Showing posts with label silk dreams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label silk dreams. Show all posts

Sunday, October 1, 2017

Black Friday Thoughts (2017 Edition)

Hey, beautiful people!  Like last year, but Black Friday is already crossing my mind.  This year may not be that exciting because there isn't really much I need, even with keeping my daughter's head in mind too.  In looking back over the past two years, I typically use about:
  • 4-6 deep conditioners
  • 2 shampoos / cleansers
  • 7 rinse out conditioners
  • 9 leave-ins / moisturizers 
  • 2-3 gels (including bun & wash n' go gels)
  • 3-4 braid & twist creams/butters
  • <1 heat styler
  • 1-2 oils (I run through oils slowly)

I have all of this in my product stash already, except the rinse out conditioners (which I don't buy during Black Friday), 2 leave-in/moisturizers and possibly 2 deep conditioners.  I currently have 36 products in my stash.

So based on my favorite brands list, this Black Friday, I plan to focus on looking for a sale from Silk Dreams or Mielle Organics, though I may pick up another Uncle Funky's Daugther Curly Magic and an As I Am Leave-in Conditioner for me.  I am also torn on whether to give the Camille Rose Fresh Curl and Curl Love another try.  I also have to keep my daughter's hair in mind now when I shop, but I may only pick up an As I Am Coil Defining Jelly for her because she has quite a few products too.  I can always buy during Mother's Day sales if we start to get too low on products.

Am I the only one with Black Friday on the brain already?

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?

Saturday, June 17, 2017

Wash Day 06-16-2017: Mielle Organics Brazilian Curl Cream and Honey & Ginger Gel

Hey, beautiful people!  In one of my more recent posts, I talked about trying Mielle Organics products, and how much I liked them.  At the time, I didn't have the Brazilian Curly Cocktail Curl Cream or the Honey & Ginger Styling Gel, but I wanted to try them.

This wash day, I did a deep condition overnight with Silk Dreams Haircare Vanilla Silk Cream Moisture Dream.  Since I washed my hair earlier this week with shampoo, I didn't shampoo again, except for the back right quadrant of my hair (don't ask).  For the rest of my hair, I skipped right to the conditioner, and used that to "co-wash" my scalp.  This time, I used the Beauty 360 Deeper Moisture Conditioner for Dry and Damaged Hair.  It is supposed to be the CVS generic brand of the TRESemme Moisture Rich Conditioner.  Normally, I would not have purchased this because Dimethicone was the sixth ingredient, but I decided to give it a shot because it was so cheap.  It was ok, but I am still not a fan of regular Dimethicone for the reasons I described in this post.  I prefer -cones that are water soluble, evaporate or are build-up resistant.

After washing my hair, I applied Mielle Organics Brazilian Curl Cream and the Honey & Ginger Styling Gel to my hair in 12 sections (3 sections per quadrant).  I didn't need to use a ton of gel, but I did have to use quite a bit of the curl cream.  Ultimately, my hair was ultra-defined while still wet, and kept a lot of that definition when it dried.  While there was a slight crunch as my hair dried, the crunch left pretty quickly when I touched my hair, and my hair became super soft.  As an added bonus, my hair smelled like delicious herbal tea.

Overall, I like the curl cream and gel as a first impression.  I only had three issues:  (1) my ends are frizzy, which may not be the gel's fault; (2) the roots of my hair were still wet over 24 hours later, which tends to happen to my low porosity hair with heavy products; and (3) this combo flakes. 

Total Styling Time:  ~35 minutes



Saturday, February 18, 2017

Wash Day 02-18-2017 - As I Am Leave-in Conditioner

Hey beautiful people!  Today was a rare, warm day in Michigan winter, so I decided to do a wash n go.  Prior to today, I left the Silk Dreams Vanilla Silk deep conditioner on my hair for a couple days.

I started today with the Carol’s Daughter Hair Milk Cleansing Conditioner.  I have used this for a few washes, and I still like it.  Next, I used the HerbalEssences Wild Naturals Turkish Fig (with Cassia), which I let sit on my hair while I showered.  This is a good conditioner for detangling.  It has great slip, but it still doesn’t beat my Herbal Essence Long Term Relationship as my favorite.

