U R Curly Gel Review, Loose and Tight curl formulas

Day 2 hair with moisturizer showing

As you may already know, I have tighty curled kinky hair. But I was able to try both products with great results. I have to say that I actually love this product. To describe these products to you, I will say it is a curl activator without the stickiness and harsh perfume smell. Both products have a pleasant floral fragrance, to me. I used the loose curl product a few times, as well as the tight curl. The reason I purchased the loose curl formula is because the tight curl formula was sold out. 

The only real differences I noticed in using the product is that the tight curl formula is a tad bit thicker. Not much though. The ingredients are a little different, as you can see below. 

Directions to apply these formulas are the same. I do believe that you must have a curl pattern for this product to work. It also does not offer much hold. Though it did whip back in shape the next day. On the sections that needed a little work, I added more and I was back in business. I have soft fluffy (a little frizz but I love playing in my hair) movable curls. 

On left is the Tight curl Formula and on the right is the loose formula

My hair LOVES glycerin which is why I think my hair responded so well to this product. It does have protein in both products but its far enough down in the ingredient list that it did not aggravate my scalp. 

The only issue that I did have with this product is that it leaves my hair looking a little dull. I have great moisture but I did need some oil for a lil sheen. 

Both products are 9.99 and at Walmart. I LOVE that I can find it locally. I believe that its 8 ozs of product. I dont have to product nearby. 

Below are the ingredients and directions, I may try the conditioner soon. It does have castor oil in it, though. Not CG friendly. We will see. 

Directions: After hair has been shampooed and conditioned thoroughly, detangle your tresses, toweling it dry but leaving the hair damp. Depending on your hair type, apply a moderate amount of our curl enhancer to your hair, starting at the scalp and smoothing to your ends. Style as you desire. To keep hair moisturized and curls defined, use this product daily to help your curls retain their curl memory.

Ingredients: Artesian Water, Glycerin, PPG-5 Ceteth-20, Polysorbate 20, VP/Dimethylaminoethylmethacrylate Copolymer Carbomer, Triethanolamine, DMDM Hydantoin, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein PG Silanetriol, Fragrance, Crambe Abyssinica Seed Oil (Abyssinian Oil), Aloe Extract, Honey Extract, IodopropynylButylcarbamate

Loose Curl Enhancer gel activator.

Ingredients: Artesian Water, Glycerin, PPG-5 Ceteth-20, Polysorbate 20, Carbomer, Triethanolamine, DMDM Hydantoin, Fragrance, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein PG Silanetriol, Crambe Abyssinica Seed Oil (Abyssinian Oil), Panthenol (Provitamin B5), Echinaecea Extract, IodopropynylButylcarbamate

Gurl, so what's up with you

Artwork by Nidhi Chanani

Nothing much as of yet. I am just enjoying time with the family. I did decide to go back to school next month rather than September. I was getting bored. I will be going back to school to get my Master's in Mental Health Counseling. I am pretty excited. I purchased all my books and ready to go for the most part. I am ready to go back to school but not soo much ready to write papers. 


My doctor has me in an orthopedic boot. I dont know if that is the correct word for it but he has me walking around looking like robo cop. My MRI results came back saying that I have rheumatoid arthritis, excessive fluid buildup and that my ankle is not fully healing from all the breaks, sprains, and bruising. I have to wear this boot for a month to see if the stability will help. If not, I will have to go in for surgery. No fun, right??


A few months ago, I had a high blood pressure scare. My blood pressure was in the stroke zone. My doctor put me on a diuretic. It did nothing. So he had to put me on a some medicine to help lowing my levels. After being on it for a month, it dropped my pressure too low. So low that I was driving one day and had to pull over because I felt that I was going to pass out. Then he told me to take half a pill everyday. My pressure was still too low still. So now I take half a pill every other day and maintain perfect levels at about 120/80


With your BP, 200 is the magic number. That is combining the top and bottom numbers. When I went in with my BP at its high I was at 170/109.  At my lowest I was at 70/79.


My doctor thinks that part of my issue was stress induced. I went in for a check up around the time I found out that my husband will be deploying again soon. Talk about the stress. These numbers really scared me. So I changed my eating habits. I tried to exercise for a while but I will have to do some pool time for now.


