Monday, September 23, 2013

My Two Cents - Beautiful Curls by Alaffia




I mentioned a couple months back in My Faithful and Favorite Products post, that Beautiful Curls products are one of my favorite product lines.  I regularly use their Shea Butter Curl Activating Shampoo, Shea Butter Deep Conditioning Treatment,  and Shea Butter Curl Activating Leave-in Conditioner.  I've occasionally used the Curl Control Custard.  They also carry a curl cream, lotion, oil, and sculpting wax...but since I haven't used any of those, I'm not able to make any comments just yet :-)

I love the story behind the Beautiful Curls products.  The shea butter is handcrafted by the Alaffia Shea Butter Cooperative in Sokodé, Togo West Africa. The products are Certified Fair Trade, which means that the members of the Cooperative are guaranteed to receive fair income.  Also a minimum of 10% of sales are returned to West Africa to fund community empowerment projects.

Here are my thoughts...

Shea Butter Curl Activating Shampoo

Rating: 4 out of 5 Coils
Pros:
  • Lathers really well 
  • Cleans scalp and hair well without any harsh ingredients
  • Last a long time - You don't need to use alot
  • All natural ingredients
  • Smells great
  • Price is reasonable
  • Nice creamy/smooth texture
  • Non-drying - Does not strip the hair
  • Curls pop and hair is left feeling moisturized
  • Incredibly moisturizing for a shampoo
Cons:  
  • None really, with the exception that I've only been able to find this product line at Whole Foods (not sold everywhere). That's a ditto for all 4 products that I am reviewing.

Shea Butter Deep Conditioning Treatment
I normally apply the conditioner and then sit under my heating cap for 30-45 mins and then rinse out.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Coils
Pros:
  • All natural ingredients
  • Smells great
  • Price is reasonable
  • Creamy texture
  • Pretty good slip
  • Leaves hair feeling very soft and moisturized 
Con:  
  •  Not a fan of the tube that it's packaged in.  Not always easy to get the products out of the container. I would prefer if it was in a jar instead of the tube.
Shea Butter Curl Activating Leave-In Conditioner

Rating: 4 out of 5 Coils
Pros:
  • All natural ingredients
  • Smooth texture is very easy to apply
  • Great at coating my hair - coats very easily
  • Smells wonderful
  • Great moisturizing properties
  • Curls pop
  • My hair loves this stuff.  It really does my hair good.
Cons: Can't really think of one

Curl Control Custard
I apply this to wet hair after I have applied my leave-in.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Coils
Pros:
  • All natural ingredients
  • No alcohol
  • Decent curl defination
  • Great hold on Day 1 and Day 2
  • Day 1 and Day 2 hair looks really good
Cons:  
  •  Smell is kind of perfumey (not my cup of tea)
  • Consistency is runny, which can be somewhat messy to apply
  • Hair has a bit of that hard/crunch factor
  • Leaves hair dry
  • Around Day 3 the frizz starts to take over (I like gels that last at least 3 days)
So in  a nutshell I absolutely love the shampoo, deep conditioner, and leave-in, which is why they are on my favorite products list.  The custard (aka gel) is on my honorable mention list, as I have others that I prefer.  So if you're interested in trying any of these, or any of the other products within their line, visit your local Whole Foods, or you can also order online.  To learn more about Alaffia's mission and Beautiful Curls products, you can check out http://www.beautifulcurls.com/

Monday, September 2, 2013

Flower Power!


Flowers are one of my favorite hair accessories! I have one in just about every color.  They are super cute, and super feminine, and can jazz up just about any hairdo....all while adding a splash of color! 

For a couple years flowers were my signature.  You could just about always catch me with a flower!  The other day I felt the urge to revisit my former signature accessory.  I decided to liven things up, and wore my pink and white flowers with some twists. To my surprise the flowers brought a smile to some normally frown prone faces. It reminded me why I used to love them so much..... They just have a way of brightening things up!