SilkenDove: favorites list

Showing posts with label favorites list. Show all posts

Sunday, September 10, 2017

My Top 6 Favorite Brands

Hello, beautiful people! After my last post on my top products, I felt like I did not do justice to some really incredible brands, so this post is focused on products that I like from some of my favorite brands, even though I don't buy them all the time. My favorite products are asterisked.

As I Am Naturally
- Coconut Co-wash*
- DoubleButter Cream Rick Daily Moisturizer*
- Leave-in Conditioner*
- Curling Jelly
- Twist Defining Cream

Camille Rose Naturals
- Curl Maker Gel*
- Sweet Ginger Cleansing Rinse*
- Cocoa Nibs & Honey Ultimate Growth Serum*
- Aloe Whipped Butter Gel
- Carmel Cowash
- Almond Jai Twisting Butter
- Coconut Water Penetrating Hair Treatment
- Coconut Water Style Setter
- Camille Rose Curl Love Moisture Milk

Curl Junkie
- Repair Me! Reconstructive Hair Treatment*
- Curl Assurance Smoothing Lotion*
- Hibiscus & Banana Deep Fix Moisturizing Conditioner
- Coffee-Coco Curl Cream
- Daily Fix Cleansing Hair Conditioner

Mielle Organics
- Moisturizing Avocado Hair Milk*
- Babassu Oil Mint Deep Conditioner*
- Mint Avocado Oil
- Honey & Ginger Styling Gel
- White Peony Ultra-Moisturizing Leave-in Conditioner
- Babassu Oil Conditioning Sulfate Free Shampoo

Silk Dreams Haircare
- Vanilla Silk Cream Moisture Dream (Deep Conditioner)*
- Silk Dreams Shea What Therapeutic Conditioning Masque*
- Almond Buttercream*
- Wheat Germ Butter Conditioner*
- Who's That Curl? Buttersilk Balm
- Mocha Silk Hair Milk
- Mocha Silk Infusion (Deep Conditioner)

Uncle Funky's Daughter
- Curly Magic Curl Stimulator Gel*
- Extra Butter Brilliant Shine Cream*
- Rich & Funky Moisturizing Cleanser
- Midnight Train Leave-in Conditioner
- Supercurl Miracle Moisturizing Creme (needs to be paired with something else)

Monday, September 4, 2017

2017 Mid-Year Favorites

Hello Beautiful People! I have always wondered why Favorites lists tend to only come out on blogs at the end of the year, after all of the Black Friday sales are done. I am also trying to minimize and focus the number of product brands that I purchase from because my product stash is a little bigger than I would like it to be (currently 46 products, not including my daughter's products). Thus, I challenged myself in this list to only identify my top two products in each category right now. As natural haircare has evolved, every product on this list, except one, is available in brick and mortar stores.

Favorite Overall Brand
- Camille Rose Naturals
- Mielle Organics

Favorite Multi-Use Products
- Jane Carter Curl Defining Cream (leave-in, wash n' go definer, twist/braid cream)
- Oyin Hair Dew (leave-in & moisturizer)

Moisturizing, Light Protein Deep Conditioners
- Silk Dreams Vanilla Silk Moisture Dream
- Curl Junkie Repair Me! Reconstructive Hair Treatment (this is a strong protein for some)

Cleansers
- Camille Rose Sweet Ginger Cleansing Rinse
- Carol’s Daughter Black Vanilla Sulfate-free Shampoo

Rinse Out Conditioners
- Herbal Essence Long Term Relationship Conditioner
- Garnier Fructis Hydra Recharge

Leave-in Conditioners
- As I Am Naturally Leave-in Conditioner
- Curl Junkie Curl Assurance Smoothing Lotion

Moisturizers
- Oyin Hair Dew
- Mielle Organics Moisturizing Avocado Hair Milk

Wash n Go Gels
- Wetline Extreme Gel (ulta defined wash n go)
- Uncle Funky’s Daughter Curly Magic Curl Stimulator (fluffy wash n go)

Braid & Twist Creams
- Jane Carter Curl Defining Cream
- Camille Rose Aloe Whipped Butter Gel

Heat Stylers
- Carol’s Daughters Chocolat Blow Dry Cream
- It's A 10 Leave-in Conditioner

Oil Pre-mixes
- Camille Rose Cocoa Nibs & Honey Ultimate Growth Serum
- Mielle Organics Mint Almond Oil

Pure Oils
- Essential Depot Avocado Oil
- Tropic Isle Living Jamaican Black Castor Oil

I'll check back in March 2018 to see if/how this list has changed.

What are some of your favorites?

Friday, December 30, 2016

2016 Favorites

Hey, beautiful people! Merry Christmas and a happy new year (in advance)! The end of the year is here, so it is time for my annual list of favorites. This year, there were a few surprises for me because the products were not on my radar till I tried them. Of course there were also some reoccurring favorites:

Moisturizing, Light Protein Deep Conditioners:

- Silk Dreams Vanilla Silk Moisture Dream

- Aubrey Organics Island Naturals Replenishing Conditioner (discontinued?)

