Saturday, March 15, 2014
Product Review: She Scent It Coco Cream Leave-in Conditioner
Price: $12.50
for 9 oz.Scent: Coconutty vanilla, like a sweet pina colada
Consistency: Light, creamy liquid
Results: I
used this frequently after a deep conditioning and then washing my hair with
the blueberry co-wash. I was surprised
at how soft and moisturized my hair felt. It even helps with detangling. I even loved this in the winter time, despite the glycerin. I just had to layer oil
or a thick cream on top to seal it in. The promises are all true, except the shine. I didn't see any shine or sheen to my hair from using this product.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
The African Black Soap Experiment
Hey,
beautiful people! As you probably know
if you have been reading my blog, I’m currently on a no-buy. This means that I have been trying to avoid
purchasing any new products until I hit my goals. I am currently out of shampoo, though I still
have four co-washes with cleansing agents. Normally, the co-washes are enough to cleanse
my hair. However, the other day, I
experimented with a setting lotion that left flakes in my hair and I wanted to
make sure I thoroughly cleansed my hair to get it all out. I didn’t want to buy a shampoo, so I had to
get creative with what I had around the house.
That is when I decided to try my african black soap body wash on my hair. I will do a formal review
after I try this a few more times, but I just had to mention that it worked! My hair felt clean, yet soft. If this consistently works for my hair, I may
stop buying shampoos and just use this and my beloved As I Am Coconut Co-wash (I know I need to do a review on this as well).
I’m excited!
Have you ever tried black soap as shampoo? What did you think?
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Product Review: She Scent It Marshmallow Herbal Hair Cream
Price: $16 for 9.5 oz.
Scent: Floral soap
Consistency: Like body cream
Results: I received
this as a sample with my other She Scent It purchases, and I am happy I did not
purchase it. This had the same scent as
the Banana Brulee deep conditioner to me, which I am not a fan of. Also, this left my hair super dry and
wiry. Some people are able to moisturize
their hair with aloe vera juice, but I am not.
I need water.
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Updates 3-6-14
Hey, beautiful people! I'm just stopping by to do a quick update. I'm still plugging away at my healthy hair journey, but I've made a few changes in my goals for 2014. I'm still taking care of my hair, but I'm no longer focused on getting to waistlength by 2015. I'll get there when I get there. I've also decided to give up on creating a protein regimen. It's better to just give my hair protein when I feel like I need it.
I've been doing a really great job on my no-buy, which is really hard for little ol' product junkie me. Since November, I've only bought one bottle of setting lotion, which I will likely return. My no buy has led to be discovering all kinds of new things about what works for my hair, which I will be sharing in later posts. I've also been making progress on figuring out the best way to airdry my hair. I've learned that, aside from wash and goes, my hair prefers to dry in stretched styles, so I've been working on perfecting rollersetting with curlformers, airdrying in twists, and banding.
Any updates in your hair journey that you want to share?
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Product Review: She Scent It Blueberry Co-wash Conditioner
Scent: Blueberry candy (light scent)
Consistency: Light, thin, almost serum-like. If I told you the first analogy that popped into my head, you would think I was being inappropriate.
Results: This
is one of my two favorites from the She Scent It line. I was skeptical at first about whether the
yucca root would be able to clean my hair, but it really does! I have been using this product as my cleanser
almost exclusively for about a month and a half, and I have not experienced any
buildup. Also, a little goes a long
way. I still have about a third of the
bottle left. It also helps me detangle before I even put in my rinse out. Can you tell I'm a fan?Saturday, February 22, 2014
Product Review: She Scent It Banana Brulee Moisturizing Deep Conditioner (The Deep Conditioner Files #3)
Price:
$12.50 for 9 oz.Scent: Like floral soap mixed with chamomile tea
Consistency: Light
and creamy, like body lotion.
Results: I
liked this conditioner. My hair felt
moisturized and strong after using it.
Plus, the scent is lighter than the Moisture Riche deep conditioner that
I previously reviewed; however, it is still not a scent that I would want to
have on my head for long periods of time.
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Cleansing Agents Part 2
Hey, HHJs! In my last post, I talked about the three types of surfactants usually used in
cleansers: anionic surfactants (negative
charge), zwitterionic / amphoteric surfactants (hybrid charge), and nonionic
surfactants (no charge).
This post is about some of the cleansing agents in these
three categories to look for. Based on
what I’ve read, here is a list of some cleansing agents to look for in a
cleansing conditioner or a shampoo:
Anionic surfactant-based products include:
- Castile Soap
- African Black Soap
- Sodium lauryl sulfate aka Sodium dodecyl sulfate / SLS (harsh)
- Sodium lauryl ether sulfate aka Sodium laureth sulfate (less harsh than SLS)
- Ammonium lauryl sulfate (harsh)
- Ammonium laureth sulfate (less harsh than ALS)
- Sodium olefin sulfonate (used in Trader Joe’s Tea Tree Tingle Shampoo and Kinky Curly Come Clean, can be as harsh as SLS)
- Sodium cocoyl sulfate (very similar in structure to SLS)
- Sodium cocoyl isethionate (used in Aubrey Organics White Camellia Shampoo and Jessicurl Hair Cleansing Cream)
- Disodium laureth sulfosuccinate aka docusate sodium
Zwitterionic / Amphoteric surfactant-based products include:
- Cocamidopropyl betaine aka cocobetaine or cocabetaine (used in Burts Bees Baby Shampoo and Jessicurl Hair Cleansing Cream)
- Sodium lauroamphoacetate (used in Ouidad Curl Co-wash)
Nonionic surfactant-based products:
- Decyl glucoside (used in Aubrey Organics White Camellia Shampoo and Burts Bees Baby Shampoo)
- PEG-40 Castor Oil (used in As I Am Co-wash and Hairveda Amala Cream Rinse)
- Cetearyl alcohol aka Cetostearyl alcohol and cetylstearyl alcohol (it has minimal cleansing power, so it is more of a conditioner than a cleanser)
Some cleansing products may also contain citrus fruits, such as lemon or orange extract, or contain apple cider vinegar, which break up oil. Also, some cleansing products may contain plant-based ingredients that are high in saponins. For example, SheScentIt’s Blueberry Co-wash Conditioner contains yucca root. Wikipedia has a long list of plant-based soap substitutes, which can be found here. I know that yucca root is a surfactant, but I’m not sure what kind. I’ve seen some articles refer to it as anionic and some refer to it as non-ionic.
Finally, some cleansing conditioners may contain clays that
have cleansing properties, such as kaolin, bentonite, rhassoul (also called ghassoul),
or green clay. While it is not marketed
as a cleansing conditioner, I’ve found that Shea Moisture’s Purification Mask feels
like it cleanses my hair. It contains
both African black soap and kaolin clay.
Based on personal experience, I can’t use shampoos
containing sodium laurel sulfate, olefin sulfate or sodium lauroamphoacetate. These cleansers are too harsh for my hair, so
I avoid them. Thus far, my hair seems to
like sodium cocoyl isethionate; cocamidopropyl betaine; decyl glucoside; and PEG-40
castor oil, which are all mild cleansers.
If you can’t figure out the cleansers in your product, look
for the INCI name, which may give you a clue.
SwiftCraftMonkey also has a wonderful chart of surfactants and a 17-page document walking through some of the key ones.
What are some of your favorite surfactants for cleansing
your hair?
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