My Wash ‘n’ Go

This is my curl pattern with the conditioner and gel. This picture was around one month after I BC’d

I wanted to share with you guys how I achieved my WashnGo, I really enjoyed the experience because I actually took Time with my hair. Usually I am in a position which isn’t really ideal and I tend to skip parts of my regime, which seems to be changing weekly to accommodate my ‘to do list’.When I first big chopped after about 2 weeks of rocking my natural texture (meaning I had no curl enhancing products in my hair) I decided to make WashnGo’s work for me. Back then in 2011 I didn’t really do much research into natural gels, so I just took a 5 minute walk to my local hair shop and purchased a curl activating gel. I didn’t expect it to actually work, so after that I stuck to it. I didn’t have much of a routine to be honest, I just washed my hair in the shower and slapped some conditioner and  gel on my hair (life was great).

Well, now I am determined to get WashnGo’s working for me again. To be frank, they are not ideal at the moment but as I am on a little holiday, why not. I mean who really wants dripping wet hair first thing in the morning. I work  in the healthcare field so it is not allowed, let alone possible to have your hair dripping wet when you start your shift 😦

So here goes….

Step 1: I pre-poo’d my hair using Virgin Organic Coconut Oil – My hair was already sectioned because I had been wearing my hair in about 10 braids, so I just took these down, sprayed the section with water and applied the coconut oil to my ends first then the entire section. This process took me about 1 hour << yes, I know.

Step 2: I then washed my hair using shea moisture curl & shine shampoo, sectioning my hair in two, which is usually how I wash my hair.

Step 3: I diluted apple cider vinegar (ACV) into cold water, 1/4 cup into around 700mls of water. < There is no reason why I used cold water because I use warm water again to rinse the ACV out of my hair again. I never rinse my hair in cold water to close my pores anyway but if this a technique of yours and it works then just continue.

Step 4: Rinse the ACV out of your hair. Some people skip this part but I just can’t stand the smell of ACV in my hair, even when its diluted.

Step 5: With my hair still in two sections I further sectioned my hair as I went along. I firstly tested to ensure that my products wouldn’t leave my hair white with residue but mixing a tiny bit in my palms. I then continued to layer my products in my hair, using Darcy Botanicals Juicy peach leave in conditioner, followed my Shea moisture African Black Soap Balancing Conditioner and finally Flaxseed gel.

I continued to layer in these products into my sectioned hair, fluffed and then left it to drip dry. My hair dries pretty quickly so I didn’t need to deal with the dripping for too long but it’s still quite annoying.

The 4 products I used

Starting the layering process

Half detangled with coconut oil

The back. Different cul patterns

The final look

We all know that wash and Go’s don’t really mean wash and go… but Let me know how you maintain yours.

Lots of Love

TT

The Puff

Guys, I am so sorry that I haven’t blogged in a while. I’ve been so busy, I’m back to uni now and oh boy is it tough this year (but I’ll save that for my nursing blog).

Well, I’ve been up for the whole day and only now do I decide to upload something for you all to read. I hope you enjoy sharing my journey with me as much as I enjoy showing you! My hair has been abandoned lately, so don’t worry you haven’t missed much, lol. I’ve still been washing my hair on a 7 – 10 day basis but the styles in between have been puffs, all day every day. Now, if you’re anything like me then you won’t like doing puffs very often. Why? Well, I don’t like to do puffs for no more than three days in a row. We all have sensitive edges believe it or not, some are just more sensitive than others. Imagine being a strand of hair, there is a lot to contend with when you think about the puff. Brushing, slicking, pulling, tightening, pinning….sometimes repeated etc.

When I do a puff (I don’t know about you) but I like my puff to look slick, however I don’t always stick to this rule depending on how I feel on the day and which products I use. I previously used an activator gel when I was newly natural, as well as eco-styler olive oil gel, they both worked great and made my curls pop which I secretly loved!

As my hair grew my texture changed, which resulted in my staple products changing. I’m still on the hunt for a gel that works with and not against my strands, I cannot stand a gel that flakes or hardens too quickly.

Anyhoo, I want to apologise for the inaccuracy of any of my photos! I’ve been natural since 2011 and I have a tonne load of pictures which I’ve arranged and re-arranged, which means my computer has allocated pictures with random dates. It’s quite annoying to be fair because now I want to share my experience with you it gets quite complicated, however I’m hoping that you can relate and enjoy these pictures of me puffing it out!

p.s. I shall update this with a recent puff when I get back on them, it might be a while though.

