Product Review: Cantu Shea Butter Leave-in Conditioner



Twits Styled



I have been on the hunt for natural hairstyles and in the process become a youtube junkie. I spend hours scouring for ideas and products to try, but what I won’t do is go broke trying everything. I pick and choose items that sound promising and give a real value for my buck and if it doesn’t work I wish I wasn’t so lazy, but I usually end up losing money because I won’t take it back. I digress, anyway, I have heard some good things about Cantu Shea Butter, and so I decided to try it out. Can be found at Walmart or most beauty supply stores. I co-washed, detangled in shower, left hair drenched, parted hair in no particular way, oiled sections, saturated each section with Cantu product as I parted and made large two strand twist. I styled it and headed out, I wore twist for 5 days.

   

Close up of styled twist

Day 2 of twist out

On day 6 I did a twist-out, I gelled and brushed one side up out of my face and held it in place with 2 combs. I wore this style for another 7 days. I was so impressed by the definition, the moisture and shine was great. The definition did not go flat while I slept, or lost its depth no matter how much I rubbed my hands over it. I wrapped a scarf around my edges and put on a satin bonnet and slept. I probably could have gone another week if I used my scalp mix of peppermint oil, tea tree oil, and African pride oil on day 1 as oppose to day 6.

  I will definitely repeat this style process throughout winter. I will try different styles with the twist and now since I know how the twist out maintains, I will try different styles with the twist out. The next time, I will attempt to actually pull ringlets apart and hope that it will get big but not fuzzy. We will see, until next time.

Day 6 of twist out



Day 6 definition



Protective Styling



From thirstyroots.com



So, I have been away for awhile, I apologize, hopefully I can contribute something to those just looking for a little advice or inspiration. Okay, well first things first, it is winter and we will be wearing hats, probably washing our hair a little less often and just plain looking for easy hair styles. Let’s talk protective hairstyling. Protective styling is important to keep your hair healthy during the harsh winter months. Cold weather soaks up your hair’s moisture, so lather on the oils and moisturizers (avoid mineral oil and petroleum ingredients). Breakage is more prevalent because of the hair drying, manipulation on fragile strands and the rubbing of hats and scarves that we tend to layer to stay warm. Most protective styling consist of braids, twist, maybe buns, any style that can be worn for longer periods and doesn’t cause you to manipulate your hair often. I would stay away from tightly pulled ponytails of any sort and any style that may cause stress to your hairline.



From curlynikki.com



 Be mindful when choosing your protective style so that you get the most for your trouble. So, if you usually style your hair every 2-4 days, try a style that allows you to get 7+ days wear. Choose styles that allow for moisture retaining, for example your hair will keep its moisture better with a french braid than a wash and go. A wash and go leaves all of your hair follicles and hair shafts exposed to the elements. The best protective styles allow for the ends of your hair to be tucked away, from the extreme temperature changes and from rubbing constantly on clothing, i.e. sweaters. If possible try to avoid wool hats, wool has a tendency to latch on to hair and pull it out. If your coat is wool and there is the possibility of your hair rubbing against it, try putting a non wool scarf around the collar and/or shoulders.

Here is a shameless plugJ Non wool hats and scarves now available at www.raedianncedezigns.com

My next post will be a product review and show one of my chosen protective styles for the winter.  

Guest Blog: Hair Growth

Hello Ladies,

                         I'm new to the natural world and at 9 months of trial and error I'm starting to get the hang of this thing.  First, I want to say the natural hair isn't a phase or some experiment. I decided to go natural because the perms were breaking my hair off. It seemed like every 6 to 8 weeks my stylist was hacking my hair off due to split ends or breakage. There were times when she wouldn't cut my hair and people would say to me, " Stop cutting your hair". I was so frustrated because it was thin and not growing. So, here I am after 1.5 years of transitioning. I didn't have the guts to cut off all my hair. I truly admire you sisters who are able to take that step. Nevertheless, I still didn't have the length I wanted and so I began my journey of being a product junky and tricks to add length. But, I have narrowed down my regimen and I'm happy to share what I have found that really works. Now, I started using this product in April 2011 and it's now September 2011 so I have given it a fairly long time. I've used it consistently and I am very, very happy with the results. My hair has grown and is growing much thicker as the product has promised. So, what is it? I'm glad you asked it's EMU OIL.  Now, many of you have or may not have heard of this oil.  If you refuse to use any animal by-products than this isn't for you because it does come from a bird native to Australia.  Emu Oil contains the essential acids Omega 3, 6, 9 and nutrients that your skin, scalp and hair need to reproduce healthy cells over and over, so using Emu Oil for Hair will keep your Hair growing healthy. Emu Oil gives your  scalp essential fatty acids that the cells must have to keep from becoming fragile and resulting in a variety of scalp problems. Now, it is expensive and it's only sold on-line, but shop around and find the best deal. I get mine from www.emuoilnaturally.com.  I use the conditioner and oil but they also have shampoo, yes Sulfate free.  Please by all means shop around you don't have to buy it from my contact. I only suggest that you give it a try for at least 4 to 6 months, you will not be disappointed. 

