#productreview: Loving–but leaving–#Cantu #naturalhair #4chair

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

Cantu @ the restaurant

Photo from SallyBeauty.com

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.

Redo

Photo from Sallybeauty.com

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.

Product Haul and More #naturalhair #4chair

Whenever I disappear for long periods of time, you know I’m working on a book. Welp, the latest is out today, so I have a bit of breathing room before I have to delve into the next one.

I had the most insane product haul the past few weeks. You don’t even want to know. I now have so much product, I’m damn giddy. Today my husband walked into the bathroom (where I have everything all out on full display) and grumbled because I had taken up all the space with my stuff.

I do not care.

So I wanted to shout out TGIN. I bought their products and used it for about close to a month. I had my faves and my not-so-faves.

Photo credit: tginstore.com

The Butter Cream Daily Moisturizer, though. That there is awesome. Awesome sauce. Moisture? Please. Seven days with no other product in my hair except that butter cream. The definition is also amazing. I didn’t need a styler at all.

Photo Credit: Sallybeauty.com

Now the smell on these products are not my fave. I can’t find a word to describe them, just that the smell is not for me. Thankfully, it faded quickly upon application.

I have nearly the entire hair care line from TGIN, shampoo, conditioner, mask, leave-in, and the moisturizer.

The shampoo was okay, nothing extraordinary. It is shampoo, does its job. Left my hair nice and clean. Not too stripped. The conditioner is nice and THICK. I mean, it’s a thick one, but I like that. And it also did its job. Had good slip. The leave-in was also moisturizing. Thick consistency, made my hair feel super soft. The mask is up there with the moisturizer as my fave in the collection. Melted into my hair. Slip upon slip. I used it before I washed, so it worked as a pre-poo/detangler. And it worked like a charm, melting away tangles on an untouched twistout like nothing. Left my hair soft and shiny.

The moisturizer smelled the best out of the entire line.

I liked it. Had amazing results with a flat twistout that I shared on my social media. Got lots of compliments, too.

Now, back to my haul.

I’m in product heaven.

All my wishlist items are now in my possession and I don’t know what to do with myself.

True by made beautiful: Cowash, masque, hair butter, Conditioning Styling cream and Curl Refresher
Cream of Nature: Argan Oil Cowash, Leave-in, and Pudding Perfection Style Enhancing Creme
Camille Rose Naturals: Almond Jai Twisting Butter, Coconut Water leave-in and Style Setter
LottaBody: Curl and Style Milk
Carol’s Daughter: Hair Milk Cowash and Leave-in
Kinky Tresses: Deep Conditioner and leave-in
Cantu: Coconut Curling Cream
SheaMoisture SuperFruit Complex 10-in-1 Hair Masque

All of these were on my wishlist and my awesome hubby bought ‘em for me. Already I am in love with the True products. Great definition on a twistout with the leave-in and Hydrating Hair Butter. The smell is amazing. Like fruity yogurt. It’s also made with shea, honey, coconut and mango. Good stuff.

I’m cut off now. My husband has forbidden me to buy anything more, and I won’t…

Until next year.

You know that’s like three months away, right?

#Naturalhair #productrave: @Kinky_Tresses

I tend to get scarce when I’m in the middle of working on a new book. Which is what I’m doing at the moment. Blogging gets put on the back burner, as the readers on my other blog can attest. Not so much social media, though. Funny how that works.

I’m a low maintenance gal, so my hair is that way as well. But I recently took note of an abundance of SSK (Single Strand Knots) in both mine and my daughter’s hair. Incessant and annoying as all hell.

So I broke out the scissors.

More specifically, I hunted down my husband’s scissors from his shaving kit. Don’t worry, it’s brand new. Or was until that point.

I trimmed my daughter’s hair first. Something she fought me tooth and nail to avoid. She wants her hair to grow and doesn’t care for me cutting off chunks of it. She’s very much the stubborn one.

Immediately though, I noted a marked difference.