Take care and God Bless

TT

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Shea Decadence

Product Brand: Shea Decadence

Product name: Jamaican Black Castor Oil & Nilotica Shampoo

Price: £7.99

Size: 150mls

Product Description: This concentrated rich and creamy sulphate free cleanser will gently cleanse your delicate strands while offering conditioning and hydration. Nilotica Shea is beneficial to hair which is damaged, dry, and scalp irritations. Jamaican Black Castor oil is recognised for its cleansing abilities. The high Ricinoleic acid found in castor oil prevents bacterial and fungal infection to the scalp that may cause hair loss and prevent proper hair growth. Most if not all will find this shampoo suitable for their hair type from relaxed, dreadlocks, to natural. Will not leave your hair dry as conventional shampoos containing sulphates and cones.

Stocked: click here

Shampoo key Ingredients: Jamaican Black Castor oil, Silk Amino Acids, Organic Nilotica Shea butter, Honeyquat, Aloe Vera Gel, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate (Extremely mild surfactant used in baby products)

Shampoo Results: This shampoo was good to my strands not to mention my nostrils. I am not usually fond of shampoos that smell ‘minty’ but this shampoo wasn’t bad, although it has a menthol scent it is very pleasant. I was very pleased with the results of this shampoo, although it did take a second wash for it to fully sud up due to the amount of product I had in my hair prior to washing. A little went a long way for me, once I had removed the product build up from my hair and scalp, I still have a small portion left from the sample size I received. I was impressed with the slip I was able to get from this shampoo which is a must with my hair as it easily tangles.

The consistency is perfect, it’s not too thick and not too runny. The perfect thickness so you are able to feel like your strands are getting a good clean without having to plaster loads of shampoo onto your hair but even better, it lathers well and doesn’t leave your hair feeling stripped of moisture.

Packaging:  I received a sample sized amount of this shampoo, therefore I’m not sure if I’d have an easier time with an actual sized product. I found the packaging for this shampoo very cute and to the point, what I usually find with sample sized products is that the labelling is ridiculous but this shampoo has excellent labelling of ingredients. My sample label hadn’t stated the size of the sample but I assume it’s about 10mls which is common for a sample.

My wet & slippery hands didn’t do so well with this tiny bottle, I found squeezing the product out a little difficult but with a good rinse of my hands it wasn’t much of a big deal.

Value: This product’s original cost is £7.99 for 150mls or £13.99 for 300mls. When I compare that to a previous staple of mine it’s slightly pricey with a difference of about £2 (not including shipping) however, I am all for supporting small business’ especially one that is going to cater to MY hair needs, so for that reason alone I don’t mind. For those of you who are like me in another way (a student) I can understand that sometimes price really matters but depending on how often you wash your hair I think this product would fit your budget because a little goes a long way.

Final Thoughts:

I requested for this sample to be sent to me, therefore I was unable to get more than one wash from the sized sample I received. With this in mind, I feel like I have made a pretty good judgement on how this shampoo has worked with my hair and I’d personally buy this shampoo for future use. The only down side to receiving a sample amount of product is I was unable to use the product for an extended period of time to see how it worked on my strands (which is what I like to do before reviewing) never the less, I had an excellent experience with this product and I’d recommend you try it.

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Disclaimer

What doesn’t work for me may work for you, so never put your everything into relying on reviews when deciding what products to buy for your hair. We are all different and our journeys are always about trial and error, I wouldn’t have known the results if I didn’t give it a go. I’d also like to say, I buy all products myself unless stated otherwise. I will always give my honest opinion on how a product has worked for me and will try my best to answer most of your questions, however, if you have any further questions, just drop me a comment.

Take Care & God Bless

TT

Natty Moist

Natty Moist

Photo permission from owner

Product Brand: All Things O’ Natural

Product name: Natty Moist

Price:  $15.29/£9.80

Size: 12oz/355ml Also available in 32oz

Product Description: Our hydrating Moist, infused with Ayurvedic herbs, is beneficial for helping to repair dry, damaged and over processed hair. Our Moist can also be used to hydrate and soothe dry skin.

Stocked: NattyNatural.com

Key Ingredients: Ootanga Oil, Cupuacu Butter, Shea Butter, Tamanu Oil (Click here for a further insight into all other ingredients involved)

Free From:  Silicones, Mineral Oil, Petroleum, Phthalates, PABA, Parabens

Results: Natty Moist can be used as a pre -poo, leave in conditioner, skin moisturiser or hair moisturiser. I used it as a leave in conditioner because I am on the hunt for an affordable leave in conditioner which I can use every week, although I also used it once before as a moisturiser to my dry stands.

