July 2017: Hits & Misses

Yezzz! Now I am going to go back and examine all the ingredients of the products I used on wash day to see what is common. I prepooed with coconut oil, shampooed with SM lo po shampoo, lo po condish for rinse out, Mielle Organics DC and the shea moisture combo.

Those products have great ingredients, IMO. None of them have a prohibitive smell, I'm thinking: They have strong smells, but the ones that get rinsed out have scents coverable by the stylers, right? I like the way the SM soufflé gel smells!
 
Major miss: attempting a wNg with Hairveda Whipped Clouds and Gellious hydrating Moisture gel. What a mess. I looked like Buckwheat.

HIT: Devacurl Beleavin' Gel on top of CRN Coconut Water Style Setter (why has this been gathering dust in my closet for months????) for a beautiful wNg using CRN Curlmaker on the stubborn front part of my hair. My hair looks really nice and curly (for a change!).

Hit: DIY Devacurl cut. Who knew I had it in me?:yep:
 
So my hits so far:

- Cassia/henna glosses

- Using Ouidad Melt Down hair masks after a cassia/henna treatment. My hair feels so soft, smells great and I can't keep my hands out of my hair. This is definitely one of a few I will stockpile when I can find sales like the BOGO I purchased my last two.

- Homemade tea rinse mix
 
Hits
- Design Essentials Natural Almond and Avocado Defining Creme Gel: this works so well for twist outs in conjunction with my HG moisturizer, the Daily Moisturizing Lotion from this line. It gave awesome definition and moisture without being crunchy. The smell is ok, like a light fake vanilla frosting scent, but it dissipates once the hair dries.

- Eden Bodyworks Jojoba and Monoi Natural Deep Conditioner: I don't know why I was sleeping on this product for so long, but I finally decided to pick it up, and it was so moisturizing and softening to my hair! As soon as I applied it to my hair, my hair was softened and moist. The slip is ok, but I don't really seek slip in deep conditioners, since I use rinse out conditioners to detangle. A little goes a long way because it's so thick, but the one downside to this product is the smell. It kinda smells like Raid roach spray to me, but the smell doesn't linger once you rinse it out of your hair.

- Tresemme Botanique Curl Hydration Conditioner: the slip on this is BANANAS!! I could detangle my hair with my fingers as soon as I applied it. It smells amazing too, like sweet hibiscus, plus my hair felt soft and moisturized once I rinsed it out.

On the Fence
- Design Essentials Natural Almond and Avocado Curl Stretching Creme: This product actually works well for me, but I HATE the smell!! It has a similar vanilla smell as the Defining Creme Gel, but it's much stronger and chemically. It also lingers as well too, which is a no go for me. It is a good product for retwisting my hair throughout the week, however I might switch to the curling cream from this line because the smell is much better (it has the same fruity smell as the Daily Moisturizing Lotion), however the ingredients aren't that great.

- Dominican Magic Defining Gel: I used this for a wash and go, and like that it gave my hair good definition, some elongation, and doesn't dry crunchy. It can get a little flaky though, so I'm not sure if I'll repurchase again. I'm on the hunt for the best gel for a wash and go so I'll be trying something else once I finish this.

- Novex My Curls Deep Conditioner: When I first used this a few weeks ago, it was a miss for me, however I used it 2 days ago to cowash my hair, and it worked a lot better. This time I used it on my hair that was still wet before towel drying, as opposed to last time when I used it on towel dried hair, and it gave me great slip. Come to find out, when I looked at the back of the jar, it said to apply to wet hair. Sometimes you have to follow the specific instructions to a T for a product to work correctly. The moisture was okay for me, but I did really enjoy how easy it was to detangle with this product with only my fingers. I will use the rest up, but probably won't repurchase, since I have a couple of other deep conditioners to try out.

Misses
- Eco Styler Jamaican Castor Oil and Flaxseed Gel: I know everyone has been raving about this recently, however this is a no for me. I used this on one section of my hair for a wash and go, and it did not give me good elongation or definition. The Dominican Magic gel worked better for me, despite the flakes. It also doesn't have a strong hold, because I used it to slick my hair up for a puff and it doesn't work as well as other Eco Styler gels, like the Coconut Oil gel. I'll finish the rest, but definitely not repurchasing.
 
