First Impressions: Shea Moisture Raw Shea Deep Treatment Masque

So I'm home for the holidays and I have A LOT of free time on my hands (and I do mean a lot!). As a result, I've been really into my hair because I don't have anything better to do. LOL

Last night, I tried a new product Shea Moisture Raw Shea Deep Treatment Masque. If you don't already know, the Shea Moisture line can be found in Target. Although the majority of the line is targeted towards the natural ladies (every other product talked about 'defining curls' and since I am relaxed, I figured that those products were not for me), I wanted to give this moisturizing DC a shot. Wintertime is really a time to up the moisture game and I wanted to see if this condish met the goal.

Price: $9.99+tax

Ingredients: deionized water, butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), argan oil, cetyl esters, sea kelp extract, panthenol (vitamin b-5), ammonium salt, essential oil blend, avocado oil, lonicera caprifolium (honeysuckle) flower and lonicera japonica (japanese honeysuckle) flower extract, tocopherol (vitamin e), hyssopus officinalis extract, salvia officinalis (sage) leaf and equisetum arvense extract, soybean oil, daucus carota sativa (carrot) seed oil.



Just looking at the ingredient list, you can't go wrong! It contains all the good stuff. It also does not contain any of the bad stuff--mineral oil, parabens, etc.) When I opened the product, it had a very thick consistency...very thick. It also has a very sweet smell....kind of like cake batter.

After washing my hair, I coated my hair with the condish, placed a shower cap on, and DCed using my heat cap for 40min. When I rinsed the condish out, my hair felt....a'ight (yes a'ight lol). Now, I will say that when it comes to moisturizing my hair, this DC met all expectations. My hair felt very moisturized. However, I am accustomed to using DCs that have incredible slip and sadly, this DC did not have the slip I am used to. I had to follow up with Silicon Mix just to get some slip!

Bottom Line: Will I repurchase? Maybe----only if I don't have any of my staples nearby. Although I left my hair wonderfully moisturized, you really don't get a lot of product for the price and it doesn't have a good amount of slip. If you must use it, I suggest following up with a DC that offers a good amount of slippage.

End of Year Length Check: 2010

Happy Sunday!

Well....it's almost the end of 2010! Hair-wise, my hair has grown so much! I started 2010 grazing SL, now I'm APL! I must say that I am definitely pleased that I have been able to meet my hair goals for the year and I hope the trend continues for 2011.

Ok....enough with the small talk. Here is the length of my hair as of December 19, 2010.




In case you forgot, in October 2010 my hair was here:



As you can see, my is is APL without a doubt! :)

Hats, Hats, and mo' Hats!

LOL

I can be so lame sometimes.

Anyway, it has been downright FRIGID in the 'Ham as of late (it was 17 degrees this morning plus whatever the windchill was when I headed out to lab smh) and I found out that my hair doesn't like it at all. So this morning, I put some shea butter on my ends, bunned my hair, and placed a slouch beret thing on my hair and called it a day. It turns out that my ends love shea butter...well in this winter weather they do. My ends are definitely nicely moisturized and it's cutting down some on this breakage I have been seeing (nothing major, just a few more broken pieces than I'm used to seeing).

So far this week, I've been wearing hats and I just wanted to post my looks from Monday and today. Now, be warned, I've latched on to this slouch beret thing. I purchased a rack of them at Rue21 and my local beauty supply store.





I'll probably incorporate different types of hats as the winter progresses. I just need to find styles that I like. I definitely need to find satin/silk lined hats. As of right now, I have a satin scarf on underneath my hat lol. I gotta protect my hair man!


Happy Tuesday everyone!

Oh The Weather Outside Is Frightful.......

....and it's kicking my hair's behind!!

This cold weather is just running a number on my hair and I am on a mission to keep my hair moisturized and happy. To this end, I am trying 2 new things: Shea Butter and Silicon Mix. Although I have been using them a short while, let me tell you about my experiences with them thus far.


1) Silicon Mix




Oh where has this wonderful conditioner been all my life!?!? I deep conditioned with it for an hour on Thursday (even though the directions say leave it on for 2-3min) and my hair felt......AMAZING!! It was so soft, yet strong. Although I can't definitively say that Silicon Mix is specifically a protein condish or a moisturizinf condish, I can say that this conditioner has protein (keratin), ceramides, and glycerin in it. A word of warning though. The second ingredient is mineral oil so if you're trying to avoid mineral oil, this may not be for you. Also, Silicon Mix is pretty heavily scented. I can still smell the scent on my hair and I DCed 3 days ago! All and all though, this is definitely a keeper!

2) Shea Butter

I had to find a thicker moisturizer to use during the winter other than my ORS Carrot Oil (which I primarily use in the summer months). I'm kinda weary about this. Don't get my wrong, I know how awesome shea butter is. However, it is so thick and I don't want to weigh my hair down with it. So, thus far, my experience with shea butter is being taken with baby steps. I basically place a small amount of shea butter in my hands (and when I say small amount, I do mean a small amount!), rub it until it melts, and place it on my hair focusing on my ends. So far, everything is good. My hair feels moisturized for the most part which is what I wanted. More to come on how it actually works for my hair.