- Silk Dreams Mocha Silk Infusion

- Silk Dreams Shea What Therapeutic Conditioning Masque

Cleansers

- Aubrey Organics Swimmer’s Shampoo (discontinued?)

- Carol’s Daughter Black Vanilla Shampoo

- Camille Rose Sweet Ginger Sulfate Free Cleansing Rinse

- Camille Rose Carmel Cowash

Rinse Out Conditioner

- Herbal Essence Long Term Relationship Conditioner
- Herbal Essence Totally Twisted Conditioner (discontinued?)
- Garnier Fructis Hydra Recharge Conditioner

Leave-in Conditioners & Moisturizers

- Oyin Hair Dew

- Silk Dreams Wheat Germ Butter Conditioner

- ORI Essentials Leave-in

- Curl Junkie Curl Assurance Smoothing Lotion

Gels (for bunning and wash n’ go)

- Uncle Funky’s Daughter Curly Magic Curl Stimulator

- Camille Rose Curl Maker Gel

- Wetline Extreme Gel

Braid & Twist Creams

- Silk Dreams Almond Buttercream

- Camille Rose Aloe Whipped Butter Gel

- Jane Carter Curl Defining Cream

- Embrace The Natural You Twist Truffle Whip

Heat Stylers

- Carol’s Daughters Chocolat Blow Dry Cream

- It's A 10 Leave-in Conditioner

Oils & Mix-ins

- Glycerin

- Avocado Oil

- Grapeseed Oil

- Jamaican Black Castor Oil

- Camille Rose Cocoa Nibs & Honey Ultimate Growth Serum

- Tea Tree & Lavender Essential Oil

- Silk Amino Acids

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Battle of the Butters: Uncle Funky’s Daughter Supercurl and Extra Butter (The Braiding Files #8)

Hey, beautiful people! As I went through my braiding challenge, one of the creams that I came across was Uncle Funky’s Daughter Supercurl. Then, because I liked Uncle Funky’s Daughter’s shampoo, gel and Supercurl, I decided to purchase a sampling of other Uncle Funky’s Daughter products and do a head-to-head between the Supercurl and the Extra Butter. I’ll do a power product review of the other products from the line at a later date.

For my head-to-head, I did a few braided styles, that later turned into braid outs, with Supercurl on the right side of my head and Extra Butter on the left. Both the Supercurl and the Extra Butter give me a lot of shine and some hold. However, I noticed that the moisture level in my hair, after using them, really depended on the leave-in I used under these products. I needed a heavier, moisturizing leave-in because these are both very light. For example, when I used Camille Rose Almond Jai Twisting Butter, my hair was incredibly soft for days, in addition to having shine. The day after I used the products with Camille Rose, I kept touching my braid out because I literally could not believe how soft my hair was. For my previous review of Supercurl, I was using the Silk Dreams Wheat Germ Butter Conditioner, and you can see how great my hair looked here. When I used Oyin Hair Dew, which is a little lighter, my hair was not as moisturized and the shine was a little less.

I also tried using them together with Oyin Hair Dew because I read a couple reviews where people mixed the two together. This made my hair much softer than using either product alone. The downside to this, however, is that I would have to buy two products, instead of one.

Consistency: The Extra Butter wins in this category. It is a cross between a light butter and a cream. The Supercurl has the consistency of goop or paste, without the stickiness. Also, when I rubbed Supercurl between my fingers and when I put it on my hair, it was very thin and watery; so, the first time I tried it, I wondered if it would be able to do anything.

Ingredients: For me, this is a tie. The ingredients in both are ok, though there are a couple that give me pause because I just don’t know as much about them:

Supercurl Ingredients: Water, Soybean Oil, Glycerin, Coconut Oil, Honey, Polymide-1, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Shea Butter, Fragrance, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ceteareth-20, Glyceryl Stearate, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Olive Fruit Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, Macadamia Seed Oil, Potassium Hydroxide, Xanthan Gum, Carbomer, Tetrasodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Potassium Sorbate, Caramel.

Extra Butter Ingredients: Water, Coconut Oil, Glycerin, Palm Kernel Oil, Shea Butter, Glyceryl Stearate, Stearic Acid, Cetearyl Alcohol, Organic Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Sweet Almond Oil, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Fragrance, Potassium Hydroxide, Xanthan Gum, Carbomer, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Potassium Sorbate, Tetrasodium EDTA.

Scent: Supercurl wins this category by a slim margin. It has a slightly sweet smell, while Extra Butter is a more chemical smell; but, both smell ok.

Verdict: They are very similar in how they make my hair look and feel. If I had to pick one, however, I would pick the Extra Butter because of its consistency. It is a little thicker, which makes it a little easier to smooth out potential flyaways.

Saturday, December 26, 2015

Favorites of 2015

Hey, beautiful people! It's that time of year again for my favorites list. I already did my favorite deep conditioners and wash n' go gels at the end of those challenges, but I'll re-post them again. I'm listing my product categories in the order that I use them and in order of preference. I am posting the regular prices for these products, but I typically buy my products on sale (20-40% off).

Deep Conditioners: