SilkenDove

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?

Sunday, September 3, 2017

2017-09-03 Wash Day: Mane Choice Crystal Orchid Biotin Infused Styling Gel

Hey, beautiful people! I have been on the move, traveling for work and for fun. So I have not had a chance to post in awhile. I'm taking advantage of the long weekend, however, to post another wash

day.

Yesterday, I did a deep condition overnight with Shea Moisture Superfruit Complex 10-in-1 Renewal System Hair Masque. This was the second time I used this mask, and I'm not a huge fan. It is not a bad deep conditioner. I just have deep conditioners that I love better.

In the morning, I washed my hair with Camille Rose's Sweet Ginger Cleansing Rinse, then detangled with Garnier Fructis Whole Blends Honey Treasures Repairing Conditioner. This conditioner was just ok, and comes nowhere close to performing like my favorite conditioner (Herbal Essence Long Term Relationship Conditioner). It was too thick, and did not help much with detangling. It is also possible that it made my scalp itchy temporarily.

When I got out the shower, I used As I Am Naturally's Leave-in Conditioner, which I still love for its slip and ability to absorb into my hair. Then, I did a wash n' go with the Mane Choice Crystal Orchid Biotin Infused Styling Gel. This gel's performance reminds me a lot of Wetline Extreme Gel in terms of the hold and definition on the first day, but that is where the similarities end. It has more slip; however, the next day, I got a ton of white flakes. I heard from other reviews that this gel flakes, so I wasn't that surprised to see it. I just assumed that using a lighter leave-in, like As I Am, would minimize the chance of that happening. I was wrong.

After my hair dried for a day, I cut my hair from shoulder length to what I thought was chin length. I was wrong about this too. My hair continued to dry throughout the second day, and is now ear length curly. When stretched, this takes me from waist length in the back to about bra strap length. I cut my hair because it was starting to get too heavy, was growing uneven and was harder to take care of. Plus, the shorter length frames my face better, and I still have enough hair to throw it into a ponytail.

Saturday, July 15, 2017

Wash Day 07-12-2017 - Mielle Organics and Wetline Extreme Gel

Hello Beautiful People,

This post is a little overdue because I washed my hair during the week, but I did not have time to style it. I have been in a wash n' go mood lately, so I decided to do one this week.

I started first with the Camille Rose Sweet Ginger Cleansing Rinse shampoo, which is a favorite of mine right now. Next, I used the Shea Moisture Low Porosity Conditioner, which I bought before Shea Moisture-gate. This conditioner works ok, but it doesn't have the most slip.

After getting out of the shower, I used my Mielle Organics Avocado Hair Milk, which is becoming a fast favorite and reminds me a lot of Oyin Hair Dew. Then I used the rake and smooth method with Wetline Extreme Gel to style my wash n' go. For those who are new or not familiar with the rake and smooth method, I first sectioned my hair into about 8 sections, raking gel first through with extra emphasis on my roots and ends, and then smoothing the gel covered section by holding the section into my hand like a sandwich and pulling my hand down the section. When I was done, I used hairpins to pin the top and front edges of my hair, which are a different texture from the majority of my hair. When I was done, I put my hair in a microfiber hair towel for 30 minutes to speed up the drying process.

This was the most defined wash n' go that I have had in awhile! My curls were clumped and easily seen. It also lasted for four days, which is the longest I have had a wash n' go. It likely would have lasted longer, but I wanted a different style today.

The only downside is that it took two days for my hair to dry.

Total styling time = 40 minutes

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Wash Day 7-4-2017: Cream of Nature Argan Oil Wash N' Go

Hello, beautiful people! Happy 4th of July!

Since I had an extra day for any mishaps, I decided to try some Cream of Nature Argan Oil products that I received for free through a Naturally Curly giveaway. Overall, I can't say that I am in love, but one of the products pleasantly surprised me.

I started off my wash day with the Cream of Nature Argan Oil Pure-licious Co-wash. This is not the first time I have tried this product. I didn't like it the first time I tried it but, again, it was free; so, I tried it again. Just as before, the Cream of Nature Argan Oil fragrance is overpowering. It is so strong that it makes me wonder what the fragrance is covering up. Even aside from the smell, my hair did not feel clean after using this product, so I will definitely use shampoo for my next wash. As the one positive of the co-wash, it did leave my hair feeling moisturized.

