Must See Play: Crowning Glory

'A play about hair!?' Was the reaction I got when I told some people of my plans for Tuesday night. 'Yeah' I replied, struggling to explain any further, realising that the cultural image confidence I thought I had gained from my 27 years on this earth and 4 years of writing this blog was a big fat lie! Instead I brush the topic under the carpet and move onto easier tales of 'what I watched last night' or 'plans for the weekend.' 

Afro Deity Castor Oil Challenge

This time next week, I will once again be embarking on a castor oil challenge. My last attempt wasn't all that successful, but there's no need to dwell in the past. This time I will succeed.... I think!

#NaturalHair - The Dumbass Who Put Sulfur In Her Hair

Sulfur smells bad. So why oh why would you put it into a hair product?

#NaturalHair - Shea Butter Bantu Knot Outs

Twists outs just ain't for me. I've been playing around with this go to natural style for months now and whilst I liked the effect at first, what I really wanted was something with more volume.

Emergency Oil - got2be oil-licious

I bought this as an emergency oil. The plan was to get something that I could keep in my bag and use to refresh my hair if it needed it. Like those days when your twists outs won't play nice, or when someone wants to meet for last minute drinks and your hair could do with extra shine. It's been in my bag for a few weeks now and I've pulled it out three or four times for a quick fix up.

Texture...
After months of using Castor Oil in my hair, I did find this oil pretty thin. However it is very light, so works for a quick fix when you don't something too heavy.

Shine...
Added an ok amount of shine - could have done with a bit more to gloss over bad hair days.

Moisture locking...
I tried this to refresh my twists outs a few fridays ago before going out after work. I sprinkled a little water onto my hair (would have worked better with a spray bottle but I don't carry one of those around!) then ran this oil through the twists to help redefine the shape. It worked well enough to get me through the night without my hair drying out too much.

Active Ingrediants...
Argan oil.

Scent...
Not too bad, not great. Doesn't linger.

On the go...
The size is great, it comes with a pump and a secure cap so you don't need to worry about an oil spill happening in your bag.

I'll defiantly keep this in my bag until it runs out, however I'm not opposed to testing something else out once it's done. Anyone got any miniature oil bottles they rely on?

got2be oil-licious by swchartzkopft - £4.05 at Superdrug.

#NaturalHair - The Formula

I've been using castor oil on my scalp and ends for a few months now. I attempted a proper Castor Oil Challenge and failed miserably as I always forgot to record any definite results. That said, I have seen an improvement in the general quality and manageability of my hair. Not sure about growth though.

I decided to research some oils that may boost growth and found two that I liked the sound of... and they were available in Holland and Barrett so that kinda swung it!

Rosemary Oil - This is reported to be another great oil for hair growth. It's also used to maintain hair colour and ward off greys.

Lavender Oil - This is mainly because of the smell. However it's also meant to be good for general scalp health.

When you use essential oils like these you need to use a carrier oil as they can be too harsh. Olive oil and coconut oil work but I stuck to my trusty castor oil.

Here's my rough mix - this amount basically does my scalp and ends. I use Shea butter on the shaft of my hair as this mix is too heavy for the length of my hair. 

3tbsp of castor oil

5 drops rosemary oil

3 drops of lavender oil

I pretty much made this up so I have no idea of I'm using the right amounts. I will attempts to monitor my hair a little better this time to see if I get any interesting results.

Stay tuned! 

Lavender Oil 30 ml - Holland and Barrett £10.99 (Was half price when I bought it) 

Rosemary Oil 10ml - Holland and Barrett £5.09

#BrownBeauty Bloggers Chat

I missed the launch of this new Twitter chat as it was my birthday so a glass of wine by the BBQ took first place over my love of beauty products. However from looking at the catch up, it looks like I made the wrong choice! The first talk focused on Black and Asian women who had their own beauty companies. It was great to see brands and entrepreneurs involved in the conversation as good honest feedback and advice from us consumers is the best way to get the products we want and need on the market. Check out Officially Natural for a really good rundown of what was discussed.

I'd love to see the grow and become a regular Sunday night thang so I'll certainly be throwing my 2 cents in next week. And the fact that the hashtag is the same name as my blog? Well that's just a Brucey Bonus!

