Why it's best to go all organic/natural with you skin and hair products.

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Hello,

Let me tell you a little thing about myself. I come from a family where on side is allergic to nada and the other is allergic to practically everything. I ended getting the allergies from the side that has it. Most people on that side of the family (including me) have super sensitive skin. Like regular things can burn our skin, make us break out, et cetera (I'm only going to talk about topical things here, not things we eat). Almost five years ago, I tried something I got with some birthday presents and reacted to it terribly. I ended up being at a hospital, getting a surgery, which failed (left me with even more problems), thank God, I'm finally getting my healing (my miracle). I used to have super super clear skin, like people were envious then I tried a body lotion on my face and just like that, I broke out terribly. I tried inhaling some menthol stuff on a napkin once when I had a cold (and a really stuffy nose). The napkin touched my nose and the next thing I knew, my nose felt like it was on fire (other people have tried it and haven't felt anything close to what I felt). I was an arts student back in high school and there was a day paint went on my hand and the next thing I knew, I was so itchy, my skin went red, I was reacting to it, et cetera. I'll stop listing there. 

One thing all those things listed above had in common was that they had chemicals in them. I stopped using them (and stopped with the paints once I was done with high school, but tried to make sure they never went on direct skin) and the irritations calmed down. I use all natural things on my skin (and pray, of course (for the one that had a surgery)) and they're all clearing out.

Did you know that we absorb more toxins through our skin than through what we eat? So, eating healthy doesn't really do much if we're just going to be slathering out bodies with chemicals. It's not just about being health conscious on the outside, but on the inside too.

Let me tell you something that happened to Diana (founder of Terressentials), she was diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma in the 1980s. I'm pretty sure the name of what she was diagnosed with doesn't make much sense to you so, I'll break it down. It's cancer of the lymph system due to chemical exposure (synthetic substances). She nearly died from this. Thank God she's still alive and she's okay now.

You may be fine now, but it's best not to take the risk of getting diagnosed with something that could almost take your life or reacting to things that could make you end up in a hospital getting a surgery or just feel uncomfortable. It's not worth it.

Many synthetic substances, especially the ones used on the hair, give the image of a healthier, more radiant you and yes, you may get that image, but underneath it all, you won't have it. It's like many synthetic substances. They coat the hair to make it appear healthy when it actually isn't. It's like getting a washed up, wrinkled cardboard box and sticking some wrapping paper over it to make it look good. Underneath that wrapping paper, the box is still not in a very good state and could give way. It's like getting a dying plant and painting all the brown leaves green to make the plant look healthy, but underneath that paint, the plant is still in a terrible condition and those leaves can and most likely will fall out and before they do, the unhealthiness might show through.

Every now and then, I wonder, how did our grandparents and ancestors survive? I see pictures of my grandmothers and I'm like, look at that beautiful, gorgeous, healthy head of hair and they have such good skin! Shampoos and a whole lot of the things we buy and use on ourselves didn't exist back then. Now that they do, and my grandmothers have purchased some of them, it's obvious that their skin and hair aren't like they used to be. My mum's mum and my dad's mum both use products with synthetic ingredients on their hair, but my mum's mum only manipulates her hair every 9 months (believe it or not) so, here hair only gets exposed to these things every nine months, but my dad's mum's hair gets exposed to these practically every week. I took down my mum's mum's weave in November and her hair (once detangled and spritzed a bit) looked, pretty good. Whenever I see my dad's  mum's hair, it doesn't look half as healthy. My mum's mum's skin, looks healthier than my dad's mum's (and my mum's side of the family is the one with the sensitive skin). My mum's mum uses more natural things on her skin than my dad's mum. Still, none of them have the skin and hair I saw in those pictures anymore. Why?

BACK IN THE DAYS, when synthetic skin and hair products didn't exist, people used all natural things on their skin and hair and they looked so good!

Indians, most of them are into ayurveda and look how healthy and super long their hair is!

I believe God gave us these natural things for a purpose - health and wellbeing. They're a gift to us.

I am switching up my hair products again not just because some were discontinued, but because I noticed one chemical in them and I also noticed that my hair felt much better just using amla to cleanse it than using a sulfate-free shampoo. Amla's all natural and the shampoo had a chemical in it. I'm switching up my skin care products too because....well, all I basically use on my skin nowadays is a shower/bath gel and deodorants only when I have to leave the house and I'll be out for long (I'm currently in a hot country and I rarely leave my house). Deo's rarely 'cause I react to them (Sure, Dove, Nivea, you name it). 

I have found an online store (there are physical stores of it too, but they're in America and I don't live there) that sells hair and skin products with only natural ingredients (I've checked out their ingredients lists). I won't mention their name so you don't think I'm being paid to advertise them, but if you contact me, I can tell you. I have read reviews of their products, deodorants, hair washes.... all good.

Anyways, the key to a healthier you in a healthier lifestyle on the inside and on the out.

Natures Gentle Touch...

Hey everyone,

I must say, I was so disappointed with everything I saw at the Natures Gentle Touch thing I went for.
There were trichologists and hair stylists there (all working with Natures Gentle Touch). I saw blow driers without diffusers, I saw sulphate shampoos, products full of petrolatum, mineral oil,  harsh chemicals, etc. I was pretty much appalled. I mean, they say they're into making natural hair products, but well, the few natural things I saw in some of their products, they were on the last line or second to the last line of the ingredients list out of a whole lot of ingredients (I couldn't even pronounce all the ingredients and...well...people I know think I'm weird because I can pronounce words easily even when seeing them for the first time and not knowing their meanings unlike them).

I spoke to a trichologist showed me some vid on my scalp. It was like she was using a webcam shaped like a computer mouse and moving it across my hair (I must say that I believe she had used that thing on a bunch of other people's hair without cleaning/at least wiping it). She called my edges, "the hair that recedes"  and "where your hairline would recede," then she was like, "...but there's quite a lot of hair there..." Then she took out a strand of my hair and said she was going to test its porosity and elasticity. I should say that: 1. The hair she took was...well....processed (the hair at my ends), and 2. all she did was hold the strand of hair between her finger and pull at it then she was like, "hmm...you have good porosity." I kept a calm look, but in my head, I was like, "what?!?!"

I asked the trichologist some questions about:
1. Heat damage
2. Relaxers
3. Harsh chemicals in their products
4. Diffusers
and I must say, she never really answered my questions.
Me: "I noticed a bunch of hair stylists working with blow driers without diffusers attached to them."
Tri-Tri: "they've all been given blow drier heads and diffusers, but they don't use them because they say they're trying to hurry."
(did I  mention that they owned a hair salon which was in the same building?)
...
Me: "Using direct heat on the hair for a prolonged amount of time causes heat damage. Therefore, shouldn't a rule be enforced that all stylists use their diffusers or figure out alternatives to using so much heat? "
Tri-Tri: "We use our Oil Moisturiser on our clients' hair before we use heat on it."
Me: (I should say that I saw the ingredients in the Oil "Moisturiser") "Isn't that just going to fry your client's hair?" (I was thinking about when oil's in a pan and heated up, plus I've put a whole lot of oil on my hair before and stepped out into a boiling hot day in Africa and I remember my scalp felt like it was being fried)
Tri-Tri: "No, it won't. Like I said, 'we use our Oil Moisturiser on our client's hair before we use heat on it.'" (I took this as her saying that the oils in the product would prevent heat damage and well, at this point in time, I was thinking about someone heating up some oil and placing something, say, chips or something, into it and I was like, "not to worry, nothing'll happen to the chips, they'll be protected from the heat by the oil!" Note that I didn't say this out loud)
...
Tri-Tri: "What do you normally do with your hair?"
Me: I braid or twist it and have my hair like that for a week then I take the braids out, deep condition then cleanse my scalp."
Tri-Tri: "Would you consider getting your hair done here?"
Me: "Yeah, I guess."
Mum: "My daughter doesn't use commercial products or heat on her hair, by the way."
Tri-Tri: "Then we can't get her hair done for her because she must wash her hair with our shampoo first, condition it with our conditioner too, also done here, use our oil moisturiser here before we can get her hair done. We just can't get her hair done like that."
(My mum looked at me after that, I looked back at her and said...)
Me: "Are you alright with braiding my hair for me at home?"
Tri-Tri: "Why don't you want to get your hair done here?"
Mum: "I wasn't kidding when I said she doesn't use commercial products, she makes her own products and air dries ."
Me: "Plus I've gone through the ingredients on your products and they're full of harsh chemicals."
......

To cut this short, about relaxers, she said they are not damaging to the hair and about the harsh chemicals in their products, well, apparently, she doesn't really care about them and also, she tried defending some of the harsh sulphates at some point.
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My thoughts:


1. If you'd like to get your hair done at their salon, set out on a day when you have a whole lot of time on your hands (I know how long people waited just to get their hair done and it wasn't like there was a crowd or not enough people to get their hair done).

2. They have a very stupid policy that forces people to use Natures Gentle Touch's products only and they must spend a lot of money on washing, conditioning and soaking their hair in oils before they can get their hair done even if the client had already washed and conditioner his/her.

3. Their workers need proper training on hair care.

4. They should take this line off all their cards, "natural hair care" and telling people that they specialise and promote that. I mean, every single person there including Tri-Tri (who I should mention is the 'Tri'chologist) had relaxed hair and didn't seem to be planning on transitioning, plus, they were relaxing people's hair and well, promoting doing just that to your curls and kinks. Note: Don't be fooled by what ads. say or is written infront on a bottle of a hair product. I mean, turn that bottle around and take a look at it's ingredients list, you might just end up surprised).

5. They need to go back to the drawing board and rethink all their products. I mean, anti-dandruff shampoo that contains sodium lauryl sulphate, alcohol and other ingredients that dry out the hair and scalp.

etc.

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~Sam

p.s when my mum called my dad and told him that we won't be planning on going to Natures Gentle Touch again, I couldn't help, but agree. Little did my mum know that when the people at Natures Gentle Touch asked me for my phone number, I gave them hers ;)
hehe :)

A Note From a Teen Mixtress

Hey everyone!


So, sometime last year, around November/December, I decided to quit using commercial products on my hair. It was sorta like a challenge for me. I was like, "won't all-natural thing be better for natural hair?"
Anyways, Since then, I've made my own hair cleansers, scalp scrubs, conditioners, deep conditioners, gels etc. I did, however, use an Organics Twist & Lock Gel at some point. Besides that (and I haven't used it in quite a while), I've been using all natural, homemade things on my hair and my hair feels SO GOOD!
Using all-natural things means that my hair gets no sulphates on it, no parabens, mineral oils, petrolatum, sodium chloride, formaldehyde, propylene glycol, paraffin, fragrance (parfum), pthalates etc. Therefore, it's in a very healthy state as it it deprived from harsh chemicals found in some commercial products.


So, I guess I'm just going to share with you my favourite recipes (feel free to try them any time):


1. My absolute fav: 
Avocado DC

1-2 Avocados (I usually use quite ripe to very ripe avocados)

Coconut cream

2 table spoons of honey (or more. I usually eyeball)

Rosemary oil, Canola oil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Rapeseed Oil (I usually add a bit of all or just about 3 of them, but just in small quantities)

Directions

Mash the avocado(s) till it is smooth or close to smooth. Add all the other ingredients and mix it till it is still smooth, thoroughly mixed and of a good consistency. Get it on your hair and put on a plastic cap then a plastic bag (if needed) then tie a scarf over them to keep them in place, prevent annoying rustling sounds, prevent the DC from leaking, etc. Sometimes, I cover my hair with more than what I stated above, but that's just me. Also, I always deep condition overnight (so, the deep conditioner has about 8 hours or more to work).
*This is my favourite deep conditioner because it combats dryness, moisturises and conditions my hair, leaves my hair feeling soft and looking beautiful and well, it makes it so hard for me to get my hands out of my hair (hehe :) )


2. Hair and Scalp Cleanser (no-poo shampoo)

·         Rosemary

·         Sage

·         Water

·         Jojoba, canola, olive, or rapeseed oil (your choice)

·         Lemon juice

·         Aloe vera gel

Directions

Eyeball all the ingredients. Mix the herbs in a clear plastic bowl (or glass jar), which has a lid. Boil some distilled, filtered or bottled water. Add the mixed herbs into the boiling water. Pull the boiling water and herbs off the stove. Let the herb mixture sit for 30 – 40 minutes. Add the oil after the mix has been sitting for 30 minutes. After 40 minutes, add a bit of lemon juice as you want (make sure there is enough oil to prevent any possible drying effect of the lemon juice. Also, do not use a lot of lemon juice, just a little). Strain the herbal mixture into a bowl and mix in the aloe vera gel. Pour into a bottle and store in a cool, dry place.

3. Leave-in treatment (shine and moisture)

·         1 tsp honey

·         4 cups warm water

Warm up the honey a bit (to let it melt) so it’s easier to mix up (it's not a must you do this, I don't always do it). Combine the honey and water together and mix well. Add a preservative to it or leave it in the fridge preferably in a spray bottle. I usually use up all that I make (I just make as much as needed) so, my advice for you is to do that or well, you can try putting it in the fridge or adding vitamin E oil or somethhing to it as a preservative.

4. Conditioner

Olive Oil

Canola, Rapeseed or Coconut oil

Honey

Combine the ¼ cup olive oil,¼ cup oil, ½ cup water (or less, depends on the consistency you're looking for, 2 tbsp honey and. Mix thoroughly. Store conditioner in a cool place between uses. *I've never used this as a deep conditioner, just a normal conditioner*

5. Deep Conditioner 

Olive oil

Coconut oil

Rapeseed oil

Honey

Shea butter

Mix the honey and oils together thoroughly (note that you shouldn't use a lot of the oils) then add some shea butter to the mix (I used about 2 tablespoons-ish). Place the bowl your mixing this in in a bowl containing hot water (this will melt the shea butter). Mix everything together thoroughly then transfer the bowl with the mix to a cool place and let it sit for a while.

Something I do everyday (for moisture and hair health)

I get some bottled water on my hair (not too much) then I get about a 1p coin size (never more than a 50p coin size) of my oil mix (which is made up of rapeseed, coconut and extra virgin olive oil) onto my hair then I rub some shea butter between my hands and smooth it over my hair concentrating on the ends. My hair has benefited from this daily treatment.

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*Please note that not everything that works for one person will work for another person. It took me months to finally figure out what my hair loves and what it doesn't love.*

*I always deep condition my hair overnight*

*Also, I do not really recommend sleeping with a plastic bag on your head because of reasons like suffocation, etc. I do sleep with a plastic bag on sometimes, but well, if you do, sleep with it on at your own risk*

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Thanks for reading! :)

p.s here's a challenge: try going up to a month without using any commercial hair products (use homemade ones) and deep condition once every week (and overnight only if possible). Compare how your hair feels before you try this with how it feels after you try this (if you want to go longer, please feel free to). :)

My Shopping Cart

Okay! so I'm pretty young, but I'm moving out next year. So, I was going through the Curl Emporium (an online store for British Curlies), oh! and if you want to buy things for curly haired people you can go there or buy from naturallycurly.com's store.

Okay! So here's what's on my shopping cart/wish list (just checking how much they'll cost in total):

Cart Items		Qty	Item Price	Item Total
Subtotal:				£89.15
Estimate Shipping & Tax
Grand Total:				£89.15
	Blue Green Algae Hair Mask 118ml	1	£10.63	£10.63
	Tangle Teezer - Black	1	£8.50	£8.50
	Coconut Lemongrass Transition Creme 8oz	1	£9.13	£9.13
	Satin Edge Bonnet Black	1	£2.08	£2.08
	No Slip Hair Grips	1	£1.19	£1.19
	Retro Headwrap Orange Flashed Purple	2	£2.50	£5.00
	4mm No Damage Elastics	1	£1.79	£1.79
	Denman No Damage Mixed Head Wraps Black	1	£2.46	£2.46
	Curl Refresh Spray Bottle Red	1	£3.75	£3.75
	Denman Oval No Slip Clips	1	£1.79	£1.79
	Honeysuckle Rose Conditioner 11oz	1	£8.76	£8.76
	KBB Heavenly Jojoba Hair Oil 200ml	1	£10.83	£10.83
	GVN Tea Tree Triple Treat Shampoo 250ml	1	£6.65	£6.65
	Shea Butter Curl Moisturising Cream 8oz	1	£9.13	£9.13
	Anita Grant Virgin Mango Butter Coconut Whip 3.5oz	1	£7.46	£7.46

* After this bill, I'll just need to pay about say £20 about every few months to get replacements on my conditioner and shampoo (sulphate free, by the way. I'm quitting sulphates entirely) and maybe some things like jojoba oil, coconut oil etc, but I'll be able to get those oils for a lower price at ASDA or somewhere.


Also, I am totally considering switching to the Bee Mine Botanicals line. I call those products hair crack lol. I just might get the shampoo and conditioner on that line because I think I just might prefer them to the ones above, but I guess I'll try the Giovanni one there and then the Bee Mine Botanicals Shampoo (also sulphate free) and see which I prefer or which my hair prefers. I like the ingredients list on both, I think I prefer the Bee Mine Botanicals one, but anyways, my hair'll be the judge of that (and hopefully, none of them do any damage to my hair).

My Hair Story

Hi everyone! 

So, I said, I was going to put up my hair story. So, here's a quickie summary of it:

I'll start by saying, my mum has never known how to take care of hair, I’m not talking bout just natural hair, I’m talking about all hair types. My mum has naturally curly hair, but ever since, like, well…err….for over 19 years, my mum has had relaxed hair, she gets perms and all that because she doesn’t know how to work with curly hair. Okay! so she married my dad and then my brother was born then some years later, I was born. My bro and I weren’t born with hair manuals and like we both had curly hair so…you can guess. My dad always makes my bro cut his hair so low that it’s hard to guess that it’s curly, because my dad thinks his hair is unruly. When my bro moved out, he grew his hair out and like had a HUGE mass of curls, when he sat in a car, his hair was practically touching the top of the car. So, my dad made him cut it all off. My bro doesn’t know how to take care of his hair, I might add, but still… Okay! so me, I had natural curls till I was….err…7? My parents had always complained about it, my grandmother (dad’s mum) tried whatever, but they were just doing everything wrong. Washing my hair with (harsh) shampoo often, getting petroleum jelly into my hair, combing from the roots to the ends, pulling at my hair. That combing stuff made all the combs in the house break apart from my dad’s so, I asked my dad to help me detangle my hair once and his comb broke so he asked my mum to take me to a hair salon to get my hair relaxed which she happily did. I must say,then, my hair was well…if I wore a bra then, I’d say bra strap length at the back and the hair at the front ended below my chin.

When I got my hair relaxed, I started suffering from breakage. Yeah, it was easier to get a comb through, though combs still broke (even with relaxer in my hair! My hair’s extremely thick and people just don’t know how to comb it!). So, when I was like 8, I got a BC (big chop) and grew out my natural hair till I was almost 10 then, my parents relaxed it again because they still didn’t know what to do with it. My hair broke till it was like shoulder length (or a lil above) and never grew longer than that because as it grew, it broke. My mum relaxed my hair once a whiff of natural hair showed up at my roots, but when I turned 14 (or a few days before my 14th birthday), I told her that I didn’t want that anymore, I told her that I wanted to transition back to natural. She was like, “you don’t know how difficult that is,” “you’ll give up after a short time,” “your hair is so tough,”  she brought up the prom thingy about how I won’t be able to style my hair easily and what’s not, but read this, if you can style super straight hair, what stops you from finding a way to style curly hair, or even, the curly hair already looks great, so you can choose to or choose not to style. She started complaining and stuff so I told her, “just leave my hair alone, I’ll take care of it by myself,” which I did. While transitioning, I stumbled on a treasurefortots blog and saw pics of a little girl’s hair and her mum talked about how she cared for her daughter’s hair and the products she used. That led me to another site which helped me out too. I kept mental notes from when my natural hair starts growing out again. Then, I stumbled onto tightlycurly.com,  Teri LaFlesh’s website and learnt a lot too. I went through her Ingredients page and started checking the ingredients on products mum made me use (I stopped using them, because she was buying nonsense…. seriously, those products were full of harsh chemicals, I don’t know how I still had hair on my head after using those). Shortly after, I stumbled onto one site that has helped me the most - naturallycurly.com. I have a couple of inches of natural hair now (my hair hand-stretched is a little bellow collar bone length) and some (most) of the relaxed bits have weakened out and fallen out. I'm not getting a big chop or small chop or whatever anytime soon even though it looks kinda weird with the curly bits and then some straight bits. When my hair grows a bit longer, and is about say, somewhere down my back, maybe not mid-back or about that (almost there), then, if I still have relaxed bits, I’ll trim them off.

For now, I have hair I love (well, the majority of it/natural). My hair is stronger and I can notice a positive difference in it!

Okay! so, I guess that's it for now! :)

Bye

~Sam