soulae

What we think about Silk Elements

Here’s something I’ve found that works wonders on natural hair.  It’s called Leave-In  Hair Moisturizing Cream by Silk Elements.  It works like a conditioner and leaves your hair feeling soft and for natural hair it holds the curls.  It also works like a hair oil but doesn’t leave your hair greasy.

Silk Elements  Leave-In Hair Moisturizing Cream really does a great job of holding your curls in place and keep the “frizzes” away, which can be pretty common when wearing natural hair styles. 

You can use this product on wet or dry hair, and according to the directions it works well on chemically treated styles as well, to protect the hair from “thermal” styling.  There is no brassy or overwhelming sent to Silk Elements products.  Not only is the leave-in hair moisturizing cream light weight on the hair, it’s light to the nose too

You will be able to find this product and all other Silk Elements products in Sally’s Beauty supply www.sallybeauty.com  for about $5.00.  It may also be found in other drug and beauty supply stores as well. 

I like the whole line of Silk Elements products from the shampoos to conditioning treatments and they all are in the same price range from $3.00 - $5.00 and they leave the hair feeling well,  like silk.

Triple Moisture: A new Product from Garnier

Can I say, not what I was expecting? I found this product in my local dollar store for $3 and purchased both the shampoo and conditioner. Since the label promised triple nutrition I decided to give it a try that night. My first impression was not good at all. The shampoo left my hair feeling waxy, and the conditioner did nothing at all for me. I tend to lean towards conditioners that are heavier and give me that certain softness to my hair, this did none of that. 

I am a garnier user, my regular hair reggie includes:

• Deep Condition with Garnier Fructis Sleek and Shine Fortifying Deep Conditioner. Since I am on a strictly no heat reggie, I make sure that my DC/EVOO mix is covering my hair, then I plastic cap it, and go about my chores for the day. I leave it in for anywhere between 45 mins - 4 hours(I know but sometimes things happen). Once I feel that my hair has had enough conditioner, I rinse and shampoo.
• Shampoo with with Garnier Triple Nutrition. This is new to my regimen, I just decided to try this out because it looked great. Triple Nutrition contains three essential oils, Olive, Avocado, and Shea. These are three products that I use seperately in my hair anyway so why not us a product that says it contains all three. 
• Condition with Garnier Triple Nutrition. Again, this is another newbie to my hair reggie and it is worth it. 
• Once I have conditioned I add my essential mixutre of oils before I dry m hair at all, this way I can seal in as much moisture as possible. Like said before I have always been a Garnier junkie. My initial love with Garnier products started with the Moisture Works line which really helped to cut back on the dryness of my hair. As I have mentioned many times in other posts, I suffer from desert hair (I know, it's like the sahara!), so when I am searching for new products there are things it must have and promises it must make before it can come home with me. 

Anyway, I decided to give the GTN another try and re-worked my regimen to see if I could achieve better results the second time around. Instead of conditioning first with the GTN, I decided to shampoo and then Deep Condition with the GTN Conditioner. The results were fantastic, my hair has never been as soft and easy to manage. I was able to finger comb my hair and did not have to use as much oil and moisturiser as I normally do to achieve some semblance of decent hair. 

My curls were more defined and my hair smelled great, needless to say three weeks later I am still using this as part of my weekly reggie and love the results. I havehad to switch up to try new products and have even ventured back to my GMW, but still I must say that the Triple Nutrition gets my vote of approval. This one is a keeper!

Pantene Nature Fusion: Moisture Balance

Nature Fusion Moisture Balance by Pantene is one of their newest products geared towards african american women. It intrigued me because it boats the ability to make your hair stronger and protect it from damage within 14 days. Just so you understand, I am a sista that conditions on a daily basis. My hair routine only calls for shampooing on a weekly basis or as needed. Recently, I have been looking for a gentle shampoo that I can use daily or every other day to help keep the pores in my scalp from getting clogged since I tend to use a lot of oils. 

In other posts I have shared that I am naturally nappy (and happy) and I suffer from extreme dryness. This means that any product I use needs to meet certain standards, the most important of which is extreme moisture retention. I hate to have that "I just washed my hair and it is soo freakin dry it sounds like a paper bag" feeling, similar to the one that I got with Aveeno. When I get that feeling I just pass off the product to someone else I know. I am a firm believer in not wasting anything; and who knows, what does not work for me may be just what the hair doctor ordered for the next person. 