When I got out the shower, I put As I Am Leave-in Conditioner, Camille Rose Cocoa Nibs and Honey Ultimate Growth Serum, and Uncle Funky’s Daughter's Curly Magic gel.  Then I wrapped my hair in a microfiber towel to suck up some of the moisture while I did my makeup and got dressed.  This sped up my dry time immensely.  My hair was not dripping when I took off the towel, and it was 75% dry about 4 hours later (the picture below).

The As I Am Leave-in was the star of this wash day.  As a low porosity girl, it is rare that I put a leave-in conditioner on head and have it absorb immediately without making my hair white.  When I put the As I Am on my hair, there were very minimal white spots.  If it performs the same in later wash days, it may become a favorite.

Total Wash & Style Time - 27 minutes


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, November 24, 2016

Silk Dreams Battle of the Butters (The Braiding Files #9)

Hey, beautiful people!  Happy Thanksgiving!  This post is long overdue, so I decided to type while I am waiting for all the things in the oven to finish cooking, may daughter is taking a nap and my hubby is watching football. 

As you already know, Silk Dreams Haircare is one of my favorite brands.  So, when they had a sale a while ago, I picked up three of the moisturizing butters:  the Who’s That Curl? Buttersilk Balm; the Satin Smooth Hair Cream; and the Almond Buttercream.  There is also a Mocha Silk Bling Butter, but I prefer a butter that has water as the first moisturizer and it has mango butter as the first ingredient, followed by a series of other butters and oils.

I have been using all three butters for a few months to see how my hair reacts each one.  Surprisingly, the ingredients are very different, but my hair reacts similarly to two of the butters and not that much different for the third.  I wanted to make sure that they remained similar long term.  They did not.

  • Price:  All 3 are $12 for 4 oz., which seems a little pricey, but a little goes a long way.  Thus, these butters end up lasting as long as some cheaper products, if not longer.

  • Ingredients:  All 3 have great, quality ingredients.  Who’s The Curl and Almond Buttercream both have water as the first ingredient, which is likely why they work better for my hair.  Satin Smooth has aloe vera juice as the first ingredient, but is the better butter for people who do not like glycerin.  It is the only one without any.  Who’s That Curl has glycerin as the third ingredient, and Almond Buttercream has it as the 9th.  Who’s That Curl is the only one with BTMS, and silk amino acids (two of my hair loves).  Almond Buttercream has hydrolyzed silk protein, but it is way down on the ingredient list.

  • Scent:  All 3 have a nice scent.  I have yet to find a bad smelling Silk Dreams Haircare product.  The Almond Buttercream has my favorite of the 3 scents though.

  • Consistency:  Who’s That Curl is a whipped butter.  It reminds me a lot of Embrace The Natural You’s Twist Truffle Whip.  Almond Buttercream is an oily cream (you have to shake it on occasion to mix it up).  Satin Smooth is a gel, oil cream consistency that is hard to describe (you have to vigorously shake this one to keep it together).

  • Verdict:  It is a close call between Almond Buttercream and Who’s That Curl as to which one is my favorite.  If I had to go by which one I am using up the fastest, it would be the Almond Buttercream, but I still really love the Who’s That Curl.  The Satin Smooth is nice, but it left my hair a little dry/hard after a few hours.


Saturday, October 29, 2016

Detangling Tools

Hey, beautiful people!  With Michigan winter coming soon, I am moving back into more protective
styling, which means more shed hairs get trapped close to my roots and I get more tangling. I have to be careful when detangling because, even though my hair is high density, it is also very fine in most areas.   Thus, typically, I just finger detangle 1-2 times per week.  Every few months, however, I do a more thorough detangling session.

For those more thorough sessions, here are my favorite tools:

  1. A good rinse out or leave-in conditioner with a lot of slip.  I like Herbal Essence Long Term Relationship Conditioner; Herbal Essence Totally Twisted Conditioner; Silk Dreams Wheat Germ Butter Conditioner; and Curl Junkie Curl Assurance Smoothing Conditioner.  I have also used Oyin Hair Dew with my oil mix to get the job done.

  2. A wide tooth comb.  After finger detangling and putting my hair in sections, I next use the wide tooth comb to get out the more easier tangles.  I have two Hercules Sagemann Magic Star Rake Combs that I really like because they are seamless.  However, sometimes I just use one of my $4 Diane or Annie Jumbo Rake Combs.  They are not seamless, but I have never had a problem with them.