 

I'm getting so many comments now on the growth and thickness of my hair. I will never go anywhere without my Emu Oil, this is my staple.  Thanks ladies,  and remember " Live By Faith, Walk In Love and Forgive Always".   I just want to acknowledge our friend and sister in Christ Rae for going after her dreams, and allowing God to use her to bless others. We love you Rae always.

Peace,   Shanequa

Two Strand Twists: I've Come a Long Way Baby

I have come a long way from my first natural two strand twist. I have always had issues with the top of my head looking thinner than the rest, so it appears I have large spaces at the top of my head. I have since tried to gather large amounts of hair at the beginning of my twisting and started twisting from there (instead of starting at the bottom or front of my head). I usually use pure aloe vera gel, found at any drugstore or I use root stimulator’s loc and twist gel. They both are fairly inexpensive and don’t leave buildup. It usually takes me several hours to do two strand twists in my hair; I take my time parting, oiling, and twisting small amounts of hair. I am exhausted by the end. It takes me so long to twist my hair I never do twist outs, because I want to get good wear out of my twist (about 3 weeks), then I co-wash. Here are photos of then and now.



Year One





1.5 years

  

Summer 2011



So I have been trying to take a more active role in styling my hair. I have been so lazy since my hair has surpassed my shoulders. I looked up natural hair styles on youtube and this is the style I decided to rock Labor Day weekend. Courtesy of Beautiful Brwn Baby Dol, natural side french braid style tutorial. It is so cute on this young lady, my hair did not come out quite the same, but I was pleased. The young lady appears to have maybe 7-8 inches of hair; I have close to 18 inches if not more, which may account for the varied outcome. Here is the link to her video http://youtu.be/850-RN4YxPM and here is my finished product.



Inspiration



It took only 2.5 hours to do, I did not care about parts, and I did large twist and large cornrows on the side. I was a little disappointed in my cornrowing abilities; I guess if you don’t use it you will lose it.  I could get used to these less than perfect fat twists, especially if I will just be styling them anyway. Tutorial does suggest using Kinky Curly Knot Today Leave-In Condition and Curling Custard for the two strand twists. I have never used these products in this manner. I am very interested in how the product will react once I unravel the twists. If there is no flaking I will style my twist out and try some different styles with that, otherwise, I will co-wash immediately. I will keep you all posted. Thanks for the idea Beautiful Brwn Baby Dol, check out her videos on youtube.

Earrings available at www.raedianncedezigns.com

Concoction Review: Shea Moisture Curl Enhancer & Eco Styler Gel



Day 1



Curl Definition Side View

After the roots of nature feather whipped cream debacle (see prior post); I attempted to make my own curling cream. I was very impressed with the results. I mixed 2 parts Shea Moisture Curl Enhancer Smoothie ($9.99 Target) and 1 part Eco Styler Olive Oil Gel ($3.99 Sally’s beauty supply).  I co-washed my hair as usual and made sure my hair was completely saturated when I added my concoction. I also added a little Hot Six oil, as I normally do to all my products. My hair looked absolutely gorgeous. I had coils from the roots to the end; I never had such definition with any other products. Usually, I have a fairly flat or wavy front and more definition in the back. I attached a side definition view to show the tight coils. I also attached a day 4 hair picture, which is a ponytail of soft loose coils.   I never have day 4 hair; my hair was so soft the entire time. As different sections became flat during the week, I would just wrap that hair around the ponytail. No one was any the wiser. I usually just use Lets Jam regular hold gel on my edges, on my ponytail days. I think I kept my hair for an entire week before my next wash. Love, Love, Love my curl cream.

Note: Necklace available at http://www.raedianncedezigns.com/



Day 4 Hair

Hair Dye: Why?

