So behind..

Sorry I havent been posting regularly. I recently got a promotion at my job and Im transitionging so Im doing my new Asst Sup role and my intial position so Im working like crazy but its all good. Im going to try to post the pics from sun, Im shooting to do that on Friday.

As always Im at work now and Ive been searching for Indian grocery stores to see if they had any henna and I found one not to far from my job. They had a good selection of henna and other hair oils, so I didnt really know what to get. I know on a henna for hair the site owner really breaks it down regarding the history and what henna is and everything. Its very imformative and a must if henna'ing is a thought. So I went out on a limb and bought a 200g pack of a Nupur Mehendi and I was very happy that I was able to find a site for it. This package is 100% Mehendi and it has Alma- helps darken haor and promote growth, Brahmi-promotes hair growth and Bkringraj- makes hair black and luxurious.

Im excited but I cant do anything to my head as of yet I just about at 30 days so I have awhile to go before I can do anything to mine but I will experiment on my moms hair. Her hair is very thin and since I got her using some of the hair oils Ive made and taught her about the cowashing her hair has grown a great amount. I still havent done the kinky twist in her head for lack of time but if we can dedicate a day I would like to henna her hair and then kinky twist it.

I also bought a bottle of Dhathri Hair Care Herbal Oil, which the man at the store said was very good and I bought a bottle of Vitka HairOil

I think I might use some of the Vitka tonight before going to bed

Shea Mango Butter mixture

Finally....IM going to share my Shea Mango Butter hair moisturizer that I made. I wanted to try it out and its definitely worth sharing. It has made my hair super soft and really moisturized.

Supplies:

Unrefined Shea Butter

Manngo Butter

Monoi Tiare de Tahiti

Vegetable Glycerin

Honey

Coconut Oil

Hand mixer

I mixed the shea butter until it was creamy

then I added the mango and blended the 2

then I added the rest of the ingredients and blended until the mixture just about doubled in size and it was smooth

I washed, sanitized and reused some old hair products containers and poured the mixture into them to store. The first is a baby food container lol

I didnt measure out anything and I honestly didnt mean to make this much I forgot that when you whip it, it doubles. I try to use this everyday right after I spritz my hair and and before I go to bed and I have noticed that it leaves my hair so soft and moisturize.

The only thing that I will do differently is melt the Shea and Mango butter becuase there were little chunks of it in the mix, also Im going to experiment use EVOO and Jojoba Oil. As you can see all of the ingredients have moisture retaining properties.

Curl Junkie Coffee-Coco Curl Creme

Last night I did the same perm rod set that I did on Tuesday and it came out 10 times better than the first attempt. The Shea butter didnt come but my package from Curl Mart did and in it was myCurl Junkie Coffee-Coco Curl Creme. Im not very fond of the smell but it did produce a very nice curl to my hair and the smell was gone after the hair dried. As I was about to roll the hair I added some of the Curl Creme then rolled the hair on the grey perm rods. There was a white residue on some curls in the back that my sister noticed, but it couldve been because I used too much. I tend to use a lot of stuff but Im working on that. Im going to post some pics of my hair tonight. This just might be added to my staple of products as a curl defining creme

the first 2 pics are without the Curl Creme. Theres definitely a difference

Shea and Mango Butter

Finally my package came...and inside was a pound of Unrefined Shea Butter, 1/2 pound of Mango Butter and 2oz of Monoi De Tahiti oil, all of which I ordered from Crap Apple Soap. I cant wait to make a homemade Shea, Mango butter mixture. Ive heard and read many great reviews and comments about Shea Butter on hair especially. Thats something that Ive been working on, ways to keep my hair moisturized. I plan on making my mixture tomorrow afternoon when I come home from work.

Curl Junkie Coffee-Coco Curl Creme


I ordered this product last sat and it just arrived in the mail today!! Im excited to use it especially since I desperately needed something to help with the curls when I set my hair on perm rods. Im going to try the style again using the Curl Junkie Creme and hopefully Ill get great results.

Here is the promise:
Enriched with Authentic Monoi Coconut oil, Coffee Bean & Shea butters, and a host of exotic oils, create super moisturized, defined curls and coils with this rich curl crème! Combines the moisturizing properties of a leave-in conditioner with the hold of a light styling gel. Adds weight and provides light to medium hold for curls.

I dont like the smell of it, I dont know if its the coffee or the coco but Im not feeling it..Im tempted to return it but I want to see if it holds up to its promise and expectations, as Ive only heard nothing but great reviews for this product. Tomorrow night Im going to attempt the same hair style that Ive been wearing for the past couple of days, a roller set on perm rods, here is a post pic 2 days. The curls really didnt form all over so its a puffy, curly...something lol what I can say is that my hair is very soft, which hasnt happened in awhile, but the ends are a little crunchy which Im attributing to the S-curl Gel that I used.

