Product Review: Tangle Teezer

Today I tried my Tangle Teezer for the first time. I love it. I went swimming yesterday and decided to wait for today to wash my hair.

I washed with my Nu-Gro shampoo, sulfate, sodium free, all natural. I followed up with a co-wash with Jason Jojoba condition with Nature's Gate Asian Pear and Red Tea conditioner. After I got out, I just let the towel soak up a little of the excess water, and used the Argon Oil as a leave in again. Did I tell y'all last time, I LOOOOOOOOOVE THE WAY THIS CONDITIONER SMELLS!!!

I took out my Tangle Teezer and just raked through my hair. The curls weren't defined except for in the front of my hairline. As I began to rake through, the pattern of my curls started to come out. The bristles of the brush are flexible and it's a sort of plastic, so there is no metal pulling your hair. The way the bristles are set, my hair was evenly brushed through, leaving an even distribution of the conditioner and moisture. There wasn't much body; I was hoping that it would create a little more bounce in my hair than it did. Despite that, my hair is combed! Nice and curly, and without too much hair left in the brush. I had to make sure to go all the way through the ends of my hair to guarantee that the knots at my ends were combed through or came out.

I will be using this product again, and replacing my super wide tooth comb as a first line of defense in the war against combing my hair.

                                           

Product Review: One 'n Only Argan Oil Moisture Repair Conditioner

If you've been keeping up on FB and Twitter, you'll know I just colored my hair, and of course I went blonde... this time BLONDER. Even before coloring my hair, it was super dry. I hadn't slept on my satin pillow case in several nights, and my hair had rubbed against pillows and sofas, and all of that had sucked every bit of moisture & life out of my hair.

So, after Lisa put the color in and bleached it, I decided to try this Argon oil conditioner Sally's had on sale for .99 cents. Last week when I got my crackle polish it was $2.29. Of course I snatched it up! I checked out the ingredients, and was about to leave it right in the store when I saw alcohol, but I also saw glycerin, and changed my mind.

Here is a listing of the active ingredients.

Water (Aqua, Eau), Cetearyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Isohexadecane, Isododecane, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Fragrance (Parfum), Dicetyldimonium Chloride, Panthenol, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Hydrolyzed Keratin, Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone, Quaternium-91, Cetrimonium Methosulfate, Benzophenone-4, Propylene Glycol, Citric Acid, Diazolidinyl Urea, Iodopropynyl Butlylcarbamate, Red 33 (CI 17200), Yellow 5 (CI 19140).

I was initially going to purchase two packets, but figured it wouldn't work. I was wrong. I'm going back before the sale and getting more. One packet is good for one application, even on super thick and long hair.

the larger bottle goes for $9.00 at Sally's

Upon first opening the packet, the smell took me away. I was in olfactory heaven! Hallelujah it smelled great!! I was intending on rinsing it out, but really didn't feel the need to. I've kept it in my hair since Monday, and each day my hair is getting softer and softer. So, even though there is alcohol in the product, the glycerin is really an active ingredient (I'm imagining it's the glycerin that's making my hair soft because it does this when I use it by itself).

Prior to the coloring, my curls were off, they weren't coiling or curling like I liked them to anymore and they really had lost a majority of the shape they once had. The coils have definitely reshaped and my hair is wonderful to touch.

Even by leaving this in, my hair is soft, and I can feel the moisture. It does not rub off and leave a greasy residue on my hands. The smell rubs off though, but it's such a great smell, I wish they had a sheet scent to spray my bed with it. Right now, it's like my hair has it's own body fragrance. Day 3, and it's still a fresh scent.

Some conditioners that I have previously used as leave ins would make my hair crunchy. This conditioner does not do that AT ALL. There is no dry spot, no crunch, or anything that would indicate any drying agent at all.

I'm definitely recommending this one. Price, smell, and moisturizing agent. An all around win!

Check out the pictures below of my hair with the conditioner in.

Have hair products, will travel

I made my way to my favorite natural food and beauty store! I've made a new concoction for summer moisture.

If you are struggling with retaining moisture try this recipe:

You'll need a spray bottle for this.

4 oz Heritage rose water
2 oz Glycerine
.5 oz Lanoline
a little dab of Coconut oil
Tangerine oil
Add a little water if you so desire

SOFTNICITY AT ITS FINEST.

Natural Hair Babes and the rest of y'all too. LOL

Looking to buy your oils, natural hair products? Check these stores out. Listing by zip code.