Miss: 2nd day hair with CRN

HIT: Using Joico Moisture Recovery Condish as a leave in under Ecostyler Krystal. Dot Hamn if this combo didn't give me the best definition this week! And it dried quick too, in about 2 hours instead of...8...or more....

HIT: Kenra Moisturizing condish. Wanted to hate it so bad so I could return it, but babyyyyyyy....in the shower...my hair was like a porn star.

HIT: Macadamia Deep Masque treatment. Got some samples from Sally and that was all it took. Made my hair feel so soft and moisturized.

ON the Fence: Macadamia Professional Ultra Rich Moisturizing condish. Didn't love it, didn't hate. Willing to give it another go.

HIT: DIY Devacut. Curls/coils be popping and I saved a ton of money (to spend on some more products....sigh!).
 
Super Hit: Madam CJ Walker curl whip styling soufflé. Soft, moisturized and beautifully defined hair. I tried it last month for a wash n go and it was fine, nothing to write home about, decent second day hair. But my twist out today...probably one of the best I've ever had. Ever. As the day went on, I didn't lose definition even after sleeping with it loose under a bonnet and dealing with extreme humidity. Guess I'll go ahead and add a full size to my Sephora cart. I want to try some of their other products too.
 
@Saludable84 @rileypak @AgeinATL @YvetteWithJoy

So, I picked up the Cantu RR based on a review from @rileypak (Thanks Gurl:kiss:)

As I mentioned up thread, I've used others, from handmade naturals vendors.

I liked it. Since I've never used it before, (I used it during my cleansing process - in case something went awry).

The other products I used as a Final R/O after DC'ing (Hairveda, Koils By Nature, BlueRoze Beauty).

I think I also read where someone said Cantu ACV Rinse made their hard hard, dry and/or tangle?

I did grab a couple more bottles in case the start playing around with the price or ingredients.:look:

Oh Yeah: I will use it a few more times before I declare it a full-fledged HIT.
 
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Oh ok! I was like uhhh the Root Rinse is supposed to be cleansing I thought. I wouldn't use this as a final rinse. This is definitely a product to use before conditioner.
@rileypak
Yeah, No - I was referring to Hairveda's, Koils By Nature and BlueRoze which were/are Final R/O's or Phinishing Rinses.

Nah....I don't trust Cantu all like that. :nono2: Unless one of ya'll speak on it.:giggle:
 
@rileypak
Yeah, No - I was referring to Hairveda's, Koils By Nature and BlueRoze which were/are Final R/O's or Phinishing Rinses.

Nah....I don't trust Cantu all like that. :nono2: Unless one of ya'll speak on it.:giggle:

@rileypak this is the first cantu product I've ever used and purchased. Since Riley uses Pona and spoke highly of this I decided to try, otherwise, cantu is not on a wish list.
 
Hit:

Cremo shower mirror. Does it's job. If I place it on the floor for a minute before I get in the shower, it won't fog at all. If I wait until I get in the shower and hold it under for a minute, I usually have to do that a couple of times. It's not annoying, but when I change water temps to wash my face, I expect for the changes to bother the shower mirror.
 
Update on AVJ:

I like it, in moderation. I will proably use this maybe on washday and maybe 1 or 2x in between. I used it everyday and I think I reached the level where it began to feel like protein. I stand by what I said last week about it sealing cuticles.

New hit: Flaxseed gel. I dunno if this makes a difference or maybe my hair thats different, but i decided to use golden flaxseeds and it was a nice moisturizing hold. Didnt feel protein-y like how I remember the last time when I used regular brown flax.
 
Latest Hits:

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I grabbed this on a whim to take with me on vacation, because I knew I wanted to wear my hair in a slick bun but didn't want to make flax seed gel. I'm on day 3 with this and my hair still has a soft touchable hold. Plus it instantly relieved the pain from a minor sunburn on my shoulder.

2nd Hit:
Slap cap. I take my bun down at night, then do a very loose Bantu knot in the back and sleep in the slap cap. When I wake up, my hair is still "set" and all I have to do is redo the bun. No moisture loss so no need to reapply any products or water. I've already ordered 2 more.

3rd hit:
Silk Scrunchies from Pretti Antionetts. They are extra large so they do a wonderful job of holding my bun in place without the need for Bobbi pins. I also no longer get tension headaches from wearing buns since I've been using them.
 
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