Wednesday, October 1, 2014

My HHJ Reflection Two Years In


Hey, beautiful people!  A little over two years ago, I made the decision to stop relaxing my hair, and I just realized that I almost let my two year anniversary pass without any reflection.  In the past two years, I've learned quite a bit about my natural hair and made some changes to my regimen.  Here are my top five things:
  1. My low porosity hair needs time and heat to absorb conditioners.  For my deep conditioners, the best way for me to use them is to do my deep conditioner overnight under a plastic cap with my body heat to help it absorb.  The second best is to use a heat cap for 20 minutes.
  2. I don't need to avoid silicones.  When I first started my natural hair journey, I avoided any and all silicones.  Now, I've learned that certain silicones are ok.  Also, my favorite rinse out conditioner is not all-natural, and contains cones.  I'll be discussing this in more detail in a later post.
  3. I'm moving away from the wigs.  For most of the last two years, I would wear wigs during the week and play with my hair on the weekend.  As my hair has gotten longer, I've been wearing more buns and puffs to work.  This next year, I want to try even more professional styles, though I need them to be quick.  I hope to try installing my own spring twists before the baby arrives, but I'm running out of time.
  4. I don't need gel to wash and go.  At first, I thought the only product I could successfully wash and go with was Kinky Curly Curling Custard, then I discovered Uncle Funky's Daughter's Curly Magic (old formula).  Over this past summer, I also had some successful wash and gos with conditioner and with Jane Carter's Curl Defining Cream.  In this next year, I want to try other options.
  5. The best spray moisturizer is the one I make myself.  I tried a few commercial moisturizing spritzes before I realized that they were a waste of money.  What they all had in common was water and oil, and some only had those ingredients.  Now, I make my own and it works great for my hair.  In this next year, I want to try adding silk amino acids to my spritz.  I also want to try making other products for my hair toolbox, like black soap shampoo, flax seed gel, a leave-in conditioner with slippery elm or marshmallow root, and a moisturizing cream with BTMS.

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Product Review: MyHoneyChild Olive You Deep Conditioner (The Deep Conditioner Files #8)

Price:  $18 for 8 oz.

Ingredients:   Water, Olive Butter, Olive Fruit Oil, Honey, Olive Leaf Extract, Soya Milk, Fresh Cantaloupe Melon, Natural Yoghurt Powder, Olive Oil, Avocado Oil, Seaweed , Jojoba Oil, Violet Leaf Absolute, Orange Blossom Absolute, Neroli Oil and Optiphen.

Promise:  Dryness doesn’t stand a chance when faced with Olive You Deep Conditioner.  Every texture.  Every style.  Every possibility.  Restores moisture to the most dehydrated hair with its rich formula containing avocado oil and olive leaf extract.  It’s ideal for those with dry, over-processed hair or those who frequently use heat styling tools.  It’s light enough for daily use - it won’t weigh hair down but will add much-needed hydration for the healthy, soft hair you crave.

Scent:  To me, it smells like a mix of nail polish remover and perfume.  The hubby thinks it smells like "lotion and chemicals".

Consistency:  Ultra thin

Results:   The nail polish remover smell is really strong.  At first, I thought maybe my jar went bad; but, I noticed other reviews mentioned a smell as well.  Even if I could get past the smell, it didn’t do anything for my hair.  I used this as an overnight deep conditioner once and tried just leaving on my hair for hours.  Nothing great happened, so I ended up tossing the jar after two uses.  It is the same consistency as MyHoneyChild’s Honey Hair Mask, but this did even less for my hair. 

Love it, Like it or Leave It:  Leave It

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Update 09-20-2014: Black Friday In September

With the new baby coming in less than a month and Curlmart having a Sweet16 sale, I decided to get started on my Black Friday shopping early.  As you may remember from last year's Black Friday post, I went overboard so I wanted to make sure I kept myself in check this year.  I may have still gone a little overboard, but nowhere near as much.  Here is what I bought from Curlmart:
Grand Total:  $132.08 (plus $5 shipping)
Savings: $50.88 (plus shipping savings)

I saved a lot of money by doing my shopping a little early and coupon hunting (use cm15 with your order to save more).  We'll ignore the fact that I could have saved more if I did not buy as much.

Here is what is tentatively left on my Black Friday shopping list:

What is on your Black Friday list?  Have you started shopping?

HAPPY SHOPPING!

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Product Review: Blended Beauty Curl Quenching Conditioner

Price:  $18.50 for 8 oz.

Ingredients:   Aqua (enriched with Aloe Vera), Behentrimonium Methosulfate (and) Cetearyl Alcohol, Witch Hazel Distillate, Capryl Isostearate, Glycerin, Rice Bran Oil, Polysorbate 20, Behenoyl PG-Trimonium Chloride, Behentrimonium Methosulfate (and) Cetyl Alcohol (and) Butylene Glycol, Vanilla planifolia, Preservative [Phenoxyethanol and Caprylyl Glycol and Sorbic Acid], Scent, Rosemary Leaf Extract, Hydrolyzed Corn Protein (and) Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein (and) Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Silk Powder.

