September 2015: Hits & Misses

Renpure cleansing conditioner and Argan oil conditioner. Great cleansers and moisturizing conditioner. Plus the cleansers were B1G1 free and the huge bottle of conditioner was $7.99 at Walgreens. Went to 2 stores and cleared the shelves.
 
Hits:
Joico Kpak deep penetrating reconstructor :2inlove:
Grapeseed oil (specifically Napa Valley brand)
Keracare Hydrating Detangling poo
Qhemet AOHC
Roux Porosity Control conditioner - has my hair feeling great again after my color phase, almost normal

Surpise hit of the month has been Mane & Tail Deep Moisturizing Conditioner. Idk if I like it better than Aussie Moist, but its up there.
 
Hits
Creme of Nature Perfect 7, 7-in-1 Leave-in Treatment - very moisturizing and better detangling after roller sets. It is also much better and cheaper than It's a 10 leave in conditioner.

Creme of Nature Gloss & Shine Polisher Styling Product - I used this when I flat ironed my hair. It definitely kept my hair from reverting while keeping it moisturized. Between this and the 7 in 1 spray I feel like flat ironing my hair on the regular now.


Macadamia Healing Oil Deep Repair Mask - I love this stuff for my DC. This mask makes my hair so soft and moisturized. The only problem is that I've run out and I am not about to buy more especially from ebay/amazon where there are a load of fake products on there. I did find it at Marshalls and TJ Maxx for $19.99 but I took it back. I really don't need any more deep conditioners when I have brand new jars of Mixed Chicks and Silk Elements Olive Oil conditioners laying around.

Drying my hair in a roller set for at least 30 minutes - my roller set dries smoother probably because it is completely dry when I unroll it.

Using apple cider vinegar in my rinse water. I use 1 cap of ACV in my final rinse of cold water and I don't wash or rinse it out. I find that I have less tangles this way.

Oiling my hair every night with a different oil - is working to make my hair feel softer and healthier. I like only using one oil because I feel that it is more concentrated than and oil mix therefore I reap all the benefits that the oil has to offer. So far it's been working pretty good.

Using the denman brush - on my dry moisturized/oiled hair to smooth it out and detangle.

Moisturizing my hair before combing or brushing - has been keeping damage/breakage to a minimum.

Going to JC Penny Salon for my trim - I desperately needed a trim so I decided to go to Jc Penny's Salon to have a stylist do it instead of *@#$% it up myself. I was pleased with how the stylist trimmed my hair but JCP is just too dern expensive. I could have gone to the Dominicans for half the cost.:angry2: :nono:

Shea Moisture Moisture Retention Shampoo - This is the only product of theirs that I will use now. I works fine and my curls are usually poppin after I wash and DC so I'll keep this in rotation with the Kerecare Hydration Detangling Shampoo that I use. I'm getting to be pretty cheap when it comes to buying my hair products so now I will try to buy my products only when they are on sale.

Misses
Sort of a Miss - Hair Chemist Macadamia Oil Deep Repair Mask(Sally's) - I tried this last night. It went on feeling good but after I unrolled my hair it didn't feel great just ok. I was hoping that this would replace the Macadamia Healing Oil Mask but at $3.00 a sample pack I don't think I will try this again until I run out of my other DC that I have.
 
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New Hit - “The Scalp Exfoliation: Before and After" thread. Thank you @g.lo
https://www.longhaircareforum.com/threads/scalp-exfoliation-before-and-after.769109/

Forever Hits-
Sheamoisture Argan, Baby, Raw Shea, Red Tea & Babassu or Lemongrass & Ginger bar soaps used as shampoo. They're huge (8oz), have a creamy lather, extremely moisturizing (superfatted), and cheap.
Qhemet Biologics Cocoa Tree Detangling Ghee
Neem (seed or leaf) oil - It smells like a bag of onions & garlic left in a car during a 3-day heat wave. My scalp & hair love it.
Neem soap - Faint scent; gentle on skin & hair.
Shea butter - prevents tangles, softens, adds sheen & weight to hair, seals in moisture.

Discontinued Hits - LUSH Snake Oil scalp treatment bar. It smells like old school pine tar soap & lavender. LUSH replaced this with (IMHO subpar) Superbalm.
I have one and a half bars of Snake Oil left.
LUSH Soak-n-Float original formula shampoo bar. It smells like extra dark Haitian or Jamaican black castor oil. LUSH reformulated it.
Used together they instantly soothe scalp itch, irritation & exfoliate. You apply Snake Oil to the scalp, leave-in for 30 minutes & wash with Soak-n-Float. It will be a sad day when I run out.:cry3:

Miss - Paul Mitchell Light Detangler. This was great for roller sets, twists, braids & heat styling. Now it causes matts & leaves a sticky film on my hair. All 16.9 oz went down the drain.
 