After washing my hair using Shea Moisture shampoo I applied Natty Moist following the directions. I towel dried my hair (only enough to remove excess water) before applying Natty Moist to small sections of hair, I twisted the sections as I went along until my whole head was twisted.

I was sent a 2oz sample size of Natty Moist which I have used it twice still with some remaining.

The consistency of Natty Moist is lovely, is disappears between your fingers almost instantly and leaves a slight silky feel to your fingers for a short time afterwards. This product made my hair feel great, it took me back to the days when I’d slap on tonnes of Pink Moisturiser when my strands felt dry but the difference is that Natty Moist actually makes your hair FEEL moisturised. Ha, ‘Moist’ moisturised pretty clever, eh? ….Anyway… Accompanying that good moist feeling comes with a good deal of slip, now we tend to only look for ‘slip’ when we are washing our hair etc but as this is a leave in conditioner we also require a good amount slip here too. I was impressed with the amount this product had as it later assisted me when I was ready to twist my hair.

The scent that Natty Moist has (once again) is a little difficult for me to pinpoint, the smell reminds me of when I’ve just stepped out the shower or when I’ve just washed my hair: clean & fresh. I can truly smell the pleasant aromas in this product but there is also a scent I can’t quite describe, it almost smells like plastic but not in a bad way. Never the less,  the scent doesn’t put me off the product nor does it last forever.

After I applied Natty Moist and put in the twists I then left my hair to dry a bit more before I started to do my usual twists for the next week. Once again, Natty Moist is a thick and creamy product, a little goes a long way. Once I returned to my hair after a number of hours (don’t judge me) my hair was still damp in a few areas so I continued on with twisting my hair, I was so impressed with how moisturised my hair felt! Usually I have to mist my hair a great deal, especially when my hair is near dry but luckily I think I only used my spray bottle once, for the middle of my hair.

Natty Moist truly moisturised my strands, I even used less product when I was twisting my hair. Which reduces the amount of product build up I get on my scalp and strands!

Perfect!

Packaging Value: I often find with miniature versions of products that they become quite fiddly, which is always a problem for me. This bottle is small (well, it is a sample) and comes with a flip top cap to make it easy to squeeze the desired amount of product out into your hand. The bottle was easy to squeeze which is a bonus because there is nothing like having a bottle that is impossible to use, however the plastic bottle did crack up a little where I had squeezed it repetitively (it now has a permanent dent), oh well!

Value: This product’s is £9.80 for 355mls (12oz) or £24.22 for 946mls (32oz). I always compare product prices to a previous staple of mine and I always find that the products made by small businesses’ are often more expensive. Natty Moist falls into the pricey category however, I am all for supporting small business’ especially one that is going to cater to MY hair needs, so for that reason alone I don’t mind. For those of you who are like me in another way (a student) I can understand that sometimes price really matters but depending on how often you wash your hair I think this product would fit your budget because a little goes a long way.

I was sent a 2oz sample of the Natty Moist and I still have over half, even after using it twice. So, I’d definitely say it was worth the cost! I always look at the ingredients of products before I make a judgment about the value, with this product being 98% natural as well as being made and packed by the owner herself I would definitely purchase this item again.

The only downside is All Things O’ Natural is an American company, therefore I personally don’t think I’d be able to afford the shipping price very often. Although, if you love something so much these things will not matter.

Final Thoughts:

I have used Natty Moist on more than one occasion, firstly as a moisturiser for dry hair and secondly as a leave in conditioner. It is unfortunate that when using samples you are not able to fully see how a product is working for your strands, which is often the downside to receiving samples never the less, I had an excellent experience with this product and I recommend you try it.

I have enjoyed using this product, it is encouraging to know that each product is handmade and packaged by the owner herself which is another reason why I wouldn’t mind forking out that bit more. I also have been looking for a leave conditioner for a while now so it is nice to know that I have had a good experience with this product and I would definitely use it again.

So, pop over to her website and check everything out I’m sure you’ll find something you’ll need.

 

Natty Moist

Natty Moist in Sectioned Hair

 

 

 

Disclaimer

What doesn’t work for me may work for you, so never put your everything into relying on reviews when deciding what products to buy for your hair. We are all different and our journeys are always about trial and error, I wouldn’t have known the results if I didn’t give it a go. I’d also like to say, I buy all products myself unless stated otherwise. I will always give my honest opinion on how a product has worked for me and will try my best to answer most of your questions, however, if you have any further questions, just drop me a comment.

