SilkenDove

Monday, February 15, 2016

Product Review: Camille Rose Ajani Growth and Shine Balm

Price: $12 for 4 oz.

Ingredients: Cocoa wafers, rice bran oil, virgin palm kernel, babassu oil, murumuru butter, candulla, honey, castor jelly, biotin, castor oil, silky btms, ceteryl blend, natural scent

Promise: From the website – This balm is an exquisite, hand blended hair and scalp treatment that nurtures, invigorates and conditions dry slow growing hair. Mango, Castor and honey were chosen for their potent conditioning and styling power. Biotin is added for its hair growing benefits. Your hair will be left with amazing shine.

Scent: Light chocolate

Consistency: Grainy

Results: I like this product, but not enough. True to the promise, it does leave my hair with a lot of shine. It also leaves my hair soft. HOWEVER, I cannot get over the grainy nature of this product. When I take the product out of the jar, I see little granules. They melt in my palm when I rub my hands together, but it is hard to get all of the granules to melt. There is usually a tiny chunk left after the majority of it has melted. I'll be reviewing the liquid growth serum from Camille Rose, which I like better. The serum is like the liquid version of this product, though the ingredients vary.

Love it, Like it or Leave It: Like It

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Product Review: Blended Beauty Happy Nappy Styles (The Braiding Files #4)

Price: $21 for 8 oz

Ingredients: Aqua, Sunflower Seed Oil, Shea Butter, Behentrimonium Methosulfate and Cetearyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Methosulfate and Cetyl Alcohol and Butylene Glycol, Polysorbate 20, Vegetable Glycerin, Methylheptyl Isostearate, Parfum, Soy Lecithin, Cetyl Esters, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Preservative (Phenoxyethanol and Caprylyl Glycol and Sorbic Acid, Rosmarinus Officinalis, Aloe Barbadensis, Chamomilla Recutita

Promise: From the website - A rich and moisturizing styling cream for kinky curls and dreads, or highly textured hair. Style and define your curls or twist locs, while naturally hydrating. Perfect for finger twisting curls! Create defined curls, with maximum moisture and softness. Dries touchably soft and satiny, not sticky or greasy.

Scent: Snickerdoodle Cookie

Consistency: Very thick, like buttercream frosting

Results: I’m so torn on this product. When my hair is wet or damp, this product works well for moisturizing and sealing. However, when my hair is dry, it just sits on top of my hair and feels greasy. In other words, this product has to have separate moisture to work properly on my hair. When it does have moisture, my hair feels soft and stays that way for a little while. It does not give my hair alot of sheen, but it does give it some. I used it on my daughter’s hair, and it was amazing for her, even more than mine. When I spritz her hair and apply this, her curls pop, have a lot of sheen, and even have some shine. I think this butter would be really good for someone with high porosity or more coarse strands, unlike my low porosity/fine hair. The Blended Beauty Curl Quenching Conditioner was definitely a better fit for my hair.

Love it, Like it or Leave It: Like It

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Product Review: Carol’s Daughter Hair Milk Nourishing & Conditioning Styling Pudding (The Braiding Files #3)

Price: $12 for 8 oz

Ingredients: Water, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Glycerin, Fragrance, Agave Tequilana Stem Extract, Aminomethyl Propanol, Shea Butter, Carbomer, Cyamopsis Tetragonoloba, Guar Gum, Dioleyl Phosphate, Disodium EDTA, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Oleth-5 Phosphate, PEG-12 Dimethicone, Avocado Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, PVP, Jojoba Seed Oil, Methylisothiazolinone, Potassium Sorbate

Promise: From the jar - For curls, coils, kinks and waves. Deeply moisturizes. Improves softness. Prevents frizz.

