Product Review: Jane Carter Nourish & Shine

Hey there :)


Throughout the course of my hair journey (almost 18 months!), I have battled with solving various hair and scalp concerns along with trying to select the appropriate products and techniques to remedy my concerns. I had an easy time finding my staple shampoos, conditioners and pre-shampoo products, but my moisturizers and styling products were much harder to come by. Due to my skin's sensitivity to sulfates, I have to be careful with my use of silicone, and I also chose to avoid mineral oil/petroleum for much the same reason. I finally secured some moisturizers from Bee Mine and Giovanni that fit the bill, but styling products took far longer. Commercial hold products were always a thing I stayed away from due to the high silicone and/or alcohol content. A popular ingredient in many natural styling products is beeswax. I found that beeswax would irritate my scalp and create a lot of buildup in the areas where styling products were usually placed (nape and edges), and I also noticed more breakage in the length when these products were added for textured styles (twist-outs, bantu knot outs, etc).

I gave up on styling/hold products for a while until I saw that my Rite Aid was selling the Jane Carter products and I decided to take a chance. Well I'm GLAD that I did. While I have also tried shea butter in the past, I also found that leads to some breakage in the length (after doing research I found that some people found shea butter based products to be very drying; who knew!?). Nourish & Shine turned out to be the exception; from the day I started using it up until now, it gives me soft and smooth hold and rinses out clean, I don't even have to shampoo it out. My skin loves it too. It has a light grapefruit scent that blends well with the smell of my other hair products. It melts quickly when rubbed in your hands for a smooth application and a little really does go a long way. Nourish & Shine also does a great job of slicking down edges, holding textured styles and moisturizing skin with minimal buildup. Basically I'm saying, I love it and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who is in search of a good natural styling product.

Rating: 5/5--Staple!
Claims: Nourish & Shine is made of all natural ingredients. Use a small amount to add shine to hair, to nourish and repair dry hair. It's great on dry skin. It will repair, soften and keep skin moist and supple.

Ingredients: Organic illipe, mango, kokum, and shea butters, grapefruit, (vegetable derived) sources of vitamins A, D & E, squalene.
pH: 7
Type: Sealant (butter)

Thanks for reading :),

 

Wash Day -- Rollerset with larger rollers

Good evening!

I actually didn't wash my hair for about 5 days, and in the summer that is horrific for me. My scalp was so angry and oily that I had to wash as soon as I possibly could which was on yesterday (pheww...). I was also dying to do a rollerset with larger rollers because I actually got fairly adept at putting in the small 1'' rollers that I figured I'd try my skills on a larger set. Here's what my wash day consisted of:

1. Pre-poo with Kinky Curly Perfectly Polished Nourishing Hair Oil and coconut oil on the length, I skipped putting oil on my scalp... I think it had enough lol.
2. I shampooed twice with the Shea Moisture Moisture Retention shampoo. This shampoo completely calmed and cleaned my scalp... #winning.
3. I deep conditioned with Nexxus Humectress for 20 minutes with heat and then rinsed. 
4. I t-shirt dried for about 5 minutes then applied the Rusk Smoother Leave-in conditioner and detangled. 
5. I then set my hair on 1.75'' rollers (the purple ones, is that the size?? lol).

This was a pretty good and predictable wash day. Humectress does a great job of keeping my hair smooth and balanced and since it contains a ton of silicone my hair dries really smooth, while the roller helps my cuticles to lay flat as they dry. Here's the set:

 

I used larger rollers for the body and put small 1'' rollers for my nape 

and around my hairline.

Here are the results:

 

The first pic is from the morning when i took my hair out and the 

last two are at the end of the day (after the gym!)

I seem to do better with smaller rollers, so maybe I'll stick to that :). The curls also last longer with less product, so small sets it is lol.

Thanks for reading :),

Relaxer Update #2

Good Afternoon loves!

My blog had its two month anniversary on Friday and I wanted to say thank you to those who read, comment and to my 12 subscribers. It means soooo much to me that you guys are taking this journey with me and I truly am grateful. I have a lot of ideas, and I plan to have a few new things coming up so stay tuned and thanks again!