I try to eat fresh and light. I do have days where I dont do so well but for the most part I have really improved. I do not eat at fast food restaurants anymore. Well I will go to subway for a Veggie sub and to my favorite coffee shop for a chicken wrap but that is about it. I have been doing this since February. A few of you know that I added Green smoothies to my diet, as well. I am even working on recipe alternatives for my favorite fatty meals. I am doing very well. I even lost weight. Thats even better. I wasnt doing it for the weight in the beginning but losing weight is now part of my healthy living goals. 


Well anyway. Ta-ta for now. Hope you have a great day. I have to go run some errands before lunch. I have a date with my hunny.

My May CurlKit Review

This month's Curlkit review is quite simple. I actually LOVED that I was able to get full size samples this month. It also had an international theme which featured products from all over the world. That was wonderful. This month's contents are listed below and my thoughts on each. I used all but one product so far. 

 May's CurlKit

- Sofn'Free Nothing But Curl Sealer -FULL SIZE


Even though I use the CG method on my hair, I decided to use this product. This product does have silicons. When I applied this product it was very moisturizing but when it dried you could feel the silicon cast that was left on your hair. I dont know if that is because I havent used heavy silicons in about a year but I didnt not like the waxy feeling that it left on my hair. 

- Sofn'Free Nothing But Curl Wake Up Spray - FULL SIZE


Despite not liking most on this line, I love this spray. It is a high glyercin based product. It is the second ingredient, water being the first. My hair LOVES glyercin, always have. Though you really shouldnt use a lot. HAHA!!! I made this mistake this weekend. I used it like I would use the kinky Curly curl mist and my hair was drinking up all the moisture in the area. Dont think I left any for anyone else. So much so, that I had to pin my hair up. My hair was getting too much moisture (not too bad of a thing right) and my curls were getting bigger and bigger. They were to the point of being untaming. I cant lie, it was moist and had a great shine. Just cant use too much.

-  Curly Canadians Hair Love (butter) - 


This is product was OK. I didnt love it and I didnt hate it. I used all of the product but it was very gritty. It was your typical shea butter mixture. It was a great sealant and added a lot of shine to my hair I just didnt like the grittiness of it. 

- Bee Mine Juicy (spray)-


This product did what it was intended to do but it had no wow factor for me. I used all of the product but it will be one of those products that I can easily forget. 



- Curl Prep Sweet Buttah  - 


This creamy butter, I actually liked. I didnt love but I did like. Sometimes products take more than a few uses to determine it was a product can be added to the rotation. I believe this was one of them. It was thick but not too thick and the smell was very pleasant. A great product to try out but not something that I would probably use again. 

- Curly Hair Solutions Curl Keeper-


EHHHH, I dont even remember what this product was like. I guess that could say a lot about the product. 

- KYNX I am Fierce Refreshing Leave In Conditioner- 2 sample packets


I did not like this product, at all. It made my hair feel like wire or hay. I had to wash it out. My hair was hard and it actually tangled my hair.



- 1 and Only Argan Oil Moisture Repair Conditioner- 


I have not tried this product yet because it does have a silicone in it. I will use it as a pre-poo for a shampoo clarifying day. I will then share my thoughts of this product. 

Dare to Be Different

This morning I received this message and I thought I would share. 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being different though all may not accept your differences but remember some of the most sucessful people in the world dared to be different. 

Dare to Be Different!

by Joyce Meyer

Are you tired of playing games, wearing masks or trying to be someone other than yourself? Wouldn't you like the freedom to just be accepted for who you are, without the pressure to be someone you really don't know how to be? Would you like to learn how to embrace your uniqueness and resist the pull to be like everyone else?

God knew what He was doing when He made you. You are a unique individual—God created you the way you are! It's time that we dare to accept ourselves as different and stop being insecure about who we are. 

Be Courageous

If you're going to overcome insecurities and be the person God's called you to be, you must have the courage to be different. Unhappiness and frustration happen when we reject our uniqueness and try to be like each other. If you're going to be successful at being completely you, then you're going to have to take a chance on not being like everyone else. You must ask yourself, Am I a people pleaser or a God pleaser?

Who Decides Your Worth?

Becoming a people pleaser is one of the easiest things we can do...but it can ultimately make us very unhappy. When we begin pleasing others, we begin to hear comments that make us feel good about ourselves. That's okay as long as we don't derive our sense of worth from it. People are too fickle for us to place our sense of worth in their opinions. We're worth something because God says we're worth something—not because of what people think or say about us. 

People pleasers allow others to control their lives in order to gain acceptance and approval. But God doesn't want us to be easily manipulated or controlled by others. We shouldn't let other people's opinions of us control our actions. 

