Hi curlies! One of my favorite healthy hair accessories is a heating cap for deep treatments. Especially if you have hair that is stubborn to absorb moisture, or very dry, adding heat while you use a deep conditioner or treatment can make a huge difference. It accelerates and intensifies the conditioning process. You can check out my new video on how I pamper my hair and skin here.
Lately I have been using a Hot Head cap from Thermal Hair Care for deep conditioning. These are great because the entire cap gets hot (as opposed to a few areas), and it's heated up in the microwave- easy peasy. The caps are filled with flax seeds so they are all natural as well. They come in a ton of cute patterns, and kids' sizes as well!
Preparing to double mask with my Formula 10.0.6 Peel Mask & Mane Choice Hair mask. I have the Hot Head in the "Rain" pattern.
Thermal Hair Care was kind enough to offer a giveaway for my followers. You can enter in the widget below. Please use a correct email address, and don't forget you can tweet about the giveaway once a day, every day to increase your chances of winning. (If you enter via facebook, we will receive the email associated with your facebook account in your settings.) A winner will be selected after a week's time. If they do not respond to email within 48 hours I will select a new winner, and so forth, so stay on top of your emails. Thermal Hair Care will send out the prize, once I have passed your information onto them.
Hello lovelies! You'll find below the list of products mentioned in my latest Empties/ Hits and Misses video. Let me know what products you've been loving (or hating, I don't mind) down below in the comments on here or YouTube! Don't forget to give my blog a follow on bloglovin' while you're at it too! (Click the + on the right.) Enjoy!
Products I Used up aka Hits:
L'oreal El Vive Total Repair conditioner (5 bottles)
Hey curlies! Today I am posting what may be my first ever hair product review (as a blog post). Let me know if you like these as an addendum/companion to my video reviews. Anyways let's get cracking.
**Disclaimer: Product results may vary on your own unique coils, waves, or curls depending on your hair density, porosity, and thickness! YMMV.**
As I Am Leave In
Claim: "A great leave-in is a vital first step in styling. Smooth it on after
cleansing and conditioning. Your finished style will be softer shinier
and more manageable.
This natural wonder keeps tangles away and provides a great foundation
for natural styling. It contains an organic strengthening agent, plus
natural ingredients that promote hair growth."
Sarah's thoughts: This is a wonderful water-based leave in conditioner that is very similar to my favorite Kinky Curly Knot Today (KCKT) leave in (for a few bucks cheaper). It smells great- sweet and citrusy- and the ingredients are pretty natural and very moisturizing. This leave in leaves my hair soft and moisturized throughout the day. The consistency is between thick and thin- again similar to KCKT. Love it! This has become my new go-to leave in.
As I Am Hydration Elation Intensive Conditioner
Claim: "A rich, penetrating conditioner, As I Am Hydration Elation Intensive
Conditioner is an exceptional blend of hair softeners and fortifiers,
including coconut, sugar cane, green tea, apple and lemon, shea butter
and vitamin E.
Moisturizes deep within the hair shaft
Smooths and aligns cuticle layer
Repairs split ends and strengthens weak areas
Promotes shine
Infused with pure herbal ingredients that stimulate the scalp and hair roots
Sarah's thoughts: This deep conditioner (DC) was just OK. I used it two times, and while maybe my hair would have gotten more of the benefits over time, the product doesn't seem to live up to its claims. My hair felt softer, but it did not feel amazingly softer or super moisturized once I rinsed the treatment out. (For reference, I love Curl Junkie Curl Rehab Conditioner for to give me that amazingly refreshed and soft hair.) Since it's protein free, I'm not sure how it's supposed to "strengthen weak areas" either. This is not a DC that can double as a detangling/rinse out conditioner; it did not aid with detangling, which is something I personally look for in DCs. The product does smell amazing and it has a thick texture that distributes well in the hair. I will use up this product, but will probably not repurchase, especially at this price point.
References - photos, ingredients, and product descriptions from NaturallyCurly.com
Hello twirlies! Awhile ago on here I posted an explanation of dew points. However, I don't actually follow the standard guidelines that I summarized in that post; I more so made the video because someone requested it. So today I will share with you what I do with my curly hair when the colder weather comes. I live in North Carolina which does get slightly less humid in the colder months, but not terribly so so keep that in mind.
My winter curly hair routine includes:
Moisturizing my hair more! I find that my hair gets dryer in these months, whether it's from the low temperatures, in door heating, or dryer air. One way I like to combat this is by doing deep treatments. I like Curl Junkie Curl Rehab or As I Am Elation Hydration Conditioner. I like to always deep condition with heat, so I use my Hair Therapy Heat Cap.
In the shower I need a super mositurizing day to day conditioner to keep my hair strong and moisturized. For me that's Sally's Beauty Supply Generic Matrix Bioalge Conditioning Balm.
