2018 Curlyproverbz-inspired Regimen Challenge

[Honey Bee]

*belly laugh* Haaaaa! So glad you got it.

It's not all roses. Still gotta buy a candle warmer or a little crock pot tho. Universe, come thru like I know you want to!

 

[ElevatedEnergy]

I just bought that, and a zillion other things. I really went kinda overboard. But I'm serious about this, tho! I mentioned how I'ma try to sneak them in the house over in RT. I'll share the whole list once everything gets here, these herb-y places be taking foreeeeevvvvvveeeer.

PS, Brambleberry gave me a free stick blender!

PPS, I'm scared of soap making (with LYE!!1!! )in this little Manhattan kitchen. This stove they put in here is like an easy bake oven, I be nervous cooking a real-sized pot of greens in here. (We moving, don't worry.)

I think you made the right decision. Sis, my house is almost 4,000 square feet with high celings and I still wouldnt dare make soap inside the house. I did everything outside on my deck.

 

[ElevatedEnergy]

What?!??? Yay, but I'm a little jealous. *pout* : I just bought one last night for $16 or $19 or something like that from WalMart. It was the Hamilton Beech brand, I believe.

I have that one too in a deep red color. It came with a removable stick blender and whisk. I use the stick for soap and the whisk for my butters.

Edited: i just checked...It's by a brand called BELLA.

 

[douglala]

1. @YvetteWithJoy I appreciate your decision, "and that's all I'll say about that." (Forrest Gump, lol)

2. All my Indian powders came the day before yesterday, but I'm really waiting on my active ingredients and such. I wanna formulate something!

3. I'm gonna make am ayurvedic 3-in-1 for SO (body wash, shampoo, and conditioner). The sweet spot for skin and hair, from what I've read, is between 5.5-6 ph.

4. I've been using my four ingredient growth oil for a few days, will start formulating teas when the rest of my actives arrive.

5. PSA: I worry about the lack of preservatives in your formulas (esp the tea spray!!!). Please consider preservatives. We don't want no bacteria-related set backs!

Keep us posted on your recipe for #3. I’ve been wanting to do a body wash too but didn’t know where to start.

 

[Honey Bee]

I think you made the right decision. Sis, my house is almost 4,000 square feet with high celings and I still wouldnt dare make soap inside the house. I did everything outside on my deck.

My mother (who wants to make her own hydrosols, so she ain't 'scary' and is about that DIY life) was like "*grabs arm* Don't do it. I did not make sure your skin remained beautiful all these years for you to muck it up with a pot of boiling lye."

We're moving to a farmhouse, my pot of boiling lye experiments will have to wait. But for now, I plan to use (diluted and appropriately preserved) African black soap for the bulk of our soap needs. I bought Crothix as a thickener and activated charcoal to color it totally black instead of muddy brown, so it'll look nice.

@douglala, As of now, I intend to use the assorted recipes here as my base for the 3-in-1 product and re assess from there.

 

[YvetteWithJoy]

I have that one too in a deep red color. It came with a removable stick blender and whisk. I use the stick for soap and the whisk for my butters.

Edited: i just checked...It's by a brand called BELLA.

Oooo. I love the aesthetic of that one. I was torn between that one and the Hamilton Beech (sp?) one. That deep red is nice on the BELLA.

 

[Honey Bee]

We like the Bella brand. They sell it at Macy's and they always have crazy coupons. We got a Bella k cup maker thing for my mom (she's a coffee snob, freshly ground and all that, so we had to coax her into the new millennium lol).

Eta, that was completely ot.

Back on topic, I just massaged my scalp with the four ingredient oil and it was fabulous. I'm about a week in, iirc. I think it might be time for some more peppermint and rosemary eo.

 

[tapioca_pudding]

Still lurking in this thread... I'd love to hear what preservatives you ladies end up getting... I'm looking for one for my tea and possibly my whipped butter.

I think my last batch of scalp oil was too skrong, so I'm tweaking that recipe as well.

 

[ElevatedEnergy]

Still lurking in this thread... I'd love to hear what preservatives you ladies end up getting... I'm looking for one for my tea and possibly my whipped butter.

I think my last batch of scalp oil was too skrong, so I'm tweaking that recipe as well.

