First Impressions: ORS Lock and Twist Gel

Wow so this is the first 'First Impressions' review after a very long hiatus from doing them. I simply hadn't been trying a lot of products and you can't do a First Impressions on nothing so......yeah.

Anyway, as you guys know, I'm on a braidout kick. I am in the process of going through different products and trying to really figure out which ones give the best results. That's how I happened upon ORS Lock and Twist Gel. I am all about finding products that I can pick up locally and ORS is pretty much readily available.

With that said, let's get to the review!

Price: $4.29+tax for 16.25oz (I picked mine up at Walgreen's)

Ingredients: Water , Coconut Milk , Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil , PVP , Polyquaternium 37 , Propyl Paraben , Methyl Paraben , DMDM Hydantoin , Propylene Glycol , Fragrance , Sucrose

Their Claims: Natural hair care. Pre-mixed creme formula combines moisture & hold for locks and twists. Great hold, no flakes, super moist, and cruelty free products.

I used this product to rescue a busted braidout. I basically sectioned my hair, applied Shea Moisture Curl and Style Milk to my hair and then put ORS Lock and Twist Gel on and plaited my hair. I put a bonnet on my head, went to bed, and unraveled my plaits in the morning.

Let me just say: I love love LOVE the definition this product gives my braidouts. I have well defined waves and that's all I want out of a braidout. I also love the hold it gives. This gel gives a light hold and isn't flaky at all when it dries. While I have had great results on my dry hair, I would love to try this product on damp hair to see what results it yields.

Texture and appearance wise, this gel is pretty jiggly (like Jello), off white in color, and pretty thick. You definitely have to make sure that you don't go overboard with the application of it. In terms of smell, the gel smells like coconut-which makes sense since coconut milk is the second ingredient. If you are sensitive to smell or don't like the smell of coconut, you may not like this product.


While I love the results this product gives, I am concerned about the propyl paraben and methyl parabens in the product. In case you don't know, parabens are used as preservatives in many cosmetic/beauty products and have been linked to cancer (in particular, breast cancer). Even though the parabens are listed further down in the ingredient list, the fact that they are even there gives me pause.


Bottom Line: While I absolutely love the hold and definition I get with this product, the presence of parabens worry me. However, I think the product is great for braidouts and twistouts (especially on relaxed hair) , the price point is fantastic, and is overall a solid product. It's worth giving a shot if you aren't worried about parabens but if you are, it's best to keep on looking.

Wash Day: February 23, 2013

Happy Tuesday lovelies!

This post is a little late because my Monday was SOOOO busy! Either way, I did do a wash day this week (my last 'wash' day was a co-wash followed by airdrying my hair because during that particular weekend, I was stuck in lab...the entire weekend) and I wanted to report what I did.

I really want to take the next few wash days to get my braid out technique down since I plan on rocking them this spring/summer. As per usual, I washed my hair using Shea Moisture Moisture Retention shampoo and steamed my hair with ORS Hair Repair Nourishing Conditioner. Let me say that my hair felt MAGNIFICENT! It was just what my hair needed. I then applied Qhemet Biologics AOHC to me hair and then air dried for 20 minutes or so- long enough for my hair to go from sopping wet to damp.

I then got to trying out this braid out thing.

This wash day I decided to use Shea Moisture Curling Souffle for the product that would provide 'hold' for my braidout. For some reason, I had a jar of it underneath my sink, so I decided to give it a shot. So, section by section, I applied the curling souffle and plaited my hair until I had 8 Miss Celie braids done. I then put perm rods on my ends (to provide a little curl at the end so my ends aren't bone straight) and sat under the dryer.......for 3 HOURS!!!



So, here's the thing with that curling souffle: the texture is garbage (it's like snot), it's wayyy too sticky (my hands had a layer of sticky on them once I finished), and it takes forever to dry. Even after sitting under the dryer for 1 hour.....2 hours...my plaits still felt damp. After that 3rd hour, I called it a day and went to bed. Thank goodness I had all of Sunday to myself or else I would have been really worried about that braid out.

So Monday morning rolls around and I take my plaits out. I will say that the curling souffle made for some really defined waves...not that the held for very long. My hair frizzed pretty quickly. Le sigh. Yeah if you were thinking of trying the curling souffle...don't.


I plan on doing a wet set/damp set braid out again this week. This time I will try it using what usually works for me for bantu knot outs and the like: Shea Moisture Curl and Style Milk w/ a dab of Ecostyler gel.

Elasta QP Glaze Redux: I Still Hate It

Image from: Elasta QP





Happy Thursday lovelies!

I hope you all have had a wonderful week so far. My week has been crazy busy and to say that I am tired would be an understatement. So while the posts have slowed down a bit, I haven't forgotten about you guys.

Anyway, as you guys know, I have quite a few products in my product graveyard. I'm slowing but surely getting rid of the excess products. One product taking up residence in the product graveyard is Elasta QP Glaze. I purchased Elasta QP Glaze when I started wearing wigs so that I could smooth down my edges. Allegedly, this stuff was supposed to be the bee's knees in taming those edges.

Yeah well that's a damn lie.


When I tell you that my hair absorbed that junk like it was water. Lawd. I only had that stuff on for a good 30 minutes before my edges puffed up again. Then the stuff had the nerve to look greasy after my hair soaked up whatever else was in it. And this happened repeatedly. So I stopped using it for months.


Fast forward to January of this year. I had just relaxed my hair and I was looking at that nearly full jar of Elasta QP Glaze, trying to figure out what to do with it it. I thought that maybe I had been unfair to Glaze. I mean after all, I was deep into a relaxer stretch when I used it. Maybe the Glaze will work better for the first few weeks after a relaxer. Let me give Glaze another shot.

That proved to be a waste of my time.

Even with one week post hair, Elasta QP Glaze failed at keeping my edges slicked back. Repeatedly. My first impression about this product was the right one and I don't intend to use it again.

So bottom line is: I hated Elasta QP Glaze before and I hate it now. Ain't no getting around it.

Girl, Have You Tried?: KeraCare Oil Sheen with Humidity Block

The Girl, Have You Tried? series of The Awkward Stage highlights products that I am currently loving right now. It's not a full review...it's just a brief blurb about a product that I have tried, currently use and love . :)



Another product I use in my quest to keep my hair straight post straightening (as you can see, since I have been straightening, all of my products center around it!). KeraCare Oil Sheen with Humidity Block is an oil sheen much like any other oil sheen. But the difference with this oil sheen and others is that this one keeps your hair from reverting! I spray this on my hair every morning (well...not directly on my hair. I typically make an oil sheen cloud and run my head through it) and head out the door. And it works! A few weeks ago, it was raining ridiculous amounts here and Birmingham and (get this!) my hair was still straight for days! The only drawback for this product is that the first ingredient is mineral oil. So if you are currently avoiding mineral oil and mineral oil based products (or -cones for that matter), this may not be the product for you. For me, this product ( in combination with other anti-humectants I use) makes the battle against frizz and reversion easily won!





Want to check it out? Purchase it at your local BSS (if they carry it) or your local Ulta



Have you tried it? Comment below and let me know what you think!