Not sure what the root cause of the knotting was, but trimming our hair definitely helped.

I had known I needed to at least dust my ends, but I was hesitant to do it. Don’t wanna mess up and chop off all the damn hair. But I did it. Took a lot of time of me squinting into the mirror, but I’m happy with the results, since it really helped with those pesky knots.

I do want to have a professional have a go at giving me a trim next time, though I don’t know how that will work. I am not a fan of having a strangers’ hands all up in my hair.

We’ll see.

I do want to do a little rave about a product.

Kinky Tresses Coconut Mango Hair Butter. (Photo courtesy of Kinky Tresses.com)

I have mentioned this product before, but I can’t say enough about how amazing it is. It doubles as a moisturizer and styler and does the job amazingly. Ah-mazingly well.

I documented my hair for a few days… okay, I started to document it, then I got caught up in writing and lost my focus on anything else. So basically, you get to see only three days of hair, but in reality it lasted for six days.

Six.

Would have gone on for seven, but wash day came around.

I’m talking softness. I’m talking shine. I’m talking definition. I’m talking that heavenly freaking smell that just Mmm…makes me drool.

I’m talking Kinky Tresses.

I strongly feel that this line, this product, is being slept on. For real.

It’s only four ounces. It’s light and fluffy, with a sort of whipped consistency to it. Almost airy. And works great on both wet and dry hair. I prefer to style on dry, stretched hair, but have had no problems on damp hair. I apply only a small amount to each section. More than a pea size, though. Never could quite manage a pea-sized amount. I use a Denman to smooth it through and instantly my curls are on poppage.

The first five ingredients are: Distilled Water, (scientific name for) Mango Butter, (scientific name for) Coconut Oil, (scientific name for) Shea Butter and (scientific name for) Aloe Vera juice. It also boasts Broccoli seed oil and bamboo extract, and says it “restores moisture and elasticity to dry, brittle hair”.

I say yaass… it does. My hair feels like a soft, sweet-smelling cloud when I use this product, though the fragrance isn’t long lasting at all, nor is it too much. At least for me. I have a sensitive nose and strong fragrances can give me awful headaches.

Night time routine. Three loose ponytails. One in the back, two on either side.

 

Not this one.

That product right there is everything for me.

Now, that being said, I put it aside (just for a few) so I can give my new TGIN collection a fair shot. I’m on week two of TGIN, and will likely go two more.

But for now, I’m raving about Kinky Tresses.

It can also be used as a daily moisturizer, and is free of Mineral Oil, petroleum, parabens, sulfates and silicones. It’s $9.

It’s awesome. On my flat twists, braid outs and two-stand twists.

I will say it all day, every day, it’s awesome.

A Possible Regimen and more #naturalhair

In between my deadline to get my latest book turned in to my publisher, I’ve been actively building a regimen for my hair washing. Turned said book in today, so I thought I’d stop by.

I think I mentioned before that I didn’t have a set regimen yet. Basically, with the Product Junkie I am, I use whatever catches my eye when it’s time for washing my hair. So I’ve made a concerted effort to stick with staple products for washing.

Despite the large (and growing) basket full of products calling my name.

Let me just say, the struggle is real. The thirst for new hair products is real. I own that mess.

Okay.

I wash once a week. And I try to make it Fridays, sometimes it’s Wednesday, sometimes it’s Thursday. But mostly it’s Fridays.

I Deep Condition before I co-wash, and that is because it’s too damn time consuming to be jumping in and out the shower. Ain’t nobody got time.

I’ll side note to say: wash day is my favorite day. I look forward to wash day the way a kid looks forward to Christmas morning. I take that ish serious. It’s my me time. However long I take doing what needs to be done, is just that…however long it takes.

So I deep condition with the SheaMoisture JBCO Strengthen, Grow and Restore Treatment Masque.

To me and my hair, it’s the bomb. So I wet my hair with distilled water after sectioning it into four parts and apply the masque like I’d apply relaxer. LOL I am very heavy handed. One container gives me three treatments.

