A few new things...

Hi all!

I wanted to come by and share a few new products I picked up within the last couple days :-)

As some of you may or may not know, Shea moisture has announced 2 new lines in which they have created for hair and body. Shea moisture has come out with the following and I am super excited! 

Super fruit complex line (available at Ulta this month)

 Jamaican black castor line (available at CVS in late July)

I managed to snag some of the super fruit complex hair items the other day. I picked up: the 10 in 1 renewal system conditioner, and the 10 in 1 renewal system hair and scalp serum.  I'm so excited to try both of these products, and the ingredients look pretty decent :-) the only thing I'm nervous about is the hydrolyzed rice protein in the conditioner for Shea moisture. I am pretty protein sensitive, but this protein is at the bottom of the list which should be ok. I tend to steer clear of items that have proteins within the first 5-7 ingredients on the list. 

I also picked up another item from one of my favorite lines by Camille rose.

I bought the curl aide moisture butter. It was about $16 for 8 oz at target. Many naturals like Mahogany Curls use this product and have nothing but good things to say about it. I can't wait to use this on my next rod set! 

Stay tuned for reviews on these products! I'm so excited to see how they work

-Dani

Guest feature: Meet naturalista Danielle!

1. Please introduce yourself!

   

    My name is Danielle Chaney (everyone calls me Dani). I live in the great city of Cleveland, Ohio. I have been "creamy crack" free for about 3.5 years :-)

2. Why did you decide to go natural/ become chemical free?

    My main reason for going natural was the need for versatility. I get bored very easily and like to switch up my hairstyles a lot. I never knew what my true texture was because my Mom pressed my hair as a child until she relaxed my hair at 14. As an adult I continued to get relaxers until I was 28 and I did them quarterly. Then one day as I was browsing through makeup tutorials on Youtube, I came across a few MUAs who were also transitioning to natural hair. Watching their journeys unfold made me want to learn more about my hair. So, June 2010 i made the decision to begin transitioning. My original plan was to do it long-term. However, my impatience got the best of me, so on October 30, 2010 I big chopped. My bra strap length hair was now 2 inches long. And it felt AMAZING! I only wished I had made my decision sooner.

3. How would you describe your natural hair texture?

    I have three different textures of curls. My curls are looser in the front, the sides, and the nape of my neck. They get a little tighter as you go towards the crown area. My hair is dense but my curls are fine.  In short, I would describe it as "curly-kinky".

4. Describe your most recent style regimen within the last month.

    I'm quite the lazy natural lol I lean towards low manipulative styles (ponytails, buns, twistouts) that keep my hair stretched so it doesn't end up a tangled mess by the time I get to wash day. 

5. What are your go to hairstyle(s)?

    Spring/Summer = Wash n Gos and twistouts

    Fall/Winter = Twist outs and protective styles (braids, buns, an occasional weave/wig)

    I prefer less defined styles so first day hair is usually blah for me. The bigger the hair the better :-)

6. Do you have a specific wash regimen?
    

    I don't have a consistent wash regimen. I wash (clarify) and deep condition as needed and that's usually no more than once per month. If I feel my hair needs refreshing or is feeling dry, I may do a co-wash in between time. I find that the less I manipulate my hair, the more length I retain and the less breakage I experience. 

7. What are some of your favorite hair products?

    I love the Shea Moisture line. I've just recently started using Karen's Body Beautiful product line and I love that as well. I also keep a closet full of VO5 conditioners. They are cheap (less than $1), they are silicone free, and they smell AMAZEBALLS! Trader Joe's Nourishing Spa Conditioner is another fave of mine. I don't favor one over the other, I just use whatever I have on hand. I used to be a serious product junkie but I've learned that all I need is a good clarifying shampoo, a moisturizing conditioner, and water. 

8. Do you have any natural hair goals?

    I only strive for healthy hair. Length is good but its not important. I've contemplated big chopping again just for kicks lol We'll see what happens after year 4 :)

9. Do you have any advice for other new naturals or those aspiring to be natural?

    

    Be patient with your hair. Take lots of pictures and make a hair journal. It really helped to see my progress on paper, especially on those days when I felt like my hair wasn't growing as fast as everyone else's. And most importantly:  Don't get caught up in wanting someone else's hair or trying to make yours look like theirs. Learn, love, and embrace your own texture. 