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Hit AND Miss: My Bradelocs. I loved them so much, but I had too much bad energy going on. Plus, I really wasn't caring for them they way I should have been doing. They really enabled my hair laziness :lachen:
 
On The Fence: cwk sss plates.

I really wanted this to be a super hit and it kind of was for the length of my hair. The straight plates are like an inch shorter than most of my hair so the ends of my hair suffered from ssks even after me twisting the left over pieces. I even tried folding my hair under the plates and using my roller clips to hold them to the plate (saw this on yt), but some parts of my hair aren't long enough for this to work.

The length of my hair was crazy soft and smooth and stayed that way for the 3weeks I kept my twists in, but my ends made me want to :pullhair:...

So then I tried the rollers, but they stick outward so it was a little awkward. They were easier than actual rollers to install, but I have varying lengths around my head so that was another headache. I'm going to keep using them and see how I can make them work for my ends.

I think ultimately I'll end up buying the spiral rods because those look like the easiest ones for me to manage since they point downwards, and would be the easiest on my fragile ends. Now if only they made a barrel size...

So why not just use flexirods or learn to rollerset? Because those root plates are a MEGA-HIT. They're like the best alternative to hair ties to stretch out my roots. They don't snag my hair and they don't pull at my scalp tightly either. Love em.
 
Miss: Coloring my hair, it's rough/straw like plus it didn't turn out right

Hit: Daily moisturizing with water, HQS greaseless moisture and SSI green tea hair milk.
 
Hits:

- (Initially) Keracare Humecto. I've only used it once but my hair is softer and more moisturized than it's been in a long time. I really like this. I might use it a couple more times then stash the rest of it for after my relaxer/to correct conditioners that don't work so well.

- Oiling before shampooing - I can shampoo again without drying my hair out. Good stuff :)

- The scalp exfoliation thread

Continued hits:

- Steaming

- Shea Moisture Kids Detangler

- Oiling with essential oils

Meh/ok:

- Silicon Mix Bambu - not bad but not excellent either. It was just ok

- GVP Conditioning Balm - same as Silicon Mix

- Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat as a deep conditioner - I like it better as a rinse out

- Pantene Beautiful Lengths as a deep conditioner - like it better as a rinse out

Miss:

- Shea Moisture Yucca and Plantain Anti-Breakage Mask. I really wanted this to continue to be a hit because they have sales so often and it's easy for me to get but no... It dreaded my freshly relaxed hair :( It's ok though because that KeraCare is the business and has lived up to it's hype so far :)
 
Revisited Hit:
Gold N' Hot Conditioning Heat Cap. I bought a new cap and used it today when my steamer sprung a leak. worked great and I napped the whole time I DCed.

New Hit, Instant Holy Grail:
GVP Matrix Biolage Conditioning Balm. This ish right here, This ish right here... I applied this after doing a protein treatment, color, and shampoo. The thick balm immediately smoothed my hair and made it super slippery. I knew within seconds that it would be great. In my excitement I applied too much. I DCed with it under the Gold N Hot cap for a couple hours while I napped. When I woke up and styled my hair in a wash and go, the excess product that hadn't absorbed, dried clear with my DIY grease and Ecostyler gel. This product is an instant Holy Grail and could even replace my beloved ITDF Intense Moisture Cream. But it wont. I will probably just buy less of ITDF and use one or the other each wash day until I feel confident that it works equal to ITDF.

Hit I tested for 6 weeks, Holy Grail:
Coconut Oil spray as a prepoo. I thought I didn't like coconut oil, but had good luck with fractionated coconut oil. In my desire to manipulate my hair less (and laziness) I bought a Misto to spray my oil on. The Misto took too much effort to pump before spraying. So I bought some coconut cooking spray at Walmart to try instead (Cookwell). I spray it on thoroughly the night before I wash and I've had results equal to that of when I used oil out of the bottle. But, I don't overdo it and get a greasy neck. Win.
 
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MAJOR MISS
-Lottabody foam mousse with Shea and coconut oil. My gawd. Ruined a perfectly good curlformer set. Ruined! My hair became crispety crunchy HAY! Ends breaking and tangled to high heaven. I ended up having to give myself a much needed trim (basically just cutting all the tiny snarls). Ugh.

MISS
-My realization that I can't find any of my shampoo. How do you lose all of your shampoo???


HIT
-These bantu knots/knot outs. Yasss! Easy to do, let's me workout (in the knots) and take them down to a super cute style afterwards.
 
Hit : Suave Almond Shea conditioner
Roots of nature Deep Con
ORS curl boosting jelly

Miss : Phytospecific shampoo for damaged hair
SheaM coconut curl soufflé . It makes my Hair dry and crunchy . Ugh.
 
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