As I Am Coconut CoWash Cleansing Conditioner

As I Am Coconut CoWash Cleansing Conditioner  Product Review

This is my first product review.  If you have read my blog before you know that I’ve been natural for five years.    I mainly follow the Curly Girl Method with the occasional shampoo.  For my co-washes I usually use Tresemme   Naturals or Suave Professionals Almond +Shea Butter Conditioner.  I really like both of these conditioners.   They are inexpensive and easy to find.

I had heard about and read about this line.  My interest in it came about because of the mostly natural ingredients .    So on to the review.

Price:  $8.00 for 16oz

Where :  I purchased mine from Sally’s.  It can also be found at Walgreens.  The As I Am website has a store locater or you can order directly from the site.

Product:  The key ingredients are Tangerine, Coconut  oil, Castor oil, Saw Palmetto and Phytosterols.  Phytosterols are steroid compounds similar to cholesterol which occur in plants.  That’s the short  answer.  

What I Think:  Its o.k.,  just o.k.  I really didn’t see a major difference in results between this product and the conditioners I usually use.  It’s has a nice light smell that didn’t linger.  I’m not sensitive to smell, so you may have a different opinion.     It is a thick conditioner with a decent amount of slip.  My hair felt good and clean, but nothing extraordinary.

What I Liked:  The ease of availability and the ingredients.  I didn’t have to use a lot.  I was afraid that I would go through half the jar in the first use.  This has happened before .  I have a lot of hair.

What I Didn’t Like:  The packaging.  As you can see from the picture, the product comes in a jar.  I used it in the shower.  The problem I had was that water got into the jar.  Now I could have replaced the lid every time, but who wants to do that.  I did see a You Tube review where she applied the product all over and then rinsed it out.  I will try this the next time.  I personally would have preferred the product in a tube or a bottle with a pump.

Would I Buy Again:  Honestly…maybe. 

This was just my first impression of the product.  I didn’t hate it.  I may fall in love with it by time I’m done with the jar.  I’ll let you know.

Chat with you soon,

Kimberly

                         

A Day of Hair Care

Hey  All,


Saturday was hair care day for me.  Well it actually started Friday night with an overnight treatment by  covering my hair with coconut oil and a plastic cap.  I shampooed with Nature's Gate Aloe Vera Shampoo.  It is sulfate and paraben free.  It has a sweet smell, like bubble gum :)  It has a lot of good ingredients, but it's not a detangling shampoo.  My hair was very clean, but not stripped. 

Next was the protein treatment.  I have been searching the net for a natural treatment I could make myself.  There are several out there, but I went with an egg treatment. Talk about simple.  Beat one egg and add 2 teaspoons of olive oil.  I was out of olive so I used avocado oil.  This mixture is very runny, so I used a tint brush to apply.   The one egg was enough to do my whole head.  After application I put on two plastic caps and a head band to catch the drips.  After about 30 mins.  I rinsed this out with lukewarm water.  DO NOT USE HOT WATER!  You will have scrambled eggs in your hair.  I then used Moisture Balance Cream Conditioner to which I added honey.  I covered my hair once again with a plastic cap and a Heat Therapy Wrap.  Here's what it looks like http://www.curlmart.com/product/thermal-turban-heat-wrap .  I love this thing, it really works.  You heat it up in the microwave and it truly will stay warm for 30 mins.  So after time was up I rinsed it out and my hair really felt good. 

Finally I use a leave in conditioner recipe from the  Motown Girl website.  Here is the linkhttp://motowngirl.com/index.php/motowngirl-s-leave-in-condit.  I like the recipe because I was able to use up some small amounts of conditioner I left.    Following the recipe, it made about 4oz of product.  I like it.  I may make more.

I let my hair air dry in a clip.  Undecided on what to do with my hair at 11:00p.m. I decided to twist my hair.  Yeah, I know...don't ask.  Anyway I finished at 1:00 a.m. and went to bed.  I usually don't wear my hair in twist.  I put them in for about a day and undo for a twist out.  But, this time I think I'll leave them in and wear them in an updo.  That whole  protective styling thing I'm on for the next few months.

Well that's all for now.  I chat with you later.

p.s.  I used Good Hair Days Magic-Grip Hairpins to achieve this look.

Kimberly

Porosity?

Hey Y'all,


OK, so for the last few weeks I've been MIA due to working my full time job. I back and ready to talk hair.

I have been struggling for sometime now with the constant dryness of my hair especially on the ends. No matter what I do, nothing seems to help. So I have gone back to square one by asking the question: What is the porosity of my hair? A simple enough question, until to start trying to figure it out.
First of all what is porosity? Simple put it is the hairs ability to absorb water or chemicals into the cuticle layer and cortex. There are a couple of ways to test your porosity:

1) The Float Test: Place strands of clean hair into a bowl or glass. If the hair floats then you have low porosity hair. If it sinks to the bottom the your high porosity.
*I tried this a couple of time and my hair floated. To be on the safe side I left it alone for about 30mins and it was still floating. According to this test I have low porosity.

