DC SERIES ~ PRODUCT REVIEW ~ COCO CURLS REVITALIZING CONDITIONER

INGREDIENTS: Purified Water (and) Equisetum arvense (Horsetail) Leaf Extract (and) Salvia officinalis (Sage) Leaf Extract (and) Urtica urens (Nettle) Leaf Extract (and) Rosemarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract (and) Matricaria recutita (Chamomile) Flower Extract (and) Lavandula angustifolia (Lavender) Flower Extract, Behentrimonium Methosulfate (and) Cetearyl Alcohol, Jojoba Oil, Cocoa Butter, Castor Oil,Argan Oil,Panthenol, Propanediol, Gluconolactone (and) Sodium Benzoate, Fragrance Oil.

DESCRIPTION: Coco Curls Revitalizing Conditioner includes moisturizing ingredients like castor oil and cocoa butter. This rich conditioner offers extra slip for easier and faster detangling. With ingredients like horsetail, chamomile, nettle and sage, your hair will be strengthened from root to tip.You will love the increased manageability and lustrous shine you see when using Coco Curls Revitalizing Conditioner!

pH Balanced 4.5-5.5 for naturally curly hair!

DIRECTIONS: Apply Coco Curls Revitalizing Conditioner evenly through wet hair and detangle from tip to root. For a deeper condition, cover with a plastic cap and sit under a dryer/steamer for 15-20 minutes. Rinse well and enjoy your shiny conditioned curls! 

MY REVIEW: I used this conditioner exactly as instructed. I applied to freshly washed wet hair and detangled with my wide tooth comb. The slip in this stuff is amazing! The comb just glided through with ease. I sat under my heat cap for 30 minutes then rinsed it out. I was left with shiny moisturized hair! My fingers just glided through my hair! I loved it! And the bonus is that it worked just as great in my daughter's hair which is a way thicker and dryer texture then mine. This will become a favorite of mines I'm almost sure of it and make it into our hair regimen products that I keep on hand at all times! 

I've used it twice in my hair and once in my daughter's hair and still have almost half a bottle left...a little goes a long way. I should be able to get at least another application for both of us out of what's left.

Check out www.cococurls.com for further information on this conditioner as well as her other products. 

I will do a separate review on the shampoo & styler at a later date! 

MY WASH N GO ROUTINE

When I first went back to my natural hair it was so short that the only thing I could do was a wash and go. Once my hair started to grow out I wanted to try other things so of course I tried the twist out, braid out, coils and coil out, perm rod set, flexi rod set, curlformers and the list goes on. As my hair got longer I never really liked my WnG look as much as my twist out so I stopped doing WnGs and would mostly style my hair in twist outs. 

Now that I'm back to my short hair I'm back to doing more WnGs again. This is how I do them on MY hair. Keep in mind that everyone's hair is different and what works for me may not work for you. But I wanted to share the process I use to do mines and maintain it. 

I always start on freshly washed (or co-washed) and conditioned hair. I tend to use the L.O.C (Liquid.Oil.Cream) method to help maintain some moisture. 

First I apply a leave-in conditioner on my wet hair. I find that if my hair is wet verses just damp my curls set better. Then I apply an oil, my oil of choice most times is Hairveda Vatika Frosting Herb Infused Coconut Oil. Then section by section I apply my styler of choice, usually a gel or pudding/custard type product to help enhance and define my curls. I use my denman brush to smooth the product through each section to help 'clump' my curls together. I find this gives me a better curl definition than just using my fingers to 'rake' the product through my hair. I do sometimes just use the 'rake' method but I like the results of using the denman brush better. 

I then allow my hair to air dry. If I'm pressed for time and don't want to leave home with wet hair I would either use my diffuser attachment on my blow dryer or sit under my hair dryer. I like to let it dry completely before shaping and fluffing it to minimize any frizz. 

Once it's completely dry I put some more of the coconut oil on my hands and proceed to fluff and shape using my hands as well as using my afro pik to gently lift just my roots for a fuller look. Usually as it gets older it gets bigger and tends to look better the older it gets. 

Since having my hair cut back short I haven't slept in my satin cap but have just slept on my satin pillowcase. To fluff my hair out each day I would let the steam from the shower help to moisturize it, then I would lightly spritz the shortest parts around my sides and back with my water/oil/conditioner mix in my spray bottle and add a little moisturizer to fluff and shape my curls back out. Most times the sides and back are flattened from me laying on them at night to sleep. 