Also, since it is winter time and we're all wearing hats and such, remember to either line your hats with silk or satin or wear a silk or satin scarf under your hat. It'll keep your hair from drying out. Also make sure to protect your ends (moisturize and seal or even bun) as they will be rubbing up against some rough fabrics (like wool, for example).

That's all I have for today you guys,

Happy Sunday!

Like a Moth to a Flame.....

I am a product junkie for real yall!

A few weeks ago, a new beauty supply store opened up by my apartment. Of course I had to check it out! I'm getting tired of having to plan a trip all the way out to Ensley to get my beauty supply story fix. It's called: Hair Show Beauty Supply Store and it's off of Crestwood Blvd (for all you ladies who live in B'ham). It is a pretty big store and it have a decent sized inventory of wigs, weaves, and all that good stuff. Product wise, it was pretty...meh. Just your average products. However, they do sell Silicon Mix (which I'm trying out as a type this! I will do a review on it soon) and they sell bigger bottles of my beloved Elasta QP Creme Conditioning shampoo. :)


Don't you just love the opening of a new beauty supply store?

Creme of Nature Argan Oil Intensive Conditioning Treatment: A Review

Ingredients: Aqua (Water) (Eau), Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Dicetyldimonium Chloride , Polyquaternium-32, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Paraffinum Liquidum (Mineral Oil) (Huile Minerale), Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Honey (Mel) (Miel), Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Cocodimonium Hydroxypropyl Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Panthenol, PEG-12 Dimethicone, Lanolin Oil, Phenyl Trimethicone, PPG-1 Trideceth-6, Polyquaternium-10, Amodimethicone, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Hydrolyzed Wheat Starch , Isostearyl Ethylimidazolinium Ethosulfate, Parfum (Fragrance), Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, Butylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Phenoxyethanol

It's raining outside and I figure what better time than now to try out this new conditioner from Creme of Nature.


I have to admit, I have been eyeballing this line for a while now. However, ever since Creme of Nature added sulfates to my former holy grail shampoo, they have gotten nothing but the side eye from me. Anyway, I noticed these packets in Walmart. They run about $1.50/pack. Under $2! If you're on a budget like myself, that is definitely not a bad price! I picked up 3 packets.

First impression: omg the scent!! It smells pretty good to me. However, for those of you who are sensitive to scents, you may want to steer clear of this conditioner b/c the scent is STRONG! I can still smell it on my hands, that's how strong it is.

Consistency wise, this conditioner is very thick and creamy, which is a plus for my strands. I can definitely see how 1 pack of this stuff can be enough for most people.

Post deep condition: Although the instructions say to DC for 10-15min, I almost always DC for 45min-1hr under a heat cap....that's just the way I have always DCed. Anyway, the condish rinsed out pretty easily. I didn't need to go back and wash out any residual conditioner. That's where the good stuff about this conditioner ended for me. My hair felt dry! I have never in my life used a DC where my hair felt dry afterwards. Fortunately, my hair was easy to comb through and didn't tangle.

Bottom Line: I am not impressed. With all the benefits I keep hearing about argan oil, I thought this condish would have done something beneficial to my hair. Maybe the ingredient listing should have been my warning but this conditioner hasn't done anything for my hair. Thankfully, I only got a packet worth instead of an entire bottle. Well...back to my Mizani and ORS I go b/c I am definitely not purchasing this again!

Walmart Got Me Again!!

Damn you Walmart and your reasonably priced services!!!!


Tonight after work, I made a quick run into Walmart to pick up some of that Creme of Nature Argan Oil Conditioner that I wanted to try out. I had noticed that the Smart Style salon was open and stopped in to look at some of the hair products they had on display.

That's when it happened.

I was lured in by all this talk of a basic roller set costing only $14.95 (I'm a sucker for a good deal). Even when the price went up to $24.95 because of my hair length, I was still hooked. Shoot, in a state with no Dominican salons, 25 bucks is a daggone good deal! I walked on over to the shampoo bowl and allowed the magic to happen. I wound up getting a wash, blowout, and flat iron for $26.95 (my hair is thick, we would've been in there all night waiting for my hair to dry and I don't have that kind of time).

Let me tell you, my hair is GORGEOUS!! It's all soft and shiny and straight. I tried to take a pic of it but my camera was acting like a jerk. I say all that to say, I was pleasantly surprised. This stylist may be the stylist I go to when I don't feel like doing my hair...which has been often because it takes a lot of effort to do my hair now that it's longer. I also may go to this stylist for my touch up. This salon uses Mizani relaxers so it may be worth a shot.

Anyway, I dunno about the Walmart salons where you guys are, but I think I may have found a great thing!