Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Dealing With Devics Today

Today is one of those days that I have had a rough patch in dealing with my illness. I was due to go and have my infusion on Friday, January 27, 2012. However, I had an insurance issue and it has been moved to this Thursday the 2nd of February. Now if any of you follow the blog, I have explained that I get my infusions every six months, and that the treatment is benifical to me. I haven't been hospitalized in nearly two years, a long time for me.

I recently had an opportunity to enjoy a night out at the fair with the family. It is a once a year event and I am really happy I had a chance to enjoy it. We went on Thursday, and it wasn't very crowded, the kids got a chance to ride and the lines weren't long. I did a lot of walking too. How you ask? I pushed my wheelchair. Yep, I walked along pushing an empty chair as if someone was in it. When it was time to wait I parked it and took a seat to rest. We covered most of the rides and I was just glad to get around the fair with some independence. Now, today I think I am suffering from some exhaustion. I did a lot on Thursday, and I have been in bed since. It is really hard getting people to understand the fatigue and pain factor of dealing with Devics, but I promise to take it one day at a time and enjoy every good day I have. I would really like to be in contact with others with Devics, and I love to share information about the illness. If anyone has any questions or comments feel free to leave them below and I will respond promptly.

Do You Class Your Hair

As a new natural I wanted only the best, most complex products for my hair. I had to have the perfect ingredients, from the most well known product line, and my products had to be all the rage. I don't know if I thought this would make my hair different, or if I only wanted what was best for my hair. At any rate I have learned that sometimes the products you least expect to work for your curls will be a really good fit. I have learned not to class my curls. I have learned this with some trial and some error. I have also learned that the ingredients and the amount of those ingredients are important also. Just because a product contains an exotic butter, oil, or extract, doesn't mean it's a good product. It may only contain a quarter teaspoon of that ingredient in an eight(8) ounce container or larger. Now realistically speaking how much will that ingredient benefit your hair? I say very little benefit if any. Below are my guidelines for selecting products that are beneficial to your hair's needs.

1. Get To Know Your Hair: The single most important thing in selecting whats good for your mane is knowing the needs of your hair. Become familiar with what is needed to give your hair moisture. Does your hair need protein, or deep conditioning? What is the porousity of your hair, and if it would benefit from a heavy sealant. Knowing your hair will help you know which products to evaluate and which products to avoid. Your hair will definitely guide you in the right direction.

2. Do Your Research: I think it is important to know the effects of products on different hair types. This helps to give you realistic expectations of the products performance. I always read reviews and watch Youtube videos before buying a new product. Knowing what to expect from a product will keep you from buying a product not suited to meet a particular hair need. I can't expect hold and definition from a leave-in conditioner when that's not its purpose. It is important to know what a products intended uses are.

3. Know How Individual Ingredients Work: The best consumer is an educated consumer. Knowing Your hair's reaction to common ingredients in hair care products will help you to select products that give favorable results. If you are protein sensitive, you know to avoid products with a high protein content. If your hair doesn't like shea butter, buying products with a shea butter base may not be a good idea. If your not familiar with how your hair reacts to an ingredient or a product, buy the smallest, and least expensive product to try as a sample. If you have unfavorable results you won't feel it as much in the pockets.


4. Never Say Never: Unless a product or ingredient is proven to be caustic, or damaging to your hair, don't rule out trying it in your routine. When I first went natural I completely stopped using products containing mineral oil, or petroleum. I've recently revisited several products which contain these ingredients and I have really benefited from them. A couple are now part of my routine. I've found that the products I used didn't contain a large amount of mineral oil, or petroleum, but that the amount contained in my choice products worked good with my hair. It should all be done with the best care for your hair in mind.

5.Product Pricing Isn't Everything: I have purchased products that were expensive and weren't worth the box they were shipped in. I've also purchased a $4.00 conditioner from my beauty supply store, that worked as well as my $20.00 mail order conditioner, and contained twice the volume. This further taught me that my hair didn't know what my conditioner costed and that I had placed price/quality expectations on my product choices. Now, in some instances you do get just what you pay for, and I'd advise putting those label reading skills to the test. But if a product contains the right ingredients, and is a good value, why not try it. You may find something you like.