  3. Paddle Brush.  After going through a section with a wide tooth comb, I go in with my Conair Paddle Brush to get out the remaining tangles and some of the loose shed hairs that I missed with finger detangling and my wide tooth comb.  I have the old school square wooden handle one.  I am not sure that they make still make it because I no longer see it in stores, but the plastic and "velvet touch" handle ones are pretty much the same.  The only downside about my Conair is that it is big, which makes it hard to get close to my roots.  I may try the Wet Brush as it appears a bit smaller.

  4. Tangle Teaser Or Similar Brush.  This is my final step before braiding up the detangled section.  I don't have a Tangle Teaser.  I have a Goody Tangle Fix, which looks the same to me; is cheaper; and works great.  This is good for getting any knots out of my ends, and for getting final shed hairs out of the length of my hair.  I am careful with this brush, however, because I have had heard of other ladies getting mid-shaft splits.

I have tried some other tools, based on their rave reviews from the natural hair community, but they just did not work for my hair:
  • Denman brush - I bought the original D3; the D41 with more widely spaced bristles; and a D4 (nine row).  All of them just ripped my hair out.  I could literally hear my hair ripping, as I tried to pull the brush through.

  • Felicia Leatherwood Detangler Brush - I bought this brush because one of my favorite YouTubers raved about it.  When it arrived, the edges of each bristle were jagged and uneven (see picture).  I looked at it and instantly knew I could not use it in my hair without causing some serious damage.  

  • Evolve Dual Sided Boar/Paddle Brush - The paddle brush side worked ok, but not as smoothly as my Conair Paddle Brush.  There was some definite ripping when I ran it through my hair.

What do you use to detangle?

Saturday, September 3, 2016

Black Friday Thoughts in September

Hey, beautiful people!  I know it's a little early, but Black Friday is already crossing my mind.  This year may not be that exciting because there isn't really much I need, even with keeping my daughter's head in mind too.  In looking back over the past two years, I typically use about:
  • 6 deep conditioners
  • 2 shampoos / cleansers
  • 7 rinse out conditioners
  • 9 leave-ins / moisturizers 
  • 2-3 gels (including bun & wash n' go gels)
  • 3-5 braid & twist creams/butters
  • <1 heat styler
  • 1-2 oils (I run through oils slowly)


It's kind of embarrassing to admit it, but I have all of this in my product stash already, except the rinse out conditioners.  I currently have 39 products in my stash, with 4 more on their way to my house. I recently purchased products from both Silk Dreams Hair Care and Camille Rose.


So, this Black Friday, I may just pick up a couple deep conditioners if there is a good sale, and buy some more Camille Rose products with my daughter's hair in mind.  My daughter's hair loves the Camille Rose Coconut Water Penetrating Hair Treatment (as a leave-in) and the Carmel Cowash.  I also want to try the Moroccan Pear Conditioning Custard (if I catch a good deal), and get a back-up Curl Maker gel and Aloe Whipped Butter Gel for myself.

Am I the only one with Black Friday on the brain already?


Monday, July 4, 2016

07-04-2016 Wash Day - Quick High Bun


Hey, beautiful people!   Because it is a holiday and I was feeling lazy, I wasn't really in the mood to wash my hair, but I had to because I spent Friday afternoon and Saturday morning at a waterpark full of chlorine.


First, the moment I got home on Saturday, I put Silk Dreams Mocha Silk Infusion on my hair to deep condition.  I meant to wash my hair that night, but it didn't happen on Saturday or Sunday, so the deep conditioner was in my hair for a day and a half.  This is a good protein deep conditioner, but it is on the border of almost being too much protein for my strands.  I like some of the other Silk Dreams conditioners better, like the Silk Dreams Vanilla Silk Moisture Dream deep conditioner.

This morning, I washed my hair with Aubrey Organics Swimmer's Shampoo.  This is still my favorite swimmer shampoo because it is both chelating and clarifying.   Next, I tried the Herbal Essence The Sleeker The Butter Smoothing Conditioner on one section of my hair, but this did not work well for me.  It had little slip on my hair and did not soften my hair at all.  This surprised me because it worked well for my daughter's hair.  It gave it slip and made it incredibly soft.  However, I'm pretty sure her hair is closer to high porosity than mine.  

