Design Essentials Natural Almond & Avocado Line REVIEW

 

Hey Dolls,

I am reviewing this entire line that I received in my April 2016 Curl Box. I received the following products:

• Almond & Avocado Moisturizing & Detangling Shampoo $11.99 8.0 oz.
• Almond & Avocado Moisturizing & Detangling Conditioner $12.99 8.0 oz.
• Almond & Avocado Detangling Leave-In Conditioner $11.99 8.0 oz.
• Natural Curl Enhancing Mousse $13

 

Smell 5/5
The smell of this line is pretty awesome. It has a very natural smell that is not overpowering but still smells great.

Shampoo 5/5
The shampoo is pretty awesome it is sulfate free which I love. It is very concentrated so it doe not require you to use a whole lot of it and with a little of water lathers right up. Once on my hair I was able to detangle which was a surprise most shampoos does not have slip and this one had some. It leaves my hair feeling cleaning without feeling stripped, which is a plus as well.

Conditioner 5/5
This is my go to for conditioning!! It has amazing slip and make detangling a breeze! It does require a lot for thicker hair but once it is on it is like your hair is butter.

Leave-In Conditioner 3/5
I did not really like it to be honest. I had to apply another leave in because my hair did not feel moisturized nor did it make my curl pop left it more fluffy, which would be great for blow outs as it is very light weight. It was great for detangling as well. I will try again and update when I straighten my hair at my 1year post big chop.

Mousse (1/5 for natural hair) (5/5 for my wig)
So this really requires two separate review but I will squeeze it in one. I hated this on my natural hair. It did not mix well with any products and it left my hair feeling gummy, which could have been due to product mixing but I did not like it and washed it out. I didn't even let it dry. Now I did apply to my Brazilian curly deep curl wig and it was awesome it didn't leave a film or leave a super crunchy feeling and I still use it for that hair. I also did a flexi-rod set on the wig with  it and loved it as well .

Product Review : CURLS Blueberry Bliss Twist-N-Shout Cream

Hey Dolls,

Today I wanted to review this product CURLS Blueberry Bliss Twist-N-Shout Cream.

I received this with my March 2016 Curl Box. I was so excited to try because it has received raving reviews from most YouTube gurus and some even swear by it.

Now before you read my opinion I want to remind you my hair is low porosity, and it is Type 4A-B with a bit of 3C in the back.

1. Smell- 5/5 It smells more amazing than I imagined
2. Price- 4/5 It is $11.99 at Target and is competitively priced with other brands
3. Ingredients- 5/5 It is water based and very organic (see ingredients below)
4. Longevity-1/5 with my hair I was only able to wear the twist out one day, would have required I twist again and apply more product and water which was not ideal.
5. Luster- 3/5 It had a pretty okay luster but it would have been better had the product not sat on top of my hair, leaving a white cast on certain areas.
6. Overall- 2.5/5 I would I loved the smell, the price, and the ingredients. They all were what I expected or better. When it comes to actually using the product I found that it did not agree with my hair type. I applied to freshly washed hair that I let partially dry so that it was damp. This is the best way for product to penetrate my hair shaft and absorb properly. I applied the product and then a little Olive oil to seal my twist. Usually I can do this at night and in the morning all my twist will be dry, this was not the case. They still were damp and I had to allow more time to dry before my date, When they were completely dry there was product still sitting on top of my hair shaft and there was way more frizz than I usually get with my twist out. The shine would have been great but due to the patch of white I had to wet and it led to the shine not being so lustrous. I would not buy this product, it does not agree with my hair type.

How do I preserve my styles over night???

Hey guys!!

So I wanted to make a post about preserving styles because when I am out people always ask how do I manage to rock a hair style for so long. So below I lost my most common hairstyles and how I rock them for a few days at a time, because being a working woman it's hard to do my hair every single day.

Twist-out/braid out

So for this style I keep it simple. With my hair being shorter I found making multiple pineapples usually between 4-6, I can preserve these styles for days (longest time was 8 days). So before bed I seperate into ponytails if I do four I use my snappees and then use a small ponytail holder for my "bang" area. The bang area I pin down as well How I prefer for it to lay whether to the side or in the middle. I cover them with a satin bonnet then fluff in the morning when I get up.

Fauxhawk

For this style I just put a scarf around my hair to keep my edges flat. I sometime put a bonnet on but not always. In the morning I fluff and I am good to go!

Wash-N-Go

I pretty much do the same as I do with my twistouts with exception is before I fluff I spray with my refreshing spray (Dark & Lovely Twice As Nice Curl Refresher ).

Well Dolls those are my three go to styles, I do other stuff pinned different but essentially they start out as one of the three above.

Ciao😘

Protective Styling Summer 2016

So I decided to go into detail about what protective styling I have done over the last couple of months.

I wear wigs that I made with lace closures or silk base closures. That is the most convenient protective styling for me. I made these wigs probably last year and the year before last. I have had one of them since 2013 as well. one is a Brazilian curly which I had the longest since February of 2013, I have wavy from November 2014, and I have kinky curly that I rarely wear but I have had it since last year. I also have several half wigs I do not wear since I have gone natural and do not plan on straightening my hair and they are straight.