Walking in Love

At the same time, we must walk in love. We can't just do anything we want, whenever we want, with total disregard for the feelings of others. We can't say, "I'm going to do this, and if you don't like it, that's tough—that's your problem!" The Bible commands us to love others, and love doesn't behave that way. However, we must not allow people to manipulate and control us to the point that we're never free to be who we are. If we do, we'll always try to become the person we think others expect us to be. 

Break Out of the Mold

The world (those we know and deal with on a daily basis who may be family, friends, people in the neighborhood or even in the church) is continually trying to conform us to its image. The word conform means "to be similar in form or character; to behave in accordance with prevailing modes or customs." Romans 12:2 says, Do not be conformed to this world (this age),…but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind…It's then that we find the good and acceptable will of God for our lives. 

People will always try to fit us into their mold, partly due to their own insecurity. It makes them feel better about what they are doing if they can get someone else to do it too. Very few people have the ability to be who they are and let everybody else be who they are. Can you imagine how nice the world would be if we would all do that? Each person would be secure in who he is and let others be who they are. We would not have to try to be imitations of each other. 

Unique for a Purpose

God wants to take us, with all our weaknesses and inabilities, and transform us, by working from the inside out, to do something powerful in this earth. If we're going to overcome insecurities and succeed at being ourselves, we can't continue to be afraid of what everybody else may think. We can't continue to allow others to fit us into their mold. We are different! We are unique! God created us this way to accomplish His purposes here on earth.

---

This article is taken from Joyce's book, I Dare You

Pooka Pure and Simple Review

Last month, I recieved 2 products from Pooka Pure and Simple in my CurlKit. 

• Shea and Olive oil Hair Butter -

This product has was just OK. This hair butter, of course, has shea butter and olive oil. It also has lavender and rosemary essential oils. I used it to seal my hair. It worked well but I am thinking that the sample size was too small (.25 oz) to really get a good idea of what it could truly do. It retails for $14 for 4 oz. In my opinion, it is a bit pricey.   I am not a huge fan of shea butter and olive oil makes my hair hard. I didnt have an issue with my hair being hard with use. If you are looking for a good natural grease and you like the those two ingredients, you may really like this pleasant smelling product. 

•  Citrus Basil Elbow Grease-

This product I LOVED. Though I didn't use it as it was intended, I loved it nevertheless. This product is intended to replace the need for vaseline. It is suggested to be used on your elbows, knees, and face which I didn't care for personally. I DID love it for my lips. I use as under my lipsticks or alone.  I love the basil smell. Will I purchase later? No. I don't believe that this item is price friendly. It retails for 10 bucks for 4 oz. 

Overall, I believe that both products are decent I just didnt care of the price vs what you get. Great product to sample. They do offer samples. The samplers are $5 and you will recieve (4) 0.25 oz of the whipped cream or butters. 

Military Spouse Appreciation Day

 I want to take the time to thank you for sharing your spouse with the world. Though you may not like sharing all the time and dread the time spent away from home, you sacrifice. This sacrifice is noticed and appreciated.  Thank you to ALL spouses and families. My virtual hugs to you!


"Behind every successful service member, is a family cheering and supporting"



Army Wives Prayer

Dear Lord, give me greatness of heart
to see the difference
between duty and his love for me.
Give me understanding that I may know,
when duty calls him, he must go.
Give me a task to do each day
to fill the time when he is away.
And Lord, when he is in a foreign land,
keep him safe in your loving hands.
And Lord, when duty is in the field,
please protect him and be his shield.
And Lord when deployment is long,
please stay with me and keep me strong.

Amen

My Experience with pre-conditioning as a curly girl

I am a mix between 1, 2, and 4. 

While reading the Curly Girl Method book, it was suggested that one would pre-condition (pre-Poo) hair before washing routine.  When I first starting the CG method, I would skip this part to save time because I am normally washing my hair on the go....Wash and go :-)! I decided to add it in my routine to see how it goes.

I do not sleep with it overnight because if I leave anything on my hair overnight, I will wake up with an irritated scalp. I usually saturate my hair while I am getting ready in the morning. This gives me about 10-30 minutes with this pre-condish. Then I wash as I normally do. 

I have to say I honestly see less frizz. My hair corkscrew curls and S-shaped locks have been even more pronounced. I am on my second week of this process and its no turning back. I LOVE it.

Recap of my hair cleansing routine. 

