Sunday, July 21, 2013

My Faithful and Favorite Products



One of the most frequently asked questions I receive is….“What products do you use in your hair?”

Before I go any further, let me make my disclaimer :-)   These are products that "I" like.  Everyone’s hair is unique and these items may or may not agree with your mane.  Using these is not a guarantee for success.

Ok, back to our regularly scheduled program....
Although I sometimes experiment with different products, there are those products that I am faithful to.  These are the ones that I can always count on to do me right.  My faithfuls tend to be “all-natural” products.  It’s just a personal preference of mine that the items I am repeatedly using are healthy and natural.  Yeah I know…I’m a bit of a health fanatic.

Here's my list....
Shampoos:
Kinky Curly’s Come Clean
Beautiful Curls' Shea Butter Curl Activating Shampoo
Terressentials Pure Earth Hair Wash
Giovanni’s Smooth as Silk Deep Moisture Shampoo
Trader Joe's Nourish Spa Balance Moisturizing Shampoo

Conditioner:
Trader Joe's Nourish Spa Balance Moisturizing Conditioner

Honorable Mention Conditioner:
Giovanni's Smooth as Silk Deeper Moisture Conditioner

Deep Conditioner:
Beautiful Curls' Shea Butter Deep Conditioning Treatment

Protein Deep Conditioner:
Aubrey's GPB Balancing Conditioner

Leave-in Conditioners:
Kinky Curly’s Knot Today
Beautiful Curls' Shea Butter Curl Activating Leave-in Conditioner

Honorable Mention Leave-in Conditioner:
Giovanni's Direct Leave-in Weightless Moisture Conditioner

Gels:
Kinky Curly Curling Custard
Eco Styler Krystal Styling Gel

Honorable Mention Gels:
Beautiful Curls' Curl Control Custard
Homemade Flax Seed Gel

Cream:
Donna Marie - Dream Curling Creme

Honorable Mention Cream:
Shea Moisture - Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie

Oils & Butters:
Unrefined Shea Butter
Coconut Oil
Nourish & Shine by Jane Carter ***Been using a few months now.  I think it may be favorite worthy.

Pomade:
Giovanni’s Wicked Texture

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Wash & Go Web (ie. Tangles)

 
Hola mi amigos!  It's been a minute since I've posted anything.  Been super busy with the new job.  I finally have a moment to breathe and write a post!
 
A couple weeks ago my curlfriend Cam and I were venting about the annoying tangles when wearing wash & go styles repeatedly.  So of course, I decided to write a post about it :-)
 
Wash & Go - In the coily natural hair community this refers to a carefree style where you wash/condition, add gel or cream to style it and then leave it to air dry or use a diffuser.  In theory you should be able to wash your hair and just go about your business.
 
My relationship with the Wash & Go has evolved into a love/hate relationship.  It's been a staple style on and off for YEARS.  I absolutely loved it, but over the past year and 1/2 or so they have evolved and require more post styling maintenance than I would like. 
 
My gripe has absolutely nothing to do with the look of my wash and go.  I absolutely love the look!  And I get complements left and right when I wear them.  My gripe and frustration is concerning the tangles that come as a result of repeated wash and going.
 
The logical reason that I came up with is that the tangles are worse because my hair is longer.  Therefore there is alot more opportunity for the strands to tangle and intertwine between themselves.  On wash days my hair can be tangle city!  Although it looks great, it's such a pain dealing with the knots and tangles.
 
I love wearing wash and gos in the warmer months, so I'm going to have to find a way to combat these tangles.  I already do regular oil treatments, which do help alot with getting out tangles.  But how about avoiding tangles in the first place! 
 
The first thing that comes to mind is to perhaps stretch my hair before I wash it.  Like maybe do my hair in big plaits/twists at night before washing...the hope would be that twists/plaits would keep the hair from raveling around itself overnight.  It's worth a shot.... Hopefully it works!
 
How about you?  Any suggestions?  How do you prevent tangles?