All Good At Home Goods

Hey guys! I just got back in from a little shopping in my nearby Home Goods. Home Goods is a store best known for its furniture, bedding and, well, Home Goods. However, I think it's a great place for natural girls to head to when re-uping on those good ole oils that we love so much! I bought a 500 ml bottle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO), a 500 ml bottle of Grape Seed Oil and 2 14 fl oz jars of Coconut Oil. The EVOO ran me $4.99 and the Grape Seed Oil and the Coconut Oil just $5.99 each! Even better for me, I was using a gift card! A couple weeks ago I went looking for some Coconut Oil at a Natural Market and almost ran out of there when I saw that price tag of $13.00 for a jar about the same size as the one I bought today! I highly recommend you all to search to see if there is a Home Goods near you and check them out as soon as possible. It's a really great store!

Most of us use the oils (and some others) that I mentioned above to seal in the moisture that we put into out hair or just for a bit of added shine, but did you know that these oils can also be used as a natural heat protectant? Each oil has its own burning point, or max temperature it can withstand before burning. Until an oil is exposed to that temperature, it does a great job of protecting your hair from heat. I hear Grape Seed Oil does a great job at protecting and also leaves hair feeling silky smooth after straightening! Give it a try! Here's a link to a chart that tells you exactly how much heat your favorite oils are built to withstand! Compare this with the temperature of your heated hair tools to choose the right natural heat protectant for you!

Until Next Time, Happy Healthy Hair Growing! :)

Side note:, with the exception of the coconut oil, these are the exact brands of oils that I bought today. My EVOO was in a different packaging but it's the same brand. My coconut oil is by Sonoma Harvest.

Product Review: Sabino Moisture Block (Take Two)

As promised, I did not give up on the breakthrough product Sabino Moisture Block who's inventors claim to have made a product that makes your hair virtually waterproof! Last Tuesday, as you all know, I straightened my hair just to see how it would look with my new color. The following day I decided to give Sabino another try. Just as a recap, the last time I used this product, I used it on wet hair just before blowdrying which in comparison to this go 'round was a complete disaster! My hair felt heavy, sticky and untouchable; not good! So I had given it quite a bit of thought about what may have gone wrong in my execution and I decided to try something a little different.

Getting my hair straight has never, ever been an issue on my natural hair. It's always been keeping it straight that posed such an issue. So this time, instead of using sabino to get my hair straight, I used it to keep my hair straight! After a day of being straight, I parted my hair in the same small sections that I parted them in to initially get my hair straightened and smoothed very, very....very small amounts of the Sabino onto each section before using my flat iron to press the product into my strands as described on the video posted below. My hair didn't feel heavy or sticky. It was just like using a heat protectant serum! I wasn't too eager to jump straight into the steam test like the women on the video and instead, opted to just let nature take it's course (if she saw fit). Well, I can honestly say that I am officially a believer and would recommend this product to any and every woman who hates having her hair puff up in public or just in general! It's been FIVE days since I used Sabino Moisture Block and my hair hasn't even considered reverting! I've been out and about, in the humidity and even done some household cleaning, and nothing! The most accurate way to describe the way my hair feels is that feeling when you know your roots are starting to grow in from your last relaxer and maybe you need a slight touch up. But that is to be expected since my roots were the only part that I wasn't able to thoroughly use the product on. This product is AMAZING! I found it online for a reasonable price and I urge you all to click this link and buy this product immediately! No, seriously...I'm not kidding, click the link! Now! Go!

And as always, Happy Healthy Hair Growing!

Product Paradise

"This conditioner really surprised me!"-DJ

So this Sunday I went to Whole Foods and Target with my sister specifically to buy new hair products. I bought Suave Professionals Humectant conditioner, Organix Nourishing Coconut Milk shampoo, Organix Nourishing Coconut Milk Anti-Breakage Serum, Castor Oil and Unrefined Virgin Coconut Oil. Because I will be featured in an article about natural hair for my school, I did a bantu knot set tonight in order to have a natural look tomorrow for the pictures that I and a few other ladies will be taking together. (more details soon) Anyway, tonight I decided to start off a little different; I decided to pre-poo! What exactly is pre-pooing? Pre-pooing is simply the conditioning of the hair prior to shampooing in order to prep it for the harsh ingredients of the shampoo. There are many different ways to pre-poo, there are even products out there specifically for this step! Most women who use homemade pre-poos just throw together different oils (most commonly EVOO) or just one oil and allow to sit for anywhere from 5 minutes to as long as overnight. I decided to try out my own pre-poo formula using the following ingredients:

• 1 tsp unrefined virgin coconut oil
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp castor oil
• 1 1/2 tbsp megatek equne rebuilder