See you there next Sunday!

Amazing Shea Butter

Shea butter is one of those magic ingredients that's included in a range of cosmetics. Known for its moisturising ability, this wonder ingredient is in my lipsticks, face creams and shower gels. So although I've used it plenty of times, I've never tried it in its purest form.

My mum introduced me to pure Shea butter and after trying it at her house, I had to buy some.

This particular butter is 'hand poured' and 'cold pressed' - two of my new favourite terms. Meaning it has retained as much of the goodness from the karite nut as possible. Shea butter is thick and can be grainy, however it does break down with a bit of manipulation and can be easily worked into the hair.

I personally love the scent, it's like a creamy coco nutty smell, however Mr BB and my sister hate it but they'r never right, so ignore them. At the moment I've been using it on its own to seal in moisture to the strands of my hair. However I may try mixing up some shea butter whips in the next few weeks. Stay tuned.

Kuza 100% Shea Butter - £3.99 from Beauty Queens.

#Natural Hair: Tresemme Keratin Smooth - Revisted

A while ago I bought Tresemme's Keratin Smooth shampoo and conditioner. I was pretty excited about these products due to the Brazillian blow dries that have been making waves recently (keratin is the main ingredient in these) and was all ready to invest in the keratin hair mask and serum if I got these desired results. I was looking for healthy feeling hair, with smoother more defined curls after I'd set it.

I said back then that I'd report back after a few tries, to tell you how it shaped up - so here goes.

After a few weekly washes, I found that the shampoo was completely stripping my hair and the conditioner was making no efforts at giving me back what my hair was missing. My hair just felt really dry after a wash, and that just no good!

Detangling also became more of a chore. It was taking longer and more effort causing my hair to shed more. After a few weeks I gave up and pushed the products to the back of the shelve. I may come back to the shampoo if I ever feel like my hair is overloaded with product, and could do with being stripped of the build up, but this defiantly isn't a product that I can use on a weekly basis.

I have read about some people using Tresemme's conditioners as a leave in conditioners when mixed with a little olive or coconut oil, so I may try this as some point. Need to get my monies worth some how!

#NaturalHair - How To Do Flat Twists

I read that flat twists are a great protective style for your hair. As I've just begun a castor oil challenge I figured I should look after my hair as much as possible to give it a fighting chance, so I decided to give it a go.

Flat twist are a great 'end of week' style for me as my hair starts to loose it's shape from my weekend wash and set. The best way to describe flat twists are as two strand cornrows, you get a similar effect to cornrows, but the twist have a bit more volume so can be manipulated into different shapes.

Here's my first attempt!

After doing a full head of flat twists I pulls them to the side and secured with a hair elastic and pins.

Et voila! Style lasted all day

#NaturalHair - Castor Oil Challenge

I first read about the Castor Oil Challenge on one of my fave hair blogs, United Kinkdom, I liked the idea of doing a challenge and castor oil intrigued me. If you Google, Castor Oil Challenge you'll find advice from the likes of Love Your Tresses, Afro Deity and many others who are far more knowledgeable than me. However, what I understand of castor oil is this. It is a vegetable oil created from roasted and pressed castor beans and is used for skin care, hair care and to soothe aches and pains (as a massage oil I presume). The oil has been hailed for promoting hair growth, thicker hair and smoother ends.

After a chat with my mum, who told me that when she was a child she used castor oil in her hair as there were no other black hair products available in the UK, I decided to definitely give this challenge a go. I've chosen to use Sunny Isle Jamaican Black Castor Oil with Ylang Ylang as ylang ylang is another reported growth stimulant.

The oil itself is a deep yellow, brown colour and has a nutty herbal scent. It's also quite thick, almost the same thickness as a serum rather than an oil. When working with oils I always tend to pour a small amount out into a tub as I find it easier to work with that way.

Here's what I'm hopping to see during my challenge.

Healthier ends - my ends have always been dry and bushy.
Growth - always a good thing
Shinier hair with locked in moisture - I won't be using any other oils or moisturisers for the duration of this test.

