Christmas Wishlist

So Christmas season is upon us..

All the ads are rolling full steam over on this side of the pond and it's making me wanna slap some things on a wish list..

Yes I have a hair product wish list. There are things I've been eyeing for tiiiime but finances and life in general have said heck NAW to pretty much all of it. I'm sharing it with you all because well.. I feel as if you all get it and me. So bam.

Starting off the lust.. I mean list. (no lie thats what my fingers typed when i meant list :)

-Curlformers

these babies are all over naturlista's heads and they work well to stretch the hair while giving it a nice curl. they're uber pricey too and I do not have the dough to blow on them.

-Anita Grant Rhassoul Deep Condish Block

I am head over heels for this deep con dish and the last time I used it.. 90g was just enough for my hair and that was 2 years ago! So clearly the block is the way to go. But it's so expensive!

-Curls Curl Soufflé & Whipped Cream

I want them both at the same dang time. I really want to do a compare + contrast review on these since they both seem like they would work for my hair even though they are marketed differently. I smelled the Whipped Cream once in a beauty shop in London.. LISTEN! I wanted to eat it and then slather it on my hair.

-Curl Junkie Coffee-Coco Curl Creme

Been eyeing this since I did my BC. How many moons later, I'm still oh so curious about this product. The chocolate coffee combo bit is pulling me in as well. i got a thang for em both ;)

-Carol's Daughter Hair Milk Collection & Chocolat Smoothing Collection

Love the chocolate line. LOVE IT! Thang made my hair silky smooth every time, whether straightening or simple curly wear. Smells divine as well. I've been curious about the hair milk collection as well so its on le list too.

Product Review - Shea Moisture Restorative Conditioner

I plan on doing more product reviews on here

I've used a handful of things and haven't reviewed them!

so with that said, here is a review on the 

Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Restorative Conditioner

$9.99 (average price)

Ingredients
Deionized Water , Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) , Argan Oil , Coconut Oil , Behentrimonium Chloride , Essential Oil Blend , Vegetable Glycerin , Emulsifying Wax , Sea Kelp Extract , Panthenol (Vitamin B-5) , Avocado Oil , Lonicera Caprifolium (Honeysuckle) Flower (and) Lonicera Japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle) Flower Extract, Tocopherol (Vitamin E) , Daucus Carota Sativa (Carrot) Seed Oil 

Our leave-in or rinse out conditioner detangles, moisturizes, repairs and restores lifeless, damaged hair.

Work conditioner through hair from root to ends. Leave on for 3 minutes, then rinse. 

For deeper conditioning, leave on for up to 15 minutes. As a leave-in, work a dime-sized amount through damp hair, then style as desired.

I've used this product quite a lot.  I have used it as a co-wash, rinse out, deep conditioner and leave in.

Co-Wash- on wet hair, this glides on perfectly. It moisturized my scalp and hair and rinsed clean. My hair felt lightly cleansed and moisturized at the same time. I could do a slight finger detangle with it but nothing much.

Rinse Out - I do love it as a rinse out. I love when a conditioner deeply moisturizes my hair and it feels soft and supple after rinsing which this does. The downside is not much slip and the size of the product. I would go through a bottle really quickly if I used it for this nature and $10 for a product is a lot. Especially since it's even more in the UK!

Deep Conditioner - the product is thick and creamy in nature and works great on its own as a deep conditioner or if you add some oils to it. With my hair under plastic bags for at least 30 mins, the product penetrated my strands and left them smooth. I even detangled my hair with a paddle brush before placing under the plastic bags and the brush glided through with no trouble! (I did detangle my hair prior to shampooing hair)

Leave-In - this is the way I mostly use the product. It is a staple in my product stash, especially for the Fall/Winter seasons. Again, the creaminess of it and the thickness is great for when my hair needs extra moisture in the cold climates and it delivers. My hair is always soft and left smelling really good.

Overall

This is a product that has and will always be a staple in my product stash because I can get multiple uses out of it. For the size and price, it is more economical for me to use as a leave-in and the occasional deep conditioner or co-wash. I love that is readily available in the US, hate that it isn't readily available in the UK and twice the price.