After I finished co-washing my hair, I left it dripping wet, rather than using a towel because I knew I would not be using a leave-in and would need some moisture in my hair for the next steps. Next, I added the Cream of Nature Pudding Perfection Curl Enhancing Cream. At first, I used just a little bit on each section, and decided it would not be enough to do my wash n' go, so I added the Cream of Nature Argan Oil Twirling Custard Curl Defining Jelly. The custard did literally nothing to my hair, so I added Eco Styler Clear Gel to avoid ending up with a disaster.

When I got close to the finishing half of my hair, I had a revelation, however. While I was using small sections for my rake & smooth method, I was not using enough of the Cream of Nature Pudding Perfection Curl Enhancing Cream on each section. When I added more, my curls popped and clumped. It was surprisingly incredible. Thus, I finished off my hair using just the Cream of Nature Pudding and the Eco Styler Clear Gel.

My curls are defined and elongated. The only problem is that I currently have a headache from the Cream of Nature Argan Oil fragrance. I am a little sad because of how well the pudding ultimately did. I may try the pudding again and see if the fragrance is lessened by this being the only Cream of Nature Product I use.

In the picture, the pudding-only side is on the right, and the pudding-custard side is on the left.

Total Wash & Style Time: 40 minutes

NOTE 7/8/17: I wore this wash n' go for three days. On the second day, I had two people still comment that they loved my "perfume." I wasn't wearing any perfume.

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, May 20, 2017

Eco Styler Gel Challenge

Hi, Beautiful People! Summer is here, which mean my wash n gos and wet buns are back! While I loved my braiding challenge, I think my hair loved low manipulation more.

It has never sat right with me that I haven’t had much success with an Eco Styler wash n’ go. (You can read more about my prior attempt in this post, and this one.) Since the Extreme Wetline Gel wash n go worked so well, I decided to try using Eco Styler gel again with both my wash n gos and wet bunning. This time, I wanted to try them all, except the color treated one (yellow). Here is how they worked out for my buns and wash n gos:

- Olive Oil (green top) – I remember when my hair hated the olive oil one, but my hair has apparently changed even more as it has grown. This gel worked the best for me, and may be my new favorite level 10. There was very little coating, and my hair still felt moisturized underneath it.

- Krystal (Clear) – This is one of my favorites. I like it for buns and wash n’ gos, but the olive oil one may have trumped it simply because the olive oil is a little more moisturizing.

- Curls and Waves (Pink) – This is the only level 8 that I have tried and, based on the website, it is the only level 8 left in the line. It continues to be one of my favorites for wet buns, but I don’t think it will work for wash n’ gos as well as a 10.

- Sport (Blue) - I loved this gel for my bun. It kept my bun sleek, even on a crazy work day, which is impressive within itself. Even more impressive, my hair stayed smooth while sleek. Thus, for bunning, this is kind up up there with the Olive Oil, Pink and Krystal. My wash n' go was a different story, however. It took forever to dry, and my wash n' go didn't even last a day. By the next morning, I had to figure out how to do something quick with my hair to make it look presentable for work.

- Coconut Oil (Brown top) – I liked this one, particularly for buns. It left a little shine to my hair, and left it soft. The only downside is that I do not think this is really a level 10. It gave me a much softer hold than the other level 10s. As a result, my wash n go did not turn out well and did not last longer than a day (pictured). I would say I won't repurchase this product again, but it worked really well on my daughter's hair.

- Black Castor & Flaxseed Oil (Black Top) - This gave me great definition for my wash n' go and the wash n' go lasted. It also gave me good hold for my bun. The surprising problem was that it made my hair extremely dry by the end of the day. I typically do not have this problem with my low porosity hair, which holds on to moisture for days.

- Argan Oil (Red top) – This is one of my least favorite. It leaves my hair with a weird coating that remains if I just co-wash. I have to use shampoo to get this out of my hair.

- Super Protein (Black Jar with Black Top) – This was my least favorite. I was a little worried about using this because all Eco Styler gels have a little protein, and this one is pegged as being the protein one, which I assume means there is extra protein. However, I was committed to trying as many of the gels as I could, so I tried it. This left my hair so dry. Also, washing it out was kind a nightmare. It mixed with my cleanser, and left tan goop in my hair. I ended up washing my hair again the next day, and my hair shed like crazy. I think the protein was just too much for my hair.