2) The Strand Test: Take strand simples from various areas of your head and and run it between your finger and thumb. If it feels slick you have low porosity. If it is rough you have porous hair.
* I tried this test also, and according to this one I have porous hair.

See why I was confused.  So, I continued my research and came across this:  blackhairscience.com/my_hair_porous.html.  This made so much sense.  I was able to answer "yes" to most of the questions.  The verdict is in; I have porous hair.   I plan to implement the suggestions ASAP.  One if the solutions is more protein which I have already started.

That's all for now.  I'll let you know how it's going.    I am still wearing protective styles for the next few months and I will post pictures soon.

See ya soon,

Kimberly

Happy New Year! Let the Journey Begin

My journey to healthier long hair has started. Well it really started Friday night. Here's what I did.

Friday night: I detangled my hair using the Tangle Teezer. The jury is still out on this tool. I have used it off and on but not enough to form an opinion. I plan to use it more to come up with one. When I do I will do a review. Anyway after I detangled I coated my hair with coconut oil. I covered it with a plastic cap, scarf, sleep bonnet and went to bed.

Saturday morning: I washed my hair with Tresemme Naturals Low Sulfate Shampoo w/ aloe vera and avocado. Conditioned with ApHogee Keratin 2 minute Reconstuctor. I covered my hair with a plastic cap and finished my shower. After rinsing I dried my hair with a t-shirt. I used Beautiful Curls Curl Activating Shea Butter Leave In Conditioner for Curly Kinky Hair. I also used my own Moisture Balance Daily Moisture Lotion that I make. I then sealed the whole thing with 100% pure lanolin. Yes lanolin, my hair really likes this it. Uhm, go figure.

The result is very soft hair. It really feels good. I put my hair in a damp bun using clear Eco Styler and a little bit more of the lanolin to give it a some shine. I came out very nice.

I plan to rock this style for a couple of days. When I go back to work I'll probably do some thing different.

So that's it. I'll check in again soon.

Have a Happy and Blessed New Year!
Kimberly

New Year, New Goals

So I my last relaxer was almost 4 years ago.  I have been following several blogs/vlogs of naturals and I it to ccured to me that my growth has been very slow compared to others.  Now I know that hair growth varies from person to person.  But I feel that I should have more length.  Granted I have been a little scissor happy, but a have made an effort to step away from the scissors.  Could it be that since I didn't do a big chop my hair is struggling to grow? 

With that being said, I have been thinking about what I will be doing differently with my hair for 2012. 

1)  PROTECT MY ENDS!
     My ends have been a hot mass for some time.  I honestly thought that since my hair wasn't very long and not rubbing against my clothes that it wasn't an issue.  WRONG.  I  know all about sealing the ends, but I just didn't do it.  So my pledge is to seal my ends and to wear my hair in a protective style for the next three months.  I have already started doing this to get into the habit of doing it.  I will be watching a lot of You Tube for styling ideas.

2)  Protein Treatments
     I know that my hair does NOT like protein in styling products.  In removing protein  completely from my hair care regimen I think I my have freaked out my hair.  I will do a light protein treatment once a month with various types of protein in them.  I already know my hair hates soy protein.

3)  Try New Products
      Now don't get me wrong I will not stop making and selling my own products, but I kinda miss trying new stuff.  Yes I am a bit of a product junkie.  I will be doing product reviews.  I will start with products I can get on the ground at places like Target, Walgreen's, Sally's and other local beauty supply stores.   I will also do reviews on some of the recipes I find on-line.

Check back and see how I am doing.  I plan to post often :)

Introduction to Me

Hello all! 

I started this blog because I  wanted to sure my journey so far being natural.  It started for me in 2008 when I went for my relaxer touch up...  Wait, let's dail that back to July 2007 when I got frustrated and relaxed my hair after not doing so for two years.  Yeah, I know what happened? You lasted two years and you relaxed again?  I will never forget that day.  I had washed my hair and with the two different textures I just couldn't take it any more.  So, why didn't I just cut it off?  Plain and simple...I WAS SCARRED!   Any one who has done a Big Chop(BC) or you are going to do it,  you have my respect.  I just couldn't do it.  Anyway I relaxed again, but I was stretching them. Instead of every eight weeks I was going every 12.  I was doing everything right, or so I thought.  I was using sulfate free shampoo, deep conditioning, air drying, and doing roller sets.  My hair started breaking off.  Okay, so I started doing light protein treatments.  By time January 2008 came around and time for the touch up, the breakage hadn't stopped.  I made the up in my mind that I was done with relaxers.


What you will find on this blog as with many others is pictures of my hair and product review.  I will also post links to items I have found helpful.  There might be an occasional rant, but I keep them to
minium ;)

So, check back.  You might find something useful.