Scent: Chemical

Consistency: Very light and thin, feels like watered down lotion

Results: As background, I got a really good deal on this product and I saw a few positive reviews, so I decided to try it. Normally, I would not have picked up this product because the ingredients are not great. As I’ve stated in prior posts, you should typically look at the first 5 ingredients in a product to determine what is doing the heavy lifting. In this product, it is a red flag for me that fragrance is the third ingredient. Most products put fragrance as one of the final ingredients, plus I am sensitive to strong smells. It is also a flag for me that this product is packed with chemicals and most of the natural ingredients are towards the end. If the ingredient list is accurate, there is less Avocado Oil in this product than there is aminomethyl propanol. Aminomethyl Propanol is typically a pH adjuster, and it needs to be used carefully (more on this in another post). Glycerin, is third on the list, which is not necessarily bad, but does limit the weather conditions in which I can use this product. Finally, to top it off, when I tried this product, it gave my hair moisture for all of about 10 minutes before my hair dried out like the desert and became hard. In short, I am not a fan. Thankfully, the store I bought it from has a great return policy.

Love it, Like it or Leave It: Leave It

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Product Review: Uncle Funky’s Daughter Supercurl Miracle Moisture Cream (The Braiding Files #2)

Price: $22 for 8 oz

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.

Promise: From the website - Dry curls have no fear, extra moisturizing Supercurl is here. This creamy hydrator has dual-power abilities to stretch out and detangle curls in very kinky, tight textures, yet define curls in medium to loose curly textures.

Scent: Possibly papaya, definitely a sweet citrus

Consistency: Lightweight cream

Results: I like this product. The Polymide-1 gave me pause because I had never heard of this ingredient before, but the Skin Deep Cosmetics Database has it rated low on the hazard scale, which is good. The cream moisturizes some, but not a lot. It does leave my hair soft, and it provides my hair with a lot of sheen and definition. It also absorbs fairly quickly into my hair because it is so lightweight. Also, despite the price, a little goes a long way. I had a sample size that I got from an event, and it lasted through several braid styles. However, I would like to buy a bigger jar.

Love it, Like it or Leave It: Love It

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Product Review: Obia Curl Moisture Cream (The Braiding Files #1)

Price: $18 for 8 oz

Ingredients: Purified Water, Behentrimonium Methosulfate and Cetearyl Alcohol, Grapeseed Oil, Vegetable Glycerin, Olive Oil, Argan oil, Gluconolactone and Sodium Benzoate, Burdock Root, Lavender Oil, Coconut Oil, Soybean Oil, Vitamin E, Aloe Vera Oil, Fragrance.

Promise: From the website - This specially formulated leave-in conditioner is full of luxurious oils that will seal in moisture and condition your hair. The star ingredient is antioxidant rich Argan Oil that is known for providing intense moisture. Plus it is packed with Grape seed Oil, Olive Oil, Burdock Root and Vitamin E that will strengthen, add shine, smooth and promote hair growth. pH balanced Curl Moisture Cream seals in moisture and minimizes frizz by smoothing and closing the cuticle.

Scent: Not sure

Consistency: Thin Cream

Results: I’ve used an entire jar of this stuff and I was pretty consistent in the products that I paired this with, but I still got differing results. For example, most of the time, I did not get any sheen from this product, and it left my hair looking dull. However, a couple times, I did get sheen. Also, most of the time, it left my hair very moisturized, but there were a few times that it made my hair hard. I did notice that sometimes, when my hair got hard, it was because I tried to use this product as a moisturizer in between washes, so it was building up on my strands. It is rich in some really great oils, but my hair cannot take a lot of oil, especially not coconut oil. This is also the reason it took 8+ hours for this product to absorb into my hair. For all these reasons, I can’t call this my holy grail of braiding/twisting creams. I need a product that I can count on, and I would like a little more sheen in the process

Love it, Like it or Leave It: Like It

Sunday, December 27, 2015

Braiding Challenge

Hey, beautiful people! With Michigan winter fully in gear, I put my wash n' go challenge on hold and put my hair into hiding, typically in braids. I tried twists, and they just don't give my hair the same definition. Also, I have to be careful because my is also fine, so it break easily with too much tension.

Right now, my regimen is to:
1. Deep condition my hair overnight
2. Shampoo as needed
3. Detangle with rinse-out conditioner
4. Add leave-in conditioner, light oil and styling cream
5. Braid my hair

During the week, I typically keep my hair in two crown braids, with the last inch of hair at the nape of my neck cornrowed in a separate braid. I intend to test out a number of the twist creams in my hair to determine which ones leave my hair with the most moisture, sheen and definition.

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: