Product Review: Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curling Gel Soufflé

Picture got from SheaMoisture

Product description

"SheaMoisture's Coconut & Hibiscus Curling Gel Soufflé for thick, curly hair defines and promotes curls with a soft, smooth finish. This all natural styling aid moisturizes and conditions while leaving hair with a frizz-free, brilliant shine." 

Ingredients

Aqueous Infusion of Agave Teqilana Leaf Extract and Sugar Cane Extract, Pectin, Vegetable Glycerin, Adansonia Digitata Pulp(Baobab) Extract, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil*, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter)*, Panthenol (Pro-Vitamin B-5, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract*, Tocopherol (Vitamin E - Vegetable Oil Source), Linum Usitatissimum (Linseed/Flax) Seed Extract, Hibiscus Sabdariffa Extract, Potassium Sorbate, Proprietary Essential Oil Blend *Certified Organic Ingredient

Price

£12.99/$12.99 (12 oz)


My review

Like the Curl & Shine Conditioner, this product smells good. It does what it says when it comes to moisturising and conditioning the hair and it has left my hair with less frizz than usual. However, as mentioned when reviewing the conditioner, I'm not sure about the shine because my hair is naturally shiny.

When it comes to the frizz, I had been playing with my hair while it was in two buns yesterday so it got quite frizzy. This morning, after doing a little rinse and scalp massage, I applied a little of the product to my hair and right now, the frizz is still less than usual.

I like that this product did not leave my hair crunchy and with white residue like many gels have done.

However, I do not like that this product can be quite sticky when you touch your hair after applying it. I guess to combat this, you just have to use very little of the product on your whole head of hair as the stickiness is much less today and I have less product on my hair. Also, this product did not do much with defining my curls. Yes my curls are not the greatest fans of clumping in most parts of my hair, but by just running my hands down my hair with some oil in them and with closed fits, I can get my curls to clump and stay together pretty well.

Overall, I would recommend this product as it has been the best gel I have used on my hair in the almost 5 years that I have been natural. The product is really moisturising and leaves your hair feeling so soft and with minimal frizz. I have a lot of hair and it's not easy to define the curls in every single part of my hair so I'm not too bothered about this product not doing much in the defining aspect. I think that this product can be used as a leave-in conditioner so, if that's what you're looking for, purchase this product. Also, if your hair's not so big, it might help with defining your curls more than it helped with mine. Lastly, as a little goes a VERY LONG WAY, I believe this product will last for quite a number of months before I need to repurchase it so that saves having to spend £12.99 every few weeks and as a student, I need to keep my spending to a minimum.

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It seems there are two consistencies of this product. I received the thicker one. A little goes a long way with both consistencies (just did some research on it after it came to my attention that there are two very different consistencies). If you want the lighter, more runny consistency, you have two options:

1. Return your jar to the store you bought it from (if you didn't order it online) and ensure the new one you pick up is runny before you leave the store, and
2. take some of the product out of the jar, put it in something microwaveable and heat it up in the microwave for a few seconds/until it becomes more runny.

For now, I am going to leave this product the way I received it, but some day, I might try heating it up to try it out with a runny consistency.

Midas Naturals Product Reviews!

Picture gotten from MidasNaturals.com

Yes! I've finally gotten the review up!

So, I didn't use all the products in the pic above. I just used the hydrating mist, whipped shea butter and conditioner so that's all I'm going to review (but I'll do a shampoo review once I receive the shampoo).

Overall Review:
I like these products because their ingredients lists are awesome. All-natural ingredients, amazing right? (the ingredients that don't look natural are naturally-derived (derived from plants) I also like that they did not leave my hair feeling weird or stripped both during and after application and please don't say, "oh, Sammy, a conditioner, hydrating mist and whipped shea butter can never leave your hair feeling weird or stripped," because I have used a conditioner that has left my hair feeling weird and stripped before.
I would SO be willing to try other products from MidasNaturals! :)

Individual Review:

Shine Conditioner
Price: £10.39 for the next 5 days (then it's back up to £12.99) for a 250ml jar.

Ingredients -  Aqua, organic shea butter (butyrosperumum parkii), avocado (persea gratissima), emulsifying wax NF, sweet almond oil (prunus dulcis amara), potassium oleate, potassium cocoate, potassium citrate, palm free vegetable glycerin, coconut oil (cocos nucifera), keratin amino acid, phenoxyethanol, anthem gum. PH balanced. Free from: paragons, silicones, sulphates, DEA, petrolatum, mineral oils, pthalates, gluten, fragrance

When I received this conditioner, I thought it was simply just a rinsing conditioner, but it's even more.

Okay! So, on a scale of 1-5 where 1 is "terrible" and 5 is "totally amazing!" I will rate this product on the following things:

• As a detangler - 2
• As a rinsing conditioner - 5
• As a deep conditioner - 5

The smell of this product is light and not bad, at all.

Applying the product is easy and most definitely not messy and unlike some products that drip uncontrollably from your hair, this product does not drip.

It's consistency is slightly thick which is good not just for application purposes but also because for my hair, it's perfect. Things that are too light basically do nothing noticeable for my hair and things that are too heavy....lets just say that both my hair and I hate them.

Oh! oh! Although my hair looks shiny often, on wash day (after washing), it doesn't look that shiny, but today, it did :)

*Would I buy this product: YES!

*Would I recommend this product: Heck, yeah!

Whipped Shea Hair Butter

Price: £10.79 for the next 5 days (then it's back up to £13.49) for a 250ml jar.

Ingredients -  Aqua, organic shea butter (butyrospermum parkii), avocado oil (persea gratissima), coconut oil (cocos nucifera), emulsifying wax NF (cetearyl alchohol & polysorbate 60), olive oil (olea europaea), argan oil, crambe seed oil (abyssinica), organic palm oil (elaeis guineesis), stearic acid, xantham gum, phenoxyethanol, vanilla cream fragrance oil. PH balanced. Free from: parabens, silicones, sulphates, DEA, petrolatum, mineral oils, pthalates, gluten

I first tried this while I still had my crochet braids in. I used it on my edges and liked it so, I couldn't wait to use it on the rest of my hair.

On a scale of 1-5 where 1 is "terrible" and 5 is "totally amazing!" I will rate this product on the following things:

• As a styling product - 4
• As a sealant - 5

Although the product description refers to the butter as, "thick," I don't consider it to be thick because I have a jar of shea butter my grandmother sent over to me from Africa and that thing is THICK! I would describe this product's texture as nice and fluffy, not too thick and not light.

It's smell is light and nice.

Application is easy, HOWEVER, it is hard to get the whiteness off like to work it into your hair fully. However, if your hair was damp during application and you worked it in till you decided to just let it be, the whiteness will go once your hair dries (or is 90% dry).

*Would I buy this product: Yes

*Would I recommend this product: Yes

Hydrating Hair Mist

Price: £9.99 for the next 5 days (then it's back to £12.49) for a 250ml bottle.

Ingredients - Organic aloe vera leaf juice (Aloe Barbadensis), solubizer, blackberry extract (rubus fructicosus), rich vanilla cream fragrance PH balanced. Free from: parabens, silicones, sulphates, DEA, petrolatum, mineral oils, pthalates, gluten

I will start by saying that I love that this comes out like a mist and not like the Niagara Falls. There are many times I have expected something to come out as a mist and instead it's like I'm being fired with water pistols that let out quite a lot of water, but this isn't like that.

I first tried this while I had my crochet braids in too and when my edges felt dry, I used this to hydrate it especially if I'm in a rush. I can't remember if I ever used this alone (I think I always quickly followed up with the whipped shea butter after working this in).

Anyways, on a scale of 1-5 where 1 is "terrible" and 5 is "totally amazing!" I will rate this product on the following things:

• As a hydrator - 4
• Balancing your hair's natural pH value - 5

This product smells okay.

Water is said to be the best hydrator however, I wash my face with just water and my face goes right back to peeling if I don't get some oil or something on it quickly. Water sometimes, makes my hair feel hydrated and moisturised, but I think this does a bit of a better job than the water that comes out of the taps and showers here.

I like that using this, my hair does not really revert even though this product is in the form of a liquid. Like, the other day, I was remoisturising my hair (I had it stretched out using threads) and this mist barely did a thing to revert my hair while a tad bit of my conditioner (not by MidasNaturals) made it revert a whole lot and that wasn't even a leave-in conditioner!

I like that most of the product is aloe vera juice because my hair just adores anything from the aloe vera leaf!

This product does not drip off of your hair after application.

*Would I buy this product: Yup

*Would I recommend this product: Mmh-hmm

En Fin

Like I said at the start of this, I would love to try other products by MidasNaturals and there is a high chance that I'll purchase these products the next time I'm restocking on hair products. There is a higher chance that I'll buy the Shine Conditioner than I will the other products (no particular reason).

I love these products!

To any company manufacturing and selling natural hair products, I am willing to review your products and if your products has all-natural ingredients, there is a high chance I would not use it on just a small portion of hair on the back of my head, but on my entire head of hair (just being honest). Contact my via the email address on my Contacts page on this blog if your would like me to review your products.

I will not purchase your products to review if you ask me to review them as there is always the possibility that my hair might dislike them so, please, if you would like me to review your products, send me a trial-size/sample bottle or container of them.

Coming Soon

Heyo!

So, I'm going back to school on Wednesday and that means that there'll be no new posts on here till a month after then. However, I'm going to let you know what I have planned for you when I get back on here.

Okay! So, I have what can really be defined as 'long hair' right now so I'm going to talk about my journey to this point. APL and almost past it is a good length for someone who's been natural for 3 years especially someone who lost loads of inches of hair during that time.

Other posts would be on my plans for protective styling, but not, protective styling this summer. I feel like telling you my plans now, but I'm going to keep my mouth shut (or just stop my fingers from typing it out). I'll also have a post on how I got my hair to be SO SHINY! And what I did this holiday to retain as much length as possible.

And here's what I'm itching to blog about! Some products from Midas Naturals are being sent to me to try out and review. Midas Naturals is a new natural hair care brand that's made with all-natural ingredients. I have gone through the ingredients lists of some of their products (and researched on some of the ingredients I wasn't familiar with) they seem really good. Unfortunately, because of a little thing called, 'Bank Holiday,' I haven't received the products yet (but they should be here tomorrow) so I haven't tried them out yet, but I can't wait to try them out. I am currently getting my hair back in crochet braids and I'll be taking them down this July. Once they're out, I'll try out the products.

I love my Terressentials, yeah, but I don't always have the patience for it and it costs an arm and a leg to get it down to England. I owe my brother £50 for helping me pay to get it here. Customs and stuff are crazy!  I plan on not using my Terressentials every time I wash my hair to preserve it. It'll be like a treat for my hair. My previous sulfate-free shampoo has been discontinued so I'm looking for a new one and this could be it.

So excited! So, girls and guys, if you see this brand, buy the product, I think it's going to be good!

Can't wait till next month and can't wait till school's out this summer!! :)

Review: Terressentials Mud Wash

I'm not even going to tell you 'hello,' I have to get straight to the point.

This product is a must-have for all curly ladies!

Ingredients (I used the Lavender Garden one):

Organic aloe vera juice°, clay minerals, organic extract° of organic linden flower°, essential oils of organic true lavender° and organic sweet orange°, extracts of organic nettle°, organic chamomile° and organic shavegrass°, essential oils of organic rose geranium°, organic ylang ylang° and organic clove bud°.

°Certified Organic

My thoughts:

I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT!

Ohmigosh! This thing took off all buildup, took off all traces of the smell of the greek yogurt deep conditioner, took off the annoying feeling the Shea Moisture Restorative Conditioner gave me at some parts of my hair and it left my hair feeling so soft and moisturised!

Once I saw the first ingredient in this, I knew that I'll love it. Aloe Vera, incase you didn't figure it out, is my hair's boo! I love aloe vera, it balances the pH value of hair, moisturises and just adds a lot of goodies to the hair.

I left this mud wash (hair wash) on for a little (heck, WAY) longer than I had planned and I didn't have a plastic bag on so the mud wasn't moist in my hair, it had dried up holding my hair in place. However, once the water came on, it loosened up without being touched and rinsed out thoroughly leaving my hair so clean and so nice! I couldn't believe it! My hair felt so good!

Would I recommend this product:

HECK, YEAH!

Would I try this product again:

HECK, YEAH!

How many stars would I give this product:

HECK, YEAH!

I'm sorry, I mean, 5-stars :)

Review: LUSH Cynthia Stout Beer and Cognac Shampoo and Blousey Banana Shampoo

I'm putting these two products together because I have exactly the same thing to say about both of them:

Thank God I did not use them all over my hair or on even a quarter of my hair!

These two products are super drying and stripping.

I'm just noticing that both have Ammonium Laur(yl/eth) Sulfate on their ingredients lists (Sam, why didn't you see that before). That must be why they gave this effect.

Will I be trying these again: No

Will I recommend these: No

How many stars: 1

Review: Greek Yogurt Deep Conditioner

Hey,

That's the actual yogurt in that pic above, not the deep conditioner. Hehe!
I used that greek yogurt (and yes, it has bits of desiccated coconuts in it).
I used one full pot of it mixed with a teaspoon of honey and about 3 teaspoons of olive oil to make my deep conditioner.

My thoughts:
If you read my tweet about an hour ago, I hated this DC from the moment I put on my hair, but ever since I started rinsing it out, I have loved it!

It made my hair feel so soft and moisturised and it left my hair so shiny! :)


Would I be trying this again:
*laugh* Not in the near future! The application process is way too messy, the smell of the DC is way too nasty.
However, if I need a quick fix and I can't find anything else to DC with, I just might try this out again.

Would you recommend it:
Yes, if you don't mind the smelly smell and messy mess. Oh! and you might want to run the greek yogurt through a sieve with little holes before using it to avoid the coconut bits getting in your hair (but they came out relatively easily). Using a coconut greek yogurt was just for an extra something from the coconuts.

If I was rating with stars, how many would I give this:
4 stars
(considered giving a 3 because of that rancid smell)

Review: LUSH - The Hair Doctor Hair Treatment

Hello again,

This product was given to me as a sample to try out by someone in LUSH who happened to have kinky-curly hair like mine. I don't know her name, but SHOUTOUT TO HER!

So, the ingredients in this product are:
Water, Irish Moss Powder, Fullers Earth, Cetearyl Alcohol, Perfume, Irish Moss Decoction, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Almond Oil,Peppermint Oil, Rosemary Absolute, Chamomile Blue Oil, Soya Lecithin, Glycerine, Yeast, Red Henna, Lanolin, Cetrimonium Bromide, Propylene Glycol, Glyceryl Stearate & PEG-100 Stearate,*Eugenol, *Limonene, *Linalool

*occurs naturally in essential oils

The ingredients in green are natural ingredients while those in black are said to be safe synthetics.

My thoughts:

From seeing those synthetic ingredients, you guessed right I was a little sceptical about this product, but I still tried it out on two corners (opposite sides) on the hair near the nape of my neck.

This product smells really good and if you saw my tweet a few minutes ago, the results of this product.....oh my.....they were divine!

My hair felt so moisturised after using this product and.....here's the funny thing, I had the most defined, most beautiful looking twist out from using this product! The thing is, I put deep conditioners in my hair in sections and twist my hair as I'm done with each section. I undid the twist on those sections just before rinsing out and was like, "OH.MYYY.GOSH!" The rest of my twists were nowhere near defined when I took them down plus my hair was damp from deep conditioning so, it was pretty cool that it could still hold a twist out look.

This product left my hair shiny and gorgeous looking and OHMIGOSH IT MADE MY HAIR FEEL SOOOOO GOOOOOOD!!!!

Would I use this product again:

If I get really busy at any point in time and I can't whip up a DC for myself, yes, I will buy this product and use it.

Would I recommend this product to people:

If you don't mind the few synthetic ingredients, yes, I will recommend this.

If I was rating with stars, how many stars would I give this product:

4.5 stars

Review: Shea Moisture Restorative Conditioner

¡Hola!

So, as mentioned before, I am going to be reviewing the above product. So, let's get started!

The ingredients in the above conditioner are:

Deionized Water, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter)*, Argan Oil, Coconut Oil*, Behentrimonium Chloride, Essential Oil Blend, Vegetable Glycerin, Emulsifying Wax, Sea Kelp Extract, Panthenol (Vitamin B‐5), Avocado Oil, Lonicera Caprifolium (Honeysuckle) Flower (and) Lonicera Japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle) Flower extract, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Daucus Carota Sativa (Carrot) Seed Oil.

My thoughts:

So, I just took down a protective style I've had for about four months now and decided to try this out on my hair to see if it's good as a shampoo replacement. Honestly, if I go on one of those 2-3 weeks things I did when I was busy last spring-summer (not washing my hair for 2-3 weeks), I wouldn't use thing product to wash my hair. I would rather use my BeeMine (sulfate-free) shampoo. This product did nothing in cleansing my hair. My scalp and hair actually felt kinda dirty and sticky-ish near the roots when I used it and it seemed not to want to rinse out of my scalp. As for the rest of my hair, yes, they felt a tad bit moisturised which was okay, I guess.

From reading about how long I protective styled, I'm sure some of you might have thought about the killer tangles I must have. Honestly, I didn't really have "killer" tangles. I did have a bit of tangles, but I could get through them. I had this product on my hair when I was trying to detangle and yes, it did give a bit of slip, but just a little more slip would've been better.

Would I recommend this product:
I might have to give it another try some other time, dunno, but right now, I'll say that I won't be all giddy-giddy recommending this product right now. It's not bad, don't get me wrong. I'm just not excited about the product.

If I had to rate it with stars, how many would I give this product:
3 stars


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Update - 11-07-15
Hey!
So, believe it or not, I am still using this product. I do prefer it as a leave-in conditioner though. It is amazing (5 stars) as a leave-in. So, I am switching to the Coconut and Hibiscus line for a rinsing conditioner while I stick to this product as a leave-in.
~Sammy

The Test

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Hola!!

So.......I am going to be trying out some products on my entire head of hair in a few days.....or weeks. You see, I've been in a protective style for about 4 months now and I miss my hair. Yes, I miss my hair. I'm going to take down this protective style soon and then I'm going to try out the Terressentials mud wash (I have two different ones, but I'm trying out just the lavender one), Shea Moisture Restorative Conditioner, a Greek yoghurt deep conditioner and a WetBrush given to me to critique and review by TheWetBrush. Unfortunately, I don't know if the WetBrush ever arrived at my house 'cause I can't find it anywhere so I'll need to ask family later to know who received it and where's it's at.

So excited! Can't wait to try them on my bird's nest!!

Oh! and I'm going to do a length check! Can't wait to see how long my hair is now when hand stretched and when left to shrink. :)

I'm also trying out a new brand of coconut oil for the first time. From the look and smell of it, if any coconut oil is fully real, it's this one. It's 100% organic and raw, nothing added and it looks and smells divine! Like coconuts!

Hehe :)

Anyways, I'll post a review of all those products after trying them out! :)

~SammyWithTheBigHair

Review: Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Moisturising Conditioner

So, I tried this, but not on my entire head of hear. I used it on my nape hair at the left side of my head. If you read my last post, you'll know that I have grown out my nape hair past neck length so, I have quite a bit of hair to work with there when doing a review with a product that isn't 100% natural like this.

Okay! So, here's the ingredients list:

Water, Stearyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Chloride, Cetyl Alcohol, Bis-Aminopropyl Dimethicone, Orchid Mascula Flower Extract, Zea Mays (Corn) Silk Extract, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Fruit Extract, Fragrance, Benzyl Alcohol, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Hydroxide, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Blue 1

As you can see, this product is sulfate free, paraben free, protein free and glycerin free.

Okay, so here's how I used it:

I got quite some on my finger tips and worked it into my nape hair, left it in my hair and had a shower then I rinsed it out thoroughly. I pressed out the excess water  and that was all. Please note that I did not shampoo my nape hair before doing this.

My results:

When my hair was a tad bit dry, I felt it and it actually did feel pretty soft. Now, now, my hair usually feels soft, I know, so, some of you might think that I can't say much about this, so I'll just put it like this,  it did not dry out my hair. I think the Hello Hydration might actually be quite moisturising. It's definitely a good conditioner for people who seek moisture and don't mind products that aren't 100% natural. 

When it comes to co-washing, which is more or less what I did (now that I think about it), the conditioner was a very good co-wash for my nape hair. I haven't washed my hair in 2 weeks now (I'm going to wash it on Friday) so, you can tell that my hair was not squeeky clean, freshly washed. The conditioner cleansed my hair, and removed the little product buildup I had. So, yeah, this is pretty good as a cleanser too.

Would I try this product again?

Honestly, I doubt I will so, I'll say, 'no.' You can figure out why.

Would you recommend this product to people?

If you don't mind using products that aren't 100% natural, this is the co-wash/cleanser and conditioner for you. 

Product Reviews *info*

Hello everyone,

So, I'm up for product reviews. Here's how it's going to work:

1. You can recommend products for me to review or send products to me to review. If you are sending a product, please send only a trail size bottle of the product. Something small, especially if the product isn't all natural.

2. When products aren't fully natural, I only test them out on my nape hair. I've grown my nape hair past my neck now, so, that's enough hair I'm willing to work with for products with synthetic ingredients.

3. I'm okay with you sending messages to companies to send me a bottle of their products to review.

4. My reviews are going to be honest. If a brand sends me a product to review, I try out the product and my hair hates it, I'm going to write my review and say what results I got, honestly. However, I will always include what I say in all my reviews, "remember, what works for one person doesn't necessarily have to work for another."

5. You can send me products you've made, even those you want to sell to do a private review of. I will send you a private review and when you start selling the product (if that's your intention) you can ask me to make the review public.

6. If you want to send me a product to review (not recommend, but actually send the product), send me an email using the email in the 'Contact' page on this blog. Once you do, I'll send you my mailing address. You have to go through this process because I do not want to just make my mailing address public on here for whoever to see.

7. I can do a review on hair tools too as long as they do not produce heat (excluding hair steamers).

8. I might be able to do reviews of hair salons as long as they're in the south coast area of England. I am based in London now, but I will still be back to Southampton every few months. I doubt I'll be back in Nigeria any time soon (it might be YEARS) before I visit there so,  I'll post if I'm ever visiting Nigeria to let any of the Nigerian curlies out there know that they can ask me to visit a hair salon and write a review of it. Please note that the hair salon, in Nigeria has to be in Lagos and the closer to the islands, the better. *You do not need to send money to me to pay for whatever I do with my hair. I'll cover all the costs for that.

9. I am not reviewing things for thinning out the hair because i'm not interested in thinning out my hair. However, I dust my ends so hair shears are accepted.

Thanks for reading.
~Samantha

Amla Powder Review

Hey everyone,

So....I'm finally writing another review.....

ANYWAYS.....

Today, it's all about amla. I am on my second week of trying out amla now and I absolutely love it. Okay! So, my review's going to be a little more organised now. I know that not everyone knows what amla is and many people might what to know how I used it and how I guess it should be used. So, here we go:

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What is amla powder?

"Amla powder is made from the Indian gooseberry or amla fruit, which is native to India. Amla fruit is a natural source of vitamin C, amino acids and tannins. Traditionally used in Ayurveda treatments, when processed into powder form it's commonly used in massage oils, skin care and hair care products. When used topically, the benefits of amla powder on hair are numerous." ~Tia

*(Sidenote: It has a brown-ish colour and and a distinctive smell that I can tolerate, but some people complain about. By the way, I know its smell just by like moving it close to my nose to know what it smells like. On my hair, I couldn't smell jack. )*

How do you use the amla powder?

The first time I tried amla (I had quite a lot of buildup), I used about 3-4 tablespoons of the powder with about 2-2.5 tablespoons of water and made a paste with it (the paste looks pretty much like some dark brown stuff).

Prior to getting the amla on my hair, I detangled my hair (dry detangling) and sectioned my hair off in twists as I detangled (no specific number of twists). Next, I moisturised my hair with my newfound baby (a mixture of BeeMine Daily Conditioner, BeeMine BeeLovely Hair&Scalp Moisturiser and Water) and retwisted.

I got the amla paste (by the way, the consistency of this is just a little thicker than a milkshake) on my fingers and took down a twist then I got the amla onto my scalp and scrubbed a bit with my fingers (no scratching/no nail action). I retwisted after getting the amla on my scalp and then did the same for every twisted section.

I donned on a plastic bag and left my hair like that for 30 minutes. I took down a twist and rinsed then retwisted and did the same for every other twist then I did exactly this again, but adding conditioner instead of rinsing then I went over again rinsing out the conditioner.

*(Sidenote: You might consider using gloves for this 'cause the paste gets under nails and gives your palms a pretty much downright nasty colour splattered all over it.)*


Today, I had my hair in two high umm....not exactly buns. Which I had deep conditioned (by the way, deep conditioning with  a satin scarf on and then a plastic bag over that and another scarf holding it down can give shiny hair). I took down each bun, one at a time detangled with a little coconut oil and got the amla on my scalp and scrubbed around with my fingers, got my hair back in the two buns then I donned on a plastic bag and left my hair alone for about an hour or an hour and a few minutes. I took down each bun and rinsed it out and co washed with a mixture of conditioner (BeeMine and Tresemme Naturals) and coconut oil (excellent slip and super soft hair after rinsing out thoroughly) then I put them back up in the buns (to prevent shrinkage (if your ends are held, the shrinkage is less)). i left my hair like this till it was 98% dry before trying out a new style (basically a semi-elegant tuck, roll and pin). My hair still feels amazing right now!


What were your results?

With the first, my curls finally clumped and some were loosened up a bit. My hair was like SUPER clean, but not stripped. Definitely not stripped and my hair looked beautiful.
With the second, little to no clumps and clean hair that looks and feels great.


What don't you like about the thought of amla?

Amla is said to stop/prevent premature greying. Premature greying is something that runs in my family. I started getting strands of grey hair when I was really little (shortly before my first relaxer, I believe). The stylist then yanked them out without asking (OuCh!) which got my mum and I really upset. I have very few grey strands right now. My uncle (mum's bro)  went grey really early, my mum's hair has about 4 different shades of brown that seems to have a purplish tint when there's direct light on it  (her natural hair colour) and strands of grey (silver-ish (runs in the fam)) scattered around. My dad has strands of grey hair scattered everywhere, my aunt (mum's sis) has strands of grey hair scattered around everywhere, my dad's youngest brother is practically all grey, my grandmothers went grey pretty early (mum's mum with silver hair and dad's mum had naturally had silver, white and gold (honestly) hair till she started dyeing it), my bro has some grey strands. All went grey early. We actually kind of love it. I know I love my grey strands and I want a lil more quickly. I don't want to lose that and that's what puts me off amla a little. I haven't noticed that it does that, but it is said to and I don't like that).


What are things you must do before using amla?

You must moisturise or deep condition before using amla to prevent a drying effect. You also have to detangle if you don't you most likely will end up with a mass amount of nasty tangles.
That's basically it!

*(Sidenote: After using the amla, remember to use a conditioner on your hair. Make the amla your shampoo and remember, you shampoo and then....CONDITION!)*



Things you should consider?

As i usually say, what works for one person might not work for another try this on a small patch of hair and see if it works before you use the amla everywhere.
If you've heard that amla can be used on the face, test out the amla on a small part of your skin before using it everywhere.
Amla works great in my hair, but when I tried it on my face.....WOOOOWY!......LORD HAVE MERCY! I BROKE OUT LIKE CRAAAAZY! GAAAH! I had to switch back to my honey washes which clear out my acne magically (within a week or two).




OKAY! WE'RE DONE HERE!
Hope this helped somebody!
Lemme know if you've tried amla and what your results were and if you have any tips on using it and if you used it in a different way.

><>

I have to digress a little, it's in my nature (*Cheshire cat grin*).

I think I've found my graduation hairstyle! Yay! A cinnabun something-something. Yay! :)

I promised you

I promised you:
1. Tangle Teezer review (and it's G.O.O.D)
2. Afro Pick review
3. Denman Paddle Brush review
4. Twists with extensions tips, care and stuff
5. Hair Care (finding what works for you, etc)
6. BeeMine hair products review (when I finally get them)
7. Journey towards Graduation Hair (land). This is going to be from September till June (when I graduate). It's also a 6-inch new growth challenge 'cause I'm wearing my hair out long and curly for my graduation.
8. Goody Ouchless Bands review
9. Goody hair grips

So, far, I've only done the Ouchless Band review.

I am one person who doesn't make empty promises and when I make a promise, I keep it so, (wait! did I actually say, I promised to post those? *Sammy goes to check*  Nope, I didn't. Anyways.....). I'm going to post as many of these as I can today.

I'm at school, I've only got 2hrs and 38mins left here. When I get home, I can't get online (don't ask). So, since I've got nothing to really do today, I'm going to post stuff.

Enjoy!

ZBogem,

~Sammy

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.
><> ><>

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.

><> ><>
~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 :)

Dear, SammyWithTheBigHair, we cordially invite you to...

Hey Curlies!

So, we have been invited to Natures Gentle Touch! Woohoo! I got the invite today while I was out shopping with my mumJ. The guy that invited me to it has a lovely really kinky afro. He couldn’t believe it that I make my own hair products, transitioned by myself, created my own hair regimen that’s working for me and so on. I mean, I’m the only girl my age that I know of, in person, that actually cares about these things.

So, what’s Natures Gentle Touch? Well, according to what’s behind my invite, “Natures Gentle Touch is a natural hair care brand by Recare that is dedicated to providing solutions to different hair and scalp problems like hair breakage, dandruff and hair loss, using natural ingredients such as Shea Butter, Wheat Germ Oil, Tea Tree Oil, Castor Oil, Olive Oil & Jojoba Oil. The program is holding at the Natures Gentle Touch Hair Institute.”

I’m so going to be there and afterwards; I’m going to tell you guys about it (with pictures and allJ ). I’m actually curious to find out if someone is finally getting everything right with hair here.

Okay! So I'll let you know when exactly I'm going in a few days :)

Kinda excited! :)

Cheerio,

 `Sam

Week 2: 2nd review (Organics Lock & Twist Gel)

Okay, so I've had mini twists in for about  a week now. I washed my hair (with the twists in, this morning - I'll talk about that in a different post) and then well...Anyways, to the point (I need to get to the point quickly nowadays), so far, the Organics Lock&Twist Gel, which I'll start calling OLTG now, has been pretty good. It has helped to keep my hair looking neat, the fly-aways down, frizz to a minimum and it does make my hair moist.
The stuff it's in says, "Combines Moisture & Hold  for Lock and Twists," in front and "Great Hold, Super Moist, and No Flakes," at the back. I must say, this product does what it says. Well, for me, that is.
Okay! So, how do I get it on my twists and how do I tame frizz and fly aways if I see them or get them or whatever:

1. I get some OLTG on my hand, rub my palms together and then in a scrunching motion, move down bits of my hair (random sections).

2. Once I've done that to majority of my hair, I repeat the scrunching thing without any product on my hands then I shake my hair out.

3. I hold my hair up with two banding hair bands (hair bands used for banding - which I haven't done yet). I hold my hair up in two. I section my twists in 2 unequal parts across my head '----' this way not '|' this way. I hold the top half with one band and the bottom half with the other making sure my ends are held under then I tie a scarf (a 100% polyester one) over my hair. I place the scarf round the frontal area of my head, hold the two ends and then criss-cross them behind my head and then tie them in front then tie them into a bow and tuck in the ends.

4. By morning, I usually leave the scarf on (if it's still on my head by morning which 90% of the time, it isn't, but if it isn't, I get a little water, oil or just olive oil and really little OLTG over the frontal half of my hair) and shower without getting the scarf or my hair wet. Then I go down, have some breakfast and remove the scarf just before I leave my house.

Results: Frizz-free, fly-away-free, neat looking, good-looking mini twists :) Works for me!


Okay! buildup. Depending on what else you put in your hair, you should get little to no buildup caused by this product.

Do you apply your OLTG to wet or dry hair?
Both, actually. When I got home on Friday, around 5pm, my hair was still wet from when I swam from 2:40pm till 3:40pm. I didn't really care, though. Plus, I had thoroughly rinsed out my hair even though the pool didn't have chlorine in it (had an alternative). Anyways, I got some OLTG to it because it looked a bit, un-neat after the swim.
Also, I have gotten wet hands on my hair several times (water = moisture) and then gotten the gel on.
I've just gotten the gel on on dry hair too.


Will you continue using this product?
Err....yeah!

By the way, how long are you keeping your mini twists in?
4 weeks in total. I have just 3 weeks left. Hopefully, by proper care and the help of my OLTG, my twists should last that long. I would've said and maybe longer, but by then, I'll be taking out these twists to avoid them locking and also because I have to redo them for a little something called bootcamp :)

Cheerio!
~Sam

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COMING SOON---->
WEEK 3: TRYING OUT THE ORGANICS LOCK&TWIST GEL ON A WEEK OLD MINI TWISTS! :)


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Week 1: Intro and 1st review (Organics Lock & Twist Gel)

Hi :)

I have been wanting to post on here, but well, I had a horrible 'h'experience (someone said something quite upsetting about my hair - I was going to vent on here, but changed my mind). Also, my laptop got seized 4 days ago (got it back yesterday - don't ask).
Okay! so, I've been doing a bit of research on the Organics Lock&Twist Gel. Today, I was out at a supermarket with my parents and I saw it at the hair section. I picked it up, found my parents and dropped it in the trolley. My dad was like, "all the things you're putting on your hair'll make it fall out someday," by the way, looking at my table right now (with my hair stuff on it), I have a John Frieda Heat Protections thingy that I bought last summer, but didn't use till last month, I also have my Organic Tea Tree Gro (leave-in conditioner. I should review this!), the Lock&Twist Gel I just got today and everything else is natural! (Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Shea Butter, Homemade Rosemary Oil....) In the bathroom, I have my conditioner, but it's like basically finished (added a bit of water to the bottle), and in my walk-in closet (which is full of things that need to be unpacked), I have my shampoo (which I have been avoiding for a really long time now), Vitals Olive Oil Leave-In Conditioner (never buying it again, by the way), and the rest is natural, palm oil, honey (in a closed up jar).... I haven't used the Vitals thingy and shampoo in only God knows how long, so..yeah, I basically just use natural and organic things on my hair (I got the Lock&Twist Gel to have something to review and because I wanted to try it out and see if it'll work for me for like emergency/rush reasons).

OKAY! TO THE POINT, SAMMY!
This review is going to be like a stretchy thingy. It's going to last for about 4-5 weeks.

Week 1, starting today:
My hair has been suffering from the chlorine in a pool, I've tried so many things including baggying for a whole day, but my hair just won't feel as lovely as it did before I swam (and I did prep my hair before swimming so, I don't know what's going on, plus my dad complained that the chlorine was hurting his eyes). *sigh*
I bought a bottle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil today. I haven't used it on my hair in MONTHS! We ran out and I knew my mum won't pay for a bottle of it for me if I'm going to use it on my hair (so, I went shopping with dad :) ). When I got home, I took my satin PJs and scarf off my hair (I found old satin PJ bottoms and I haven't found the time to cut it up into a scarf or bonnet so, I just tie it on and tie a scarf over it). So, I took the PJ and scarf off my hair and went to my bathroom where I ran water (from the shower) over my hair till I was pretty sure it was rinsed out well and finger detangled then I  went back to my room with a towel round my neck and shirt (but not my hair!), I shook off some of the water and then got some olive oil into my hair. Afterwards, I got a tad bit more than a 50p (coin) of the Organics Lock&Twist Gel into my hands, rubbed it together and tried getting it over my whole hair (yeah, yeah, it's gonna be kinda light on it and it didn't get 'everywhere'). 
Now, it's been quite a long time since I did all that and my hair feels good. Definitely not crunchy! Hearing of crunchy hair and touching crunchy and dry hair due to gels, put me off ever trying gels out on my hair esp. after I started my natural journey. The only gel that has ever touched my hair (that I remember) is aloe vera gel (straight from the leaf) and I've always been kinda scared when using it so I always have an oil or shea butter on my hair before using it.
For now, I'm loving the results, the semi-defined curls and kinks and so on...


Summary:
Curl definition: Semi = curls aren't very noticeably defined, but they do look defined, in a way. Just not that much.


Feel: SOOO NOT crunchy! My hair feels moist (or should I say moisturised?), good too and it doesn't really feel how some people's hair feels after they get gel on it (or how I'm used to their hair feeling) which is dry, crunchy, flakey... No. This gel makes my hair feel good.


Would I try it again?: I'm the kind of person who if I get negative results on the first day, that day is going to be the last day, but I got good results today, which is the first day, so, I'm going to try this product out again.


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COMING SOON---->
WEEK 2: TRYING OUT THE ORGANICS LOCK&TWIST GEL ON MINI TWISTS! :)


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p.s I am so hoping and praying I get good results during week 2, plus, I'm hoping my hair doesn't start to dread if I keep the mini twists in for over 2 weeks (or a week). I think dreadlocks and sisterlocks (or sistertwists) are pretty cool, but I just can't manage or handle my hair like that, plus, my parents hate it and well, my dad's Nigerian and you know Nigerian parents (well, most of them, esp. my grandmother), they think dreadlocks and sisterlocks are pretty unruly and make people look like they're crazy (*sigh*). I think it's cool, but well, I just love my hair out like this (braided or in twists too).


Talk to you later.

Shrinkage & Stretching (REVIEW!!!! = various stretching methods)

Gaah! January's already almost over? Just 1 day to go till February? Wow!

Anyways, hey everyone!
Today (well, yesterday), I decided to talk to you guys about stretching, stretching your hair/curls (not the err...exercise stretching thingy). Okay! so,  so far, I've tried stretching my hair by doing two strand twists (and three-strand twists), African threading (aka Ghana Plaits), basic braids (box braids), bantu knots, scarf&ponytail holder and setting rollers (there's another name for those, but I can seem to remember it right now.

My hair shrinks like A LOT! There have been some days that I go out rocking a beautiful afro, but by the next few hours, my hair's a frizzy mess or should I just say a shrunken frizzy mess. Someone once asked me, "did you cut your hair?" and I was like, "no." The same person then asked, "then why does it look way shorter," and I was like, "because it shrunk." I then held part of my hair and pulled it downwards to show it's actual length and that I didn't cut it and the person I was talking to was like, "oh, wow!" Some people just kept staring at my hair for a while after that. The person I was talking to has natural curls too, but a different curl type/pattern, plus, she doesn't have to deal with so much shrinkage (it's hard to notice if she even gets shrinkage). Anyways, so this led me to start trying to stretch out my curls. Here's a brief review on the following methods I tried:

• Two-strand (and 3 strand) twists: I did this while my hair was damp (you can find vids on how to two-strand twist and three-strand twist on YouTube). When it was dry and I had to leave the house, I took the twists down. I have to say, I liked the twist-out look it gave, but like when it comes to stretching and shrinkage, after a couple of hours, my hair shrunk. On a different day, I was bored so I decided to two-strand twist my hair. I didn't wet my hair before doing this because I felt kind of lazy and well, I wasn't planning on combing my hair (it was already detangled). When I needed to take out the twists, I took them out (obviously) and like it gave me that twist out look too, and my hair did seem a bit more stretched than when I did the twists with damp hair. Unfortunately, after a few hours, my hair shrunk (but not so much). When it comes to stretching my hair, I don't think twists would be my go-to method. They are good, but it takes quite some time for me to two-strand twist my whole hair.
• African Threading (aka Ghana Plaits): I have tried African Threading my hair with both wool and weave thread (not at the same time!). You can find vids on how to African Thread hair on YouTube (I recommend checking out the one on youtube.com/GirlsLoveYourCurls). I have to say that this is one of my go-to styles when it comes to stretching my hair. I love the soft waves/look it gives my hair, I like how my hair feels when I take them out, there are various ways to African thread and like some times, people think I have extensions in or I have some sort of weave when I do certain forms of African threading (with weave thread). When I African Thread my hair, it stays stretched way longer than when I two-strand twist my hair. The last time I African threaded my hair, I had it like that for a week before I took it out and I did it on damp (almost dry though, but still damp) hair.
• Basic Braids (box braids): I love the braid out look when I take basic/box braids down :) I always braid my hair wet and then let it air dry/dry naturally. Basic braids have helped stretch my curls and kinks each time I've done them, but, well, after some time (hours), my hair shrinks. I must say, I think basic braiding stretches my hair to about the same length two-strand twists do or sometimes, it stretched my hair more than twists. You can find vids on how to basic braid on YouTube (check out the one on youtube.com/GirlsLoveYourCurls)
• Bantu Knots: I'm not a huge fan of bantu knots and bantu knot outs, but I can do them. Bantu knots do stretch my hair, but my hair still shrinks after some time. At some point, bantu knots gave me sort of a curled-relaxed hair look. I didn't really like it, but it wasn't so bad. I have tried a combination of two-strand twists and bantu knots (twisted my hair then bantu knotted that twisted hair). The -out look it gave looked kinda nice, but it's not a look that'll be like my go-to style. Also, bantu knots are not my go-to method for stretching my hair, but it works wonders for some people.
• Scarf&Ponytail Holder: First, I'll explain how this is done. You hold your hair up with a ponytail holder while still damp (or wet, it's your choice) and if you get worried about your frontal hair/frontal edges, you leave out a bit of the hair there and flat twist of flat braid it. Next, you tie a scarf over the hair that's held up my the ponytail holder (make sure you don't get the scarf over the flat twist/braid). Do whatever you need to do till you need to take this down (your hair has to be fully dry when taking it down, by the way). This method was my go-to style at some point last year. I don't do it anymore because right now, I'm not a fan of holding my hair up (edges...plus, I want to grow out my hair a bit more before I hold it up like that again.
• Setting Rollers: Tried this method out yesterday when my mum found her rollers from the 90s :) (oh! and I soaked, washed and so on, the rollers before I used them on my hair because they hadn't been used in about a decade). So, how I did it: I got random bits of my hair and got some of my moisturising conditioner mix (made up of John Frieda Friss-Ease: Curl Activating Daily Conditioner, some rosemary oil, some canola oil, a bit of my pH balanced leave in condition mix and a tad bit of water. I eyeballed all the ingredients. I love how this makes my hair feel! :) ). So, after I got the conditioner mix onto my hair, I finger combed a bit then slid a Denman Brush through (to make sure I had no tangles) then I hand stretched my hair (pulling) and wrapped the ends round the roller then I rolled it up holding my hair so it's stretched then pinned it up. I did this to every bit of hair on my head and I had my hair like that for...hours (I was moving house so, I just tied a scarf over it while shuffling between houses and moving). When I took the rollers down, my hair felt so good (from my mix :)), smelt so good (mix too!), it had that professional salon-set hair look that can be combed out into a bob or something, but what I was looking for was what I found - stretched hair! This is a go-to method for stretching my hair now! :)

Okay! so, I'm planning on trying out 'banding' as a new method for stretching my hair. I believe it might work, but well, let's wait and see! :)

Thanks for reading! :)

~Sam

My go-to stretching methods: African threading and, setting rollers.

Review!!!! (John Frieda Frizz-Ease Curl Around Style-Activating Daily Conditioner)

Hey everyone!

Okay! so, I decided to do another review and this time, of an actual product - the John Frieda Frizz-Ease: Curl Around Style-Activating Daily Conditioner!


Now, what do I use this conditioner as?
I use this conditioner as a co-washing conditioner, an after shampoo conditioner and a combing conditioner.


What is a combing conditioner?
A combing conditioner is a conditioner that provides good enough slip to detangle your hair well, moisturises your hair, prevents frizz and so on. Here's an exert from Teri LaFlesh's book, CurlyLikeMe:

"Leaving conditioner in your hair coats each strand with emollients and smoothing ingredients. By leaving conditioner in your hair, you no longer need hairdressings, frizz serums, or lotions. Leaving conditioner in will transform your curls into smooth-and-defined-nongreasy-able-towithstand-humidity-wind-rain-and-moves-when-you-move-your-head curls. Also, when whole curls are clumped together, the individual hairs within those curls are shielded from damage. Instead of each lone strand being exposed to the elements, the strands will all act as a unit, where no one strand is exposed. Many strands will be completely encased in hairs, like a cocoon, therefore totally protected. This means that at any one time, the majority of your hair strands are shielded from the elements. 

Remember, growing longer, manageable hair is like knowing the combination to a lock. These techniques work together to give you healthy hair that’s weatherproof and predictable. But the lock won’t open if you use only some of the numbers, or if you don’t spin the special number twice. These techniques work only when you use them together. For example, you can use all of the conditioner in the world and buy the exact brands I suggest, but if you rinse it out, or if you don’t release and smooth your curls in some way, your hair won’t be as manageable, and it sure won’t be weatherproof. After cleansing and conditioning, the following chapter covers combing, the step that gives you the perfect canvas to showcase your stunning coils.

Leaving in conditioner will:

● Keep your curls defined

● Help give your curls weight

● Help weatherproof your hair

● Moisturize your hair 

"

Do you just put the conditioner in, plain, like, alone? 
I used to put it in alone (but that was like June-ish last year). Right now, I make a mix with it. I get a bowl, eyeball an amount of the conditioner into  it, add some canola oil (eyeballing the quantity too), add some homemade rosemary oil too, a bit of my kinda pH balanced/diluted leave in conditioner (leave-in conditioner and water mixed together) and a tad bit of water. I mix everything up till it looks like one thing and not a throw-in of many things. I use this on my hair and like, I totally love how it makes my hair feels!


As a co-wash, how do you use it?
Err...normally? I use it like I'd use shampoo or well, just normally.


What do you think about it?
I think it's great as a combing conditioner. As a co-washer, it's okay (not great, but not bad). It leaves my hair feeling good, but as a co-washer, it doesn't do much (for my hair. It might work wonders for others though. We all know that what works for one hair doesn't always work for another and vice versa).
When it comes to slip, if your hair is damp or partially wet and you have enough conditioner in your hair (and your hair is in sections!) it provides good enough slip. Style setting: it acts kinda like a hair gel, to like help a twist or braid out. When it dries when used as a combing conditioner, it doesn't leave your hair dry or crunchy. It actually still leaves your hair feeling soft and moisturised.


Would I keep on using this product? 
As a combing conditioner? Yes (but not EVERY day)
As a co-washing/rinsing conditioner? I don't think so. I'm into creating my own hair products now so, if I can, I'll use my homemade natural things or I'll switch to the BeeMine Botanicals line if I can't make my conditioner yet.


Would I recommend this product?
Yeah, I guess I would! :)
Combing conditioner, rinsing conditioner, I'll recommend it.
I guess it doesn't do much as a co-washer for me because I'll have to use practically a whole half or more of the bottle to actually get it to do something on my hair if I'm co-washing. This is because of my hair's nature, by the way. It's size and so on.


Hope this review helps somebody! :)
~Sam

Ask Sam!

Hey everyone!

So, the 'Ask Sam' thingy where you can ask me anything (mostly hair related)  is up. All your questions would be answered on here (repeated questions by different people would be answered just via email. If not, there would be many of the same questions and answers, so I hope you understand).

Okay! So, how to send your questions! :)
Go to the 'Contact' page (right under the 'SammyWithTheBigHair' banner) and you can contact me via any of the options there, it's your choice. Also, you can send your questions by just replying below.

I hope that through this, I'll be able to help many people.
God bless,
~Sam