My hair is a very dark brown almost black color. I have wanted color since I stopped dying my processed hair midnight blue by Dark and Lovely. I read so many blogs, articles, youtube, etc… about how your hair breaks off, it will loosen your natural curl pattern, it dries your hair, and so on. I still wanted to do it, so many people natural and processed have color and it looks pretty healthy, why couldn’t I? Well, big mistake! I researched do it yourself brands and tried to pick the one with the least amount of bad reviews. I tried Clairol Textures and Tones in Red Hot Red 4R www.clairol.com. It was red hot for about 1 week, until my next wash. Then it became bland burnt orange, not exactly what I spent my hard earned cash on, all of 4.99J Second mistake, I let my sister apply it, why? I purchased two boxes and she still didn’t cover my whole head. Her excuse, “it was dark in your house, I couldn’t see”.



Smoothing technique, also burnt orange color after 1 week



Moving on, instantly I could feel a difference in my hair; it felt really rough when I washed it. When I applied my styling products it would not curl, it just stayed fuzzy and rough. So I tried to apply more product, yeah, that’s the only logical answer. I ended up smoothing my hair with my two hands like a flat iron from root to tip, just to get a smooth hair shaft. It looked like the attached picture for 3 days and then it began to swell and became fuzzy again.  I am not sure if getting my hair professionally colored would have changed my fuzzy results, I would think their chemicals are much harsher. Needless to say I have to wait for all of this fuzzy colored hair to grow out; by then I will be itching for more color, it is really a sick cycle.

Product Review: Soft Sheen Carson’s Roots of Nature Feather Whipped Curl Cream

Roots of Nature^® Remedies for Natural Hair

Feather Whipped Curl Cream

Boast No Drying Alcohol, Mineral Oil, Petrolatum or Parabens! HELPS PROMOTE STRONG GROWING HAIR**

I was shopping and perusing the styling products aisle, when I came across Soft Sheen Carson’s Roots of Nature Feather Whipped Curl Cream http://www.softsheen-carson.com/. I had such high hopes for this product. Why? I am not sure; I just thought I would stumble upon a good product, that was fairly accessible, i.e. Wal-Mart. Not so much. I liked how my hair looked the first 2 hours, but it felt horrible. It was extremely drying, that’s even after I added lots of oil. As soon as I applied the product I could feel some resistance, which is weird considering its creamy texture. It instructs you to use it on drenched hair, which I did, then I used a warm setting and a diffuser to speed the drying process. Note: I have done this before with other products and it did not contribute to the drying effects this product caused.



Day One



I am attaching a picture of Day 1 hair: It was big; it had a nice coil, curl, wavy effect for 2 hours, but very dry as you can see in the front. My hair is a 3a from the forehead to the crown of my head and 3c from there back.



Day Two



Day 2 hair: I still had a nice coil/curl effect in the back, front flattened, hence the pull back with a clip. Extremely dry feeling.

Day 3 hair: What day 3 hair? Hair felt so bad, I was afraid to manipulate it or have it exposed to the elements (sun). So I put it in a head wrap and couldn’t wait until my next co-wash, maybe a little poo to get rid of this product buildup. I noticed some flakes only two days in.

I would not recommend this product to anyone, I am going to try and get my money back. Another one bites the dust!

Hair Knots and Breakage

I have had several ladies ask me about hair knots and breakage. First error most people make is using a low quality conditioner, which has no slip, so it is ineffective when combing through the hair. In fact these conditioners are counterproductive, causing more kinks, knots and likely breakage. I personally find washing and combing my hair while showering is much easier than any other method. Definitely never attempt to comb your course hair dry with no conditioner or detangling product, the more the better. Use a good conditioner that gives slip and no resistance, for easier detangling. Cheaper, lesser quality conditioners are pretty much made of water, well you already have a shower or sink full of water, as you wash. Pantene and Dove are good for me. I used Dove when I was freshly big chopped (BC); after significant growth, I went to Pantene because it came in a larger volume. As far as breakage goes, if you have been trimming properly, consider your night routine? If you aren't sleeping with a satin bonnet or pillowcase, this can add to your hair recoiling on itself, rubbing on the natural fibers of your other than satin pillowcase and causing breakage, knots and lent balls (yuck). Are you doing too much styling/manipulation during the week, can add to knots, split ends and breakage. I have to tell one of my friends all the time “pick a hairstyle and leave it like that for the week”. There is no need for you to have 5 hairstyles in a 7 day period; that is causing undue stress on your hair strands. Consider what type of leave in products you are using after washing? Look for products that make hair soft, not hard or crispy. Definitely stay away from products with mineral oil, petroleum, drying alcohols, sulfates, silicone…

These are ideas and suggestions that work for me, please take time to know YOUR hair and determine what regimes and products work for you.