This process works well for me now that my hair is back shorter. It takes minimum time each morning to refresh.So far I'm not missing my longer tresses at all! 

This week's WnG styled using Soultanicals Calcu-Lush Curling Custard...my hair is still wet in this picture

My hair once it dried...I used my afro pik and fingers to shape and lift it...it usually gets bigger as it gets older...I actually like it better the older it gets

TOOLS I USE THE MOST FOR MY HAIR!

There are many 'tools' available to help us natural ladies maintain the health of our hair and assist in our regimens. Not all of us use the same 'tools' but for the most part there are some that are essential to our routine. I'm going to share with you some of the things I use in me and my daughter's regimen.

WIDE TOOTH COMB

While some ladies don't use combs at all, I prefer to detangle with a wide tooth comb. My hair (and my daughter's hair) has to be laden with a good conditioner or deep conditioner with nice slip for easy detangling. Finger detangling is not for everybody. My daughter's hair is super thick and kinky and we would be here all day if I strictly finger detangled her hair. I find if I detangle during her pre-poo then most of the shed hair is removed during that step, therefore, when I apply the deep conditioner after shampooing her hair she has minimum tangles and shed hair which allows the comb to glide through her strands easily and helps to distribute the deep conditioner throughout her hair better. Now that my hair is back short my hair is a breeze to detangle as I only really have the top portion that has any type of length to it. 

HEAT CAP

I swear by my heat cap for a good deep conditioning session. The heat helps the products to penetrate better into the hair strands. You can also use a regular hair dryer, or some have invested in hair steamers, but this seems to do the job for me and my daughter's hair. 

DENMAN BRUSH

The denman brush is my 'go to' tool for 'shingling' the products into my hair for my wash and go. It clumps my curls together better than if I just rake the product through my hair with my fingers. I also use it to distribute the product through my hair evenly when I'm prepping each section to be twisted for a twist out. It smooths my hair and allows for the product to be smoothed through easily and evenly before twisting. 

AFRO PIK

I love using my afro pik to give my hair some 'lift' after taking out twists for a twist out or coils for a coil out or to stretch out my WnG after my hair is dried completely. I use it to gently lift just the roots of my hair, being careful not to disturb my curls, to give me a 'big hair' effect. 

These are just a few of the 'tools' I use the most in my daily/weekly hair regimen. 

4 YEAR NATURALVERSARY!!!

September 4th/2010 I decided to chop all the texturized straight ends off. I didn't like the fro but I got used to it. I couldn't wait to get my length back though. Everyone was so surprised that I had cut all my hair off because I had long hair for years. I think I was even surprised myself that I just let it go. I was trying to transition but didn't have the patience so off it went! 

Over the last 4 years I've experimented with lots of products, techniques and styles. I've learned a lot and have been able to help and inspire others on their natural hair journey. I transitioned my teenage daughter out of a texturizer as well and have been encouraging her to embrace her natural tresses. 

I have to say in the beginning right up until the last six months or so I have been obsessed with length and growing my hair out longer than when it was relaxed. Just recently I became bored with the long length and craved change. I have seen so many other natural ladies that I follow on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook 'big chop' again or chop off several inches of their hair and I think that was part of the inspiration for me to just go ahead and let the length go once again. So for my 4 year naturalversary that's exactly what I done. 

 My hair in March 2014...the last time I had it pressed out straight

 Before my haircut on Sept 5/14...After my haircut on Sept 5/14 

My hair styled in a WnG after the haircut on Sept 5/14 

I love my haircut but I think it was a 'safe' cut and length. I will be going back and getting it cut in a more tapered shape. 

I'm more focused on the health of my hair over the length right now. I will eventually grow it back out again, but for now I'm going to enjoy the shorter length. 