10. How can you be contacted?

     You can follow my hair journey on IG @danimyluv and subscribe to my Youtube channelwww.youtube.com/dchaney1982 

Guest feature: Meet fellow natural Imani!!

1. Please introduce yourself!

My name  is Imani and I am a student  of life! I love learning new things and I love learning about natural health (mental, physical and emotional causes of health) and about the pregnancy process. I am a Doula, a birth assistant for women during and after pregnancy.  I am also a Natural Health Consultant and I make beautiful earrings by the name of Eyecatchers Designs.  

I love being buried in a book, writing in my journal, making funny faces,hanging with friends and family and thoroughly enjoying myself at concerts . 

2. Why did you decide to go natural/ become chemical free?

I was always a fan of afros and locs! They are so beautiful to me. I had a friend ask me was I natural and my response was "huh?" lol.  She explained and encouraged me to go natural. I went home and watched youtube and I had the thought "This makes a lot of sense!  No more creamy crack for me!" :)

Going natural was not difficult for me at all, once my mind is set I go with the flow. I was only getting perms 2-3 times a year anyways. My perm was not my identity or an ego booster for me.

3. How would you describe your natural hair texture?

My hair is curly and just like any other natural, my hair does what she wants and the texture changes from time to time and depending on the weather.

4. Describe your most recent style regimen within the last month.

Style regimen.....lol

I don't have one of those, I tie my fro up at night in a pineapple and in the morning, I tease it with oil and take advantage of the shower steam.  My latest concoction was given to me by my little sister. It consists of almond oil, castor oil, coconut oil, jojoba oil, and drops of lemon and lavender oil for scent. 

5. What are your go to hairstyle(s)?

I am pretty simple with my hairstyles, I like fros, braidouts, twists and mohawks.  Whenever my hair is being uncooperative I just wear a puff until wash day :)

6. Do you have a specific wash regimen?

I do not have a regimen. When I was my hair I use Shea Moisture shampoo and conditioner. When I condition I put on a plastic cap for a couple of hours and then I rinse with cold water.

7. What are some of your favorite hair products?

I love shea moisture products, that is the only hair product I use. I might need to explore other options if I get bored but I loooove their line.  I always use olive oil and lemongrass oil.

8. Do you have any natural hair goals?

My natural hair goal is to keep is to keep it healthy and let it grow on its own without any interference of special tricks or products.

Imani's beauty jewelry can be viewed and purchased at eyecatchers.bigcartel.com . You can also find her on IG @wheatgrass_scorp :-)

Thank you so much Imani for being and inspiration to women (young and old)!!! 

Don't forget to comment and subscribe guys! 

What those "hair supplement" companies DON'T tell you!

Hairfinity. The Mane Choice. Both of these companies are very well known companies in the natural hair community. Both offer hair products and tools to many women who have natural hair. What they are both very well known for are natural hair supplements that they offer to all ethnicities of women. You see their ads all over Instagram and Facebook, and based on the stories and "testimonies" listed on social media , you are then lured into the buying trap that these companies want you to be in.


A little background about my hair: I have very THICK, type 4 hair. With low porosity and its extremely dense. When I say my hair is thick, its extremely thick and shrinks like no ones business when water hits it. When trying these hair supplements, I was hoping that they would boost my already fast growing hair, and help me to retain some length that I "thought" I wasn't keeping.

Now I'll admit, I was one of those people who fell into the "trap". I had studied and researched Hairfinity and The Mane choice both for a quite a long time before I decided to make a purchase from both of them. I decided to give hairfinity a go first, and bought one bottle to start, just to see how I liked it...
I started taking hairfinity late fall, early winter of 2013. As indicated on the bottle, the directions are to take 2 capsules by mouth daily.( preferably with meals). As I did so, I immediately noticed two side effects from Hairfnity that I did not like. 1. Increase in Migraines (I already had a problem with migraines before starting this supplement) and 2. Acne/break-outs. My skin went crazy when I started taking these pills! I'm talking 1-2 new pimples a day. Now I'd say that my skin was is usually pretty clear and smooth and I don't have a hard time keeping it that way. As far as the migraines, I usually get those 1-2 times a month, because they are controlled with a prescription medication I am currently taking. When I started the hairfinity, I had a migraine every other night! I thought to myself, this is crazy! Nevertheless, my hair was growing slightly faster than it was without the supplements. I decided that I would not repurchase Hairfnity after finishing the first bottle.