Have you tried this product? What are your thoughts?

My Fall/Winter Mains

So tomorrow the #Fall4P31 Challenge starts!

I'm excited because this is a great way for me to kick off being 22.

So I needed to wash my hair in preparation for this challenge & well my hair needed to be washed.

Now that I'm back in the UK, climate change and all that..

products have changed and my regimen!

These are my mains.

My Fall/Winter regimen is almost the same as last year's.. read here

- I detangle before cleansing. This may be done with applying some oil/moisturizer/conditioner to my hair and either brushing it out with oil or combing it.

- Cleanse with the Shea Moisture African Black Soap Deep Cleansing Shampoo in 6 sections.

- Deep condition with a DIY concoction with the Tresemme Naturals as a base.

- Apply Shea Moisture Restorative Conditioner as leave in with a bit of Mixed Silk leave in.

- Seal with Karen's Body Beautiful Heavenly Jojoba Hair Oil [review here] 

- I also follow up with Shea Butter to set my braids/twists.

- I use the KBB Creamylicious to do twists/braids on dry hair. Review on that here

Do you change your regimen when the seasons change? What are your mains?

Wash N Go YO

So for this summer, I've been doing a lot of wash n gos. For this past year really. 

I never really did a lot of wash n gos in the past due to the varying curl patterns in my head and length at the time. After about a 2 months or so from my BC, the shape looked so awkward. 

Whenever I did one, I either pinned both the sides back or wore a headband. 

So mullet looking.. lol. I promise it looked a tad better later on

Never ever could I wear it out by itself. So last year I started doing them more and this year a bit more because of how much my hair has grown. It doesn't look weird. Well sometimes the curls by my temple (which are the loosest curls) can hang lower than the rest then its just off but I can always fluff to hide that.

So in the Summer Product Post here, the styling products you see are what I use. I just mix a combo of them.

This wash n go is the Curl & Style Milk, Smoothie & then "sealed" with the Beautiful Curls Curl Custard.

I re wet my hair and applied the Garnier to my hair.. finger detangled for a lil bit (like 5 mins tops) then rinsed. 

Look out for my vid on the diff combos I use for wash n gos!

Have you been doing wash n gos for the summer? Do you like them?

Cinni's Caribbean Cocktail DIY Deep Conditioner

Greetings Lovelies!

We all know the summer wreaks havoc on our tresses at times so keeping our hair moisturized is a proper must doing high temps.

Whether you co wash consistently or spritz everyday, a good deep conditioner goes a long way.

If you've been reading my blog for a bit then you know I'm a huge fan of DIY Deep conditioners because they're fun to do + economical.

This one I dub Cinni's Caribbean Cocktail

doesn't the name alone scream summer? :D

I'm missing Jamaica like crazy and a whiff of this yummy conditioner immediately takes you to the islands

So give your hair a vacation with this creamy deep. Peep the recipe after the jump

Summer Hair Care Products

Hola!

Wanted to share with you the products that have been keeping my hair all nice and yummy for the summer.

KeraCare Cleansing Cream

Garnier Triple Nutrition Conditioner

Aubrey Organics GPB Conditioner

These are the out of the shower products.

I'll do a more in depth on how I use all the products in a video & I'll be posting a review of the Cleansing Cream on the blog soon.

Compare + Contrast Youtube Review

Hey Lovelies!

I've got a new vid up on my YouTube Channel

Another Compare + Contrast Review between 

Shea Moisture's Curling Souffle and Beautiful Curls Curl Control Custard

I give you my thoughts about these products that are similar and how they pair up against each other

Check it out & you haven't subscribed yet.. what are you waiting for?!

Enjoy =)

Co-Wash Crazy

Hello Lovelies!

I wanted to touch on the subject of co-washes. Naturals all over co-wash as a way of cleansing their hair without stripping it of moisture. Traditionally one would use a rinse out conditioner to do this but hair product companies have formulated their own co-washes for us ladies to use & abuse.