Real Foods
13000 Josey Lane, #110 Farmers Branch TX 74234

Peak Nutrition
2650 Midway Rd #128 Carrollton TX 75006

Reallife Nutrition Center
535 Carrollton Park Shopping Carrollton TX 75006

Real Foods
3044 Old Denton Road Carrollton TX 75007

Minyard Food Stores
777 Freeport Parkway Coppell TX 75019-4411

Reallife Nutrition Center
3202 W Irving Blvd Irving TX 75061

Abundant Life Health Food
1130 W Main St # A Lewisville TX 75067

Love of Family Co-op
153 Lloyds Road Little Elm TX 75068

Briarwood Food Co-op
2916 Knottwood Plano TX 75075

Vital Nutrition
3000 Custer Rd. #240 Plano TX 75075

Whole Foods
60 Dal-Rich Village Richardson TX 75080

Allergy Solutions
4909 W. Park Blvd, Ste 169 Plano TX 75093

Whole Foods
2201 Preston Rd Plano TX 75093

Health Food Center
714 Wheatland Fayetteville TX 75116

Whole Foods
2218 Lower Greenville Dallas TX 75206

Phil's Natural Grocery
7919 Inwood Dallas TX 75209

Vital Nutrition
5360 Lover's Lane #218 Dallas TX 75209

Fresh Start Market
4108 Oak Lawn Avenue Dallas TX 75219

Sundrops Nutrition
3920 Oak Lawn Dallas TX 75219

Peak Nutrition
3701 W. Northwest Hwy. #155 Dallas TX 75220

Ann's Health Food
2634 S. Zang Blvd. Dallas TX 75224

Roy's
130 Preston Royal Shopping Dallas TX 75230

Whole Foods
720 S. Skillman St. Dallas TX 75231

Vital Nutrition
14902 Preston Rd. #218 Dallas TX 75240

Whole Foods
11661 Preston Rd Dallas TX 75240

Wellness Workshop
9220 Skillman #204 Dallas TX 75243

Peak Nutrition
3767 Forest Lane #112 Dallas TX 75244

Metro Health Store1
4344 Marsh Lane Abilene TX 75254

Fran's Health Natural Foods
604 N Jefferson Ave Mount Pleasant TX 75455

Sunnyside Natural Food Market
4032 Summerhill Sq Texarkana TX 75501

Jack's Natural Foods
1614 Judson Road Longview TX 75601

Granary
1721 W. Loop 281 Longview TX 75604

Jack's Natural Foods
2199 Gilmer Rd Longview TX 75604

Big Sandy Women's Buying
2901 West Upshur Cladewater TX 75647

Country Health Store
103 Richardson Dr Henderson TX 75654

Granary
2519 E. 5th Tyler TX 75701

The Honey Tree
211 Shelly Dr Tyler TX 75701

Karen's
4507 Troup Hwy. Tyler TX 75703

Nature's Delight
201 S. Palestine Street Atheens TX 75751

Lufkin Food Mart
1114 E Denman Ave Lufkin TX 75901

Morning Glory Natural Foods
3500 North St # 5 Nacogdoches TX 75961

Whole Foods
801 East Lamar Blvd. Arlington TX 76011

Better Health
4780 Little Road Arlington TX 76015

Good Health Place
2503 S. Copper Street Arlington TX 76015

Better Health
4780 Little Rd. Arlington TX 76017

Richardson Health Store
5051 Granbury Road Fort Worth TX 76033

Healthty Approach
4902 Colleyville Blvd Colleyville TX 76034

Mc Kim Family Market
4705 Lou Mitchell Trail Colleyville TX 76034

Genova Buchanan Buying Co-op
1407 Quail Road Graham TX 76046

Harvest Market
1155 Old Betsy Road Keene TX 76059

La Loma Foods
113 S. Old Belsy Road Keene TX 76059

People Buying Together
1400 Hemphill Fort Worth TX 76104

The Sunflower Shop
5817 Curzon Fl. Worth TX 76107

TCU Health Center
2825 Stadium Dr Fort Worth TX 76109

Cupboard Natural Foods
932 W. University Denton TX 76201

Discover Natural Foods
1218 S. 33rd St Temple TX 76504

Whole Life General Store
Route 6 Box 221 Waco TX 76705

Connor Health Food Systems
2625 W Waco Dr Waco TX 76710

Waco Natural Foods
1424 Lake Air Dr. Waco TX 76710

Rice Epicurean Markets
2500 Rice Blvd Houston TX 77005

Ye Seekers
1928 Bissonet Houston TX 77005

Fiesta
3893 Dunlavy Houston TX 77006

Moveable Feast
9341 Katy Fwy. Houston TX 77024

Rice Epicurean Markets
12516 Memorial Dr Houston TX 77024

Rice Epicurean Markets
2617 W Holcombe Blvd Houston TX 77025

Whole Foods
4004 Bellaire Blvd. West University Place Houston TX 77025

Rice Epicurean Markets