Maybe four.

I keep the DC in for about an hour, double-bagged with a hot rag for extra oomph.

I detangle with the DC, then co-wash with TreSemme Naturals Nourishing Moisture Conditioner with Aloe Vera and Avocado.

Now, apparently there’s a hubbub about this being a NEW* Formula, and not as good as the old. Let me tell you, I adore this conditioner, which is silicone free but melts into my hair, and gives slip like a mofo. I adore it. I’m almost done with it, and gotta re-up.

So I co-wash then apply SheaMoisture Coconut and Hibiscus Curl and Shine Milk as my leave-in.

Then we take it from there as far as styling.

The above has been my routine every week for a few weeks now and I love it. Can’t say that I am seeing any huge difference, but I’m cool with what I have going on. When I’m out of the products I’m currently using, I’ll re-evaluate.

I am going to be adding a moisturizing shampoo to my routine. I’ve been hearing wonderful things about—and have had my beady eyes on—TGIN (Thank God It’s Natural) so yesterday I plunked down a butt-load of money to try (almost every product in) their line. Shampoo, conditioner, DC, leave-in and moisturizer.

My next venture is to try as much product as I can from one line, from washing to styling. Once it arrives, I’ll give it a month of using only those products to see if it works for me.

What doesn’t work for me, is Raw Shea Butter.

First thing I did once I made the decision to go natural was to go out and get me some Raw Shea Butter. No matter the tiniest amount I used, it sat on my hair, weighed it down. I even went as far as to make a whipped Shea Butter mix.

My one and only attempt at a DIY, so far.

Tried it on both my and my daughter’s hair.

Nope.

It’s like the JB Castor Oil.

Not a good look.

As an ingredient in a product, Shea Butter works wonderfully on my hair. By itself?

No, girl.

No.

So I’ve taken to just using it on our skin.

What works awesome on my hair?

Kinky Tresses Coconut Mango Hair Butter.

That is an amazing moisturizer/styler. Gives my hair the perfect amount of weight, shine, definition and softness. The line is one I also intend to use from wash to style, but as of now, I only have the moisturizer and nourishing hair oil, which is also amazing.

I’m not buying anything new (that’s what she said) until I finish off some product in my stash. That’s how I bribe myself.

It’s a struggle.

I’m coping.

Thoughts On: Oil Rinses

I stay on YouTube. I mean, if you’re any kind of natural, you stay watching videos on YouTube. It’s how you learn. The tutorials on how to manage and style your hair. Though it might be hard at first, you eventually find that person with your hair type, or something closely representative of what’s on your head, and you try to do what they do.

You buy the same products.

You watch how they style their hair, and you attempt to reciprocate.

I say attempt, because…

Am I the only one whose styles NEVER turn out the way they think it will? That twist-out that’s all bomb on her, is all meh on you. The conditioner she swear by leaves your hair feeling like wet straw.

I mean, am I the only one always waving a fist to the Heavens like why, God? Why?

LOL

I recently tried something I’d been hearing a lot about.

An oil rinse. I used Jamaican Black Castor Oil.

Now, JBCO and I ain’t never been no kind of friend. But I had a near full bottle and I figured, may as well put that to use. The point is to shampoo your hair, rinse that out, then wash your hair with oil, coating the strands liberally before washing it out after a few minutes. Can be washed out with just warm water or conditioner. Excess oil will be washed out. The purpose is to get it to penetrate the hair shaft to leave your hair soft and shiny.

So yeah, I did that.

Shampooed, used the castor oil, then conditioner on top to get rid of the excess oil. For one, it felt like the conditioner sat on top of my hair. It couldn’t penetrate the oil.

Of course.

JBCO has always been way too heavy for my hair, which is why I’d used it like once, maybe twice, then put it to the side in favor of Coconut and Olive oil. The entire reason I used it was to get rid of the oil just sitting there taking up space, and the knowledge that I would be rinsing it out.