For the duration of the challenge I will
Massage the oil into scalp 3 times per week - most likely at night
Seal ends each night before bed - that's going to be the tricky one for me
Sleep on a silk pillow - there's no chances of me ever wrapping my hair.
Deep condition using castor oil fortnightly.

Duration: I aim to keep this up for 3 months (wish me luck!)

Reporting: I'll be taking a picture each week to show any growth. I'll also keep a weekly diary monitoring any changes I notice

Your comments and tips are VERY welcome

#NaturalHair: Twisted Sista Review Part 1

Twisted Sista products claim to tame the frizz and define the curls of twisty headed sista’s across the land! There have been a few mixed reviews on these products with some naturals claiming they did nothing for them in terms of defining curls. Others have suggested that these products may be more suited to curly hair in general, rather than afro hair in particular - the images of the girls on the bottles do suggest this - so I wanted to give them a go to see how they'd work on my type 4A hair.

I tested the De-Frizz Shampoo, Conditioner and the Different Strokes Serum on a blow dry last weekend. As you can see from the pic, the shampoo won a prestigious Hair Magazine Award - however it was for the Shampoo Under £5 category, rather than anything actually related to curly hair. 

Here’s what I thought of the wash and co

Scent – Delicate watermelon scent, I'm not really a fan of watermelon scented stff, but this one is quite light and not too sweet, so it’s OK.

Lather – Shampoo worked up a good lather so a small bit went a long way.

De-tangling – The conditioner is quite thick so doesn't have as much slip. De-tangling took a bit more effort but was achievable.   

Then I moved on to the blow dry, I sectioned the hair as usual and applied a small amount of the Different Strokes serum from root tip of my towel dried locks. This serum contains argan oil and green tea and claims to make hair more manageable whilst locking in moisture and shine.

Here's what I thought of the serum
Scent - Same light watermelon scent
Consistency - Typical serum thickness, quickly absorbed by hair
Blow Dry Time - Not affected
De Frizz - Decent amount of de-frizz action, not majorly different to other serums and oils.
Moisture and Shine - Worked well on this front, 6 days on and my hair is still soft and shiny without having added any other products - this might be the argan oil?

In all honesty, I didn't have any major wow moments with these products. When is comes to taming frizz, they worked just as well as any other shampoo and serum that I've tried (with the exception of Mixed Chicks which is winning hands down at the moment). I may go back and grab the straightening cream and curling cream to see how they fare.

The major plus point though is the price, I picked up all 3 products in the pound shop. Will I be buying them again? At that price, hell yes! On second thoughts, I may run back and stock up whilst they're still there! 

Twisted Sista – From £1.00

#Natural Hair - Keracare Twist and Define Cream

I bought Keracare's Twist and Define Cream a while back. Endlessly on the hunt for products that can tame and define my curls, I came across this when I bought Keracare's Essentials Oils. The reason I haven't posted about it before now is because the first time I used the product it was disastrous.

I was so angry that I had spent over £8.00 on a useless product I threw it to the back of my dresser and forgot about it. I had washed my hair using my usual method - Organic Roots olive oil shampoo and conditioner. After towel drying my hair, I combed through some Keracare Twist and Define Cream and waited for the miracles to happen. Unsurprisingly, nothing good came from this. My hair dried naturally into a mass which, by the end of the day had doubled in volume and was breaking combs. My unrealistic dreams of 'wash and go' hair were completely shattered.

A few months on, after calming down, I was ready to try the product again - this time following the instruction which are (in my own words)

For best results apply to wet hair, then twist into desired style. For twist outs, wait until hair is completely dry then remove twists and style with fingers

I washed and conditioned my hair using Tresemmes Keratin range. I thought this would be the perfect thing to test the wonders of Keracare because - as I mentioned in my post - the Tresemme range made my curls REALLY tight. I figured if Keracare could make something manageable out of if then there may well be something to shout about.

After washing and conditioning, I sectioned the hair, applied the cream then proceeded to cainrow each section - I'm too lazy to do a head full of twists - and went to bed . The cream itself is quite quite gelatanous, more of a gel than a cream. It does feel as if it's sitting on your hair rather than sinking in which is a bit odd. By morning my hair was completely dry and the cream was fully asborbed. I removed the plaits to reveal a set of defined, non frizzy curls. A friend even commented on my hair looking much curlier

The combination of the Tresseme and the Keracare meant my curls were tighter and had more body than other methods I've used, which is fine by me. It's all about versatility!