Take Care & God Bless

TT

 

Shea Moisture Review

I’ve been meaning to do a review on the Shea Moisture Retention Shampoo for the longest time since I’ve had the shampoo and conditioner for three months! Jheesh!

Product Brand: Shea Moisture

Product name: Raw Shea Butter Moisture Retention Shampoo

Price:  £11.99

Size: 120z/355mls

Product Description: This gentle, all-natural shampoo will help soften, moisturize and repair damaged, over-processed hair.

Stocked: Curly Emporium

Shampoo Ingredients: Deionized Water , Decyl Glucoside (Sugar Beets) , African Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) , Aloe Vera Leaf Juice , Argan Oil , Panthenol (Provitamin B5) , Rosemary Extract , Sea Kelp Extract , Vitamin E , Lonicera Caprifolium Flower Extract (Honeysuckle) , Lonicera Japonica Flower Extract (Japanese Honeysuckle)

Shampoo Results: This shampoo is perfect for what I need it for, to put it simply, it cleanses my hair without stripping it of natural oils. When using this shampoo I’ve had relatively dirty hair as I often get build up on my scalp from the hair butters and oils that I use, therefore, I like to wash my hair weekly to remove these products from my hair.  I have read that some people clarify their hair with a sulphate shampoo once a month but I like to stick to natural products so that isn’t an option for me, PLUS, I am having a much better experience since I cut out sulphate shampoos. If there is one thing I hated about sulphate shampoos was that they always seemed to strip my hair of EVERYTHING, which resulted in me constantly on the hunt for a shampoo which wouldn’t do that! If only I read the ingredients… sigh.

I know product build up works for some but not for me!

This shampoo offers excellent slip so even if you’re hair isn’t fully detangled it will help you along slightly, although if you’re hair is quite curly and knots easily (like my type 3c hair) you may just want to stick to your detangling regime. Each time I have used this shampoo I have prepared my hair prior, which just involves me detangling with a mixture of the conditioner and some olive oil. This mixture gives me a lot of slip which works well with my tresses, it also gives my hair that little bit extra protection from manipulation when I continue to wash my hair.

Packaging: The packaging is fabulous! It includes information on the side which lists what the shampoo doesn’t contain, which is all the sulphates and mineral oils which we don’t need in our hair. I think the only negative thing I’d say about this packaging is that the shampoo doesn’t come with a pump, that would be great as it’ll make it more manageable when you’re in the shower. The flip cap is manageable however, especially with wet slippery fingers.

Value: Considering that this product is £11.99 it seems like it’s a good price for a natural shampoo but then knowing that this product is $9.99 in the States (which converts to about £7) it is quite upsetting that us students could possibly save those extra ££££’s. The bottles are filled well, my first bottle of shampoo lasted around 6 weeks which is great considering I wash my hair weekly and the conditioner, well, I still have that. I’ve hardly used it.

Final Thoughts: Overall I’d give the shampoo 4/5, It doesn’t strip my hair of moisture, it has good cleansing properties and leaves a beautiful tint of freshness to my tresses. I have continued to use this product as my staple shampoo because I am so happy with the results, it will take a lot for another shampoo to out- do this one. Looking at the ingredients we can see that Shea Moisture use’s natural ingredients which is what I aim for when caring for my hair, what I like about it is that it incorporates Shea butter and Argan oil – two properties which my hair loves.

What doesn’t work for me may work for you, so never put your everything into relying on reviews when deciding what products to buy for your hair. We are all different and our journeys are always about trial and error, I wouldn’t have known the results if I didn’t give it go. I’d also like to say, I buy all products myself unless stated otherwise. I will always give my honest opinion on how a product has worked for me and will try my best to answer most of your questions, however, if you have any further questions, just drop me a comment.

Take care & God Bless

TT

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BeUnique Hair Care Review

When I received my delivery of BeUnique Hair Care I was so excited to try it out, mainly because I am not a person to really try products on my hair. Once I know something works I stick with it…

So to answer your question ‘yes, I’ve stuck to a couple of products for almost 2 years, which was mainly coconut oil and olive oil’.

Recently, my hair has become very dry. My usual routine of washing, conditioning and moisturising wasn’t having the same affect on my hair… it was time to try something new!

Welcome BeUnique Hair care…

It is very difficult for us UK naturals to find products sometimes because usually the products we hear about are from USA.