DC SERIES ~ OBIA NATURAL HAIRCARE BABASSU DEEP CONDITIONER

DESCRIPTION: Immerse your curls and kinks in this deeply penetrating, fortifying treatment that deeply repairs and reconstructs all hair textures and hair types.  Strand-strengthening Babassu Oil will nourish, repair elasticity, soften, and add shine to your hair.  Avocado Oil, Rosemary Essential Oil, and Pro-Vitamin B5 will moisturize, repair damage, and moisturize your hair.  Restore your hair's natural moisture balance. INGREDIENTS: Purified Water (Aqua), Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Oil, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Stearyl Alcohol, Vegetable Glycerin, Orbignya Oleifera (Babassu) Seed Oil, Centrimonium Chloride, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Panthenol, Gluconolactone and Sodium Benzoate, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Citric Acid, Fragrance (Parfum). DIRECTIONS: Apply a moderate amount from root to ends of hair.  Detangle hair with fingers or use a wide-tooth comb to distribute evenly.  Cover hair with a plastic cap for 30 minutes.  For more intense deep conditioning, add heat or use a hair steamer.  Rinse with cool water to seal the hair shaft and add shine.  MY REVIEW I used this product in my hair as well as my daughter's hair which are two different textures. I used it exactly as instructed, applied to freshly washed hair and covered with a plastic cap. It smooths onto the hair easily and melts into the strands. I was able to detangle our hair with it as well. Then sat under the heat cap for about 30 minutes. Then rinsed with cool water. Our hair was left moisturized and detangled. The scent is a light clean scent which wasn't overpowering or overbearing. It is a smooth creamy texture, not too thick but not too thin either. Our hair was soft and shiny. It worked great in both our different textures, mines being a loose curly texture and my daughter's thick kinky texture. I would definitely recommend this deep conditioner and would repurchase it again.It can be purchased at www.obianaturalhair.com...80z jar/$15

WHAT'S IN YOUR SPRAY BOTTLE?

One of the tools most naturals possess is a spray bottle. Whether you use an old product spray bottle or buy one from the beauty supply store, pharmacy, dollar store, etc., it is a good tool to have. 

We use it to refresh multiple day WnGs or to refresh/moisturize hair when we want to re-twist for a twist out. Some use just water while others, like myself, add other ingredients for extra moisture. There are products sold specifically for refreshing and moisturizing but it's also less expensive to just make your own and it last a bit longer. 

At present my water spray bottle contains Soultanicals BakeBerry Knot Fairy (a sweet scent version of their Knot Sauce) and Knot So Blue Detangling Dew along with Hairveda Vatika Frosting Herb Infused Coconut Oil (see my review on this oil in a previous blog post). I don't do exact measurements but simply guess-timate around a teaspoon of each and then add HOT tap water (makes it easier for the products to dissolve) and shake it up. I leave it for a bit to allow it to dissolve some. I don't fill the bottle all the way up, usually just over half way.

This combination gives my hair awesome moisture in between styles. I use it mainly to mist my hair before re-twisting it to refresh a twist out. I don't wear WnGs that often but when I do I also use my spray bottle mixture to refresh that style as well. 

You can use any type of leave-in conditioner you like or favor for your hair and oil. Some people just use an oil in the water. You can experiment until you find the combo that works best for YOUR hair.

PRODUCT REVIEW ~ HAIRVEDA VATIKA FROSTING HERB INFUSED COCONUT OIL

DESCRIPTION

Vatika in Hindu means garden. In India, coconut oil is widely used in Ayurveda health remedies. This special blend of coconut oil, henna, lemon & Amla provides natural nourishment to your hair. The blend gives the hair body and radiance, taking care of the critical balance of nutrients. Our pure coconut oil is blended with henna and Amla with lemon to strengthen each strand of hair from within. When used 1 day before washing, Vatika Frosting provides a protective coating promoting shine and health. A scalp massage with Vatika Frosting also promotes hair growth. To maintain the oil and moisture balance of your hair, remember to do a conditioning treatment with oil at least three times a week.

INGREDIENTS:  Pure unrefined Coconut oil, Amla extract, Henna extract, Lemon extract, Fragrance.

MY REVIEW

I have been using this oil in several different ways. As a pre-poo treatment before shampooing my hair, as the O (oil) in my L.O.C. method when moisturizing my hair, as a sealant on my ends in between wash days, to massage my scalp, and also to take my hair down when doing twist/braid outs to reduce frizz and add shine. I also add it to my water/oil/conditioner mix in my spray bottle for moisturizing my hair in between wash days. I love how it works with each method I use it for. My hair stays moisturized with a nice shine. After shampooing my hair it's left feeling moisturized and not stripped. This is definitely a staple product for my hair as well as my daughter's hair.