A few months went buy, and I was still seeing posts from The Mane Choice on Instagram. I was pondering the thought of possibly trying this supplement, because maybe it was a little bit different from hairfinity. I decided to give it a go on a whim, because I felt like I had nothing else to loose. Boy was I WRONG. I will say that I didn't have the same horrible side effects with The Mane Choice vitamins as I did with Hairfinity. No breakouts and no added migraine headaches. But something just wasn't right with my hair over the course of a couple weeks, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I kept complaining to my mother at the time, that something just was NOT right with my hair. It wasn't responding to product like it used to, and it wasn't as thick and full as it usually was. At the time, I contemplated the big chop again, because I was so frustrated. We went over a few things that we thought could be causing the problem and left it at that. Never did we think to question the supplement I was taking. During this time, my hair was growing. I did notice the length, but the thickness just was not what it used to be. By now, I had finished  the first bottle and was on my second bottle (the last bottle). Then, one morning it HIT ME. The hair supplements were causing my hair to thin!!!! It had to be the hair supplements. I can honestly say over the course of the months I was taking the pills that this is when I saw the biggest difference in my hair. The thickness was there but the length had drastically been affected by these supplements.
Now I don't know about anyone else, But Id rather have thick, full healthy hair than long, thin, brittle hair. I'm not sure what chemical in this supplements caused the body and thickness of my hair to be affected, but let me tell you I am not liking it. 

I stopped taking the supplements the beginning of this week. I will come back to you guys in one month to show the difference in my hair as far and thickness and body. Let me just say that I am in no way trying to bash or discredit any of these companies, but I thought it was important to let the natural hair community and my followers know about this. Most of us are so consumed by getting fast, quick results, and getting long, luxurious hair fast that we will take anything and try anything to get it. What's most important is letting your hair do its own thing naturally. Drink water, eat right, take daily vitamins not aimed at hair growth, but aimed to aid the body. I fault myself from gearing away from what's important in my natural hair journey and what I want you all to take away from my posts. Healthy hair, is the best hair, no matter the length. Length will come if you do what you need to do for your hair.

Check back with me in a month guys, and I will do a follow up on how may hair is doing since I have completely stopped the hair supplements. Thanks for reading, feel free to ask questions and comment!

-Dani

Sallys buy 1 get 1 FREE....and other news

Hey Naturalistas!!!!!

Today I scored BIG TIME. Sally's Beauty Supply had a buy 1 get one free sale going on for 2 days ONLY. Boy did I score big. I purchased ALL of the As I Am Naturally products I have been dying to try for months.
Products I purchased were:

Cocoa Shea Spray 4oz.
Leave-in Conditioner 8 oz.
Moisture Milk 8 oz.
Twist & Defining Cream 16 oz.
Double Butter Cream 16 oz.
Coconut Co-wash 8 oz.*Long time fav*
Hydration Elation 8 oz.

Since I am such a product junkie, and have so much crap that I need to try and need to review, I will be using one product line for a month straight  to give my hair time to decide if it likes the products or not. Please stayed tuned and stay patient with me as I continue to provide product reviews for you guys.

In other news....Yes I know, its been a while since I have come to you guys with a post. If you ONLY KNEW how busy I have been. Being a full time graduate student, on top of working a full time job, on top of working part time on the weekends, leaves me with absolutely NO TIME. Things are going to change however, and I will soon be back to you all regularly with at least 2 posts per month! I also plan to redo my blog completely and start a new, fresh looking website!!!!


Thank you all for continuing to follow my blog, and for sticking by me as I work out all of the kinks in this journey of a natural hair blogger. New and exciting things  to come....

Until next time,
Peace and Love,

Dani

Alikay Naturals Lemongrass Leave in Conditioner & Essential 17 Growth Oil

Hello guys,

Coming back to you with yet another product review! As a stated a few posts ago, I had so many products to try from purchases made on Black Friday. This was one of the many purchases made, and I have had the chance to use these 2 products for a couple of months now. My mother purchased these products for me, along with a sample of the yogurt smoothie.