Now why wigs?

It is what I call get up and go hair. I can take it off at night preserve whatever style it has and throw it back on after I am dressed for work. I also find that I can change up my style midweek with a different wig. Styling one while I wear the other one.

I also can see them down if I would like and have a more secure hold. I say this because on my cruise vacation I was jet skiing and decided not to see it down and almost lost my baby off the beach in St Lucia. I would have been heartbroken. I would have sewn it down but each day I was alternating wigs with each island so I could style set during the day.

Maintenance?

Wigs are not low maintenance when they are made of human hair. They need to be treated the same as what is growing out of your head. Washed, cowashed, conditioned, and loved. I do that with each of my wigs! I recommend investing in a satin pillow case I find that the bonnets make my head extremely hot if I have my wig sewed in overnight.

Sticking to wigs?

I am trying to find a protective style that is not so harsh on my edges. I have found that the thread around or Bobby pins have created tension around my edges and they have thinned quite dramatically.

Well dolls when I decide on my next protective style I will let you know.

Ciao 😘

Hair Update

I have been wearing my hair in cornrolls and wearing my wig sewndown. Wh oh is I haven't had any hair posts. Currently going through some type of set back where my hair refuses to cooperate.

Friday I will be doing a cherry Lola treatment followed my a severe deep condition/hot oil treatment and follow it up with a bentonite clay make and see if I can get my hair to work itself out.


I will also try to record or take pictures of each step and what products I use so stay tuned. Also I am part of a Facebook group called Woman Crush Wednesday's where we discuss beauty tips if anyone is interested in hair, skin, makeup, etc let me know unwell get you added. Every Wednesday will be a live video to discuss different topics.


Well dolls I'm headed to bed. Until Friday.


ciao😘

Date night Hair pinch! How I saved my hair for a random date.

Hey Dolls!

So I had my wash day during the week last week and after overnight conditioning did not style my hair. I put some leave in went to work with a puff the got dry throughout the day but had no plans after work other than to style my hair so no big deal.

Well my boyfriend (new romance) sent me a text me right before my lunch break that he wanted me to come over so we that could go to dinner.

This was a nightmare not only was my hair not styled but it was also crunchy and dry.

Mentally I brain storm a way to solve my hair problem.

Option 1. On my lunch go home do some braids and throw on my wig, see it down and be good to go.

Option 2. Pull out my handy spray bottle and hydrating hair butter from my over night bag (I always keep and over night bag in my trunk in case of emergencies).

I decided with option 2, because trying to get home prepare my wig which was still suffering the effects of ocean water would be entirely too much. Trying to get back to work during rush hour would make me even more late than trying to style it.

So I went to our public restroom and proceeded to prep my hair for a twist out. I knew it wouldn't be the most defined and gorgeous twist it but I was hoping for a fluffy yet curly fro that if it came out too bad I could throw my snappees on in my go to Afro puff style. So I did probably 15 large twist, I spritz with water so they were damp and not soaking and applied the bitter before twisting. I always finger coil the ends to get the best curly ends possible.

So I had four hours of work left plus a 35 minute drive to his house. My hair was not fully dry but dry enough to unravel and there was one spot that hadn't dried much at all however I made it work.

Here are the results and this is the following day after I separation in 4 pineapple ponytails to preserve overnight. It was so big and fluffy and actually had more definition than I expected. It also was extremely moisturizer and I was able to wear for 4 days before retwisting for the holiday. 

Snappee Review

These are a naturlista must have!

Let me repeat that for you.

*clears throat*

 THESE ARE A NATURALIST MUST HAVE! Let me start off by saying I am not being paid for or being compensated in anyway by my opinion. I purchased these on a whim and because they were created by this black owned business.

What are they? Snappee is a hair tie that has revolutionized my hair game. It is an adjustable hair tie that you can snap together or snap by itself.

How to use them? It is really simple wrap it around your hair and snap it together. For a larger Snappee just snap two Snappee hair ties together and then follow first step of wrap and snap.

It is literally that simple, now what make it revolutionary you ask.

1. No snagging (with my hair). Its is this soft cloth material that doesn't pull at my hair, get tangled, or pull out moisture.
2. You get 3 for 10.99 which seems crazy when you could get several packs of hair ties at this price but for these its like having a hand band, rubber band, ponytail holder all in 3 little snappees.
3. Achieving desired style were so much easier. My curls get very dense and are hard to pull in a puff but not with the snappees, I was able to use one and two depending on the desired look I was achieving.
4. They are comfortable to have in. I never get the pulled to tight feeling because essentially you can snap them together if they are too short. 
5. They come in a variety of colors so you are not limited to black or brown. You can match you hair or match your outfit with these babies. I ordered the black so that they would match my hair.

Here I have two snappees in pigtails. This is my go-to with older twist outs.

They can be purchased at http://www.snappee.com/. When you get to the site the typically offer you a discount code for your first purchase. I went ahead and inserted the infomercial to provide more information.