I was never a fan of traditional co washing because the conditioners always left a residue on my scalp and it was just a big no no. In previous posts, if I ever said I co washed, I really just applied the conditioner to my hair alone. With the insurgence of co-washes, I was eager to try some but never really bit the bullet until last summer. I tried the infamous As I Am Coconut Cowash (2 uses) & one that isn't classified as a co wash but a cleansing cream. The Keracare Cleansing Cream.

There are actually co-washes I had my eye on for the summer

Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Co-Wash Conditioning Cleanser

Eden Bodyworks Coconut Shea All Natural Cleansing CoWash

Cantu Conditioning Co Wash

but I went to the one I had the most experience with which was the Keracare Cleansing Cream.

I will do a review on this soon so look out! & 

hopefully I'll get to do a Compare & Contrast Review on YouTube with it & another product I have my eye on.

Do you co-wash? Which products are your go-to if you do? If you don't, why not?

Would love to hear from you!

Product Review - Karen's Body Beautiful

Alo Lovelies! 

I promised this review many many many many moons ago.

Better late than never right?

*but never late is better*

Anyhoo, I won these Karen's Body Beautiful products last year at the Midlands Meetup

Check out that post here

They were donated by Nexrastore.com but I just checked their site & don't see KBB
I'm guessing they don't stock them anymore but Curly Emporium has it for the UK gals
so the prices I will show are from the KBB site & CurlyEmporium

I used them once before I jetted off to FL for the summer and I didn't carry them with me

but I've been using them since I got back, with others & so forth.

Get into the review.

Product Alert!!!

Hey Lovelies!

Today is a new day and I've been hopped on coffee (Jamaican Blue Mountain to be exact)

researching my family tree.

Throwback Thursday much?

Anyhoo in between the researching, I was on my social media tip

and saw Elle of A Quest For The Perfect Curl ask if anyone is gonna try Miss Jessie's new product

....

Hold the phone y'all. Miss Jessie's done gone all brand new and made a gel

Jelly Soft Curls

The site says

A man on the moon.  Stay-on lipstick.  Fat-free ice cream.  At one time, all these things seemed impossible, but they all exist now.  Finally, you can add Miss Jessie’s innovative Jelly Soft Curls hair gel to the list of impossible things – now, made possible!  That’s right, Jelly Soft Curls is your next must-have styler because it is specifically designed to leave your curls touchably soft and crunch free while at the same time giving your curls the shine and hold that you love.  Don’t believe it?  Try it! 

Nah go lie... I'm curious. I wanna try it. I blame the Pretty in Pink packaging.

I'm still on the quest for wash n go styling products. I can dig their Curly Meringue.

If y'all haven't seen my Compare & Contrast on the Curly Pudding & Curly Meringue from them

Hop over to my YouTube channel & check it out!

I wanna try it. AND it's $14! (special introductory price)

Miss Jessie's must be feeling that Spring Breeze!

I would love to compare this with their Pillow Soft Curls which I have yet to try.

What do you guys think? Anyone interested or does Miss Jessie's get the side eye yet again?

YouTube Buss!

Remember this Daily Fix of Hair couple days ago about a Wash N Go?

Well it was done with Miss Jessie's Curly Meringue

& I've done a vid reviewing it and the Curly Pudding! :O

My first real Youtube vid!

I look awky but I am awky so such is life lol.

Watch.Comment.Share.Subscribe :)

Also I am now at 150 Followers!

Thank you to all that read my blog, I really do appreciate you guys.

So here is the vid, hope you enjoy :)

Pics of the before & after of the hair in the vid will come in a next post.

Product Review

Hey Lovelies!

Finally getting around to doing this review.

I was sent this Smoothing Balm by Haven Organics.

Haven Organics is an organic hair care company based in the UK.

Check out the website here
Deets after the jump

Not That Deep...

Hello Lovelies!

So these is the follow up to this post here

The pics were from my pre-pooing the before & after

& I'm going to share what I pre poo'd with for all you lovelies to try!

