Henna and Me: 6 Months Later

Hello beautiful people,

I am here today with my loooong overdue henna update, one of my carry-over posts from 2014.

Last year, I took on henna. I bought my first henna for the classic product-junkie excuse reason that it was on sale. I’d read a little about it before and I thought, why not?

After my first treatment, I did some more reading and learnt that henna’s benefits are greater over continued use, so I decided to commit to henna for 6 months.

In those 6 months, I did 5 full strength henna treatments.

For how to Henna, please see my previous henna posts here- the first, and the second.

The question now is: Will I Continue to Henna?

My short answer is NO, I WILL NOT CONTINUE TO HENNA!

This doesn’t mean anyone lied about Henna though. Let me explain in detail with a full assessment.

First, here are the reasons I decided to henna:

1. For colour- if not a full head, at least highlights
2. For strengthening
3. For thicker strands
4. Henna’d hair is supposed to be silkier, and hold better definition when styled.

Product Review: Cantu Argan Oil Leave-In Conditioning Repair Cream

Hello beautifuls!

Getting ready for the weekend? 😀

Today, I’m here with another product review.

If you’ve been around the blog for a while now, you probably know that the Cantu Shea Butter Leave-In Conditioning Repair Cream is one of my staples. You can read my review of this here.

Apart from the fact that I’m a product heaux junkie, I love my staple Cantu but there are two things I’d like it to change. (I mentioned #2 in the review, and I realised #1 this year)

1. I’ve experienced better shine with other leave-ins.
2. This product takes a while to absorb. So, for best results, I apply it generously and then put my hair in chunky twists, leaving it to air dry for hours or overnight. By the time hair is fully dry, it is nice, supple and moisturised, with no residue. However, if I attempt to just apply it and go- I get white patches, and my hair doesn’t absorb the moisture immediately.

When I learnt Cantu had an Argan Oil version of their conditioning repair cream, at the same price, I decided to get it without reading the ingredients or anything, hoping that it would work better than the Shea Butter one.

Now the question is, were my great expectations met?

NO.

This product works EXACTLY THE SAME as the Cantu Shea Butter Leave-In Conditioning Repair Cream. I’ll go over this, with some observations.

First, what my hair is like:

My hair is very kinky, tightly coiled, low porosity, undisputably 4C hair. My strands are individually very fine, but densely packed together.

Ingredients:

Water, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol, Canola Oil, Stearalkonium Chloride, Glycerin, Shea Butter, Dimethicone, Fragrance, Cetrimonium Chloride, Polyquaternium-7, Argan Oil, Panthenol, Hexapeptide-11, Betaine, Hexylene Glycol, Sugar Cane Extract, Lemon Fruit Extract, Green Tea Leaf Extract, Polyquaternium-37, Propylene Glycol, Dicaprylate/ Dicaprate, PPG-1, Trideceth-6, Phenoxyethanol, Ethlyhexylglycerin, Citric Acid, Disodium EDTA.

Worth noting:

This product has a silicone, Dimethicone.

Water is the first ingredient. The first 5 ingredients are water (hydration, moisture), fatty alcohols and stearalkonium chloride is a conditioning agent derived from fatty alcohol- stearyl alcohol. It also has canola oil at #4, as an emollient.

Beyond the first 5, it’s all humectants (panthenol, glycerin), conditioning agents, preservatives and negligible fruit extracts.

This “Argan Oil infused formula” has Canola Oil as Ingredient #4, and Argan Oil is all the way down as Ingredient number 12. LOL, scam. But I guess if it really had Argan Oil where Canola is, it would cost more.

Actually, the ingredients of this leave-in are similar to the old Cantu Shea Butter formula I’m used to. They have changed the formula a bit, and I haven’t tried the new one but Jennifer blogged about it here and it still moisturises well for her.

Let’s Look At The Product Claims

The blurb on the product label is kind of long, and unnecessary to reproduce, so let me just summarise what it claims to do.

• Deeply moisturizes.
• Strengthens the hair to prevent breakage.
• Encourages shine, elasticity and growth
• Hydrates and moisturises with Argan oil and other natural ingredients.

Hmmm.

1. Hair growth occurs beneath our visible scalp, in follicles, so this leave-in right here, that I apply to my hair strands (NEVER on my scalp), CANNOT encourage growth. I can’t even point to a single ingredient on the list that has anything to do with hair growth, except maybe argan oil.