Because the conditioner did not work, I finished off the other three sections with Herbal Essence Long Term Relationship Conditioner, my holy grail conditioner.  When I got out of the shower, I put Oyin Hair Dew and my oil mix on my hair, then I put my hair in a high bun with Eco Styler Krystal gel.  It will probably stay wet for a few days in the middle.

Total Styling time - 20 minutes


Sunday, June 26, 2016

06-26-2016 Wash Day - Eco Styler Krystal Gel Wash 'N Go

Hey, beautiful people!  I am in the process of wrapping up the last of my reviews from my braiding challenge, and then I will post the recap.

Summer is back, and so are my wash 'n gos.  Today, because it was going to be over 90 degrees, I decided it would be a good day to re-try doing an Eco Styler wash n' go.

First, I accidentally deep conditioned my hair for two days using the Silk Dreams Mocha Silk Infusion (I'll do a review later).  Then, I washed my hair with Carol’s Daughter Black Vanilla Shampoo, and conditioned/detangled with Herbal Essence Long Term Relationship Conditioner.  When I got out the shower, I decided to do something different from my normal practice because of how thick Eco Styler is.

When I got out the shower, I left my hair dripping wet.  I did not towel dry at all.  Next, I applied my Oyin Hair Dew and Eco Styler Krystal Gel in 4 sections on the left side, and 6 sections on the right side.  However, instead of raking the gel through my hair like last time, I decided to shingle because of the thickness of Eco Styler.  I also used literally gobs of gel to the point that I thought it would all still be stuck together when it dried.  Afterward, I sat outside in 91 degree weather to jump start the drying process, and lightly shook my head periodically to loosen the curls.

My wash n' go was wonderful! I had great definition, shine and hang time, though I had less volume.  This is a great wash n' go for when I want a more "tamed" style.  It also dawned on me today that I have reached my curly length hair goal (shoulder-length curly), though I have decided to keep growing my hair for now.

Total wash & style time - 41 mins (24 mins spent on shingling).

I don't post videos on YouTube, so here is a video of someone else doing the shingling method, though I applied about double the gel.

 Post Edited 7/3/16 - My hair was still wet on Tuesday (3 days later). Also, because I used so much gel, I got goop under my fingernails when I touched my scalp, and I also got white residue on my edges. It finally fully dried Wednesday (day 4), but it was time to put it up.  Thus, I do not think Eco Styler gel is right for me as a wash n go gel.

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:
Shampoos:
Conditioners:
  1. Herbal Essence Long Term Relationship ($4 for 10 oz)
  2. Herbal Essence Totally Twisted ($4 for 10 oz)
  3. Garnier Fructis Hydra Recharge ($4 for 13 oz)
Leave-in Conditioners / Daily Moisturizers:
  1. Silk Dreams Wheat Germ Butter Conditioner ($16 for 16 oz)
  2. Oyin Handmade Hair Dew ($23 for 16.9 oz)
  3. Koils by Nature Moisturizing Shealoe Leave-in Conditioner ($20 for 12 oz) 
  4. Curl Junkie Curl Assurance Smoothing Lotion (summer only) ($25 for 12 oz)
Oils/Daily Spritz Mix-ins:
  1. Now Foods Avocado Oil ($14 for 16 oz)
  2. Essential Depot Vegetable Glycerin (summer only) ($13 for 43 oz)
  3. Tropic Isle Living Jamaican Black Castor Oil ($7 for 4 oz)
  4. Now Foods Peppermint Essential Oil ($7 for 1 oz)
Wash n Go Stylers:
  1. Camille Rose Curl Maker ($22 for 12 oz)
  2. Uncle Funky’s Daughter Curly Magic ($25 for 18 oz)
  3. As I Am Curling Jelly ($22 for 16 oz)
Braid and Twist Creams:

Friday, December 25, 2015

Product Review: Battle of the Silk Dreams Moisturizers



Hey, beautiful people!  One of my favorite deep conditioner product lines this year is Silk Dreams Hair Care, so I decided to try a couple of her moisturizers -- the Wheat Germ Butter Conditioner and the Mocha Silk Hair Milk.  While the Wheat Germ Butter is labeled a conditioner, her website said that it could also be used as a leave-in.  I tried both bottles until I used them both up, sometimes using just one, and sometimes putting one product on one side of my head and the other product on the other side.
Price:  The Wheat Germ Butter Conditioner wins.  It is 8 oz. for $10 or 16 oz. for $16.   The Mocha Silk Hair Milk is 8 oz. for $12.


