoon if my ends are starting to fly a bit around my crown I can mist my hair and apply some Cantu. It goes right to work helping those strays go back to sleep!

So those are my Do's, the other three are my Don't's

TW Detangler is a don't for me. It's not so much that it didn't work, it's more the fact that my hair requires a lot of product and it's just not economical for my hair length. TW's scent is very pleasant of course. I didn't notice any build up and it doubles as a leave in so you get a good bang for your buck.

TW Curly Curl Cream I didn't like at all. For my hair this product dulls my hair and leaves it feeling kinda 'tacky'. Of course because it's TW it has a wonderfully refreshing scent. I still have plenty left in the jar so I may try it again to see if my hair was maybe having a bad day. Then I'd happily retrack my review and maybe consider moving it to my stable list.

My ultimate never, ever again product is Garnier's leave in conditioning cream. Can you spell yuck, phew, nasty!!! All of this refers to the smell. I don't think there's anything else to say about it, just NO, NO, NO. It's not for me with hair being so close to the nose and all.

Keep it real, keep it natural

The Nappy Language

I am so in love with being natural even on the day when my hair doesn't do what I want it to do. I have become quite a pj if I say so myself.

One of the things I really love about being natural is the winks and nods. When I'm walking down the street, head held high, and see fellow nappy head. We don't even have to speak, we just kind of nod and smile at each other. . I love it when I talk with a complete stranger and speak the secret nappy langage using words like: ACV, TWA, condish, co wash, no poo, ORS, TW and cones.

As the new year approaches and people being to make resolutions, I don't make resolutions I make life changes, I look forward to moving further in this journey of nappiest. I hope to reach a point where I wont hate to co-wash because my hair is soooo coily. Instead I can just look forward to learning new styles that will aw my family and friends. Maybe I will be able to bring a few over to coily side!!

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.