I relaxed my hair yesterday after a 10 week stretch! I think it went okay. I still have to trim my hair, and if the weather permits I will either rollerset or flat iron (wowow, haven't used any direct heat since the beginning of my journey... maybe I should stick with the no heat trend lol ;). Here's what I did:

1. The night before, I thoroughly detangled my hair and applied coconut oil to the length. This was done to protect my previously relaxed hair to decrease the risk of overprocessing and the thinning of my ends due to relaxer run-off during neutralizing/rinsing. 
2. About a half hour before my relaxer, I coated my entire scalp, my nape, my forehead and around my ears with vaseline to prevent burning. 
3. I relaxed using the half and half method.
• Relaxing the back two halves first, rinsing, using my mid relaxer protein step (using ORS replenishing pack, left in the hair for 2-3 mins), rinsing, and leaving neutralizing shampoo in while relaxing the front half. After the relaxer was applied to the front half and smoothed, it was also rinsed, received the protein conditioner and then was neutralized (let it sit for 10 mins, then neutralized a few more times). The mid relaxer protein step after the rinsing and prior to neutralizing prevents that limp, dead feeling that many experience after a fresh relaxer. 
4. After neutralizing, I then deep conditioned with Nexxus Humectress for 30 mins with heat using my heating cap.
5. After rinsing out the conditioner, I t-shirt dried for 5 minutes, then added my leave-ins (Rusk Smoother leave-in conditioner and pure argan oil) and then allowed my hair to air dry.

My hair came out pretty smooth, with no post-relaxer breakage! Now for pics...

 

Left - picture of soaking wet hair after deep conditioning, right - hair 70% dry. 

Last night after my hair dried, I moisturized and sealed with Bee Mine Luscious Balanced Cream Moisturizer and sweet almond oil. I also applied some of the Bee Mine curly butter to help set the waves. I then did one large bantu knot in the back of my head, in the front I did one knot in the middle and a large pin curl on either side. In the morning, I took them down with some sweet almond oil on my hands and here are the results:

 

Too bad it poured and turned this style into a fail. Good thing I wasn't running late this morning and I was able to take pics lol.

I'll have an official length check + trim coming up soon, as well as my 1 year hairniversary on July 1st!

Thanks for reading,

A Twist Out on a Crazy Hot Day!

Good morninggg ;)

So yesterday was a beast! It was about 95 degrees and sunny in nyc, I did have to count my blessings though... at least it wasn't humid lol!! On wednesday night, it was too hot for me to be messing with dry hair, so I co-washed with aussie moist to cool me down and then I thought about some styling choices. I figured a twist out would be a wise choice for a hot day, I also find that my hair stays moisturized for longer if it's set in some kind of style at night rather than just tossing into a satin cap loosely. I twisted my hair into small and medium sections spritzing with water and moisturizing with deja's hair milk (and a bit of the bee mine luscious in the back sections), sealing with almond oil and then finally adding a bit of the bee mine curly butter to each section. I feel like that sounds like a ton of product, but I find out using a small amount of each gets the correct effect without making the twists look oily and undefined. I let the twists set overnight and then took them down this afternoon with my coconut/sweet almond oil mix. They came out really defined and super duper full, even with minimal separating! Unfortunately, I was running out so I couldn't snap pics during the day. I took these at night when I got home, but the lighting isn't so great:

 

So this is me, not protective styling :/... My scalp seems to be recovering 

though, no more tenderness... Seems I'll need to wear my hair out more often =]

Thanks for reading :),

Bantu Knots

Hey there...

Yesterday I tried my first ever bantu knot out. I see so many nice bantu sets and they seemed fairly simple so I figured I'd try one out. I moisturized and sealed my ends with Bee Mine Luscious Balanced Cream Moisturizer and sealed with sweet almond oil. I dampened my hair with a spray bottle and applied a small amount of the Bee Mine Bee Hold Curly Butter to my hair then began to twist. I made 8 small bantu knots (2 on each side and four in the middle). I secured some of them with clips and on the side of my head that I sleep on I used thin ouchless ponytail holders to make sure that I could sleep comfortably :).

I was worried about how they would look after a long, rough night of sleeping, but I took them out this morning and they came out okay. I def have more work to do to perfect this style :p. As usual since I was running late for work I didn't get to snap pics this morning, but I did take some when I got home after work.