#Natural Hair - Tresemme Keratin Smooth

Keratin is a fibrous protein which makes up our hair, it also makes up hoofs and horns but I'm guessing (hoping) that doesn't apply to anyone reading this. Hair products infused with keratin claim to restore damaged hair and boost it's natural health.

Keratin is becoming a popular ingredient in high street hair products due to the rise of the Brazilian blow dry which uses Keratin as the main ingredient to give a long lasting smooth finish to your blow dried hair.

I've not tried a Brazilian blow dry yet - does anyone know if it works on natural afro hair? But I'm always up for a bit of restorative action when it comes to my hair so I picked up Tresseme's Keratin Smooth shampoo and conditioner. The range claims to give your smoother more manageable hair for up to 48 hours after use

I've only washed my hair with this a few times so I can't really comment on the restorative power of the shampoo yet. However it did leave my hair both shiny and manageable without having to blow dry it. Here's what I found.

Scent - Smells like the standard Tresemme products on the market, not incredible but it will do
Suds - It quite a bit of shampoo to work up a lather
De-tangling - Not so good on this front, I had to work a little harder to comb the conditioner through
Curls - After washing out the conditioner my curls were really tight, much tighter than when I use my usual Olive oil Deep Replenishing conditioner.
Shine - No shinier than usual, but no duller either so thats fine
Styling - No major change here, tight curls took a bit of extra working.

It will no doubt take a few uses before I notice any change in the health of my hair.

Will keep you posted!

#NaturalHair - Frizz Free Day

As I've written before, I'm always on the look out for hair products that will allow me to rock my Afro curls without them turning into a ball frizz by the end of the day.

When my hair is wet, I have extremely tight corkscrew curls that look ok.....until my hair starts to dry.

I've used mixed chicks shampoo, conditioner and leave in conditioner before and I was pretty impressed but they didn't go all the way in giving me the lasting definition I was after.

So when I was offered to chance to try their hair silk I jumped right on it. The Mixed Chicks Hair Silk is a clear thickish serum type formula which claims to give a smooth shiny finish to curly or straight hair.

To give the product a fair trial I washed my hair using their shampoo and conditioner as before.

Then came the set. I completely forgot to take a picture of this (sorry) so I'll just have to describe it.

I parted my hair horizontally into 3 sections. I then cainrowed each section vertically doing around 5-8 plaits in each row.

Before plaiting each section of hair I combed through a pea sized amount of the leave in conditioner and the hair silk.

Sounds long I know but I wanted to give my hair the best change of keeping its shape. I let my hair dry naturally over night then let it loose this morning to reveal this.

This is honestly the first day that I've had my hair out without having to use clips to hold it in place, apply product to re-moisturise or do the inevitable - tie it up in defeat as it takes on a life if it's own.

This is how it was looking at the end of the day. It had gained a tiny bit of volume but it was in no way bushy or frizzy and still had plenty of shine.

I don't know if it was the way I plaited it or the hair silk or a combination of the both (probably the latter) but I'll definitely be doing this again.


www.mixedchicks.net

#Naturalhair - The Blow Dry

I still haven't found a product that can keep my natural tight curls in order without them going too frizzy and un-combable. So for now I tend to blow dry my hair whenever I wash it

So I start off by washing my hair with Organic Root Stimulator Creamy Aloe Olive Oil Shampoo. After towel drying I then comb through Organic Root Stimulators Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner. I cover my head with my sexy foil cap then forget about for half an hour or so.

This then get's wahsed out, towel dried and I'm left with this

I divide into four sections and comb through each section using my wide toothed comb. Once each section is combed through I plait it to keep the sections seperate.

Then comes the blow dry. I've been using my Diva Professional Stryling Rapida Dryer for over two years now and I swear by it. The heat and power I get from it means I dry my hair really quickly without having to apply heat to the same section for a prolonged amount of time. It takes me around 2-3 minutes to do each section. Ignore the tape around the nozzle - I bought the wrong sized attachment and I'm far too stingy to buy another.