Overall, Eco Styler continues to be my go-to product for a sleek bun, but it is not my best for wash n' gos. If I have to do a wash n' go with Eco Styler, I think i will stick to the Olive Oil or Krystal.

As an aside, while not a gel, I picked up Eco Styler's newer Stay n Play Edge Control. I thought it might work because Eco Styler is one of the few things that consistently slicks down my edges. Unfortunately, I was wrong. This product did nothing for my hair.

Which Eco Styler do you prefer?

Saturday, April 1, 2017

Power Product Line Review: Mielle Organics

Hey beautiful people! I have been trying to keep my product junkism at bay, and I have been doing a pretty good job at it. However, courtesy of a tip on Long Hair Care Forum, I got wind of a clearance sale on Mielle Organics products, and picked up a few items. Here are my thoughts:

Babassu Oil Mint Deep Conditioner - 8 oz. ($13.99): This is a very nice deep conditioner, and my third favorite product from the line. It is lightweight, but still has substance to it in that I can feel the benefit to my hair. The smell is also divine, and reminds me of mint tea in the summertime. The slip is also incredible for a deep conditioner. I literally detangled my hair with this before deep conditioning my hair overnight. I was shocked. The only thing that gives me pause about this product is the level of protein. My hair needs a good, lightweight protein-based conditioner that is still moisturizing. When I put this in my hair, I could instantly notice the protein, and the back of the jar shows that it is packed with protein. If I am not careful, I could get protein overload because this product is just barely on the border of being ok for my hair. For this reason, someone who needs more protein would likely love this product even more.

Detangling Co-wash - 8 oz. ($11.99): This co-wash is more of a conditioner than cleanser. It has amazing slip and did a great job detangling my hair, but it didn’t clean it. My hair felt coated before I used it, and it still felt coated after using it. As a low porosity girl, I need a real cleanser.

White Peony Ultra Moisturizing Leave-In Conditioner - 8 oz. ($12.99): As the name suggests, this product is moisturizing. It is also light-weight, which is good for low porosity hair. I just like my homemade spritz better, and it is cheaper. Also, the spray nozzle on this product bothers me. It comes out as a stream, rather than distributing across my hair. I actually ended up transferring it to another bottle to make it easier to use. However, in looking at the Mielle Organics website, it looks like they have changed the top to a spray pump, so that should fix this problem.

Avocado Moisturizing Hair Milk - 8 oz. ($12.99): This is very moisturizing, and is probably my favorite product in the line. My hair felt so soft after I used this. Unfortunately, it doesn't absorb into my hair right away when I first put it on, but few things do. The other downside I notice is that it clumps when I mixed it with EcoStyler gel in my hands, which is what I usually use to bun my hair. Nevertheless, because of how wonderfully moisturized it makes my hair feel, I would repurchase this product.

Mint Almond Oil - 8 oz. ($12.99): This is a very nice oil, and my second favorite product in the line. It is lightweight enough for my low porosity strands, and the peppermint smell is heavenly. The oil essentially has three main ingredients -- Sweet Almond Oil, Soybean Oil and Peppermint Oil, so you could make it yourself if you consider yourself a mixtress. I would definitely purchase it again at the $7 price point I purchased it for, but it is not a repurchase for me at the regular price. That being said, this isn't overpriced. Peppermint oil is expensive. I have seen a 4 oz. jar sell for $11. It's just that I already have a bottle of peppermint oil that I haven't been able to use up in the past 5 years, and I typically buy a 32 oz bottle of avocado oil (my favorite straight oil) for about $15. I do thank this product, however, for teaching me that I can add more peppermint oil to my other products without irritating my scalp.

Honey Ginger Edge Gel - 4 oz. ($12.99): While I had high hopes, this edge gel suffered the same fate as many others. It initially slicked down my edges, but that did not last long. Thus far, it still remains that Eco Styler is one of the few things capable of slicking my edges long term.

Advanced Healthy Hair Formula Vitamins - 60 vitamins ($18.99): I was a little hesitant to use this product because I am not a big believer in hair vitamins. Also, biotin in my daily multi-vitamin gives me acne, and this product has a lot of it (as you would expect). But, I gave this product a shot because the price was so good. I have two bottles (60 days worth), so I will check back in on this one. Stay tuned...

I still want to try the Brazilian Curl Cream and the Honey & Ginger Styling Gel. I guess I will just have to wait for another great sale.

Do you like this line? What products do you use from it?