 

I have to say, so far I am really loving the Bee Mine moisturizers and this curly butter. My hair has been so soft, and even though it has been loose it has still remained moisturized all day. I am also thrilled that since they don't contain any silicone I won't have to use a sulfate shampoo for a while (pheww). I think I may be in love lol! I will def have full reviews of their products soon, I just want to spend some more time with the Luscious moisturizer and the Curly Butter before I give a full review. 

Thanks for reading :),

Wash day

Good afternoon!

I spent the whole day yesterday debating if I should wash Saturday or today, but I opted to do it on Saturday to get it out of the way. I used my detangling method and here are the steps:

1. I applied my coconut/sweet almond oil mix on my scalp and I put a mix of grapeseed and coconut oil on the length. I have to say, the grapeseed oil really made my hair feel really smooth, too bad i hate the smell :).
2. I let that sit for a while and then over the oil I applied Biolage Hydratherapie Conditioning Balm to the front, and Carol's Daughter Tui Moisturizing Hair Smoothie to the back. I applied the biolage to the front because it was super dry and the front of my hair is doesn't tolerate any protein at all when it's dry, I also really need to finish this conditioner up so I figured why not lol.
3. I chilled around in my heating cap for 30 minutes. 
4. I then shampooed twice in 4 sections with Shea Moisture Moisture Retention Shampoo.
5. For some reason, my hair felt hard after shampooing so I followed up with Aussie Moist and left that in for the remainder of my shower.
6. After rinsing, I t-shirt dried for about 10 minutes.
7. Then I applied my leave-ins (Rusk Smoother Leave-In Conditioner and argan oil), and proceeded to detangle when it was about 60% dry.

I've been using my detangling method for about the last month, and I can honestly say that I have noticed a drastic decrease in tangles, overall breakage--especially demarcation line breakage (which I have start having a problem with around 9-10 weeks post relaxer) and just general manageability. I am extremely pleased by this method so far and I think I will keep it up :). I do it once a week, and I see that it keeps my hair relatively tangle free for the entire week until I repeat the process. I have to comment on the condition of my scalp though; it has certainly given me hell this week. I think it's the weather, but after a good wash it's happier now. Cheers!

I really didn't do any styling after because it was about 3am when I finished washing so all I did was oil my scalp with coconut/sweet almond oil, put on a bonnet and go to sleep. I'm going out later today though, so I should probably come up with a clever style lol. I will def post that later, hopefully there will still be some natural light ;).

Thanks for reading :),

A Nexxus Wash Day

Good afternoon!

This weekend was so hot and my hair was so oily (both from adding way too much coconut oil and my own sebum.. who knew it was going to be 80° and humid this weekend -_-). I had no plans to wash until this evening, but my hair was so cranky and heavy that a wash had to go down last night. It was a quick and super effective wash though pheww!

1. I pre-pooed with coconut/sweet almond oil on my scalp and coconut oil on the length for about 40 minutes under my new BellaNutri heating cap (love this thing. it makes pre-pooing and dcing so much less annoying :).
2. I then shampooed once with Nexxus Therappe to make sure to get most of the oil and silicone out of my hair.
3. I followed up that first shampoo with my sulfate-free Shea Moisture Moisture Retention Shampoo (♥). I mostly just do this to calm my scalp down after using a sulfate shampoo.
4. The next step was my protein treatment. I used Nexxus Keraphix and left it in without heat for about 10 minutes (accidentally :p), and rinsed that out in lukewarm water.
5. I followed up with Nexxus Humectress to check my moisture/protein balance and left that in without heat for another 10-15 minutes and then rinsed out in cool water while finger detangling.
6. Then I air-dryed my hair and continued to finger detangle, I skipped using my Rusk Smoother leave-in because my hair felt perfectly balanced and the protein in it can sometimes do too much, so all I did was apply some argan oil to my ends and then let the back hang down while it dried. I opted to pin the front up loosely so that I could just deal with the back.

I am 100% pleased with how my hair turned out. The wash balanced it perfectly, my hair felt moist, strong and it came out super smooth for 8+ weeks post! I was planning on relaxing this weekend, but I'm not sure I should. I have some tenderness in my nape so I'm going to wait for that to subside before I reach for the perm. I'm also loving my new growth and its little coils, the wash/DCing also left my roots very soft and manageable.