Around Black Friday, Alikay naturals was only available online on the alikay naturals website. It is now widely available in select target locations nationwide, as well as the target website! I'm so happy that these products will be available at a target store near me, and I'm about to tell you why.. :-)

Let's start with the Lemongrass Leave In. 

This stuff is amazing. Simple as that. It has a medium consistency, not watery but not super thick. Kind of like watered down vegetable oil. It comes with a spray bottle, which is very convenient. The smell is  of course, of lemons. It's light and airy, but not to strong for those of you with sensitive noses. It's comprised of natural ingredients (essential oils,water and glycerin just to name a few). 

I usually use this product in a combo called the LOC method ( I have a post explaining this), and this is the  Liquid (L) I use. I leave my hair soft and shiny for days. I will say, if you use way to much it can leave the hair feeling greasy and oily. I use this soaringly on my ends and then seal with oil/cream or both. This product will run you about $13 at target or on the alikay naturals website. You get and 8 oz bottle, which should last you a long time even if you have a lot of hair, like me :-).

(Sprays as a mist, and comes out clear into my hand! )

Now on to the Essential 17 hair growth oil...

Another amazing product. This is a blend of 17 natural oils, all blended up in an 8 oz jar. Oils like:Emu oil, Rosemary oil, Jojoba oil, olive oil, Sweet almond oil, Horsetail oil and peppermint oil are comprised into this product. It can be used as a sealant to seal in moisture, it can be used to add shine to dull hair, hot oil treatments and as a deep conditioner.

I use this to seal my hair every other day. I also use it to oil my scalp every now and then to avoid dandruff. 

This can be used for ALL hair types, so ladies take advantage! This can also be purchased on the alikaynaturals website, or target.com. You get and 8 oz bottle of this oil for about $15!!!!! 

Let me know how you guys like these products! How do you use your lemongrass leave in and essential 17 growth oil? Please comment and subscribe! 

-Danielle

Beautiful Textures Rapid Repair Conditioner

I've been on the hunt for yet another deep conditioner.....My hair is extremely protein sensitive, and if protein is anywhere at the top or the middle of the ingredients list on a product I steer clear. I have experienced some minor breakage because of this protein sensitivity, which is what led me to purchase this new amazing product! 

I've seen beautifitul textures products around, at Sally's occasionally and some local stores like Walmart and other BSS (beauty supply stores). I have so much stuff at home (yes I am a recovering product junkie).. that I have yet to try out any of their products. I was in Sally's the other day, buying hair color when I came across this product and a sale banner. "Buy 1 get 1 free" is what it said, and I immediately grabbed 2 jars to take to the check out counter. Now on to the actual review lol...

This product has a thick consistency and has a smell of mangos and fruit! (Yummy). I really enjoy fruity smells, especially this one because it's not to strong. 

The directions on this product state to apply a generous amount to strands, combing through to make sure it saturates all of the hair. For normal conditioning you can use with heat ( hooded dryer or conditioning cap) for 15 minutes. For very damaged dry hair, you can use with heat for 25-30 minutes. can I tell you how dry my hair has been lately? I've really been going through it with some new products I've decided try and had to discontinue the use of a few of them.... :-( more details on that coming later.

As always I used my heated cap for about 15 minutes with this stuff coating my hair. When I took off the heated cap and plastic cap my hair felt AH-MAZ-ING. It was soft to the touch, and was shiny!!!!!! Not to mention the ingredients are pretty natural and most of all, it doesn't contain ANY PROTEIN. I like to deep condition my coarse strands once a week for added moisture, so I will be using this again as the weeks go by. 

I will come back with and update on this product later to let you guys know if it's still doing what it did from the beginning. The Beautiful Textures Rapid Repair Conditioner is about $7 at your local store. For $7 you get A LOT of conditioner in one big jar. It's a great buy for those looking for something not only cheap but also something that gets the job done. 

Please let me know if you decide to try this, or if you've tried it and what your thoughts are on this product. Don't forget to subscribe guys! Take care!!!

-Danielle