On weeks that I am using gel,

I pre-condish with my cheap VO5 Moisture Milks

Shampoo hair using- Dr. Bronner Castile Soap

• I switch between the peppermint (in the winter months, dont know why), Tea Tree (for those weeks that I feel like I am a bit itchy. Tea Tree is an antiseptic.) and the lavender (just because lavender is relaxing)

Then Condition and detangle using Tresemme Naturals or Hairveda's Moist 24.7

Finally, I add a little gel for hold using my KCCC or Loreal EverStyle Curl Defining Gel (Loreal has less shrinkage but can leave hair a bit crunchy if you use too much). I do use the Lets Jam Custard still but it is not my favorite. 

Even every other day I am spritzing my hair with water and seal. 

On weeks that I am not using Gels,

I always start the week off with clean Shampooed hair. The only difference, I rinse my hair daily adding a little condish for add moisture and seal. 

I do experiment with different products but I always go back to the products mentioned. They work for me and  I am realizing why change what is working. Though the PJ in me must know what is out there. If I find something that works for me I will add it in my collection and rotate once in a while. Hope that helps a little bit.

SN: I really need to find a deep conditioner I LOVE. I have not included that in my routine above because I have yet to find one that I want to add to my routine. I deep condish once a month. 

So I liked the Mixed Silk Curly Gel until....

I sprayed water in my hair to get some moisture the next day. I guess this product is a one day type of deal

For the first day, I had beautiful hair. It dried nicely but then.....

SMH!!!

I moisturized my hair, like always. I just sprayed a little of plain water in my hair and then I realized why people didnt like this product. As my hair  dried, I realized that it was forming a weird waxy feel. Unlike most gels when you saturate or wet your hair it will reactivate the gel. Not this one. It started to flake, started to tangle and gave me a film. I realized that this product loves water but when looking for a product I am not looking for this.

So this product is a no-no for me!!! I guess our hair likes what it likes and that it is hunny.

I came across a few blog/vlogs that stated the same thing happened to them with the Let's Jam Custard. My hair LOVES the Let's Jam but the Curling Gel by Mixed Silk hated my hair.

This is the reason that I tell everyone, "what may work for me may not work for you and vice versa." You have to try it for yourself. It all depends on hair types, allergies, the water we intake and even what we eat.

Mixed Silk Curly Gel

I stopped by Sally's on Thursday to see what type of natural/curly hair products they offered. I noticed they had a sale on a few items and of course I had to try some of them out.

Before trying this gel, I went around asking different people what they thought of the product and line and I received mixed feedback. While asking about the Mixed Silk line, I was told that it was supposed to be a alternative to the Mixed Chicks line. I don't know because I have yet to try that line.

Some people LOVED Mixed Silks and some people hated it.

I wasn't interested in the whole line but 6 bucks for 8 oz of gel, I was curious. The complaints that I heard that this gel was that it was drying, crunchy, and it flakes. Knowing this about the product, I decided to take a few precautions. When I got the product home, I put it in the freezer for about an hour and then moved it to the fridge until I was ready. SN: Using cold products help seal your curls. I pre-poo'ed, shampooed and conditioned my hair leaving the conditioner in my hair. I sealed my wet scalp with some almond Oil pomade. Then I proceeded to apply the product in sections (4 sections) adding more water to each section. After reading the ingredients, I knew that this product needed lots and lots of water. I, then, distributed the product with my hands to each section ensuring that all the gel was dissolved in my hair. This may sound like a long process but it may have taken be about 10 minutes. 


Once I finished I decided to pull out my diffuser to see the ending results. With this method I did not see flaking. Like usual I had shrinkage. I am used to that and have embraced it. I have shoulder length hair about 12 inches when stretched. After MOST products dry in my hair, I have about 6-8 inches of length. 


The Good: 

• If you like for your curls to clump, this is the product for it.
• Great Hold
• Similar to KCC without the slime (I love KCC, hate the slime)
• Do not need much product. I believe I used about a quarter size amount for each section
• No need to comb or shingle through.
• Though it did leave a case on my curl strands, it still offered body and movement. Does that make sense. 

The Bad:

• Fragrance, I didnt not care for the floral scent. My husband liked it though because he mentioned my hair smelling good.
• Does leave a hard case on hair (but if you apply some oil and water, the case was lifted.) 
• Cant slap it on. I think you must add extra water with application to prevent flaking. (I used my spray bottle of water on each section. Even with my hair already being wet)

Overall for 6 bucks, it was not a bad gel for the price. 