I combined the above ingredients in a bowl and stirred them just a bit. I parted my hair in 4 equal sections and took about a teaspoon and a half of the pre-poo to rub into each section evenly. After my entire head was saturated, I placed a plastic cap on my head and sat under the dryer for 10 minutes with the settings on medium heat. Once I got from underneath the dryer, I shampooed in the shower with my Organix Nourishing Coconut Milk shampoo. One of my favorite features about this shampoo is that it doesn't take a lot to lather. Usually, when I use shampoos I have to wash, rinse, repeat and use a lot of product in order to get a good lather. I feel like I'm wasting my money when I have to take extra steps and extra product to get what I need out of it. So, I really appreciate the lather Organix! Other than that, my hair felt really clean but not overly stripped and the smell is great too! Not too strong to the point that it's annoying but I can still smell it after the fact. Once the shampoo was 100% rinsed out in warm water, I moved on to my Suave Professionals Humectant conditioner. Now, this conditioner really surprised me. At first I wasn't too thrilled about it because it's kind of thin and I'm used to using Herbal Essence's conditioners which we all know are thick and absolutely wonderful for detangling! I kinda had to take more time and extra care with my denman when trying to detangle with this conditioner but in the end it was worth it! After I was done detangling, I got back into the shower and allowed my shower head to rinse warm water over my head as I used my denman to smooth the hair down. Then, I detached my shower head and used cool/cold water to rinse my hair from underneath, smoothing with my fingers. I deliberately left some conditioner in my hair and rinsed out most of it (about 85-90%) out. OMGosh guys, when I say my hair instantly felt like silk.....I mean it! I don't think my hair has ever been this soft...ever!

So after I got back out of the shower I went on to do my bantu knot set. I part my hair in 4 sections again, which by the way was ridiculously easy because of how soft the conditioner left my hair. I pinned up each section except for the back right section and proceeded to brush through again and apply two pumps of the Organix Nourishing Coconut Milk Anti Breakage Serum. I probably could have used one pump and been just fine but I chose two for tonight. I brushed that through with my denman and applied a small amount of coconut oil on top before parting and doing my bantu knots. I repeated on each section until I was done and tied my hair up with my head scarf to sleep on.

So tonight I used each and every last one of my new products and I think it's pretty safe to say that I love them all! Although I can't remember the individual prices of the oils, I do remember they came up to about $13 and some change at wholefoods. The castor oil is by a company called "Home Health" and the coconut oil is the 365 brand. Not bad! The Organix products were each $7 and under and the Suave conditioner was only $1.97 at Target! Nooot baaadd!! Unfortunately the ingredients dictionary is down right now, so I'm unable to check the ingredients on these products but the Organix shampoo does claim to be sulfate/paraben free, which is a good thing. Below are pictures of all the products listed in this entry. Until next time, Happy Healthy Hair Growing! :)

(note: the coconut oil is not the brand that I used, just a visual. I bought the whole foods store brand "365 everyday value")

NuGro

So for the past couple of weeks I've been using the popular "miracle conditioner" NuGro . This isn't the first time I've experience this product. I was using it faithfully around March before I started my transition process and I absolutely loved it! It provided a LOT of slip and made my hair feel silky smooth. The product claims to "p

romotes longer hair, healthier hair, thicker hair. Can grow hair noticeably in 2 - 3 weeks, can thicken hair in days, can arrest shedding hair in about 4 days." Lots of women on youtube have been documenting their usage and success with the product. There are a few who aren't impressed but most seem to have positive feedback. As for myself, I still really like NuGro. The smell isn't the greatest but I can honestly say (unless I am trippin beyond reason) it has grown my hair quite a bit. Back in August when I did my first mini chop, I cut my hair super uneven. My friends told me it wasn't noticeable but I definitely noticed! Especially when trying to do my bantu knots. The back left side would always be much harder to twist and coil. Well, last night while doing my bantu knot set I noticed that it wasn't as difficult to knot as it was before. At first I was like "hey my hair grew!" and then I remembered my NuGro and just had to post a product review! If you can't tell by now, NuGro get's a GIRL, YES! from me! I probably use it more than the bottle recommends but hey, I do what I please! lol Now I will say this, NuGro's conditioner is not one that I would highly recommend for detangling hair. It's very watery and it feels like your hair is literally drinking it. By that I mean, there is hardly any left on the shaft to detangle with. Lately I've been using Herbal Essence's None of Your Frizzness to do my detangling with a wide toothed comb and a paddle brush. Well, I hope I've helped someone out today...until next time, Happy Healthy Hair Growing! :)

P.S. the pictures for NuGro that I found on google were ENTIRELY too small so I'll just give you guys the link to their site. OH! I forgot to mention, their prices aren't too bad either!! Click Here to visit NuGro's website for more testimonials, FAQ, and to order!

Fab For Less

Hey girlies, one of the lovely natural ladies that I subscribe to on youtube posted a video that I thought would be very beneficial for all (especially high school/college students) to see. In the video posted below, Dontuwishuknu gives the perfect example of how we can all maintain our beautiful tresses on a budget. Again, no two curls are the same and what may work for her may not work for you...but at these prices, it's worth a shot! I wanna send big thanks to Dontuwishuknu for giving me permission to use her video on Girl, yes!

Broke, Broke Phi Broke. We Aint Got It!

Being in college over these past 3 years has taught me a lot of things. Time management, team work, leadership, and how to spot a bargain! Unless you've been hiding under a heavy rock in a desolate cave, you have to have at least heard about Kinky Curly Curling Custard. This product is raved about all over youtube and on various natural hair care forums on the net. Being a mere transitioner, I have not personally been able to give this product a shot and at nearly $30 a pop I'm kind of glad that I didn't! That is before discovering what I am about to share with you all. 

Being as though, I'm not fully natural, and thus unable to perform my own product experiments; I asked youtuber lia81 if it would be alright for me to post her KCCC vs. Eco Styler Gel video and she so kindly obliged! Thank you lia81! This video shows the difference between the infamous $24 KCCC and the Eco Styler Gel which costs $4.69 ($3.50 on sale) at Sally's Beauty Supply Store. Well, enough rambling from me! Watch, enjoy and make a wallet/purse friendly decision the next time you go splurging on your mane!