Overall my best lessons were learned from experience, and the experiences of others. I still found it fun and interesting to try new things. I learned not all things worked for all hair types. Not all techniques worked for me, and that sometimes the basics were sufficient. So as a word of advice be open, try new things, and most of all do what's best for your hair.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Eco Meringue- My styling/twisting concoction

Have you ever had a product that was almost your perfect product but something was missing from it. I am in that same boat right now. I have tried products that were almost perfect but seemed to lack one or two properties. In 2010 my first year as a natural I made a concoction using the clear Eco styler gel and shea butter. I wasn't big on YouTube videos and didn't know it was called Eco custard. I used this product to give my hair curl definition because I wore it in an afro. Now that my hair is longer, and does not do well with wash and go styles or loose afros, I mainly wear twist outs and braid outs. I have tried many different products and they all kind of lacked one property or another. Heavy butters lock in moisture and softness, but offered no hold, or lasting definition. Hair grease was good also but offered only a little hold. I fell in love with Design Essentials Cream Gel and it gave me everything I wanted but the price was out of my budget. Fact is I have tried many different products and I can say that I've only had a few not so good experiences, but nothing that was a definite staple as my twisting product. The only thing that was a must have product was raw shea butter, but it too lacked something.


Recently I received my order of Miss Jessie's Curly Meringue, that I ordered during the BOGO from Target. I really liked the definition and hold that it gave, but it left my hair a bit too stiff and borderline crunchy. It also had no moisturizing effects on my hair. Before using this I had used an Eco custard mix, and it didn't give enough hold,or frizz resistance. I then thought that maybe I can get the benefits of both my Eco custard and MJ Curly Meringue, by mixing them together. After paying what I paid for this stuff, not using it wasn't an option. I started by making my Eco Custard(recipe follows) and adding the MJ Curly Meringue, to it. I got a finished product that closely resembles my beloved DE Cream Gel, and didn't have to buy the Design Essentials. I did my first twists with it this past Friday and I am really pleased with the results. I have definition, hold, shine, and softness, without having tackiness, dryness, or that crunchy, stiff, brittle feeling. As with any products you have to use them in the proper proportion, along with the right technique. My technique and recipe are as follows.

ECO CUSTARD
1 Tbsp. Eco Styler(olive oil)
2 tsp. Castor Oil or shea butter(any heavy oil/butter will do)
1 tsp. olive oil(any light oil will do)
2 tsp. water or water based leave-in conditioner
Mix after adding each ingredient. This gives you the opportunity to adjust your recipe between ingredients using the amount necessary to fit your individual needs. I then add 1Tbsp. Curly Meringue, which gives the hold factor.

My Technique: I started with freshly washed hair. I pre-pooed, detangled, washed, deep conditioned,and applied my Kimmaytube leave-in mix. I then sectioned my hair into six sections, three on each side,using my fingers to section and securing the sections with butterfly clips. I then went through each section, applying more leave-in conditioner as needed, while finger combing and detangling with my Denman like Goody brush. I pulled an appropriate size section of hair from the larger section, applied a little grease/pomade to hair(to help seal in moisture),and a finger tip amount of the Eco Meringue being careful not to use to much, and proceed to twist my hair. If the hair dried or wasn't quite damp enough I simply misted it with my water mixture(water,leave-in conditioner) before applying more leave-in, grease, and eco meringue.

I allowed my hair to dry overnight and I now have a well defined twist out with great definition, hold, shine, body, and moisture. It is important to note that I used a medium weight hair grease(Softee Indian Hemp), which can be replaced by a butter,natural pomade(petroleum or mineral oil free), or heavy oil as a sealant. By using the products you already own to mix and customize your own products, that are best suited for your hair care needs, you may find that HG product that has all the properties you need. In addition to meeting the needs of my hair and style routine, I find it fun to just experiment with different ingredients. What new products have you created by mixing those you already own? Was your mix successful? Feel free to share your recipes and tips.

My Product Budget

Last year was my first full year as a natural, and I tried some different things on my hair. I did not go overboard because I don't have that kind of money. I am disabled and I have to purchase things that fit within my budget which is about $50.00 per month. I have pretty much found my staple products which surprisingly are mostly home made. The only things I buy are ingredients and conditioners, like my deep conditioners. I just recently started to try and find a staple styling/twisting product, to use as my staple. Any PJ will tell you that spending will get out of hand if you don't manage your budget. As much as I would love to try everything I see on YouTube and the blogs I can't, and I am challenging myself to spending only $25.00 monthly on hair products. This is not my ingredient budget for buying raw ingredients but for buying made products from a store or a web site. With a budget of $25.00 I can buy products to try and it is sufficient. I can also have enough to replace my regular staple products. My budget is designed to carry any leftover money over to the next month and redistribute it, however I can't spend in advance. For example, if I only spend $15.00 this month, the remainder carries over to February and my budget becomes $35.00, but I can't spend $35.00 this month and take $10.00 away from February.