This is the one on my wishlist:
http://www.lotioncrafter.com/optiphen.html

 

[YvetteWithJoy]

Still lurking in this thread... I'd love to hear what preservatives you ladies end up getting... I'm looking for one for my tea and possibly my whipped butter.

I think my last batch of scalp oil was too skrong, so I'm tweaking that recipe as well.

This is the one on my wishlist:
http://www.lotioncrafter.com/optiphen.html

I'm looking at Optiphen PLUS from here: https://www.ingredientstodiefor.com/item/Optiphen_PLUS/87/#

Characteristics:

Optiphen PLUS is a patent-pending liquid preservative from ISP/Sutton which offers broad spectrum preservation without parabens or formaldehyde. This preservative functions particularly well in slightly acidic formulations, and is globally approved. Consisting of Phenoxyethanol (an aromatic ether alcohol), Sorbic Acid (a natural acid that offers protection from yeast, fungus and mold) and Caprylyl Glycol (an emollient base). Optiphen PLUS as a preservative offers the following benefits::

• Globally Approved
• Contains a reliable agent, sorbic acid, for anti-fungal and anti-mold activity
  • unlike Optiphen ND which contains benzoic acid which may be de-activated by non-ionic emulsifiers and surfactants
  • unlike regular Optiphen which contains no acid and no protection from mold, fungus or yeast
• Highly effective broad spectrum antimicrobial
• Effective at pH levels below 6
• Non-formaldehyde donor
• Paraben-free
• Non-isothiazolinone
• Imparts emollience
• Compatible with most raw materials
• Excellent safety and toxicological profile
• Heat tolerant to 176F

 

[douglala]

My mother (who wants to make her own hydrosols, so she ain't 'scary' and is about that DIY life) was like "*grabs arm* Don't do it. I did not make sure your skin remained beautiful all these years for you to muck it up with a pot of boiling lye."

We're moving to a farmhouse, my pot of boiling lye experiments will have to wait. But for now, I plan to use (diluted and appropriately preserved) African black soap for the bulk of our soap needs. I bought Crothix as a thickener and activated charcoal to color it totally black instead of muddy brown, so it'll look nice.

@douglala, As of now, I intend to use the assorted recipes here as my base for the 3-in-1 product and re assess from there.

Ok thats a lot! I will just cheer you on from the sidelines. LOL.

 

[YvetteWithJoy]

Tuesday I planned to make detangler #1 and the Henna-oil Infused Buttercream -- both for the first time. When I got home from work, I was exhausted. I ended up making Detangler 1 early this morning, in the wee hours. I just finished step 1 of making the buttercream. I will blend in the shea butter tomorrow after step 1 has infused for 10 hours or so.

Here are pics of the process of making detangler #1. (My apologies if the pics are large.)

I used 1 cup of distilled water, two tea bags of the marshmallow root (opened them up and poured out the contents, since just boiling the tea bags wasn't yielding slippery mucilage), two tablespoons of the slippery elm powder, all of the leaf's aloe Vera juice (about 4 ounces of aloe Vera juice [i.e., blended aloe Vera leaf pulp until a watery consistency]), 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, and 5 drops of Jamaican Mango and Lime Vitamin A, D, & E Black Castor Oil.

It yielded 5 ounces of product (detangler). Despite having strained the marshmallow root and slippery elm powder mixture, I saw clumps in it. This gave me flashbacks to my fenugreek smoothie debacle, so I blended the mixture using my high-speed blender. The consistency changed. I'll see how well it works! I will INDEED be patch testing it and NOT applying it to more than a tiny section at first.

 

[tapioca_pudding]

I'm looking at Optiphen PLUS from here: https://www.ingredientstodiefor.com/item/Optiphen_PLUS/87/#

Characteristics:

Optiphen PLUS is a patent-pending liquid preservative from ISP/Sutton which offers broad spectrum preservation without parabens or formaldehyde. This preservative functions particularly well in slightly acidic formulations, and is globally approved. Consisting of Phenoxyethanol (an aromatic ether alcohol), Sorbic Acid (a natural acid that offers protection from yeast, fungus and mold) and Caprylyl Glycol (an emollient base). Optiphen PLUS as a preservative offers the following benefits::

• Globally Approved
• Contains a reliable agent, sorbic acid, for anti-fungal and anti-mold activity
  • unlike Optiphen ND which contains benzoic acid which may be de-activated by non-ionic emulsifiers and surfactants
  • unlike regular Optiphen which contains no acid and no protection from mold, fungus or yeast
• Highly effective broad spectrum antimicrobial
• Effective at pH levels below 6
• Non-formaldehyde donor
• Paraben-free
• Non-isothiazolinone
• Imparts emollience
• Compatible with most raw materials
• Excellent safety and toxicological profile
• Heat tolerant to 176F

Thank you @ElevatedEnergy and @YvetteWithJoy !!!