Ingredients:  This one was a close call for me, so I’m calling it a tie.   Both have amazing ingredients, and both have a nice protein.
    • Wheat Germ Butter Conditioner - Water, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Wheat Germ Butter, Avocado Oil, Polyquaternium 7, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Panthenol, Germall Plus, Fragrance
    • Mocha Silk Hair Milk - Water, Coconut Milk, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Palm Kernel Oil, Cupuacu Butter, Cocoa Butter, Avocado Oil, Hydroxypropyltrimonium Honey, Quaternium-79 Hydrolyzed Silk Protein, Polyquaternium-7, Panthenol, Germall Plus, Fragrance
Scent:  The Mocha Silk wins for me because it has a light chocolate scent.  The Wheat Germ did not smell like much of anything to me.
Results:  The Wheat Germ Butter Conditioner wins for my hair, though they are both great.  They both kept my hair moisturized for days and they both have this nice consistency of a thick lotion, but the Wheat Germ Butter left my hair feeling a little bit softer.  However, I think the Capuacu Butter and the Cocoa Butter combined in the Mocha Silk Hair Milk were just too much.  I have to be careful with heavier butters on my hair.  Also, the Wheat Germ Butter left my hair feeling conditioned when I washed it out on wash day, probably because it is also designed to be a conditioner.

Saturday, November 28, 2015

The End of The Deep Conditioner Challenge (The Deep Conditioner Files)


Hey, beautiful people!  As you may remember from a post over a year and a half ago, I wanted to try out a ton of deep conditioners to find out which ones best worked for my hair.  Over that time, I tried a lot, and posted 16 reviews as part of my search.  I learned that my hair loves a moisturizing deep conditioner that also has a light protein.  This is probably because my hair is fine, which means it needs protein.  However, my hair is also low porosity, which means that it can't take a lot of protein.  I also prefer a little slip in case I want to detangle without a rinse out conditioner.  

Here are the top six conditioners that worked best for me, based on the way my hair felt and price:
I still plan to try a couple other deep conditioners because I'm a product junkie, but I think I'm pretty much set with these.  Next up on my list to try:
  • ORS Hair Mayo
  • Silk Dreams Destination Hydration
  • Silk Dreams Shea What Conditioner 
  • Silk Dreams Mocha Silk Infusion
  • Camille Rose Coconut Water Penetrating Hair Treatment 
  • Camille Rose Nourishing Cream Hair Bath
Which deep conditioners do you love?

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Black Friday Gear Up


It's that time of year again when product junkies rejoice.  All year, I have been in product junkie rehab, so I have kept track of every product I used up, gave away and tossed. I used up:
  • 6 deep conditioners
  • 2 shampoos / cleansers
  • 7 rinse out conditioners
  • 9 leave-ins / moisturizers 
  • 3 gels
  • 5 other stylers
  • 1 oils (I run through oils slowly)

In looking at my current inventory of 48 products, sadly, I should have enough stuff to last me all next year, except leave-in/moisturizers, shampoo and possibly rinse out conditioner.  I don't buy shampoo or rinse conditioner during Black Friday anyway, and I might be able to use some of my other products as leave-in/moisturizers. Thus, I'm going to try my best to resist Black Friday product shopping this year. If I buy anything, it will be from one of three product lines (Silk Dreams, Camille Rose or Uncle Funky's Daughter). I am again attempting to limit the number of lines I use, so I may buy a few products to fill gaps in these lines.

Have no fear, if I don't buy anything for Black Friday, I'll reevaluate my stash in May for the Mother's Day / Memorial Day sales.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Product Review: Silk Dreams Razzberry Coconut Affair (The Deep Conditioner Files #10)

Price:  $12 for 8 oz. OR $18 for 16 oz.