3745 Westheimer Rd Houston TX 77027

Whole Foods
11145 Westheimer Rd Houston TX 77042

Fiesta
8130 Kirby Houston TX 77054

Fiesta
1005 Blalock Houston TX 77055

Health Spring
1000 Camphell Road, #260 Houston TX 77055

Ye Seekers
9336 Westview Houston TX 77055

Rice Epicurean Markets
5016 San Felipe St Houston TX 77056

Rice Epicurean Markets
2020 Fountain View Drive Houston TX 77057

Whole Foods
6401 Woodway #149 Houston TX 77057

Betsy's Health Foods
5730 FM 1960 W #1205 Houston TX 77069

Campion Health Food
5215 Fm 1960 Road, W. # B Houston TX 77069

American Healfh Foods Co-op
211 Fm 1960 Road W. Houston TX 77070

Fiesta
8320 F M 1960 Houston TX 77070

Fiesta
8320 FM 1960 Houston TX 77070

Ye Seekers
12171 Katy Fwy. Houston TX 77079

Rice Epicurean Markets
5333 Gulfton St Houston TX 77081

Fiesta
14315 Bellaire Houston TX 77083

Moveable Feast
2202 W. Alabama Houston TX 77098

Rice Epicurean Markets
3102 Kirby Dr Houston TX 77098

Whole Foods
2955 Kirby Dr. Houston TX 77098

American Health Foods Store
324 Southmore Ave # C Pasadena TX 77502

The Health Nut
2606 B. Center Street Deer Park TX 77536

Peak Nutrition
6161 Central City Blvd. Galveston TX 77551

American Health Foods
3847 Stagg Drive Beaumont TX 77701

Brazos Community Foods
3902 Old College Drive Bryan TX 77801

Brazos Natural Foods
4303 S. Texas Avenue Bryan TX 77802

Health Food House
4206 N Ben Jordan St Victoria TX 77901

Boerne Buying Club
Route 1, Box 1567 Boerne TX 78006

Thyme For Health Nutrition
430 W. Bandera Road, #13 Boerne TX 78006

For Goodness Sake Natural Food
201 N Business Ih 35 New Braunfels TX 78130

Broadway Central Market
4821 Broadway San Antonio TX 78209

Whole Foods
255 E. Basse #130 San Antonio TX 78209

Sun Harvest Farms
2502 Nacogdoches Rd San Antonio TX 78217

Sun Harvest Farms
8101 Callaghan Rd San Antonio TX 78230

Sun Harvest Farms
17700 N. US Hwy 281 San Antonio TX 78232

San Harvest Farms
1440 Airline Corpus Christi TX 78412

Sun Harvest Farms
1440 Airline Rd. Corpus Christi TX 78412

Major's Health Foods
1001 S 10th St # A-B Mc Allen TX 78501

Sun Harvest Farm
2008 N. 10th Street Mc Allen TX 78501

Sunland Health Foods
4317 N. 10th St Mc Allen TX 78504

Sunland Health Foods
1200 Central Blvd Brownsville TX 78520

Naturally's
5712 Padre Blvd # A South Padre Island TX 78597

Herbery Health Food Store
2411 Williams Dr # 5 Georgetown TX 78628

Whole Foods
601 N. Lamar, Suite 100 Austin TX 78703

Sun Harvest Farms
4006 S. Lamar Austin TX 78704

Austin Whole Life General
Route B. Box 221 Austin TX 78705

Wheatsville Co-op
3101 Guadalupe Austin TX 78705

Fiesta
3909 N 1 H 35 Austin TX 78722

Vitamin and Nutrition Shop
1008 Walsh Tarlton Lane, #6 Austin TX 78746

Central Market
4001 N. Lamar Austin TX 78756

San Harvest Farms
2917 Anderson Lane Austin TX 78757

Sun Harvest Farms
2917 W. Anderson Lane Austin TX 78757

Vita Foods
7739 Northcross Drive, #O Austin TX 78757

Whole Foods
9607 Research #300 Austin TX 78759

Old Fashioned Food
123 N 18th Flint TX 78762

Eat Rite
2425 W, Interstate 40 Amarillo TX 79109

Health World
1964 Civic Circle Amarillo TX 79109

United Supermarket
7830 Orlando Ave. Lubbock TX 79423-1942

Abilene Bluehonnet
617 Ross Abilene TX 79602

Natural Foods Market
3211 West Wadley #2 B Midland TX 79705

Sun Harvest Farms
6100 N. Mesa St. El Paso TX 79912

Vitamin Expo
6590 Montana Avenue, #G El Paso TX 79925

Vitamin Expo
1840 N. Lee Trevino Dr, #704 El Paso TX 79936

Straight to the Press

Here lately, I've been wanting more and more to straighten my hair. I blow dried it out the other day, that was a waste of time; it shrunk in a matter of hours. I was thinking of pressing it. Nothing like a good ol' fashioned hot comb.

