Wednesday, December 31, 2014
2015 Personal Hair Goals
Hey, beautiful people! Happy New Year! As 2014 is coming to a close, I’ve started thinking about my hair goals for 2015. Here is what I’ve come up with:
- Strive for a healthier body. A healthy body leads to healthy hair, so I need to focus on both. This doesn’t mean that I can’t have dessert and cheesy appetizers every once in a while, but I can’t have it every day. Also, now that I’ve had my baby, I have a size goal (not a weight goal) in mind, so I’m going to start exercising again to get to that goal. Don't worry, I don't want to be stick skinny. I like my curves. I just want them a little firmer.
- Drink at least 64 oz of water every day. Proper water intake helps with moisture retention levels (more on this later), and it just helps the body function better. While I was pregnant, I got dehydrated very easily, so I started different techniques to help me drink more water. One of those was to buy 32 oz plastic mason jars. I’ve found that if I fill up the jar morning when I get to work, and then fill it up again mid-afternoon, I easily get my 64 oz in without thinking about it.
- Maintain healthy hair practices. I am less than 6 inches away from mid-back length (MBL) / bra strap length (BSL). As I’ve said before, I am not setting length as a goal, because I want to focus more on healthy hair practices than length. But, healthy hair practices, such as weekly deep conditioning and baggying when needed, should get me to this length in 2015. One day I do want to be waist length and it would be great to get there in 4 years (2016). The distinction, however, is that I won’t ever avoid a necessary cut to preserve length over healthy hair.
- Continue to narrow my staple products. In a previous post, I listed my product favorites for 2014. I will always be a product junkie on some level; but, in 2015, I want to continue to shrink my product stash and strengthen my list of staple products. I also want to avoid another incident where I go completely overboard again on product purchases.
- Continue my hair styling exploration. In this past year, I stopped wearing my wigs as often, attended a hair styling class, tried out a few new styles including twists, did a ton of buns/puffs, and discovered that I’m a lazy natural. With my hair getting longer, I do want to have a few more go-to styles for work and become a little more adventurous for special occasions. Also, I want to try to straighten my hair again since I did such a horrible job the last time, and I'm not big on failure.
Sunday, December 28, 2014
2014 Favorite Products
Deep Conditioners
Cleansers
Aubrey Organics Swimmer’s Shampoo (staple)
Dr. Woods Shea Vision Black Soap (staple)
Rinse Out
Conditioners
Herbal Essence Totally Twisted (staple)
Leave-ins
Oyin Handmade Hair Dew (staple)
Moisturizers
Oyin Handmade Hair Dew (staple)
Stylers
Jane Carter Curl Defining Cream (staple)
Pink Eco Styler Gel (staple)
Oils
Essential Depot Vegetable Glycerin (staple)
What are some of your
favorite products from 2014? Will any of
them become staples for 2015?
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Power Product Line Review: As I Am Naturally
As I Am Hydration
Elation Intensive Conditioner:
If you have been following me for awhile, then you should know by now
that my usual routine is to deep condition overnight first. The conditioner itself is light like cake
batter, and it allowed me to detangle some, but it left my hands feeling a
little weird. As for results, this deep
conditioner was nothing to write home about.
I felt like it didn’t do anything to moisturize my hair, despite the
name. A couple days later, I tried using
this in the shower as a regular conditioner, and it didn’t do anything that way
either. I would not repurchase this
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As I Am Coconut
Cowash: Next to the SheScentIt Blueberry Cowash, this is my favorite co-wash. It cleanses while moisturizing.
In the past, when I’ve had a deep conditioner that left my hair dry, but
I still needed to cleanse, I’ve used this and it brought my hair right
back. This wash day was no different. I love this stuff! I’m not currently purchasing any more
cowashes because I want to see if I actually need them. Otherwise, I would repurchase this in a
heartbeat.