Ingredients:   Water, Coconut Milk, Stearalkonium Chloride, Cetearyl Alcohol, Rice Bran Oil, Agave Nectar, Cetyl Alcohol, Peach Kernel Oil, Germall Plus, Raspberry Powder, Green Tea Extract, Fragrance

Promise:  Luscious and ultra creamy Razzberry Coconut Affair conditions, moisturizes, and smooths medium to thick hair; not recommended for fine hair.

Scent:  Conditioner.  I expected it to smell like raspberries because it has real raspberry powder, but it didn’t smell like much of anything at all.

Consistency:  Super thick and creamy


Results:   I really wanted to love this product because I love the Vanilla Silk Deep Conditioner and I love the company.  Silk Dreams makes reasonably priced, quality products (despite the name similarity, there is no relation).   This worked better for my hair than the Chocolate Bliss, but it wasn't spectacular.  I tried this twice before giving it away to my sister.  The first time, I inadvertently let it sit on my hair for over 24 hours.  It melted into my hair eventually and my hair felt ok and somewhat moisturized.  The second time, I did an overnight deep conditioning pre-shampoo.  My hair was moisturized this time as well, but still not like with the Vanilla Silk.  I think this was just too thick for my low porosity, fine-medium strands.   In Silk Dreams’ defense, the website and the jar does warn that this is not for fine strands, and I should have listened.  Lesson learned.  From now on, I need to focus on conditioners that are geared toward my finer strands, instead of the medium ones.  

If you like the Chocolate Bliss, you may like this because it is similar in consistency and the effect it had on my hair.  The product junkie in me isn't done trying out this line.  I have one Silk Dreams deep conditioner left in my stash that I am using now -- the Avocado Pudding (review coming soon).  Once I use up more of my product stash, I also want to try the Destination Hydration, Shea What Conditioner, Mocha Silk Infusion, Wheat Germ Butter Conditioner and the Almond Buttercream.

Love it, Like it or Leave It:  Leave It


Sunday, December 28, 2014

2014 Favorite Products


As I continue to work on narrowing the number of products that I use and with 2014 coming to an end, I wanted to wrap it up by listing some of my favorite products for this year.  I’ve also noted products that are on my current staples list for 2015.

Deep Conditioners
Aubrey Organics Island Naturals Replenishing Conditioner (staple)
Hairveda Acai Phyto Berry Conditioner (staple)
Curl Junkie Repair Me! Reconstructive Hair Treatment
Silk Dreams Vanilla Silk Cream Moisture Dream

Cleansers
Aubrey Organics Swimmer’s Shampoo (staple)
Dr. Woods Shea Vision Black Soap (staple)
As I Am Coconut Cowash Cleansing Conditioner
Aubrey Organics White Camellia Ultra Smoothing Shampoo
SheScentIt Blueberry Co-wash Conditioner

Rinse Out Conditioners
Herbal Essence Totally Twisted (staple)
Herbal Essence Long Term Relationship (staple)
GVP Conditioning Balm
Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle Conditioner

Leave-ins
Curl Junkie Curl Assurance Smoothing Lotion (staple)
Oyin Handmade Hair Dew (staple)
She Scent It Coco Cream Leave-in Conditioner

Moisturizers
Oyin Handmade Hair Dew (staple)
Purabody Murumuru Moisture Milk in Tahitian Vanilla (staple)
Purabody Sapote Hair Lotion in Tahitian Vanilla (staple)
Alikay Naturals Lemongrass Leave-in Conditioner

Stylers
Jane Carter Curl Defining Cream (staple)
Pink Eco Styler Gel (staple)
Camille Rose Naturals Almond Jai Twisting Butter 
Annabelle’s Perfect Blend Birthday Cake Hair Crème
Qhemet Biologics Burdock Root Butter Cream
Oyin Burnt Sugar Pomade

Oils
Essential Depot Vegetable Glycerin (staple)
Essential Depot or Now Foods Avocado Oil (staple)
Now Foods Grapeseed Oil (staple)
Now Foods Lavender & Tea Tree Essential Oil (staple)
Now Foods Peppermint Essential Oil
Now Foods Rosemary Essential Oil (staple)
Tropic Isle Living Jamaican Black Castor Oil (staple)


What are some of your favorite products from 2014?  Will any of them become staples for 2015?
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