My hair didn’t feel one iota of soft, which is the usual sensation after a conditioner. I can say my curls, especially in the back which I’m thinking is closer to 4b, popped all the way off. I mean they were clumped and defined to the Gods. The crown and front, not so much. And…

My hair was still very much oily after conditioning.

I didn’t need to apply any oil for the LCO method I usually do. My hair was shiny, yes. But the castor oil was heavy on me. Too heavy. My hair felt a bit rough, not as much as if I’d used a clarifying shampoo, but close.

I now know for sure that unless I mix it with other oils i.e coconut, olive and the rest, I’m not about that JBCO life. I might use another oil, just to see if I get different results, but as of right now, oil rinses aren’t in my regimen.

My Thoughts on: @EverButter Products

One day while browsing YouTube, I saw that one of my trusted Youtubbers, who also has my type of hair, was doing a tutorial using brand new products. She was raving about said products, and the results of her style was awesome.

I searched for more tutorials/reviews of that product and decided to buy right away.

That product/company was Ever Butter.

They’re relatively new, still small. But Black owned, and all natural. I was super excited to try them. I stalked the company on social media, and ordered my stuff. I’ve had it for a while now, but while I’ve been using some of the four products I bought on my skin (with amazing results, I might add) I had yet to try them on my hair.

I decided to change that last night.

 

First things first

I love the packaging. Love it. Had to shout out the company on Instagram when the mail man dropped it off.

It is beautiful and eye-catching, makes one want to know just what that gorgeous package holds.

It holds awesomeness, that’s what it holds.

I like that the company’s social media interactions (so far) feels so intimate and engaging. As a published author, I know all about that shameless promo and plugging of your product.

Here’s my product. Buy my product. Have you tried my product? Buy my product.

Too much of that can be a turn off. Personal interaction goes such a long way, and I think Ever Butter has that. I hope that as the company grows the personal touch doesn’t get passed on in favor of straight advertising.

Alright, so yeah, I love that so far.

 

The Products

I bought the Coconut Cream Pie Conditioner, Genesis (styler and sealant), and Buttermint Smoothie moisturizing crème. I also bought their Divine Elegance co-wash, but won’t review it except to say it smells like goodness. They all smell amazing. The Buttermint smoothie smells like peppermint, and is a thick, creamy yet light texture. The conditioner is super thick and smells AH-Mazing!

You can read the list of ingredients for each product, which are things we can actually pronounce, by the way, on their website.

All products I mentioned are 100% NATURAL. And are versatile. I used the conditioner as a leave-in in this instance, and I use the Genesis and Buttermint Smoothie on my skin daily.

So Good.

I washed and conditioned my hair (different brand of products) then blotted the excess water with a cotton t-shirt before applying the Coconut Cream Pie as a leave-in (My hair was sectioned into four). I didn’t use a comb or brush at all and the leave-in had my hair super soft, fingers glided right through with not one problem. I then used the Buttermint Smoothie. A little more than a dime-sized amount each time, not too much, since it does say on the containers that a little goes a long way.

It does.

With just the leave-in and moisturizer in my hair, I let it air dry for about three hours before I styled. Added a little bit of distilled water in a spray bottle since my hair was a bit dry. Genesis on damp hair and I styled.

Flat twists. If you don’t know what this is, or how to do it, YouTube is your friend.

Slept with a satin bonnet and took my hair down around 2:30 pm today (had to get my daughter from school).

The results

Amazing tightly-defined curls. Amazingly moisturized. Great shine. My hair feels so soft, I can’t stop petting it. My camera phone doesn’t do the curls justice. I really loved these products. Everything about it.

I do plan to buy the rest of the products in this particular line, which is the Love Box. They also have a Growth Box, and the co-wash I mentioned is actually from that line.

Every product I use is also for my daughter’s hair, and I will be using it on her. She doesn’t like curls though, so I can’t take the styles out/down to show off when I do. LOL

Ever Butter lives up to the hype. Well, my hype anyways. I’d recommend them to friends. So hey, friend, get you some Ever Butter.