I didn't do much with it after air-drying, I left the front pulled up when I went to work. I think I'll do a twistout for tomorrow though. Sorry for the bad pic, getting a camera this weekend!










Thanks for reading :),

The Favorite Series: Sulfate-Free Shampoo

Hello there :)

Since I started this blog after I established my hair regimen and many months into my hair care journey, I realized that I frequently refer to my favorite products without talking very much about them. I've decided to dedicate a series of posts to my staple products. The full list of my favorite products can be found on my Regimen link in the upper navigation bar. To kick off this series I'm going to talk about my favorite ever sulfate-free shampoo, the Shea Moisture Moisture Retention Shampoo.

 This was actually only the second sulfate-free shampoo I tried when I first began my hair journey. I'm a frequent shampooer and I was a die-hard sulfate fan. I have used a good amount of commercial sulfate shampoos, and some of them were beasts. I remember the old days when I was messing with Pantene and Tresemme that would leave my hair feeling like straw. I have an oily scalp and mild shampoos often just left my hair feeling as oily as it did prior to shampooing, if not worse. When I started taking better care of my hair and began researching, I found out about the evils of sulfates (skin irritation, damage to the pigment producing cells = more gray hair, ew lol) and opted to try the sulfate-free, mild shampoo route again. Well, after trying this shampoo I was truly blown away. I had no idea that my scalp and hair could be clean yet supple. This shampoo is so bananas that I can detangle my hair right after the shampoo step. I couldn't have asked for anything better, the search was over!

For my ladies with sensitive scalps, this shampoo has never caused me any problems with regard to irritation and it safely removes natural oils while not stripping your hair completely of the sebum it needs. This product is also barely scented and will most likely not aggravate those with sensitive skin or scalp conditions. I would recommend this product to anyone who is in dire need of a moisturizing, detangling sulfate-free shampoo.

Rating: 5/5-- Staple!!

Claims: Hydrates, smoothes and repairs strands, leaving hair manageably soft.

Ingredients: Deionized water, decyl glucoside (sugar beets), African butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), aloe vera leaf juice, argan oil, panthenol (pro-vitamin b5), rosemary extract, sea kelp extract, vitamin e, lonicera caprifolium (honeysuckle) flower and lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle) flower extract.
pH: 7
Type: Moisturizing Cleanser
 
There will be many more posts in this series, but I will also be doing reviews of new products that I'm trying.

Thanks for reading :),

Product Review: Miss Key 10 en 1 Super Conditioner

I have periodically used this conditioner over the last few months. Before I used it, I was under the impression that it was a moisturizing deep conditioner, but it definitely is a light protein conditioner. After I accepted that fact lol, I was pleased by how well it works. When I first put it into my hand, I wasn't expecting much, it didn't instantly make my hair feel different. After leaving it in for 15 minutes, with or without heat, my hair was bananas! It smoothes the hair, leaves it feeling stronger, and eases detangling. I love using it when I apply my conditioner in sections during relaxer stretching, it's silicone light and it doesn't irritate my scalp. It has an interesting scent, it smells like peach/mango. It has a creamy consistency and is light orange in color. I really don't have any problems at all with this conditioner, it's light enough to use weekly. I was so pleased to have found this conditioner, and it's about $5 in most beauty supply stores.

Rating: 5/5-- Staple!

Claims: 10 en 1 contains a mix of 10 of the most important products for hair damaged by dyes. It is tropicalized for all hair types. That is why it is considered to be a super conditioner.

Instructions: Wash hair well, then apply Super Conditioner 10 en 1 for 5 to 15 minutes. Finally wash hair very well.

Ingredients: Water, cetyl alcohol, glycerin, propylene glycol, stearyl alcohol, Distearoylamidoethyl Monium Methosulfate, behentrimonium methosulfate, polysorbate 60, pentaerythrityl, tetraisostearate, lactamide, hydrolyzed wheat protein, dimethicone, diazolidinyl urea, fragrance, methyl propyl paraben, ceramide, FD&C yellow #5 and FD&C red #40.
pH: 4.5
Type: light protein deep conditioner

Thanks for reading :),