Here I am post blow dry

And that's pretty much it

Anita Grant Goodie Sample Box

I've been intrigued by all of the beauty sample boxes kicking around at the moment. However, I've been reluctant to get one of the mainstream ones cause I'm convinced I'll end up with a box full of skin/hair products that won't work for my shade or texture.

So when I found out that black skin and hair specialist, Anita Grant was offering a sample box I had to try it. Hands down, this is the cutest thing that I've ever received in the post. Take a look.

I opted for Goodie Sample Box 1 and here's what I got

• Lemon Sponge Cake Whipped Butter (general hair moisturiser) x2
• Creamy Cafe Latte with a drop of Vanilla (dry hair moisturiser) x2
• Rhassoul Deek Condish Cubes (hair mask) x2
• Lippy Pucker™ Fair Trade Organic Dark Chocolate (lip balm)

Everything Anita Grant makes is 100% natural, I read the ingredients on each product and for once I knew what everything was. All of the products smelled good enough to eat (and considering it's all natural stuff you probably could!) The only thing I've tried so far is the Dark Chocolate lip balm which is really lush. It basically felt like it was smearing chocolate butter on my lips - which is all good to me!

More posts/reviews to come.

#TeamNatural - The Plan

This is my first hair post ever. As I mentioned a while ago, I've been stuck in a wash and blow dry hair rut for years now. Whilst I haven't noticed much breakage, I certainly haven't notice much growth either. So I've come up with this basic haircare plan that I'm hoping will change things.

Wash and Deep Condition - Deep condition with Organic Root Stimulator Replenishing Pack every other week. Followed by a blow dry

Normal Wash - Standard wash and condition every other week - no blow dry.

Hot Oil Treatment and Trim - every 2 months at hairdresser. I've always gone to Purely Natural Hair dressers in Stratford. They specialise in natural hair so they know what they're talking about

I'm going to roll with this for 6 months and see if I notice any difference.

Fingers crossed!

I Teeze You Knot

I’ve been hearing wonders about this odd little brush for a while, but I have to admit I was a little sceptical about it. Firstly the Tangle Teezer claims to work on ALL types of hair. Whenever a product says this I’m always put off as I find it hard to believe that any hair product can work on EVERY hair type. Secondly, this product went even further by claiming to be great for weave (apparently is won’t snag at the tracks), permed hair (the teeth design causes less breakage), and natural afro (great for detangling…..apparently). And lastly, it just looks plain weird!

The weave chicks tried it out for me and rather loudly exclaimed that it was really good (However, I think the volume had more to do with the amount of wine that had been drunk prior to testing!). Perm gal was also pretty pleased with the detangling and the minimal breakage. And finally moi, el natural - I have to admit it did a really good job. It works better on wet hair than on dry as expected, and went through my hair without turning my curls into a frizz ball or surrounding me with shedded hair

Don’t be put off by the look of the thing, even though the fine teeth look like they will yank all the hair off your head, they won’t. And the odd oval shape does actually fit quite neatly into your hand.

http://www.tangleteezer.com/

Curly Whirly

Mixed Chicks

Mixed Chicks is a range of products for...... you guessed it, Mixed Chicks. Despite not actually being 'mixed' myself, I was stopped at the Salon International hair show this year and told that I should try it out to tame and define my tight natural curls (dare I say I was a little embarrased)

After a brief chat with Lawyer Girl about whether or not the name was illegal or just a little bit un-pc, I decided to try it out.

The whole range smells gorgeous, definitely the most scrumptious set that I've smelt for a while. The shampoo and conditioner worked well. They don't seem to do much in the way of detangling so combing the conditioner through was a bit of a chore. The star of the three however was the leave in conditioner. Run through towel dried hair to lose the frizz and add shine and definition even to tight curls like mine. Unlike some curl products out there this one definitely won't have people singing ' Just let your soooouuuuul glow baby feeling oh so silky smooth' at you in the street. This leave in conditioner has firmly carved a space on my hair essentials shelf.

So my mixed chick/bi-racial/dual heritage (or whatever you're supposed to say nowadays) friends, try it out and as the packaging says. 'Define your curls, not your race!'

http://www.mixedchicks.co.uk/