I recently came across Nu-Gro's company website, and saw this

From the company site:

Now, give your hair a relaxed effect, with NO CHEMICAL TREATMENTS. Simple process that works with flat-iron or hot comb to make your hair look better than relaxed. Produces silky, shiny relaxed-looking hair, using natural herbs and vitamins, with no side effects.

I'm giving serious contemplation to ordering this and trying it. Whence I do, I shall post a review. Maybe even dabble in a video review.


I couldn't find more information regarding ingredients and the like, so when I order it, I'll most definitely take a look see. Also, I need to find out if they have a money back guarantee.

Color and natural curls

Color is hot this season. It's Spring, time to turn over a new leaf, get a new look, revamp the self from the wintry paltry blues. I see my naturals are flocking to color in Spring '11! My Twitter TL and my Facebook updates are going wild for curly girls doing something colorfully wonderful to their curls. G'won girls, do ya thang! But, with our hair, we have to protect it because of the horror stories! Some folks just don't wanna BC their hair as a result of color damage. Also, I personally feel guilty applying color to my curls, because I really do stand on the chem free stance of my hair. From http://www.natural-living-for-women.com/, she states that honestly coloring agents are relatively hard to find with all natural ingredients, but I am on the Google mission to find something.

"Many hair color products use the word natural and I find this can be confusing. You may see the word natural on the label but it may only refer to the results not the ingredients. If they say natural looking results then that makes sense. Contains natural ingredients no matter how little makes sense too but very few hair dyes are all natural. When I refer to a hair color as natural in most instances I am using it rather loosely. While some natural ingredients are used and the choice of chemicals used is safer than many of the brands currently available it is hardly a completely safe, natural product. There are a few exceptions to this though."

We know henna, and there are plenty giveaways of henna. Henna is a nontoxic plant based product that is used to condition the hair, but is also used to color skin and hair. The finished hair color from henna falls within a range of brown to strawberry blonde hues. Natural henna is typically stains a red to brown color, and the "black henna" or "neutral henna" aren't even henna products per say as they usually don't contain henna itself, but in fact other stuff.

"Black henna" may contain p-phenylenediamine (PPD), which can stain skin black quickly, but can cause severe allergic reactions and permanent scarring. The FDA specifically forbids PPD to be used for that purpose."

In my attempt to find natural products other than henna that will dye your hair, I did come across a few. NONE OF THESE HAVE I TRIED, BUT IN THE EVENT THAT I DO, I WILL BE SURE TO POST A PRODUCT REVIEW.

EcoColors Haircolor Golden Blonde Warm
Water, dihydroxyethyl soyamine dioleate, aqueous ammonia, denatured alcohol, oleic acid, linseed oil, castor oil, lecithin, lanolin, silk, ascorbyl palmitate vitamin C, rosemary oil, vitamin E, love, grapefruit seed extract, Organic Lavender flower essences.
May contain one or more of the following: aminophenol sulfate; aminophenol, methyl-resorcinol; napthol, 3-methyl-1-phenyl-5-pyrazolone; toluenediamine sulfate; ppd; 2 hydroxyethyl amino2-ethylphenol.
Developer: Water, buffered food grade hydrogen peroxide, jojoba oil, oleic acid, castor oil, linseed oil, organic lemon grass essential oil, acrylic copolymer.