Trying New Things #naturalhair

In my last post, I talked about being a proud, unapologetic product junkie. I get such a rush when I buy/try new products. And let’s not even talk about the ungodly amount of money I spend. As I type, I’m waiting for FedEx to deliver a new set of products.

Kudos to those who aren’t on that new product high. Or who know what their Must Have/Holy Grail products are. I’m still learning my hair. I’m sure what worked on my transitioning/two-textured hair isn’t going to work for me now that I am in my fully natural state. And since I’m less than a month natural, I still don’t know what will work and what is just hype and wasted money.

As such, I’m still trying out new things.

I don’t have a complete regimen down pat. But I do have a routine for me/my daughter. Hair styles that were a bust during my transitioning phase, work beautifully now on my natural hair.

I’ve been so jealous of YouTubbers doing the two-stand twists. I wanted that hairstyle so bad, but it NEVER worked on my transitioning hair! Braid-outs did. Flat twists did.

Now, those two-strand twists are bomb on my natural hair.

Yaass gawd!

Love it.

I tried bantu knot outs once while transitioning.

That was an epic FAIL.

I have yet to try it on the natural hair, but I’m hoping the results will be the same as the two-strand twists.

Like I said, I like trying new products, so I really have to force myself in the upcoming months to stick with something for more than one week in order to give my hair the time it needs to show any kind of progress.

Good or bad.

Hopefully not bad.

I wash my hair once a week. Co-wash: conditioning wash, which is a gentler way to clean your scalp rather than shampoos that can strip away the moisture and leave your hair dry.

I have to deep condition more, which is a way of replenishing the moisture that washing strips away. I’ve read that deep conditioning should be done every time you wash or co-wash. Sometimes, I get lazy… okay, most of the time I get lazy and I don’t DC.

I co-wash then go into applying leave-in, then doing the LCO method: L: Leave-in (Liquid), C: Cream (moisturizer), O: Oil (Coconut, EVOO, Castor) to seal in the moisture. Some do it as LOC, but I don’t.

I’ve also been pretty strict about my products being all natural.

No sulphates, parabens, silicones, alcohol. Stuff that are bad for your hair. But I’ve found myself relaxing my stance on that. Not forgetting it completely, just using a very select few products that contain these ingredients.

I’ve also had to really watch that I don’t spend unnecessarily. As much as I lurve buying/trying new products, I’ll have to say “Hell Naw” if they cost too much. I just have to. To that end, the new product that should be arriving any day now are on the lower end of the dollar, but work equally as good though they may contain some of the no-nos mentioned above.

I did my research, though. YouTube is my friend. And I’m addicted to watching hair videos. Even my daughter calls me out on it. I spend hours going from video to video. LOL

I’m obsessed, yep.

So, my goal, is to find myself a regimen. And products that work on my hair.

They should clean it extremely well. Moisturize it extremely well. And style it extremely well.

All I ask, really.

Not too much.

I love moisturizers. I always buy them. And stylers. So the plan is to find the affordable ones that work with my hair type. Because that too, is the challenge. What works for the YouTubber with Type 3 hair isn’t gonna work for my coarse, dry Type 4 hair. Which is really why I try to only subscribe to Tubers with the same or close to the same hair type as my own.

I’ll end this post by saying this:

I’ve never really had any problems with my hair, relaxed or not. Fact is, before this time last year when I decided to go natural, I hadn’t given much thought to my hair at all. I didn’t hate it nor did I love it. It was my hair.

Today, I’m rocking a twist-out that’s 7 days old, and I am loving my hair. Loving it. I’m comfortable with who I am, because the decision I made was the right one for me. While I’ve been envious of others whose hair appear to work wonderfully and cooperate fully with products, I’ve never really thought about giving up or anything like that.

I’m okay with the process, however long it takes.

With my hair, and with myself in general.