As I Am Double Butter
Cream Rich Daily Moisturizer: In
the days following my wash day, I tried to use the double butter cream to
moisturize my hair. It didn’t work. This product is much thinner than I thought
it would be given that you normally see it in a jar. The top 6 ingredients are: Water infused with extracts, Shea Butter,
Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Cocoa Seed Butter, Sweet Almond Oil, and Emulsifying
Wax NF. However, even though water is
the first ingredient, this had more of a sealing effect on my hair than a
moisturizing one. I also think that my
hair doesn’t like Emulsifying Wax. The
remaining ingredients also made me dislike this product. Given the price of a regular sized jar of the
double butter cream, I was surprised to see hydrogenated vegetable oil in the
list of ingredients at all, and definitely surprised to see it as the third
ingredient. While I’m sure it works
perfectly fine as a sealant simply because it is an oil, I haven’t heard of any
great benefits that it has. The cream
also has lanolin and some other ingredients that are not so great for my hair. There are a ton of good oils in this product,
but they are further down the ingredient list and likely in low concentrations.
I won’t be repurchasing this product.
In short, I like the co-wash, leave-in and gel. I would leave the rest.
Have you used As I Am products? What did you think?
Friday, December 5, 2014
Head-to-Head: Jane Carter Curl Defining Cream vs As I Am Twist Defining Cream
Price: As I Am wins, but not by much. These are both on the pricey side, but Jane
Carter is more expensive without a sale.
Jane Carter is $34 for 16 ounces, while As I Am is $22. However, for the past two years, Jane Carter has
been 40% off during their Black Friday sale or 30% the days after, bringing the
price down. Tomorrow, they are having a 50% off sale for 4 hours. Other retailers sometimes follow suit. For example, as of this post's publication, Jane Carter is on Amazon for $23.50. Of course, retailers that
sell As I Am have sales too, but I haven’t seen one with that high of a
percentage.
Consistency: Jane Carter wins for me. Jane Carter is a creamy consistency, like a
heavy lotion. As I Am is more
jelly-like. Imagine if you mixed cream
with a thick gel, like Eco Styler. As I
Am is also sticky and leaves a weird residue on my hands. The stickiness is odd because it has little
hold.
Ingredients: Jane Carter wins this one for me too. Both have infused water as the first ingredient. Looking past the water, the next 5 key ingredients
on my Jane Carter jar are Shea Butter, Jojoba Seed Oil, Avocado Oil, Vitamin E
and Glycerin (in that order). The ingredients on the website are different. In As I Am, the next 7 key ingredients after infused water are Glycerin, Acetamide MEA, Sunflower Seed Oil, Castor Seed Oil,
Triethanolamine, Coconut Oil and Shea Butter (in that order).
Depending on how your hair reacts to Glycerin and the weather,
Jane Carter may be better because glycerin is lower on the ingredient list meaning there is a lower concentration of it. Acetaminde
MEA is also a humectant. Michigan winters can be very drying, so Jane
Carter is the better pick for me for year-round use for this reason alone. The fact that As I Am has two amines (Acetamide
MEA and Triethanolamine) also makes me a little uneasy because they can be
cancer-forming when mixed with other products, like DMDM Hydantoin.
Styling: This is another Jane Carter win, but not by
much. I’ve tried both for twists (flat
twists & box twists) and wash n’ gos, and they both work for both. Both leave my hair soft and get the job
done. However, with As I Am, the biggest
issue for me is the weird sticky feeling it leaves on my hands while styling
and the coating it leaves on my hair. Also,
if I use too much As I Am, then residue shows up in my hair. This might be ok if As I Am actually had some
hold to it, but it doesn’t. Also, I find
that my hair stays a moisturized just a little longer with the Jane Carter.
Final Ruling: In a head to head comparison, Jane Carter’s
Curl Defining Cream is my preference, but not because As I Am’s Twist Defining Cream
is a bad product. I just like Jane
Carter’s cream better for my hair.