That rolls me right into my next post, a product review of Curling Cream by Roots Organics.

Product Review: Kinky Curly

Kinky Curly System (Knot Today & Curly Custard)



Big Chop Kinky Curly 07/08



Here is a photo on the day of my big chop (BC), back in December of 2008 or 2007. I did a lot of research before I had the BC, my first product of choice was the Kinky Curly System. I co-washed with Dove and applied the Knot Today leave in conditioner and the Curling Custard. I wasn’t bold enough to walk out the house oh natural, so I tied a scarf around my head to give it a little pizzazz. My hair felt great, it was moisture rich, it looked shiny and healthy, and it was soft to the touch. My hair probably lasted about 4-5 days before it began to flake. The product instructions warn against using too much custard and not touching it before it dries completely. Trial and error, I did have a few spots where I clumped way to much product in one. What you see is what you get, if you see product buildup on the hair after applying, it will not magically disappear once it dries. I actually really liked this system on my newly short curly fro, it was a wash and go delight.

Kinky Curly 2011

Now that brings us to present day 2011. I tried the kinky curly system on my long natural hair; not such a glorious experience. The product boasts it will not cause shrinkage and it doesn’t, but it also did not help in the curl department. My hair looked stringy, the front of my hair kind of just flopped, no waves and no curls. I was no longer impressed and I waited a long time for the product to get to my local Target store, what a disappointment. See picture for yourself. In all fairness, I tried the system when my hair was shoulder length and it gave me the most beautiful curls. My hair had curls as if I used flexi rod rollers, it only lasted 3 days before it started flaking, but it looked so good I didn’t want to wash it out. I used the buddy system and had my friends and family on flake dutyJ

In The Beginning...

Before Pic:processed hair

BC: Week 1

In December 2008 or 2007 my memory is a little fuzzy, I had the Big Chop (BC), and what I considered a TWA (teenie weenie afro).

 Most people would have considered my 4-5 inches of natural growth, bigger than a TWA. I procrastinated and waited as long as I could before I committed to the BC. When I finally did all the research I thought necessary, I went to my trusted beautician and let her cut. You should have seen the faces in the salon as she snipped away. I honestly had no idea what I was in for; it was a shot in the dark. I couldn’t tell my hair type when I was transitioning, I didn’t know how fast my hair would grow, I didn’t know what maintenance was necessary since everyone’s routines, regimes and processes are different. Overall I was ready for a change! When I jumped in the shower and washed everything including my hair within 15 minutes as oppose to 1+ hours, I couldn’t believe short hair was so manageable. I wanted to scream from the mountain top. My comb ran through my hair like butter, there was no need for sectioning and struggling to comb through each section. I used a fraction of shampoo and conditioner, there was no blow drying (breaking dryer combs), no flat ironing, I had moments of euphoria people. Please don’t get me wrong, I was thankful to have long hair, it was just a chore maintaining it and I could never find a hairdresser that would style my hair any better than I could do for myself. There are some natural hair drawbacks, you become a product junkie. You have to try every product in the world that claims to be natural. Then you get a grip and realize it is costing you a grip and you just find products that work for you. There are some ingredients to avoid (future post), but find items that work with you and your particular hair type.

Next post: product review of Kinky Curly

Questionable Braid Out

Questionable Fro



Dysfunctional

 Fro



Loved this look!

Transitioning



Before Natural Conversion

 I have been natural for 3.5 years now. I transitioned for six (6) months. I wore my hair in muslin head wraps, or I wore it in a ponytail with a flat ironed bang. Not so funny fact, my bang never made it through the whole day. I often looked quite crazy with fuzzy and wavy roots and a straight bottom half swoop. Can you say middle school hair? My transitioning period was an interesting time; I was used to having long, flowing relaxed hair that seemed pretty healthy (see before pic). It was quite a change to have this bird’s nest growing under those head wraps. My poor hair dresser had to untangle and make sense of that catastrophe, when I so easily neglected my hair between salon visits.  I don’t have a before pic (think teased pompadour), but below is the transition pic (think miracle). Guess what? I have the nerve to be tender headed.

My next post will be a journey from my relaxed hair to an all natural crown. You won’t want to miss that, there were a good number of questionable hair daysJ



Flexirod set during transition.