I decided to order the BeUnique’s Mini sample kit which is pretty good value, I was able to do a couple twist outs using the Mango Twist and Shea Bliss. I washed my hair with the Bamboo Monoi Milk and the smell was so pleasant, I enjoy washing my hair (most of the time) so any product I use ideally needs to smell good. Although, I used Aubrey’s Organics for two years and I had no satisfaction with the scent of the product.

Here’s my result… de-tangled and smelling good! 

Can you see that curl definition, I try not to get caught up on curl definition but with my type of hair it’s hard not to. The shampoo has really good slip, so it’s very easy to detangle your hair.

 – let me tell you something- I was lazy on this day so I didn’t prep my hair for washing, which means I didn’t detangle beforehand!

Keeping this in mind this product gets a thumbs up for managing to help detangle my hair.

The sample size was just about enough to wash my hair but bear in mind my hair wasn’t very dirty at the time. If your hair is a lot denser than mine I’d recommend you buy the full sized product.

Moving on… to BeUnique’s Hair Moisturisers

…Note the SHRINKAGE…

At this point I hadn’t conditioned so I used Shea Bliss as a moisturising deep conditioner, I used a generous amount of the product and left it under a plastic cap for around 20 minutes which is my usual time frame for conditioners…

…but when I washed this off, my hair didn’t feel great. That silky soft feeling I got from the shampoo had basically gone…

I wasn’t happy!

But then came…

… Mango Twist… (which reminds me of a milky shampoo I used years ago – it smells great!) I used this along with…

…the Moisture Custard to do my twists (which reminds me of sweet custard)

…and I used the Shea Bliss again to moisturise my scalp.

Lastly – came Butta’ Shine.

I have to be honest, this product gave me no satisfaction what-so-ever. It’s consistency is a lot like coconut oil, it hardens in colder weather and liquefies in warmer weather.

but this! This just didn’t do it for me, it looks great and has the perfect oily smooth consistency which you’d expect when you’re seeking shine: but the smell O the smell, I can’t even link the smell to anything to familiar.

So thumbs down for this one, sorry.

My Twist in Progress…

… I was happy with how they looked, they felt so soft and moisturised!

My Twist out Trial one day later…

…Satisfied

– although my ends weren’t defined but I am due a trim –

doing this – so this is day 3)

My Tragic Ending…

Although the BeUnique Hair Care products left my hair feeling as soft as a baby’s bottom, it didn’t really work for my hair. I protected my twist out at night with a traditional satin scarf and bonnet and applied a little more Moisture Custard when I needed it.

 …but it just didn’t do…

My hair was frizzy and my twists began to fall flat – but my hair was so soft I didn’t want to wash it out!

I love to share my experiences with you all but I do want you to bear in mind that what works for one may not work for all, so although this product was great for holding my twist out, it might be perfect for you. I have a mixture of hair types but mainly I am 3c which is a looser curl pattern that the typical denser afro. So, depending on your hair type you my get different result’s for example the slip I achieved with this product may be better for your hair than you thought.

I hope that if you do try this UK product it works well for you, I will definitely buy the Mango Twist, Moisture Custard and Monoi Milk shampoo again as the smell is to die for!

All products are natural – but do go over and explore for yourself.

I have been completely honest in this review as I will all of my review, I also used the product three times on separate occasions- but please bear in mind that these were sample sizes therefore i limited myself to smaller amounts of product on my second and third use.

All feedback welcomed!

Shea Moisture: Organic Raw Shea Butter

Shea Moisture Shampoo Ingredients:

Deionized Water , Decyl Glucoside (Sugar Beets) , African Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) , Aloe Vera Leaf Juice , Argan Oil , Panthenol (Provitamin B5) , Rosemary Extract , Sea Kelp Extract , Vitamin E , Lonicera Caprifolium Flower Extract (Honeysuckle) , Lonicera Japonica Flower Extract (Japanese Honeysuckle)

Shea moisture Conditioner Ingredients:

Deionized Water , Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) , Argan Oil , Coconut Oil , Behentrimonium Chloride , Essential Oil Blend , Vegetable Glycerin , Emulsifying Wax , Sea Kelp Extract , Panthenol (Vitamin B-5) , Avocado Oil , Tocopherol (Vitamin E) , Daucus Carota Sativa Seed Oil (Carrot)

Shea Moisture is a brand that most of us afro naturals are trying, it’s one of MANY products out there that I’d like to try (I’ll be updating my wish lists with those products soon). It will be interesting to find out how this shampoo works with my hair because I know that my hair doesn’t work well with Shea butter but we will see what he outcome will be with these two products.

Keep posted for my reviews on these products…

God bless TTx