It's a variation of the one I posted about here

So let;'s get into it.

Ingredients used

-Shea Moisture Deep Treatment Masque

-Giovanni Smooth as Silk Conditioner (not pictured)

-Tresemme Naturals Conditioner (not pictured)

-1 Egg

-Apple Cider Vinegar

-Vatika Hair Oil

-Burt's Bees Soothing Baby Oil

-Extra Virgin Olive Oil

You can substitute the conditioners for conditioner(s) of your choice.

Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition is a good option

or you can use yogurt or even mayonnaise.

I just used what I had on hand.

Of course you can substitute the oils for what you like as well.

I love to use EVOO in deep conditioners & pre-poos.

Mostly pre-poos.

MMMMMM YUMMY!

Mix it all in a bowl and apply!

I added the Giovanni SAS & Tresemme Naturals because the mixture was too liquid-y for my taste.

I didn't want to finish my SM Masque so I didn't put a lot in the mix.

Did my Fall Hair Regimen as usual

then the next day after my hair dried in the braids 

I twisted up my hair with Karen's Body Beautiful Creamylicious.

Midlands Meetup

Hello Lovelies :)

School is out and so is the sun. Summer is here!

The last couple of weeks of Uni was stress. Glad it's over so I can blog more!
I went to my first natural hair meet up on Saturday. Can you believe I've never ever been to one? Never heard of any in the South Florida area when I was living there and I never did make it to any in London due to me being so far but I finally got to attend one in Birmingham.

It was a great event I must say. It had a intimate feel so I didn't feel swallowed by a huge crowd. 

There were presentations of all sorts

on Nutrition, Transitioning, Make Up and African Heritage.

Also, Goodie bags with samples from KeraCare, Original Moxie, Curls Unleashed and more!

 reviews on those in a couple of weeks.

I also won a full size set of Karen's Body Beautiful products courtesy of Nexrastore.com!

I was so happy! I've never tried any of KBB products but have seen rave reviews on the internet about them so I'm eager to try them so reviews on those coming as well.

Big thanks to Lorein for organizing and putting on this event and for having me :)

Check after the jump for pics!

Product Alert

So I've been out the loop when it comes to new natural hair products. While I was prancing along on CurlyNikki.. in a comment on this post, I saw someone mention Cantu having a curl cream.

SAY WHAT?!

STOP THE PRESSES!!

I'm excited. I really want to try it. It's the Cantu Shea Butter Coconut Curling Cream

(what's up with all these products and their long behind names?)

If you didn't know, I love the Cantu Leave In Conditioning Cream. It's been on my staple product list for years now and they finally have something geared towards us natural hair women. FINALLY!

If you want to run out and try it, it is available at Walmart I believe for under $7. 

Are you interested in trying this product? Have you tried it? 

Let me know!

My Main

Shampoo
I use Lush 's Soak N Float shampoo bar due to my eczema so this helps with the itching of my scalp & I also use Shea Moisture's Moisture Retention Shampoo.
I'll poo with a reg shampoo with sulfates, (right now Tresemme Moisture Shampoo) if I feel I have a bunch of build up.

I used to use Dr Bronner's Castile Soap for my shampoo.. when I can get my hands on a bottle, I will go back to it. Clarified without harsh sulfates and defined my curls.

Conditioner
-Giovanni 50:50 Hydrating-Calming Conditioner. Just incorporated this in my regimen in December. I use it to detangle and also to co-wash
-Tresemme Anti Breakage Conditioner - co wash

Deep conditioner - Shea Moisture Deep Treatment Masque or their Purification Masque.
-also use a reg conditioner (loved using Garnier Triple Nutrition as a base for my deep condish) then mix in olive oil, honey, shea butter an coconut oil.
-For a protein deep condish, I'll use coconut milk mixed with coconut oil.

Leave in - my staple is Cantu Conditioning Repair Cream. I'll use Shea Moisture Restorative Conditioner or their Curl & Style Milk depending on how i feel.