 Promise:  A detangling, luxurious conditioner with rice bran oil and rosemary.  Leaves every strand silky smooth.  No silicones!

 Scent:  Snickerdoodle cookies with strong hint of cinnamon

 Consistency:  Buttercream frosting or softened butter.  In the jar, it looks like it will be heavy, but it spreads fairly thin in a good way.

Results:   I have had this jar for awhile, and it looks like the ingredients may have changed some.  I don’t see rice bran oil listed anymore, and the new formula has propylene glycol.  Also, when I bought this, I thought it was a deep conditioner, but the instructions say to only leave it on for 2-3 minutes, so I think it is a regular rinse out.  I liked this conditioner, but more for styling than for conditioning.  It is great detangler, with good slip and moisturizing properties.  It reminded me a lot of Camille Rose's Almond Jai Twisting Butter and Bee Mine’s Bee-u-ti-ful Deep Conditioner.  These products have taught me that my hair likes “wet butters” for styling my hair in twists or braids.  However, while I like this, I’m not sure yet if I will repurchase it because of the price and the ingredient change.  I can get Camille Rose for slightly cheaper, and I like the ingredients better.

Love it, Like it or Leave It:  Like It

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Updates 09-13-2014: Moving and Other Things


Hi, beautiful people!  I was looking at my blog and realized that I have not posted in over a month.  There has been a lot going on.  I moved into a new house, I'm in the process of selling my other house, and I'm still preparing for baby, who will be here in a month or less.  I'm doing all of this while working a full time job and taking care of my toddler.

In the midst of all of this, I have to admit that my hair has taken a minor backseat.  I have not been washing or deep conditioning weekly, though I try to get both in at least every two weeks.  In the meantime, I have been protective styling and still moisturizing my hair regularly using my homemade spritz.  First, I used medium sized twists after a thorough detangling.  Now, I've switched to two crown braids.  During the week, I usually wear my protective style under a satin scarf and a wig to preserve the style.  Then, I wear it out on the weekend.  So far, I haven't seen any breakage from this low key routine, but I do need to pay close attention to my crown, which is prone to breakage.

What do you do with your hair when you have a lot going on?

Happy Living!

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Product Review: Annabelle’s Perfect Blend White Chocolate Mousse Hair Mask (The Deep Conditioner Files #7)

Price:  $10 for 4 oz. or $20 for 8 oz.

Ingredients:   Water, Marshmallow Root, Wheat Germ Oil, Cetyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Cetearyl Alcohol, PEG-40 Castor Oil, Stearalkonium Chloride, Emulsifying Wax NF, Shea Butter, Cocoa Seed Butter, Cetrimonium Chloride, Sodium Lactate, Silk Amino Acids, Pathenol, Diazolidinyl Urea and Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Fragrance.

Promise:  From the website - Chocolate Mousse Moisture Intense Mask is a deep conditioning mask that will impart much needed moisture back into your hair. It packs a powerful punch with its blend of cocoa butter and marshmallow root.

Scent:  Chocolate torte!  I wanted to eat it.

Consistency:  Super thick, like softened butter or thick mud.  I forgot to take a picture of the consistency before I used the last of this.

Results:   I used this as an overnight deep conditioner at least twice.   I was actually surprised at how well my low porosity hair liked it because of the thickness and because my hair doesn't usually like Emulsifying Wax.  This left my hair feeling soft, strong and moisturized.  It reminded me a lot of the Pura Body Chocolate Hair Smoothie in the scent and the way it made my hair feel, but I think I like the Pura Body version better because it is lighter. 

Love it, Like it or Leave It:  Like It

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Ingredient Investigation: DMDM Hydantoin

Hey, beautiful people!  I’m still continuing my investigation of suspect ingredients.  Another suspect ingredient that I frequently see in drugstore products is DMDM Hydantoin.

DMDM hydantoin is used in some products as a preservative to prevent microbes (i.e., bacteria, mold and mildew) from growing in the product.  The main issue with this ingredient is that it is a formaldehyde releaser.  Yes, the same stuff used to preserve dead bodies.  In fact, it works so well as a preservative because the released formaldehyde makes the environment less favorable to the microorganisms.

While DMDM hydantoin only releases formaldehyde in low amounts, this can be an issue for people with sensitive skin or allergies because formaldehyde can be an irritant to the skin, eyes and lungs.  It may also create a formaldehyde allergy.

Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives in a product that also includes amines, such as triethanolamine (TEA), diethanolamine (DEA), or monoethanolamine (MEA), can create a carcinogenic substance, called a nitrosamine, that can potentially penetrate skin.

For now, while pregnant, I’m staying away from any product with DMDM hydantoin; but, after pregnancy, I may be ok with DMDM hydantoin products, as long as the product doesn’t also contain an amine.  I've been wanting to try TRESemme Heat Tamer Spray, but it has DMDM hydantoin and TEA, among other suspect ingredients, so I'm avoiding it.  Call me overly cautious.


Do you use products with DMDM hydantoin?  Which ones?

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