2. One of the directions stated here on the label is “Apply as directed for daily styling just after shampooing. Reapply and cover with a plastic cap overnight for maximum absorption and intense conditioning.”

Allow me to drag my dear Cantu a bit.

On my old Cantu Shea Butter as I remember it, it states that for deep conditioning, you should apply Cantu, wear a shower cap and sleep with it overnight.

This is something I used to do when I was in Law School, just so I could have more time in the mornings. I’d moisturise & chunky twist my hair at night, so that in the morning I could just comb my dry, stretched hair and go.

I slept with a satin bonnet, not a shower cap. 8 hours with the leave-in undisturbed allowed my low-porosity hair to absorb all that moisture. Nothing wondrous or revolutionary. Maximum absorption, yes. But not intense or deep conditioning as we know it. I state this here because someone has asked me before. She was deep conditioning with Cantu Leave-In and getting no results. Cantu Leave-In Conditioning Repair Creams CANNOT deep condition, not in my experience anyway.

I love the Cantu leave-in now, but it was not an effective moisturiser until I started treating my hair to regular moisture deep conditioning. I’m saying, it’s a nice product, but be wary of these claims. It is not a miracle worker, not where my kinks are concerned.

I’m actually shocked that Cantu has gone a step further to direct that people should apply this leave-in AFTER shampooing and go to bed with it, as an intense conditioning leave-in treatment? I’m seriously side-eyeing the hell out of them, and wondering what next they are going to say. I would NEVER try this and I do not think you should either. Please condition or deep condition after you shampoo before using this product. It really is JUST a leave-in conditioner.

Now that you’re well informed about what this product CANNOT do, here’s the bottom line.

This is a really good leave-in.

It has slip. It moisturises well. After Washday, I could use it to moisturise, and not need to moisturise again until the next wash, in like a week.

It does not give great shine, and it could definitely be easier to absorb.

I just want Cantu to be more honest in the future, and not mislead people who are new to the business of analysing product labels.

Would I repurchase?

Yes. The Cantu Leave-In Conditioning Repair Cream remains a staple, so I could buy this one (Argan Oil) or the Shea Butter one, to meet that need. They work the same for me.

The only thing I’d add now is that the Argan Oil Leave-in and the Sheabutter one smell very different. The Cantu Shea Butter smells sweet, almost to the point of being annoying (I had to get used to it). This one isn’t a sweet smell. It’s very light, and a little syrupy (not maple syrup, think Tixylix or nice cough syrup) and if I’m recalling properly, the smell is in the same category as the Elucence Moisture Balancing Conditioner, which I tried last year.

So, if I see the Cantu SheaButter/ Cantu Argan Oil in the same place and I have to pick one, I’d pick the Argan Oil. It isn’t a fantastic smell, but I prefer it’s blandness to the SheaButter version’s sweetness.

Where to Find:

1,950 for a 16 oz tub at Olori.

Alright lovelies. I want to hear from you. Have you tried this leave-in? Did you like it or not? Share 🙂

Love,

AB,

xx

Another Good Washday, Pleasant Surprises.

Hey guys!

How is the going going?

I currently have my hair in mini-twists, just three weeks after I swore “Never Again!” LOL- so let me tell you the story about how I got back here, after my last Wash Day.

I started with tangled, very shrunken, soft but kind of greasy hair. This is the typical state of my hair after a week or so. *Kanye shrug* We’ll talk more about this later!

1. Sections first!

First, I sectioned my hair into four puffs.

2. Poo!

I squeezed the last of my L’Oreal Ever Crème Shampoo, to give myself a nice poo. I’d used Aunt Jackie’s Curl La La to style the week before, and it was still very much present in my hair, so the poo was necessary. Working my scalp, and getting the lather all over my hair. I rinsed it off with very warm water.

3. Finally Got Oil Rinsing Right

After rinsing out my shampoo, I put Olive oil on, trying to cover every bit of my hair from scalp to tip. 3-5 minutes later, I rinsed with very warm water. I guess I used too much oil because my hair was still oily afterwards. On the bright side though, it was super soft and amazing to run my fingers through. Great slip thanks to the oil. Now I see the hype about Oil Rinsing. I’d previously been doing it wrong- putting oil and then deep conditioner before rinsing.