Tints of Nature
Irish seaweed (known for its conditioning properties) Wheat amino acids (known for their ability to add strength and body) Oleic acid (emollient moisturizer) Lauramide DEA (Vegetable fat to protect and thicken) Bixa orellana-annatto (natural food colourants) Red beet (Natural beetroot colour).



Herbatint
Ingredients
Water, Nonoxynol-6, Nonoxynol-4, Ethanolamine, Propylene Glycol, EDTA, Sodium Metabisulfite, Walnut Extract, Rhubarb Extract, Cinchona Extract, P-phenylenediamine, Resorcinol, O0aminophenol, M-aminophenol. Water, Glycol, Hydrogen Peroxide, Etidronic Acid, EDTA. Does not contain Ammonia.



If using chemical based color on your hair, try a color patch first to make sure the color does not break your hair out. My girlfriend suggested she do the back of her hair because it's the strongest, and she can always cover it up if it breaks off. Color is one the hardest things on the hair, so be sure to seek professional help if you need to, and protect your hair before and after your color treatment.

For protecting your hair, after any type of colored treatment try vegetable glycerin, olive oil, honey, rose water, and if desired or needed seal with shea butter.

Beware, your curl pattern may change in the form of being more defined and more coily, as in the case of mine after color treating your hair.

Product Review

After a couple of weeks of being slightly disenfranchised with my hair, I made my way north and hit up my beauty supply store that sells some untapped and even other relatively better known natural products. I had seen this in the store a while back, and it caught my eye, but I left it there in exchange for my mist bodifier.

Well! This time, I picked up my glycerin & rose water and even got some sulfate free 'poo from a local manufacturer.

I washed my hair, looking for my curl definition to come back, my curls didn't fall like they did after the previous bentonite treatment, but my hair felt clean, and the crunch that had become my curls was almost no more.

While wet, I squirted some syrum right onto my scalp, and then put some on my hair itself. I then put just a little of my shea butter mix on the hair and made my way to church in a quick make-do... I need my hair done and soon.

Either way! My hair is drying, and it is drying so soft, and not greasy or oily. I am loving the results.

For more info on how to get these products:

NU-GRO Hair Products
7100 West Park Rd
Shreveport, LA 71129
US Customer Service: (800) 626-2260
Corporate Offices: (318) 683-3223
Fax: (318) 671-9032

REVISIT: A truth behind Black Hair Suppliers

After viewing the youtube videos early 2010, I made a conscious effort to stay out of beauty supply stores not owned and operated, and SUPPLIED by black owned business; since there were slim to none around my area, I avoided them all (until I got woven again in August last year). I have thusly curbed my appetite for products from the machine, and am steady looking for items that are good and healthy from my hair that don't fuel the financial success of my curly, kinky, BLACK hair. Here are the videos though, enjoy!

Nightly Hair Wrap-Up

So, since I'm not woven, I'm not rockin a twisted up-do, or protective style, and I'm whippin' my free-flowing  locks in the wind, I have to protect it from my tumultuous sleeping habits. My mom taught me this when I went natural in college. She would have me section manageable portions of hair, and braid them. I didn't feel like braiding, and honestly it's the same effect. I took parts of my hair, sectioned it off, dipped enough shea butter to coat my hair LIGHTLY enough to moisturize it through the night and not weigh it down or clog my hair follicles, take the parts of sectioned off hair and two strand twist. Some people will do this in a more organized fashion in their head, I'm not one of those people.

I look very much like Buckwheat, but my hair is protected through the night to preserve the curl, and moisture.

I posted on Facebook that I wish I had smell o'facebook because this smells sooooo good! I am going to try this on my hands and feet, slather my tootsies in this wonderfully smelling awesome creamy goodness and wrap them up in some nice socks overnight. I bet my stuff will be super soft and sensuously delicious smelling by next morning. mmmm. num yummy. I can't get enough of my shea butter!!

My crown and my glory

So today is a great hair day!! I took out Keek's twists she did for me for Christmas, and used my homemade shea butter. Got pix cause I couldn't stop loving my hair today! For the recipe, check the page over there somewhere. You'll find it. It's there. I promise. 

    

                       

My hair is soooo soft, my cousin - who is a desiring-to-be-naturalista kept complimenting my hair and she kept wanting to play in it. When we got in the car to hit up the not so salesy- after Christmas sales I had to put on Willow Smith. We all whipped our hair... whatever texture or state of being it was.