I had a bad hair week last week. I mean, dry, brittle, no style was working out. To be fair, when I’m in my writing zone, as I am right now, hair becomes an after-thought. But I used the Camille Rose coconut leave-in and style setter and for some reason, it didn’t work for the flat twist out I did.
On wet hair, I believe.
So after taking it down and finding my hair dry and brittle, and the style a whomp-whomp fail, I tried to salvage it by doing two-strand twists using Cream of Nature’s Argan Oil Pudding.
Well, that thing made my hair puffy. No definition. Nothing but puff.
Aight. I hung in there until wash day then I went through my wash day routine as normal. Pre-poo, cowash, DC. Then I used the Cantu Shea Butter leave-in, along with Kinky Tresses Nourishing hair oil to seal that in before chucking my hair into about six/eight twists then I stretched my hair overnight using the banding and pinning method.
I wore it like that (banded and pinned) all day, until that night when I took down the twists, spritzed with water and added a tiny bit of the Cantu Coconut Curling Cream to moisturize. I combed then brushed the hair out, giving it a blown out look without the heat. My hair was deliciously stretched, so I (two-strand) twisted, using a bit more of the curling cream per section.
The smell on that thing.
I wanted to roll around in it. Then lick it off my body. It is that amazing. The shine was on point, too. When I finished twisting, I once again banded and pinned the twists to stretch them overnight, cause you know the product tend to curl them up. This was Friday night, so I took them down the next day around 11 am, since we were going out for lunch.
- I mean…
• Shine
• Definition
• Hold
• Bounce
• Volume
• Length
• The smell
I kept grinning in the mirror like Yass. It lived up to the hype. My hair was so soft. Yass. My first day hair looked like two/three-day. I actually love that. Big with some frizz? Yes, please. Now that was the second time I used the Cantu. The very first time, I used it to refresh an old twist out and it didn’t work. I took note, but knew I was going to give it a second chance since I had heard it didn’t pair well it others. So I felt vindicated. It worked, as long as it was used solo, not in conjunction with another product.
I began noticing something different when we were in the restaurant. My scalp was itching. I mean, my scalp would not stop itching. My fingers stayed in my hair. Then we got back home and Good Lord, both hands were in my hair, because that itch was nonstop. It got to be too much. I had to wash my hair the next day, Sunday.
My scalp felt so tender and the sensation reminded me of relaxer burn. Not as severe, but in that vicinity. Man, I was pissed. I still am pissed.
I washed my hair with a conditioner and ACV mix, and while the most severe itching has passed, it’s still here three days later.
I threw away the Cantu. After two uses. Two. I wanted to keep it, to at least try it on my daughter’s hair, but couldn’t take the chance. I wanted to keep it to give it a third try, because come on, Cantu can’t do me like that! But I refused to take the chance.
So I threw it away, and that hurt to do.
I also tossed the Cream of Nature pudding, after what I’d consider half a use. The smell was awful. Awful. I found myself wishing I knew other naturals around me so that I could at least offer the products to them, but I didn’t.
To make myself feel better, I bought more product.
I know, but nobody tell my husband.
On Sunday when I washed the Cantu out of my hair, I followed the same routine, stretching overnight and then styling the following evening. So I twisted yesterday, Monday, and took it down today, Tuesday. I styled with the LottaBody Moisturize Me Curl and Style Milk. Nothing more.
I don’t cocktail my products much, and I very rarely use more than one product during the week. From wash day to wash day, my hair stays very moisturized generally, and in the same hairstyle. I’ve taken to religiously re-twisting at night (dry, no detangling, no product), unless the next day is wash day then I just leave it as is and sleep with the bonnet. If I want to refresh, I’ll use water 99% of the time.
I take my twists down at around 2pm every week day, because I leave to pick up my daughter from school at 3. So that’s when I take them down.
So yeah. Cantu. I am still mourning that loss.
If you haven’t tried it, I still suggest you give it a whirl.