I use more moisture when styling my hair. I generally use way more leave in conditioner. My favorites include Kinky Curly Knot Today and As I Am Leave in.
I worry about frizz less! Because there is less humidity in the air my hair tends to frizz less; the frizzies are not being pulled outwards looking for moisture, because there is not usually much to look for. So I apply less (maybe a dime sized amount to each side of my hair) or Curly Hair Solutions Curl Keeper.
Going along with the last bullet, I use gels with less hold. Because it's less humid out, my hair needs less control. Some of the gels I like to use in the colder months include Curl Junkie Pattern Pusha, Aussie Instant Freeze Gel,Pantene Curly Hair Curl Shaping Gel, and Garnier Fructis Pure Clean Gel.
A downside of the decreased humidity is that I often get much looser curls. In order to amp up my curls when I need them looking extra good I will use a curl activator like AG Curl Re:coil and my blowdryer and diffuser (Revlon 1875W).
I love wearing my hair up in slouchy hats in the winter because it's such a great fix for a bad hair day.
I also really enjoy braidouts because 1) it means I don't have to shower on cold mornings and 2) it's a style I can tuck into my hats until it's ready.
A braidout with Karen's Body Beautiful Creme
A braid out with Mahogany Naturals Leave in & Butter
That's all I have to say about my winter hair routine! Please leave your winter tips and products below in the comments.
Hello curlies, my name is Sarah and I am a product Junkie.
This is a picture of my hair product stash! At college! (More at home.) There are far too many hair products! So I am resolved to start using them up, selling them, or giving them away to friends. That way I can not feel guilty about trying something new, and only buy products when I need them. I am going to come back to this blog post periodically and cross out used things. Hopefully I will be able to make a successful blog post in a little while saying I've decreased my stash!
So I encourage any product junkies out there to join me on my journey! Feel free to share pictures of your stash with me on twitter @waterlily716, or leave a comment on this blog post to join in. I am not going to purchase any new products, besides staple rinse out conditioners and gel, until the rest is gone! (If I haul new products, y'all need to call me out.) I will unfortunately have to add to this list if I receive products from companies.
I am actively working on the conditioners/oils/deep treatments on this list, but the stylers and shampoos are going to be hard to use up. I don't use shampoo everyday or even every week so I may be selling these or giving them to friends. I also am not good about branching out from my comfort zone as far as stylers go, but I think I need to so I can at least try them all and then sell them if I don't need them. Oh and by the way I will be selling any products I don't want on the naturallycurly.com swap board. Anyways here is my way-too-long-in-a-really-bad-kinda-way list of hair products. Wish me luck!
3/8/12 - This list below is now pretty updated. I later gave away a lot of products to a womens shelter. I still have a huge stash and I'm still working on getting rid of it!
Shampoo:
AG Hair Cosmetics Smooth Argan Shampoo Activate shampoo
Shea moisture thickening shampoo (2) Organix moroccan argan oil shampoo - used as soap! Giovanni tea tree triple treat shampoo
Kinky Curly come clean shampoo
Aubrey organics white camellia shampoo* Devacurl no-poo (sample)
Herbal essences hello hydration shampoo (sample)*
Jessicurl hair cleansing cream (sample)
Conditioner: Bed Head TIGI Moisture Maniac CO
Beautiful Curls shea butter deep treatment* Giovanni Smooth as Silk CO Suave Naturals Coconut Conditioner Curl Junkie Curl rehab DT Jessicurl weekly DT
Paul Mitchell the detangler CO Yes to carrots pampering CO Giovanni tea tree triple treat CO Natures gate chamomile and lemon CO
Herbal essences hello hydration CO (sample)*
Curly Hair Solutions Slip Detangler
Stylers: Curly Hair Solutions Curl Keeper
Kinky Curly Knot Today Leave in LA looks sport gel (travel size) Herbal essences body envy gel (travel size) Jane Carter Nourish n Shine melted out :( got grainy.. threw out
AG hair cosmetics re:coil curl activator
AG hair cosmetics curl trigger
AG hair cosmetics smooth straightening lotion*
Biosilk rock hard gelee
Pantene curl defining mousse
Shea moisture thickening moisture mist
Shea moisture curl & style milk
LA looks nutra curl gel
Curl junkie curl fuel spray Garnier fructis pure clean gel Moxie mane tame
Moxie sweet poof volumizing spray*
White rain hair spray
Aubrey organics nustyle hairpray
Hair rules curly whip* Ampro olive oil gel
Ecostyler gel
Devacurl set it free samples (2) Jessicurl rocking ringlets styling potion samples (2) Jessicurl confident coils styling potion (sample) Jessicurl gelebration spray (sample)
Mop-C curl refreshing spray