Cinderella.....Giovanni 50/50......Aphogee

Tuesdays are my only day off so I usually spend it catching up on household chores, cooking and cleaning, so yesterday was no different. Unfortunately I didnt get to start dealing with my hair until about 11pm and soon after I started my son woke up needless to say I didnt finish everything till about 2 and didnt go to sleep till after 3am. Anyways my hair didnt come out the way I wanted it to but I know where I went wrong and will correct it the next go round. 1st- my shea and mango butter didnt come in the mail yet and I wouldve preferred to use that instead of S-Curl Gel. 2nd- I was rushing and didnt really smooth out the hair before rolling it which left some curls frizzy and 3rd- some curls werent dry all the way but it was after 6 30am and I was running late for work. I pretty much stuck with the routine I outlined before here is what I did:


- all day pre-poo with castor/coconut oil mixture and HE Hello Hydration Cond
- clarify with Giovanni 50/50
- Aphogee 2 Min Keratin treatment
- Co-wash and detangle with HE Hello Hydration Cond
- Giovanni DLI then Castor/coconut oil mixture to seal ends
- I set my hair on perm rods
I did forget to do a final rinse with the ACV.

When I took my vow I did some research by looking at other peoples blogs and websites dedicated to natural hair care and I stumbled across a video demonstrating the proper way to detangle knots and that was a God send. Usually I would try to untangle it, to no avail then I get so frustrated that I would end up ripping my hair but this video has helped me keep a lot of my hair, Im going to try to find the video because those simple steps are an invaluable lesson to retain your hair. I finger detangled my hair first and took out any knots before using my Jilbere comb and when I did go to comb the hair, it was like a warm knife cutting butter and a lot less hair broke and shed. This is all the hair that was lost during my 20 minute detangling session. Since I started moisturizing and taking care of my hair the amount of hair that is lost has significantly decreased and I can see that the hair lost is coming from the root because of the white bulb on the ends. Theres still some broken ends but things are looking better than before.



Aphogee 2 Min Treatment
The first time I used Aphogee 2 min treatment my curls got super duper define and my hair shrunk to half its normal size when wet and I wish I wouldve taken a picture to show you guys what I meant. I used this product again and my hair did shrink but not as bad as the first time.



the first picture is my hair after using Giovanni 50/50 and the next is after the Aphogee treatment, can you see the tightness of the curls? I wasnt sure if that was suppose to happen but I like the product because it strengthened my hair



Giovanni 50/50 Hydrating/Clarifying Shampoo
This shampoo was the bomb. Usually when I use shampoos it leaves my hair matted and just dry until I used a conditioner which restores some type of manageability. As Ive learned that "stripped" feeling the shampoo leaves is because of the sulfates used in most shampoo. This shampoo however left my hair feeling soft and moist, however I cant give it complete credit because I did do just about a 24 hr pre-poo, but the combo of both was great. I used too much because I usually have to use A LOT of shampoo because my hair just drinks it up. This however my hair LOVED and is deemed the first staple in my hair routine. It lather very well for a non sulfate organic shampoo. If your looking for a great clarifying shampoo try this one.

After all was said and done here is the end result, some parts were more curled than others. The next time along with using Shea and Mango butter instead of S-Curl Gel, Im going to only use the grey rods because it is smaller and those curls on the grey rollers came out perfect and I will sit under a hooded dryer to make sure my hair does dry.



as you can see the curls around the front came out better then the middle

Giovanni 50/50 Balanced Hydrating/Clarifying Shampoo

Last night I made a stop at my local supermarket and was walking down the hair supplies aisle and I saw a section with a bunch of Giovanni Products and was immediately excited, but that didn't last long when I saw that the prices were jacked up from Whole Foods. The nearest Whole Foods is a short journey but nonetheless a journey and it was much more convenient to purchase it there. Ive been looking for a good product to clarify my hair with. I'm going to start with every month to gauge the difference then Ill take it from there. This Giovanni 50/50 Balanced Hydrating/ Clarifying Shampoo is all organic and the ingredients looks ok to me, no cones, parabens or mineral oil.





This is what it reads:
When hair is dry, it needs a drink. Give it the hydration it needs, and wants, with a balance of ingredients that infuse moisture while locking in color. 50/50 Balanced Shampoo balances the art of clean with supreme protection. Gentle enough for every day, superior shine is on the way. Smile. This is happy hour... for your hair.




Ingredients: Aqua (purified water), Rosemary (Rosemarinus Officinalis) Oil, Nettle (Urtica Dioica) oil, Thyme (Thymus Vulgaris) Oil, Birch Leaf (butela alba) oil, Chamomile (anthemis nobilis flower) oil, Clary (salvia sclarea), Lavender (Lavandula Angustifolia), Coltsfoot leaf (tussilago fargara), Yarrow (Achillea Millefolium) oil, Mallow (Malya Sylvestris), Horsetail (Equisetum arvense) oil, Soybean Protein (Glycine Soja), C12 - 14 olefin Sulfonate (coconut derived), Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Tocopherol (Vit. E), Trace Minerals, Citric Acid (corn), Sodium Hydroxymethlyglucinate, Sodium Chloride Sea Salt, Grapefruit Seed (citrus derived)




I will be using it tomorrow so Ill let you know how it goes

Shea and Mango Butters

Im so excited I just placed some orders for 100% natural unrefined Shea Butter, Mango Butterand Monoi de Tahiti oil, all of which have great moisturizing properties. in the pictures the first is actually refined Shea butter and the second is Mango ButterAlso I went to Curlmart.com and order a jar of the CurlJunkie Coffee-Coco Curl Creme. After such a great product review from ManeandChic Im going to go out on a limb and try it and also a big THANK YOU to Ms CurlyNikkii for the discount code. Ive been looking for something that will define my curls so lets see whats going to happen