Its Working, Its Working!

Ok so yesterday I mentioned that I was on a quest to find a new deep conditioner, and I think I have found it. Let me start by saying, I think I may be the only naptural who is not impressed with Organic Root Stimulator Replenishing Pak. It gives me no slip and my actually feels like I have shampooed it rather than deep conditioned it. So I started researching a little more and I saw that Elasta QP DPR-11 received pretty good reviews, so I went to my local beauty supply store and picked it up.

I took out my braids last night and gave my hair a good shampooing (which I rarely do) so my hair was definately in need of a little TLC. Even after my regular conditioner, my hair was a dry tangled mess. And just when I thought a big chop was in my future, DPR came and saved the day.

I felt like this man:



I applied it generously to my wet hair and 15 mintues later, my Denman brush was gliding through my hair. And to make it even better, this product is only $6! I love when cheap products work. After I detangled my hair, I twisted it in sections and rinsed out the deep conditioner with my twist still in. Afterwards I applied my Miss Jessie's Baby Buttercream and twisted it back up.

Here's a pic of the results


I'm a little out of practice but I am still pleased with the results.

Finally, My First Post!

Hello All,

MJ here. I apologize for the delay in posting, I have been braided up for the last six weeks so I didn't have much to talk about.

So here is my history hairstory:

My mother started relaxing my hair when I was six years old, thats right I said six. And I lived the lye until middle school. In middle school I started getting braid extensions and kept getting them done for two or three years. I wore my natural hair once, to my sophomore cotillian and after that I got a texturizer... Ughhh. so once my hair dried out and broke off I cut it all off and unfortunately started relaxing again. I kept a steady routine of braiding and relazing until 2006. In June 2006, I got my last perm. I didnt have a dramatic big chop, I just decided I wasn't going to get perms anymore so I transitioned with braids and trimmed aggressively until all the perm was gone. After spending countless hours on you tube, nappturality.com, and various other hair sites, I finally got the courage to take my braids out in September of 2008.

I have 4c type hair. Or if your scale only goes to 4b then I have that. My hair is fine, soft, kinky, cottony, and shrinks a lot. I am always looking for a new products to try that can keep my hair moist, a constant struggle. My current quest is to find a good deep conditioner. I will let you know how that goes. I love using natural products on my natural hair, but I don't exclusively use natural products. My last product purchase was Miss Jessie's Stretch Silkening Creme. Here are the results:



I actually really liked it. I was slow to give in to all the Miss Jessie's hype, because while some people love the products, other find them grossly overrated. But I bit the bullet and purchased the product (during the annual bogo sale) washed my hair, applied generously and twisted my hair in about ten twists. The silkening creme like all of Miss Jessie's products are expensive, but I was pleased with the result, and it smells great.

Introducing......MIMI!!!!!

It's MIMI!!!!! Yep, I know that I'm about 2 months late with this post, but since Timah decided to put me on blast in her last one, then I figured that I might as well get on it. I am just your regular, everyday, "transitioning into natural hair", guest blogger and I'm here to let you all know how my hair is progressing. I've been transitioning for about 2 months now (yeah, I gave in and got a fake box perm sometime in Dec), and I'm sooooo ready to chop it all off!!!! I wash and deep condition once a week, which might seem excessive to some, but I've noticed that my hair feels stronger and 10x's healthier once I deep condition. I've also been doing a simple rod set (shown below) as my transition style because I now despise using flat irons.


Ok, so I'm SUPER excited for my new hair products to come in. I've been using Cream of Nature Organic Kiwi and Citrus Ultra Moisturizing Shampoo or Suave Neutralizing Shampoo as well as Suave Humectants cond, Jane Carter Leave In Replenishing Cond, and Cream of nature Sunflower and Coconut detangling cond. I also make my own deep conditioner using olive oil, jojoba oil, almond oil, coconut oil and honey, which I LOVE !!!!

But, let me get back to these new products. I've been hearing rave reviews about the Hairveda product line. So, last Saturday, I went through almost every blog, online review and YouTube video that I could find and decided to just go ahead and give these products a try. I ordered the Methi Sativa Set, CoCasta Shikakai Hair oil, Vatika Frosting, SitiriNillah Deep Conditioner, Amla Shampoo with Shikakai, and a sample size of their Whipped Gelly (yes, it's actually spelled with a "G"). Hopefully, it will come in sometime this week because I'm so ready to try this stuff!