 

[Taleah2009]

I thought I posted here, but it was in the HIPbone thread.

I made the henna oil as well as the tea. I am super excited! Will sit another few days and I put the tea to use during wash day. I plan to use it as a tea rinse to see if that helps with my shedding. I won't do henna gloss this weekend, just my normal DC.

 

[YvetteWithJoy]

This is so empowering so far! Because CurlyProverbz (Farida) overlaps the process/ingredients in her various products, it's so cost effective to have several steps of wash-and-style day covered.

I made the henna oil -infused butter cream. It was a breeeeze to make. Next I used leftover hair tea in the fridge to begin experimenting with making DIY Ayurvedic Curl Activator with the CP Hair Tea as the base. Next time, when I'm not using leftovers from before, I'll use AVJ in the recipe instead of distilled water.

The curl activator tea recipe I used is too watery: I sprayed it on the back of my hand next to a spritz of S-Curl. I will add some more vegetable glycerin once I can.

Note: My butter cream has some powder particles in it despite my straining attempt. Of course, I'm forgiving with myself and will try it anyway instead of ranting at the maker. I hope the powder particles disappear into my hair once applied. I'll report back.

All three products made so far (detangler, curl activator tea, and butter cream):

The consistency of the butter cream is awesome, like wet cool whip. Creamy!

 

[Honey Bee]

@YvetteWithJoy Have you used the detangler yet?

 

[YvetteWithJoy]

@YvetteWithJoy Have you used the detangler yet?

No. I hope to use it tonight.

 

[Taleah2009]

No. I hope to use it tonight.

Cant' wait to hear about your results.

 

[Honey Bee]

My hair has been a bit neglected, for heath reasons. I took out my crochets and did my normal reggie for coming out of a ps (tons of protein, both hydrolyzed and not) but it's been left alone since then (except for scalp massages with my oil).

I'm somewhat annoyed that all my supplies haven't come yet too, but in a way, that's good cuz I'm not jumping on the band wagon willy nilly, I want to test each new ingredient.

So. I'll be okay to wash either tonight or tomorrow. The only thing I'll insert is tea, rise and hibiscus, see how my hair likes it and move on from there.

 

[prettywhitty]

Today I'm trying a pre poo with 3 tsp of Amla oil and 2 oz olive oil. I mixed and placed in applicator bottle before placing in a cup of warm water. I applied the oil, shampooed, and then used 1 0z of green tea (chilled in the fridge and added some EO's to it) before adding my light conditioner to detangle before deep conditioning.

Y'all.

I barely have any hair in my tangle teezer! I'm so excited!! After I rinse this out, I'll put twists in. Adding castor oil to my twists has done wonders for my ends staying moisturized. Can't wait to see what 2018 brings.

Question: for those who are using preservatives, should I add it to my green tea rinse? I keep it in the fridge but I don't want to take any chances.

Edited to add: Twists are in and my hair is soft. I still can't get over how few shed hairs I had.

 

[YvetteWithJoy]

@ElevatedEnergy and @Honey Bee,

I could hardly believe my eyes when I opened my WalMart bag to get out my newly-purchased hand mixer, and it was the Bella instead of the other brand. I guess the pretty red color pulled me in, I don't know. Anyhoo, it performed well and was very light to hold. I'm glad I got it.

 

[Colocha]

I need to stay out of here until I can try the henna shea butter. I almost bought a ton of powders, then a bunch of teas. Trying to do this one step at a time but I'm so impatient.
When do we post starting pics and stuff again by the way? January?

 

[Saludable84]

I use optiphen regularly. I’ve thought about using plus, but the only real plus is being able to readily use versus waiting for your item to cool. So if you use it right away and your batch turns out wrong or needs tweaking, you’ve wasted preservative. It’s also twice the price.

Further, considering I’ve used optiphen and used products from vendors that use it and never had an issue, optiphen plus seems like something more suited for specific items.