This month I have spent a total of $18.00 on products as follows: $3.49 on 32oz. of Proclaim Cholesterol Conditioner, $12.00 on 6 packs of perm rods(rollers), and $1.99 on African Pride Olive Miracle Growth Oil. I don't need anything else and I am also trying to work on the things I have in my stash. I hope this will make a big difference in my budget and me becoming a minimalist. Are you practicing any new spending habits for this year? Do you have a hair budget, and do you stick to it if so? If you have a budget what do you hope to accomplish? Feel free to leave a comment or feedback.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Review: Miss Jessie's Curly Meringue

There can't be a natural that hasn't heard of Miss Jessie's prooducts. It is a product line founded by two sisters and marketed towards the natural hair community. Although the products are not all natural, lots of naturals use them. I watched so many YouTube videos, read so many blog reviews, and forum posts before deciding to buy this product. It is not cheap 8oz. for $22 from Target.com, but I ordered during the BOGO free sale. This product is medium weight with a pudding like consistency, and it smells like some sort of lemon bubble gum. Its ingredients are: Water,Paraffinum Liquidum(mineral oil),Glycerin,Triethanolamine,Fragrance,Carbomer,Wheat Amino Acids,Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Avocado Oil, Coconut Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, Jojoba Seed Oil, Olive Fruit Oil, Oleth-5, Peg-12 Dimethicone, Elthylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Disodium EDTA, DMDM Hydantoin, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Yellow #5.
Package Statement- Transform frizzy fros to bodacious volumized curls.

I used this product on fresh washed hair, following my normal wash, conditon routine. I washed with my homemade liquid black soap mixture, deep conditioned with my Komaza Care Olive Moisture Mask, and applied my Kinky Curly Knot Today Leave-In conditioner mix. I then sectioned my hair into four large quadrants, and detangled in preparation for my twists. Once detangled I sectioned out enough hair to form a medium size twist, applied a finger tip amount- not a scoop, just a touched tip amount, and proceeded to twist. This product had some tackiness to it, and slip. It is not moisturising, but goes on smoothly. I could feel the hold and definition in my twists the minute they started to dry. This alarmed me because I read reviews where the user ended up with hard hair.

After allowing my twist to dry a little I sprayed them with my spray bottle mix, applied a little leave-in mix, and a little of my shea butter mixture. It took the same amount of drying time as usual. Once my hair dried, overnight Saturday, I wore my hair under my bonnet Sunday, and untwisted Monday. I had some WELL defined twists. They were nearly self separating, and required little manipulation to separate. The twists were so defined that I actually thought I had missed a few while untwisting.This product also provided me with great hold, and yes minimum frizz. One thing I don't like about this product is that it is not moisturising, and will leave hair feeling dry unless you know to layer it over a moisturiser and sealant. Another potential con would be using too much. Only a small amount is required to get the desired effect, and too much will definitely leave your hair hard. Knowing what I know now after using this product I will moisturise and seal under it for my next use. You do not have to apply more product to retwist, simply dampen your hair, finger comb section to be twisted,add a sealant if needed and twist. Overall I like this product for my twist outs. It is a bit expensive, but results require little product. For my next application of the product I have created a mix.
1tbsp.Curly Meringue(hold/definition)
1tsp.Kimmaytube leave-in(moisture)
1tsp.Castor oil(sealant)
1tsp.Water(moisture)
If this mix works I will have the best of both worlds, hold and definition plus moisturized hair. This may also help to stretch the product and provide for longer use, and savings. In this mix the product still retains its consistency, and smell. I don't know if I would buy it again I still have some trials to do before I decide to invest in this product without a sale.

Review: Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie

I have had this product for a while, since October but I just used it to do a twist out. If you are familiar with the Shea Moisture line then you know that they are shea butter based products with lots of other quality ingredients. I would love to list them all but I don't have the original container. At any rate I made up my mind to try the product hoping it would work for me as a product I can get on the ground. The product is a heavier product, although it is not greasy,or oily. It is the consistency of a thick cream or a cake icing. It is not tacky or sticky either, and has a very pleasant fruity scent.

I started with my usual regimen, wash with my homemade black soap all over wash. I then deep conditioned my hair with Komaza Care Olive Moisture Mask for about 45 minutes. When I rinsed I applied my Kinky Curly Knot Today leave-in mix and proceeded to detangle and section my hair in preparation for my twists.


After sectioning the hair into quadrants, I pinched smaller sections to twist and proceeded to twist my hair in my ususal fashion applying a finger tip amount to each section. I am not heavy handed with the use of products, and I must say a little of this goes a long way. My hair felt really smooth and moisturised once my twists were finished. This product gave some definition and smooth shiny twists. It did'nt enhance the curl pattern, or control frizz. My twist out was uber soft though, like baby hair. This would be a staple product if it had some hold to it. I do not wear wash and go styles but I think this product is ideal for a soft wash and go. It may also help to layer it with a product that provides hold. I may try this technique next time. I would buy this product to keep on hand as a stand by.