-always apply coconut oil after my leave in. usually seal with shea butter after that.

-I also use Shea moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie as whatever I feel like. Leave in/styler. Very nice to have around.

Daily Fix of Hair

Its Me again. No need for excitement guys. Lol I kid.

This is a Wash n Go. I made a video to go along with it but uhm... I don't like it :|
So I'll just have to type.

later in the night

I decided to try my hand at another WnG..
Co-washed with Giovanni 50:50 Hydrating-Calming Conditioner
Left it in for about 2 mins then rinsed out.

Used Tresemme Anti Breakage as a leave in. Wanted to try something new.
Here's the kicker.. I then applied Cantu Super Shine Hair Silk.
I've had the bottle for over a year.. used to use it when I was relaxed/transitioning but had no need for it while being natural. Decided to try it as a product to weigh my hair down and seal in the moisture.

It worked!

Best wash n go since I had a TWA. I don't do WnGs because my hair is layered and has multiple curl patterns so I usually end up with a square looking thing on my head. No Bueno.

Hair still shrunk up but it was the back part of my hair which always does that. The rest of my hair pretty much stayed at a decent length.

Product Review - Carol's Daughter Chocolat Smoothing Collection

This review has been overdue. I was skeptical about even doing it only because I've only used the products once. I figured though I'd still give a review on my first time use of them.
I wanted to use only these products when I was going to straighten my hair to see if they did what they claimed. I caved a bit by pre pooing with Shea Moisture Purification Masque only because my scalp & eczema were out of control due to FL's weather.
Check the review after the jump

Anita Grant Product Review

My first official product review and what product line better to kick it off than with Anita Grant Goodies?!

I was uber excited about doing this. After a lil convo on twitter with Anita Grant.. I was offered to try out 2 of their products since I didn't formerly have the pleasure of doing so.

 I WAS SYKED! Listen.. these goodies have been on my hair product wishlist for about a year now.

I was interested in trying out the infamous Rhassoul Deep Condish & the Creamy Cafe Latte.

The ingredients spoke to me... I love me some chocolate & coffee so to have that in hair products? WIN.

So I was sent 3 30g cubes of the Deep Condish & the 2 oz Creamy Cafe Latte in Mint Twist.

I received them the very next day! Anita Grant is so sweet and very efficient so that alone sold me.

From the site :

Rhassoul Deep Condish 

Our Rhassoul Deep Condishes contains Unrefined Black Cocoa Butter & natural Soya based Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) which helps to guard scalp & hair from free radical damage. When hot liquid is added to our Rhassoul Deep Condishes, it swells & increases its surface area like a highly porous sponge.  Attracting & trapping toxins into these open porous spaces so that when it comes time to rinse the Rhassoul Deep Condish from your hair the toxins are eliminated and you're left with detoxified fluffy soft tresses.

So instead of a Hot Oil treatment why not detoxify your scalp & hair.

& 

Creamy Cafe Latte

Pure Brazilian Coffee Oil stimulates the follicles while the wholesome goodness of Organic Virgin Coconut oil, nourishes your skin and naturally curly hair. Decadent Organic, Unrefined Fair Trade Black Cocoa Butter from Ghana conditions from top to toe, and the vitamin enriched - velvety suppleness of Australian Macadamia Nut Oil lovingly caresses you everywhere. All engulfed in an abundance of delicious natural & organic skin and curly hair care loving ingredients...mmm-mmm-goodness!  

For your curly  hair - a teeny-weeny dollop'll do ya!

Enhance your hair's natural curl definition and seal in moisture - without build up. Just rub a teeny pinch of Creamy Café Latte between the palms of your hands, work with your naturally curly hair and cover from root to tip - caress & detangle dry hair (YES, dry curly hair) for instant softness in seconds. Then sit back and enjoy the scent, softness and sheen.

CHECK OUT REVIEW AFTER THE JUMP

Coming Soon...

Review of Anita Grant Rhassoul Deep Condish & Creamy Cafe Latte!!

=)

&&

Feature!