What's in your spray bottle?

                            
If you have been natural for a while than you know all about the spray bottle. It is a staple in many naturals lives and it is key in adding moisture to your hair. Spray bottles usually contain two key thing which are water and your choice of oil (you have to have oil to seal in the moisture). Now you can add other things to it as well, Ive added aloe vera juice in mine once and that was pretty nice. So wanna know whats in my spray bottle now????



I have water, Aveno leave in conditioner, and Jamaican black castor oil.
I use my spray bottle to add needed moisture when my hair feels dry, to add volume to a twist out or braid out, and to refresh my hair after a nap when I'm lazy and don't put on a bonnet.

So whats in your spray bottle? What are some things you have tried that have worked great or not worked at all?

Lustrasilk Deep Penetrating Conditioner product review

 

**I have to start this product review off with an apology to Lustrasilk. I completely underestimated their brand. They are awesome.

 

 

I was in a terrible situation, I ran out of all my products favorite products at the same time and it was no where near pay day. My hair needed a wash badly and I was all out of my Say Yes To the Carrot conditioner. So I went to my product crate (a crate with every hair product I have in it). A couple of months ago I went to a natural hair expo and I got some great freebies and this was one of the freebies I received. I got a full jar of this and their shampoo. It was one of my last things to try and here were my reasons for me being silly and hesitant:

1. It was a full free jar. Although I was glad to get a full jar of a product then a sample pack of conditioner that will never be enough for my hair I was worried that they were giving away full bottles because it wasn't a great product.
2. It doesn't look like a typical natural hair product. The label wasn't colorful it didn't say all over it that it was free of sulfates and mineral oil and their was no character of a natural lady with big curly hair.
3. When I first saw the product in Walgreens (my natural product heaven) I thought it was for jerry curls. I could have sworn my granny had something called Lustra silk in her hair cabinet when I was a child.

So I broke down and used it and guess what? I loved it! It is very thick so it gives you a great slip for detangling. My hair will soak up conditioners and sometimes not feel soft and moisturizer, well that was not the case here. Even after the rinse out and air drying process (when I have the time I let my hair air dry before I put anything on it) my hair still felt wonderfully soft. The only thing I didn't like about this product is the size of the container. It's rather small and if I'm detangling I use a lot of conditioner so I used about half the jar on the first wash. Other than that it is a awesome product!

Did you pass the same judgment about Lustrasilk?

Have you tried this product?

 

Greenhouse effect

Greenhouse effect
Ok so everyone wants to have long hair (unless your rocking a shortcut) and we all know we need to be patient but that's a really hard thing to do. Well my friend text me the other day about something called the greenhouse effect challenge. I did some research and I was super excited to try it! Ok so leg me break down what I found:
The green house effect is a process that helps moisturize your hair and promote faster hair growth.
Now I've seen it done many ways but the two things that are consistent are a shower cap/plastic bag and putting it on at night or whenever you want to (you can use a headband to secure it) then put a bonnet or scarf over it.











 picture from http://ghlonghair.blogspot.com/2013/01/green-house-effect-challenge.html


While the cap is on heat and moisture will be created (just like the elementary school project you did with a seed in a closed container). When you take the cap off your hair will be damp or wet and should dry in about 15 minutes.

Now here is ways you can do it:





You can spritz with water, apply oil or apply nothing before you put the cap on.
          I moisturize and oil my hair and scalp every other day and I started this on a day when I don't moisturize so I put nothing on my hair. When I woke up my roots were damp and very soft and dried in a good amount of time. If I ever do it for only 30 minutes I will spritz with my water and oil mixture.

You can do this as much as every day to as little as twice a week.
      I chose to do it every other day. I read that some people who did it every day experienced "mushy" hair and actually had some hair loss so I would recommend at the most every other day.

I did this with my hair having a flat twist out on blown hair. I put about 7 chunky twists in my hair to help keep my flat twist style and shower capped it up! I secured my hair with a bonnet and scarf (I wanted to make sure it was secure). In the morning the first thing I did was take off everything and take down my twists. I did not separate each twist strand because my hair was damp. I went on with my morning routine and then I went back to my hair and separated. I was afraid my blown out look would be ruined bc of the wet moisture but it didn't! Here is how it looked.

The typical GHE challenge is 6 months so let's see how this goes!

Black Castor Oil

I so love this oil. It is one of my favorites. It makes my hair so soft and I put it on areas of my hair that are thin and I could definitely see it thickening up (I don't have any before and after pictures I wasn't brave enough to save them lol). This oil also is great at keeping dandruff away. It is very thick so it won't run all down your face like some oils and a little goes a long way. I apply this to my scalp by taking a medicine dropper (I got a pack of two from Walgreens for $2) and squeeze it across my scalp and gently rub it in. This product is also cost friendly. I bought this at Sally's for $6.99 (I saw the same product at my local Asian hair store and it was $11 smh). This is definitely a staple product for me!