SN: Because my product was VERY cold, it was thick and solid. As stated previously, it is similar to KCC but tad but more runny. You can turn your KCC over in jar and it doesn't move at room temperture. This product when it is room temperature, does have movement when jar is tipped over. Does that make sense??

April Curl Kit Review.

As some of you may know I am a monthly subscriber to CurlKit, a monthly natural hair sampler. I decided to join to curve my product junkie habit. I spend  bucks and I get to try samples from many different companies. I just hate purchasing a product for full price and I dont not like it. Some of these products can be pricey.

So Anyway....

The products that were included in last month's box are:

• Sofn’free   
• - 0.5 oz packet of nothing but Curly pudding &
• - 1 oz of Nothing but cleansing conditioner

•  Sporty Afros  
• -1 oz G+ Moisturizing Spray

•  Naturally Me 
• – Moisturizing Conditioner &
• – Shampoo Bar

• Pooka Pure and Simple
• – Shea and Olive oil Hair Butter 
• - Citrus Basil Elbow Grease

•  Jane Carter
• – Nourish & Shine 
• – Moisture Nourishing Shampoo
• – 1 oz Revitalizing Leave-In Conditioner spray bottle
• – 1 oz Nutrient Replenishing Conditioner
• 
  

To condense the length of this post, I will review each company and products in  separate posts as I test each product. 

Sofn’free Curly Pudding and Cleansing Conditioner Review

In April's Curl Kit, I was able to test the Nothing But Curly Pudding (5.99 for 8.8oz) and Nothing But Cleansing Conditioner (8.99 for 16oz) from Sof'n Free Nothing But hair care line. I have to be honest I liked one product and didn't care for the other. Though, I did love their website. They offered all the ingredients and purpose of each ingredient and they were very informative.


The Nothing But Curly Pudding was pretty good. It was very moisturizing. Had a pleasant fragrance. This product would be great as a moisturizer to wake up your curls. Though I didn't use it for a twist out, I believe this product will offer you a GREAT soft hold. Would I purchase again? No, because I try not to use non-water soluble silicons. I dont want to deter those who use silicones from this product. Overall, it was a good product.

First Five Ingredients:

Glycine Soja (Soybean Oil) — A natural moisturizer. 
Glycerin — Attracts and retains moisture.
Polysorbate 20 — Allows essential oils to become soluble in water.
Cetearyl Alcohol — Derived from coconut oil, it provides creaminess to the product.
Ceteareth-20 — An emollient that also helps to thicken the product.










I was not happy with this product AT ALL. It was very drying. I had high hopes for it but I really was disappointing. This product has NO slip and I felt that it caused more tangles. It took me about an hour to work out all the tangles. It also took a few washes to get my hair back itself. This product does have non-water soluble cones which isn't CG friendly. Maybe that is why my hair didn't like it?? I will not recommend or use again. Though my hair didnt mind the silicones in the pudding. On the company's website, consumers only gave it 2 stars. I tried to read their thoughts but reviews were disabled.

Glycerin — Attracts and retains moisture.
Cyclopentasiloxane — Provides a silky feel and shine without weighing hair down with a greasy residue.
Dimethiconol — A non-greasy lubricant that adds shine.
Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil — A natural moisturizer.
Polyacrylamide — Dries to form a thin coating on the hair to help it hold its style.

Old Skool...Greasing my scalp

Artist Unknown

I had someone ask me the other day if I oil my scalp like our mothers use to do back in the day. For a while I didn't but I actually started back recently and I am very pleased with the results. My kinky Curly texture actually LOVES it. I even do it with the CG method. I usually oil my scalp while my hair is soaking wet. Then I apply styling aid, if any.

The reason I started oiling my scalp was because I was having issues with itchy scalp and I couldn't figure out why. So I decided to do what my mama did back when I was an adolescent.

There are only 2 different products that I LOVE for this. You don't have to use what I like but I would avoid mineral oil or petroleum. OK, back to what I use. I use either two products that are available at HairVeda.com. It's either the green tea butter or the almond glaze. It just depends on how I am feeling. I have noticed that my hair is even softer now.

Next blog post will be about my conditioners. I have been spending BIG bucks on conditioner since I use so much. Not happy. I tried to find something that I can purchase on the ground but no luck. So I think I may be switching back to some of my oldies that I get online but I want to test them out before talking about them. Some of the products that I am talking about were used before I started the CG method.

I am still using the curlkit. I will be talking more about the products that are included in the kits. Some I loved, some my hair hated. I will gather all the brands and start a Yea or Nay list.

Please stay tuned.

Have a great Thursday.