4. Deep Conditioning, dum dum! The step of my Washday that I do not dare miss!

I finally opened the Shea Moisture African Black Soap Purification Masque that I was gifted by The Kinky Apothecary in October. A full review will come in due time, but I was pleasantly surprised. I don’t know what I expected from this masque but the end result? Lush soft coils. They were poppin’ and I was so happy!!

One awesome thing about this masque is the ingredients. When I use conditioners (instant, deep, leave-in), I’m always a little wary of applying down to my roots because I don’t shampoo after I deep condition, and I do not want build up. I love me my silicones, but I don’t want them on my scalp. The ingredients of this masque are 5 stars yo, and it’s actually great for use on scalp too, so I didn’t have to be careful. I smoothed the masque onto wet hair, finger detangling and then going through gently with a wide tooth comb. Look how much hair I lost after detangling! Not bad eyyy?

5. Styling Time!

I don’t know why but for months now, when I know I’m going to be using a styling product, I skip using a leave-in conditioner after I wash. Instead, I just seal with an oil, butter or pomade. Not sure what the rationale is, I guess I tried it once and it worked, and so have I continued. I’m enjoying it so far, I like that my hair doesn’t have to wear more layers of product than it actually needs.

After rinsing out my DC, I took down the puffs and chunky twisted my hair, using Oyin Handmade Burnt Sugar Pomade to seal. I put my satin bonnet over that and went to make dinner.

Done for the day, a few hours later, close to midnight, I put ‘Once Upon A Time’ on (who else watches & loves this show? ^_^) and settled to style.

My hair still felt wonderfully soft! Like erhmahgerrd. Not using a leave-in after a wash is also one way I test a deep conditioner. If my hair still feels 100 without a leave-in after a wash, I’m sold. But, if I still need a leave-in after using a deep conditioning treatment, I conclude that it’s not very moisturising. Duh.

I decided to do a Twist & Curl since it had been such a long time. For this, I used the Shea Moisture Frizz-Free Curl Mousse to do my twists, and perm rods to curl (I got the perm rods from Olori. 350 naira for a pack of 12 over here)

Hair was still damp, but some areas needed a little misting, so I spritzed them with water before using the mousse. I put my hair in 20 twists and curled each twist with a perm rod.

Twisted and then curled

12 hours later, I took down the rods and unravelled the twists.

I had a promising twist out if I do say so myself! Way better than the first time I styled with this mousse. Hair was shiny, felt amazingly smooth (like not just stretched- actually smooth and can I say, polished? It was the first time my hair has ever felt this way, I’m just trying to put the feeling into words.) and the definition was kind of pretty. Wet styling is a big problem for me. My wet styles rarely ever go as planned. So I was so excited with these results!

Ignore my pout lol

The only problem was that I didn’t like the way it was arranged. I haven’t yet mastered how to combine my braids or twists for a twist out or braid out. So after trying to figure out how to style or arrange, pushing hair this way and that, I had frizzed the whole thing. And I didn’t have an afro pick to fluff the roots. Haven’t replaced mine since it was seized at an airport last year.

😦 Oh well. It was nice while it lasted.

So smooth, y’all.

LOL sorry guys, but this was my first time of experiencing “smoothness” with my curls. And to think that I’d applied no heat! Loved it!

I held my hair up in a very loose undefined puff and covered it with my satin bonnet. The next morning, not in the mood to manipulate my hair again, I decided to do mini-twists. Hair was still well moisturised & smooth feeling & kind of stretched so I did my twists with no additional product as I watched more Once Upon a Time, except a little dab of the Oyin Burnt Pomade here and there, to smooth the ends of each twist.

Voila!

Day 1 hair. I love mini-twists until they shrink and get frizzy.

Hopefully I’ll let my twists last this time. I don’t want to wash my hair for another two weeks. ( ._.)

I was very happy with this Washday. I don’t know why I dread washing my hair these days. I’m like “Noooo, I don’t want to”, but then I do and it’s really a piece of cake- and I love how my hair feels afterwards. It’s alright to feel lazy about it, don’t feel bad. Just still do the work, lol.

Alright lovers. How did your last Washday go? 🙂

For more healthy hair posts, see more from this week’s link-up on The Wash Day Experience.