Friday, November 28, 2014
2014 Black Friday Aftermath
Hey, beautiful people!
Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your loved ones. I hung out with my close family, including my
newest addition, and probably ate way too much.
I also stayed up a little later to finish off my Black Friday shopping
online. In addition to my prior Curlmart purchase and my Jane Carter purchase,
here are the other things I bought to stock up for next year:
Curlmart - $74.46 ($69.46 + $5 shipping)
- Camille Rose Naturals Almond Jai Twisting Butter
- Oyin Handmade Hair Dew x 3
- Curl Junkie Repair Me! Reconstructive Hair Treatment
Bonbons Cheveux Boutique - $36.70 ($32 + $4.70 shipping)
- Satin Scrunchies x 4
- Elastic Satin Bonnet
HairVeda - $60.15 ($53.20 + $6.95 shipping)
- Whipped Creme Hair Moisturizer
- Whipped Clouds
- Red Satin Tea Moisturizer
- Acai Phyto Berry Conditioner x 4
- Red Tea Hair Ends Serum (free gift with purchase)
Oyin Handmade - $43.48 (free shipping)
- Whipped Shea in Rich Almond Scent x 2
- Snack Pack for Body
The Obsessed Crocheter - $44.63 (free shipping)
- Satin Lined Chunky Basket Weave Beanie
What did you buy? Did you do better, worse or the same as last year?
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Finalizing The Black Friday Shopping List
Hey, beautiful people! As I mentioned in a previous post, I started my black friday shopping early this year. Thus far, I did a mini shopping spree at Curlmart and then picked up a couple jars of my favorite twist defining cream during the Jane Carter 40% off sale that I mentioned on Twitter. I also just bought a satin lined beanie because winter came a little early this year, and I haven't been able to find my satin lined hooded scarf since the move. I'll do a review of the beanie once it arrives and I've had a chance to wear it.
Now, I'm trying to narrow down on what is left for my list without going overboard. The list has changed several times, so here is my current plan:
- Oyin Hair Dew (1 liter)
- Oyin Whipped Shea (rich almond scent)
- Oyin body snack pack
- Hairveda Acai Berry Phyto Conditioner
- Satin elastic bonnet
- Satin scrunchies
I took Purabody off my list only because I'm trying to shrink my list of staples, and I want to see if I can stick to just Oyin. I'm really hoping that Oyin has a Black Friday sale, but I haven't heard anything so far. If they don't have a sale, my list may change yet again...
For those of you still formulating your hair shopping lists, here are a few websites that have catalogued the sales:
- Confessions of a Blog Vixen (My Go-to Site for Sale Listings)
- Long Hair Care Forum (My Second Favorite)
- Black Girl Long Hair
Yes, I am an enabler.
Happy Shopping!!!
Monday, November 24, 2014
Updates 11-24-2014: New Baby And New Styles
Hey beautiful people! If you don't follow me on Instagram, you may not know that my baby is here! The newest naturalista to the family.
Life has been kind of a whirlwind since she got here. Each day, I look up at around 3 p.m. and wonder where the day went. Needless to say, I haven't had much time for my hair. In a previous post, I mentioned that I was going to try to do spring twists. I bought Nafy Collection Nubian Twist hair for the style, but it was an epic fail. The hair was too silky and kept sliding while I twisted. Plus, the twists that I did get in did not have much "spring" to them. They just sort of hung. I tried twisting in both directions and got the same result. About 3 twists in, I gave up. Thankfully, my sister was here and she helped me put in two strand twists without synthetic hair.
This style was a lifesaver! I was able to put my hair up and not worry about it. I just spritzed it with my oil/water mix and sealed with Oyin Hair Dew to keep it moisturized. The style lasted about 3 weeks. Now that the twists are out, I am back to bunning and, occasionally, my tried and true two crown braids.
(The top pics are the twists right before I took them out,
the bottom is after I removed them. Shrinkage is a trip.)
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