Here are the ingredients that Pantene has highlighted in their new product. I took the time to do my own sort of research on them so I could share with you the benefits (if any):

• Cassia also referred to as Senna,  is an herb that can either be mixed as a powder or applied as an oil. It is most commonly used by women to add moisture and an additional coloring agent when using henna. It can be used as a conditioning agent on its own or when added to your usual mix.
• Calendula has many healing properties, it also has a fragrence and it commonly used in mens cologne. It can be used as an anti-inflametory agent or to stimulate blood flow. Ithas aslo helped with healing scars, burns and infections. When used frequently over time it can provide natural shine and anti thinning assistance. 
• Ginger is useful in controlling dandruff and can be used as a growth agent. Ginger is considered one of the most powerful herbs in Ayurveda. With its potent stimulating properties, ginger increasesthe blood circulation to the scalp which can result in faster-growing hair. 
• Aloe Vera as with the rest of the ingredients, is a hair strengthener. It can be used by itself and applied directly to the scalp to decrease breakage, stop dandruff and make the hair shiny. Aloe vera is also a key essential in any Ayurvedic regemine and helps to control hair loss. 

So if this is what you are looking for I would suggest that you un out and grab yourself both the shampoo and conditioner, give them a try and post your comments. We would love to know what you think. As for me, I passed this to my mom, the fragrance was too much for me! I will stick with my normal products for now. 

For more information you can check out a couple of these sites:

Black Hair Planet

http://www.ayurvediccure.com/

Black Hair Media

http://www.ayurbalance.com/beauty_haircare.htm

Next up: Mizani Coconut Souffle, Butter Rich and Gloss Veil. 

Aveeno Shampoo and Conditioner

I decided to give this product a try because they were offering a free trial by mail. Keep in mind that I am a naturally nappy and loving it. At the moment my regemine is not strictly adhered to at the moment b/c I am still in the process of trying out new products. The first thing I must say is that I am not a fan of fragrance, so immediately Aveeno recieved two thumbs down. The fragrance was really heavy and reminded my of my grandmothers perfume, not something I want to spend my days smelling like.  

My kinks are very, very dry so I need products that promise moisture with a capital "M". There was no noticable difference in the before and after wash with my hair. My hair still felt dry and brittle, so again there was a minus sign checked off my list. Daily wash is essential for me because of the dryness of my hair and the amount of oil that I use to ensure non itchy scalp during the day, so this is something that I would not recommend for daily wash. 

I would suggest that you try this product for yourself, who knows it may be just what you need to give your hair that extra umph you've been looking for!

Next up on the chopping block, Pantene Nature Fusion

A Dyva's Travel Hair Case

So we start off with a question about travel. What do you take along with you to care for your hair while you are away and how do you pack? My recent trip for Independence Day this year prompted my need to come up with a travel “hair care” plan.

I have been natural for about four months now and just recently began to wear my hair out on a daily basis. Before that I was all about Lace Fronts and Braids to keep my transitioning hair protected from “THE ELEMENTS” (meaning me).

The last time I travelled my hair was in a lace front and all I had to do was pack my normal tools, flat-iron, serum, comb, glue, tape and brush. Now that I am rocking the natural I had to actually stop and think about what to pack for my vacation. It took some careful planning and consideration for me to figure out what to take with me to the Lake. I knew that swimming would be involved, as well as exercise and other activities that would have me sweating up a storm.  I knew that consolidating my regular products into easy, travel ready packaging would also be a task. These are the essentials that made the final cut: 

·         Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

Coconut Oil

·         Neutrogena Triple Moisture Daily Deep Conditioner

·         Silk Cap

 Now this list is a really condensed list of what I would normally use on a daily to weekly basis. After my trip I did make note that I would need to do a little “tweaking” for the next trip but all-in-all this one was a success. I was in the process of laying off combing and brushing for a while to give my hair a break because I can tend to get a little brush happy since I like how my Denman makes my curls “pop”.

 Here are a couple of things I should have taken to beat the heat and combat “pool” hair:

 Shower Comb

·         Johnson and Johnson Baby Shampoo (I prefer this because it is easier on my hair and works well at getting out all the dirt and oils)

·         Moisturizer, something like my Elasta QP Moisturizer would have worked.

·         Leave-in Conditioner, I am using the Garnier leave-in but I am still searching my local drug stores for the NTM Leave-in. They are always sold out and my BSS does not carry it.

One of the things that I had invested in a while ago where travel sized spray-bottles, these came in handy when mixing and packing my necessary hair items. I was able to find these in the travel section at the Wal-Mart and got them all for really cheap, something like .50 per bottle.

Ladies, what do you pack when you are heading away from home? What type of preparations do you make for your hair?  Leave me comments and let me know what you think about this post!