Love,

AB,

xx

Another Jessicurl Review- Confident Coils Collection + Spiralicious Styling Gel

Jessicurl Confident Coils Collection + Spiralicious Styling Gel

Hello my lovelies!!

AB here! It’s time for another Jessicurl review!

MeeMee and I were each sent the Confident Coils Collection and one additional product, by the lovely people over at Jessicurl. Her experience is over here, and now here’s mine.

We did not receive any compensation for this (or any of our product reviews, ever) and you can trust our reviews to be our honest opinions. I got my products on May 5, and I’ve used each one at least twice. In fact, one of the conditioners is actually finished so I feel more than qualified to air my opinions.

Hey AB, I Want Darker Hair!

Okay so my hair was actually very dark but changed a little. Would you advice I use a dye to make it darker?

-Amaka

(P.S. My friend Amaka big chopped this year and is currently rocking a twa. Her hair looks like Color 2 right now, and I believe her aim is Color 1 or 1B. Colour chart below)

————————

Hair Colour Chart. Source: Qlassy Extensions

First of all, I must say that I’ve never thought about this, or tried to do this myself, so I had to think and reach out for answers to this one:

1. Patience is an option.

In my relaxed days, my hair was brown. From far, you’d think it was black but as my mom early observed, only Color 4 of Expressions was the perfect fit for us. Color 4 as in, the often hard-to-find dark brown almost black shade of Expressions braiding hair. Made slightly brighter in natural/artificial light, but it was definitely brown. See what I’m saying:

2011 or 2012. see my kinky roots are a little darker than the rest of my hair?

Towards my 1st natural hair anniversary last year, I was reflecting on my healthy hair journey when I noticed my hair was not Color 4 anymore. It was closer to black, and has become darker since then! I wasn’t even trying to get darker hair, it just happened. That’s why I suggest you could just go about your healthy hair journey, and see if your hair darkens. Especially because you once had darker hair than you have now.

2. There are natural means you could try.

However, there doesn’t seem to be any general agreement on the subject of coloring hair black naturally. Mostly suggestions of tea, coffee, sage, walnuts- I didn’t see any real testimonies. Chinwe (also known on the interwebs as Loo)- Black Girl Long Hair contributor and a hair blogger I can say I trust, has waded in the water, and you can see some recipes she considered in this post over at her blog here.

I love JBCO, I think it is everything! Jamaican Black Castor Oil in addition to encouraging growth, softness and improving the overall health of hair is also said to give darker hair colour. It’s something worth trying, you just have to be consistent with your applications. Say, 3 times a week on your scalp, for 6-12 weeks.

2014, black black

3. You can dye it

My grandma (bless her soul) did not joke with her NaturVital dyes. This brand has been there since childhood, I still see it on shelves today and I don’t recall her having any problems. But I did some web surfing, and I see that many people have allergic reactions to PPD, a common element in chemical dyes. I am so not a professional on this, so don’t quote me!

In the alternative, Curlfriend Natmane of Deep Brown & Kinks,suggests Henna-Indigo dye. In recent times, more people are wary of chemicals so I think this is the better option. You can Henna-Indigo dye yourself. For more about Henna-Indigo Dyeing, you can go here.

I don’t mean to scare you but please remember that people can be bad. MeeMee had an allergic reaction to some henna tattoo she got months ago. It wasn’t her first interaction with henna so let’s just say there is henna and there is henna. I’ve also seen henna with more than one ingredient (that is, not 100% henna) being advertised on the web. Try to get yours from a sure source, and a patch test is a good idea. Mix your dye and put a little bit of it on a small part of your skin and leave for a while to see if you have an allergic reaction.

Olori is running a sale right now, you can get 100gms of Henna for 250 naira here, and 100gms of Indigo for 400 naira here!

Whether you are using chemical dye or vegetable dye (e.g. henna), dyeing is a very stressful process for your hair, and it can leave it feeling very weak, brittle, & super thirsty. You need to pay special attention to those moisture and protein levels.

Its best that your hair is in great shape before you dye, please wash and deep condition, and after your dyeing process, make sure you follow immediately with a good deep conditioning treatment, and do not joke with deep conditioning in the weeks to follow.

I hope this helps!

So ladies, have you ever darkened your hair? What helped and what didn’t? Please help Amaka in the comments! Thanks and God bless ❤

Love,

AB,

xx