Have you tried this product?

Shea moisture hair color system

 

 

During the warmer seasons I like to have some type of color in my hair so I had previously lightened the front of my hair with a different hair coloring system and it left my hair feeling like every other dye, waxy and frizzy. I decided that I  didn't want to use a regular permanent dye again on my hair even if I go to the salon. Well I went to the salon and they had an ammonia free dye but they quoted me $150 for the dye job and y'all know I'm broke so I didn't schedule that appointment but luckily for me I found out that same day that Shea Moisture came out with hair dyes so I was like yesssss and I bought it. I wanted to get the best color outcome I could so I washed my hair with shampoo to strip everything i had on my hair off then i waited 24 hours (yes I looked rough for a day). This color comes in a beautiful package first off and it has the option of applying it with a bottle or with a brush, I felt like a hair dresser and this wasn't my first dye job so I chose the brush. NOW IF YOU HAVE VERY TIGHTLY CURLED/COILED HAIR THAT SOAKS UP PRODUCT YOU WILL NEED TWO BOXES OF DYE! MY ROOMMATE DYED HER HAIR WITH JUST ONE BOX AND SHE GOT FULL COVERAGE AND HER CURLS ARE LOOSER THAN MINE AND HER HAIR IS ALMOST ARMPIT LENGTH. I started to run out of dye when I got to my last portion of my hair and I wasn't able to go back and do my roots (when you are dying your hair at home do the middle and end of your hair strands first then go back and do the roots bc your roots take the fastest to color bc its fresh hair). The shampoo, conditioner, and oil that come with the dye are by Shea Moisture's repair line and they are awesome. My hair felt so soft after I was finished and the color was popping honey! It lasted for a good amount of time until I decided to change my hair color again. I would so recommend this product to any natural looking for a hair change on a budget!

 

Here is my results!

 

Bye Bye Dry Hair

I have very thick and curly hair and it soaks up anything I put on it then goes bone dry. Ive tried multiple moisturizers, none costing more the $10 because I'm broke, and they make my hair feel great when I first put them on but within a hour or two my hair is back dry. So one day I tried something that I saw on a blog and guess what it worked! So what magical thing did I do to keep my hair moisturized throughout the day??????
I added raw shea butter and extra virgin coconut oil. This is what I did

1. I started with my moisturizer of choice, Shea moisture curl enhancing smoothie and the raw shea butter and extra virgin coconut oil.

2. I put some shea butter and coconut oil in a bowl and microwave it for about 30 seconds.(I used to melt it by putting it in a container and letting it sit in hot water but that takes a lot longer

 

3.I take it out and mix it together. The coconut oil will be almost or completely melted and the shea butter will be softened or a little melted.

 

4. I took half of the jar of the shea moisture and put in a container.

 

5. Finally I mix it all together until its nice and smooth.

 

I apply this to my hair with any style that i am doing and it keeps my hair moisturized and amazing!

Hair Crush rules

This is Tracee Ellis Ross if you didn't already know. I have loved her hair ever since I  saw her on the show girlfriends. When I first started my natural hair journey I just knew my hair was going to be like hers. I would watch YouTube videos with girls who had hair like her, big loose bouncy curls. I would get very frustrated when my hair didn't turn out like theirs and I would end up just hating my hair.

If your not careful you can get very discouraged in your natural hair journey obsessing over why your hair isn't like someone on YouTube or on a popular blog. So here are a few tips I like to call Hair Crush Rules for you to follow so everyone will be happy nappies :)

1.DON'T crush over someone who doesn't have the same hair type as you. It is just a waste of time. You can admire that persons hair but don't say to yourself I wish my hair was like hers. Find a person with your hair type or as close of a match that you can find.

2. Find out how long your hair crush has been natural and be patient! If your crush has been natural for like 7 years or all her life and you only have been natural for 2 you just won't have hair like her for a while. Even though it sucks you have to be patient. When you hit multiple years of being natural your hair will rock and you will probably be a crush too.

3. Be realistic! If your crush is vegan works out every day and drinks veggies and you love meat don't work out at all and hate water then honey it will take you a while to get her length. Some people are very dedicated to growing out their hair, if you aren't as dedicate then your growth rate won't be as fast as theirs, your hair will still grow just not as fast.

4. LOVE THE HAIR THAT COMES OUT OF YOUR SCALP! Be your own hair crush. The best thing a natural can have is confidence. A person can look completely different when they feel like they got it going on. If you aren't comfortable with your hair obsessing over a hair crush won't make it any better.

This is my new hair crush Tabitha. I found her on blackgirllonghair.com in the 3C section. This is more realistic for me because she has a very similar curl

pattern and when I reach my 7 year mark like her I hope my hair is just as

fab as hers if not more. I still love Tracee's hair but I know that my hair

will never be like hers and I'm ok with that.

So take my rules and go happy hair crushing :)

Who are your favorite hair crushes?????