 

[YvetteWithJoy]

I need to stay out of here until I can try the henna shea butter. I almost bought a ton of powders, then a bunch of teas. Trying to do this one step at a time but I'm so impatient.
When do we post starting pics and stuff again by the way? January?

I feel you! I am trying very hard to baby step and go slowly. I don't want to change too many things in my regimen at one time. I'm tempted all the time to make a DC, but then I'd be trialing too many DIYs at a time.

--------

Feel free to post a photo anytime! We love looking at hair!

However, I'm going to create a reminder post (tagging everyone) around December 20th that reminds everyone to take a January 1st length check photo. The photo can be taken a few days before or after January 1st. If natural, there is no need to blow dry or flat iron, but folks can if they like!

The purpose of the photo is to function as a "BEFORE" photo. We will take an "AFTER" photo around March 31st. Posting your length check photo is optional (no pressure). But for the "BEFORE" photo, hopefully everyone will at least post to the thread a description of their hair and length, what they hope to see in 3 months, etc.

 

[ElevatedEnergy]

@ElevatedEnergy and @Honey Bee,

I could hardly believe my eyes when I opened my WalMart bag to get out my newly-purchased hand mixer, and it was the Bella instead of the other brand. I guess the pretty red color pulled me in, I don't know. Anyhoo, it performed well and was very light to hold. I'm glad I got it.

LOL!

Ain't she so pretty and shiny though? I used it again today in my soap making adventures. She blended my mixture beautifully!

 

[YvetteWithJoy]

Review:
CurlyProverbz DIY Detangler #1 (see video below)​

• Will I make this again?: No.
  Instead, I will use a very slippery RO conditioner, a dedicated detangler, or re-wet DC.​
• Performance: 3, maybe?
  For me, I need creamy-textured material to detangle with. This detangler was thus, FOR ME, not nearly as good as your typical RO conditioner or dedicated detangler, such as Soultanicals Hair Glide.​
• Ease of making: 4 . . .
  . . . on a scale from 0 (very little effort) to 10 (complicated and long and patience-testing). Requires heating, stirring, and straining.
• Ingredients:
  • water,
  • marshmallow root powder,
  • slippery elm powder,
  • aloe Vera juice,
  • olive oil, and
  • an essential oil of your choice (optional)
• Scent: 5
  Depends on whether you add any essential oils, so this is under the DIYer's control. Before essential oils, it smells like marshmallow root powder and slippery elm powder: Not great, but easily bearable.

 

[Saludable84]

This picture is my length check shirt showing where my waist is (11)


And this picture is where my hair is touching between 11 and 12


Sorry if the pictures are dark. The way con ed is set up, lights don’t have bulbs in here.

 

[YvetteWithJoy]

Hi, all!

I was debating whether to (1) simply change the title of this thread to include the year "2018" in it or (2) create a whole new thread for 2018. I think I will go ahead and create a new thread with a link to this thread in the opening post.

I will make the new thread on December 15th unless you all just want to keep this thread going with a simple title change. LET ME KNOW!

In the original post of the new thread, I will also include links to the other LHCF ayurvedic hair care threads so that we can easily check those for the great information, knowledge, recipes, tips, and reviews they contain.​

SURVEY QUESTION:
What types of MINI-CHALLENGES would you like to see next year? Thanks in advance for your ideas, musings, and suggestions! Please don't censor yourself: Just throw out ideas, whether half-baked or not! TIA!

 

[YvetteWithJoy]

This picture is my length check shirt showing where my waist is (11)
View attachment 418051

And this picture is where my hair is touching between 11 and 12
View attachment 418049

Sorry if the pictures are dark. The way con ed is set up, lights don’t have bulbs in here.

Nice length, ma'am!!!

*my hair looks and says, "Can I be like Saludable84's hair when I grow up?"*

 

[YvetteWithJoy]

This picture is my length check shirt showing where my waist is (11)
View attachment 418051

And this picture is where my hair is touching between 11 and 12
View attachment 418049

Sorry if the pictures are dark. The way con ed is set up, lights don’t have bulbs in here.

@ElevatedEnergy, you seeing this?

ETA: I knew she had a lot of hair, but goodness! I was trying to follow everybody in the Hip/Tailbone thread, but I must have missed hers. You guys give me so much faith that I can master my natural hair.