I've also decided to do the big chop very soon. J did hers this week without thinking twice. So, if someone who hadn't even thought of going natural can do it (and her hair came out really cute), then I surely shouldn't be a big chicken. I'm tired of waiting. Yeah, I'm transitioning, but, for what?!?! So, I'm giving myself until mid March, because I really don't want just anyone cutting my hair so I need to find a stylist, but yep, by March 15th, I should be starting my ALL natural journey. Stay Tuned!!!!

At Last... My Conditioner Has Come Along

I think I can say with confidence that I have found a staple conditioner. Before I tell you what it is, I'd like to share with you all what I've tried thus far. Please keep in mind that I made my conditioner do double duty because I co-washed (washed my hair with conditioner only because I was avoiding shampoos with sodium lauryl sulfate) and deep conditioned with it.

The first one I used was Herbal Essence's Hello Hydration because it smelled like a tropical island and was supposed to be... hydrating. I was able to detangle my hair without much difficulty when I used this. My kinks and coils were pretty, shiny, and defined when I got out of the shower. This lasted until my hair dried and shrinkage took place. Talk about a brittle, tangled mess? Eventually, I tried keeping my hair damp and adding a small amount of conditioner to maintain that freshly washed look. I was going through $3 bottles of conditioner like crazy and sometimes had slightly frozen hair if it was too cold outside. Not a good look at all... But at least my hair smelled heavenly. *shrug*

The next culprit was Suave.

I first tried their Naturals line in Cucumber Melon, but the smell made me nauseous. This was odd because I enjoy the same scent from Bath&BodyWorks. No matter. I moved on to the Coconut scent. This did absolutely nothing for my hair but mildly clean it and leave it smelling OK (not as good as the Hello Hydration). The final installment of Suave led me to their Professionals line. First was the Humectant (Nexxus knock-off) and then the Strengthening (Redken knock-off). Again, I found that these smelled fine (have you figured out that I'm big on smells yet?), provided no help when detangling, and left a filmy buildup over time. My curls were popping until I added oil (to combat the dryness) or my hair dried.

What in the heck was going on? After a bit of research I discovered that although I had dodged the sulfate bullet (they still had small amounts in them), I wasn't addressing the issue of "cones". Basically, this was the culprit for the ridiculous buildup I had in my hair. It was also the reason why oils weren't able to fully penetrate my hair shaft. So, I ditched sulfates and cones and moved on to more natural conditioners.

Enter Hugo Naturals Vanilla & Sweet Orange Conditioner.

Smells great! Does nothing. I had to use way too much of it on my thick hair, it had no detangling properties, and didn't really moisturize. I blame myself for the lack of moisturization as the bottle clearly states that it is for NORMAL hair. I should have purchased the Red Tea & Ylang Ylang for DRY hair. Thank goodness for Whole Foods and their 100% guarantee policy. "So long as the bottle is not empty" you can get your money back.

Finally, I found what is now a staple until further notice.

Honey Hemp Conditioner by Oyin Handmade is the TRUTH! It smells awesome, helps me detangle, leaves my hair moisturized, and keeps my curls popping long after my hair has dried. At $9 a bottle plus shipping and handling (and a 2 week turnaround time), this stuff is very much on the pricey side. I still think it's worth every penny and second of your time. As I say with any product, try a sample before you invest in it. If you like it, then I suggest you stock up. In addition to the Oyin website, you can order this great conditioner from CurlMart. I also found a spot in Brooklyn that sells small bottles, but I think their supply is limited (or at least that's the story I'm going to tell you all so I can hit them up once more before I return to Indiana). I've tried this on my braids and they are still loving it.

Using a modified version (because I didn't have any white willow bark) of Mixtress Anita Grant's recipe, I've also had good results using an herbal hair rinse with marshmallow root. When I'm low on Oyin (heaven forbid this day ever comes), I'll use this.

So there you have it. My long-winded (as usual) tale of how I found my current conditioning love. Have a fave condish? Please share in the comments.