My 2010 Favorite Hair Products

Ok, here are my favorite must have items for curly, kinky, and/or transitioning hair. These are the products that are still in my hair rotation and still give me results. These are the keepers of 2010...


1 - Kinky Curly Curling Custard is the best for style definition. I cannot wait for the weather to warm up and I can start experimenting with it again. It is pricey, but I have found that it performs well and doesn't dry out my hair or flake.



2 - Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Conditioner is a great conditioner for curly, wavy heads. I use it as a leave in and my hair stays curly and twisted all day without any gels.



3 - MoroccanOil Glimmer Shine Spray, Oil Treatment and Hydrating Mask - Great quality products. These three items protect your hair and style. I have found that I have use these items lightly. I have broken out along my neck and behind my ears (but I don't care) because my hair feels great and not heavy.



4 - Coconut Oil has become my latest staple. Although I bought this last summer I have recently revisited this and am in love with it. I use it on my scalp when it feels itchy (which isn't too often) and on my hair at night before putting my scarf on. It goes on light and melts in your hands making it easy to apply. I have now started using it all over my body in addition to my lotions.

Any great products that have been working for you? Please feel free to share!

Hope everyone is having a great healthy new year!

Product Review - Totally Twisted

I've been a huge fan of Herbal Essences' products since I began using their Hello Hydration Conditioner.

If you've read my posting on it, there wasn't anything that this conditioner did wrong. It became my number one staple product. Until now...

While my hubby was surfing the net, he came across a deal to get me a Herbal Essence coupon for a free product. He doesn't want to encourage me to get more products but he is also glad that I'm not spending hours in the salon and am much happier with my hair.

So I get the coupons and go to where else, CVS to get more Hello Hydration. But I didn't, I picked up Totally Twisted. I'd read about how great it was and decided, why not?

I tried it the next day. Can I tell you that I ran out the next day to get another one? Yes, I did!

Why didn't I try this before? Although I am not too keen on the scent... I prefer fruity smells. But I can't get over what it does to my hair. Not only does it moisturize, it gives my hair shine and enhances my waves/curls. When I use this, I don't even add gel on most days!

This is my routine:

I wet my hair, add Totally Twisted, comb it through my hair, let my hair air dry a bit, and then spray on Moroccanoil Glimmer Shine Spray.

That's it!

Now I do miss my Hello Hydration, but it doesn't compare in the enhancing department. So this will get pushed to weekend use.

Yes, I have my power products that I use daily because I know how they will work on my hair. Then on the weekends, I use my other products so as not to waste any of them.

To tell you how much of a performance conditioner this is, my son is using it to help with his waves.

Now about my sons, I have tried to get their opinions on other hair products and I just get an ok. No real opinions.

But with Totally Twisted even he is admiring his new waves. My other son is currently following Dad's bald look.

So if you are looking for a drugstore available product that is reasonable. You may want to check this out. I don't know of any other conditioner, that moisturizes, adds shine, detangles and enhances your curls.

Product Review - Tousle Me Softly Conditioner

Ok, I am totally in love with Hello Hydration. On days when I am at work and feeling kind of yucky, I can turn a certain way and get a whiff of this stuff on my hair and I feel lifted. I LOVE IT.

Anyway, I started seeing lots of advertisements for Herbal Essences' Tousle Me Softly. So I walk in the store and couldn't pass it up.

But what Hello Hydration does for my hair, this doesn't.

HH hydrates my hair and allows my hair to curl, kink and twist up softly. It softens, detangles and lets me comb my hair. Whatever styling gel I apply afterward seems to go on really smooth.

Tousle Me Softly is a good conditioner. It smells nice. Its just not great. My hair needs products that moisturize and enhance my curl and wave pattern.

At first I was a bit upset because I didn't need another product that I wouldn't use but since I like it as a conditioner, I just use it on weekends and save my HH for the weekdays for more consistent styling.

Product Review - Hello Hydration

Although I love all the hair blogs and forums... sometimes all the information can put me in overload. But I have to peep and see what is up with everyone else because I've gotten some really great hair care tips and learning about quality products.

This is one of them -- Hello Hydration.

I had really started to step away from traditional conditioners and was just using deep conditioners after shampooing once a week.

Once I started using Kinky-Curling Custard, I would just use whatever leftover conditioner was around.

Well, this stuff is fabulous. I use it everyday. It makes my hair soft and easier to comb without tangles. I just pour it in my hands, rub my hands together and rake it though my wet hair. I then use my large toothed comb to evenly distribute it throughout my hair. My hair then starts to form these waves and curls.

On days where I don't have to go to work, I like to just leave it in without any gel and air dry. My hair smells great and feels so soft.

So if you are looking for a great conditioner, this is it. Its in all the drugstores and is reasonably priced.

Hair Update - July 2009

Well, I've been on a break. For some reason, I haven't been in the mood to write. I think because I had to refocus a bit.

I was thinking back to how frustrated I was last year at this time. My hair was relaxed at the time and breaking off. I kept thinking how many more haircuts and trims was I going to get to try to justify all the hair damage?

Well anyway, here I am now and.... I was again disappointed with my hair. I was thinking that I haven't made any progress. But I was wrong....

I bought a large basket for all my hair products. And I realized that my progress - although I originally thought was slow (length-wise).... was really coming along.

I had to break away from my bad hair habits. I also had to stop thinking that my hair would magically grow back and look like it did when I was a young girl (who was active, ate right and had a mom that took care of her hair).

My hair is growing slowly and its thicker and healthier. My husband has even started to call me 'kinky-curly' and assists me when I am applying my hair gels.

And speaking of gel, my favorite kinky-curly custard which love has run out. And I'm too cheap to buy more! I used up the jar in 2 months! I used to just use a bit of it but then I really got into styling my hair with it and would use it daily and get heavy handed with it.

I love the results and that it lasts all day... but I have moved onto using other drugstore hair gels. I will order some more or just look for it when I get to NYC.

I've also started using conditioner on a daily basis and I love it. I wish I had started this from the beginning. I'm really loving my soft, wavy, kinky, curly hair. As soon as my kitchen (back nape hair) grows in more, I will definitely big chop for an even defined look. I am tired of my relaxed ends trying to blend in with my natural hair.

Anyway, I see that I am still learning and growing with my hair. I am sticking with certain staple products that work for me. I still get excited going down the hair care aisle but I am sticking to a budget and waiting to rid my basket of some of its products first.

So please stick with me -- I have products that were sent to me that I will be giving away on here and still look forward to hearing from others about their hair and other topics - the good, bad and ugly!

Peace

Product Review - Dove Shine Therapy Shampoo & Conditioner

So I decided to wash my own hair instead of going to the salon.

I checked my product basket and found some samples from Dove. This is their shine therapy shampoo and conditioner.

I was not happy with the shampoo. It actually was ok on the natural portion of my hair (the roots) but it made the rest of my hair hard and tangled.

I was so glad that I had my CVS shampoo to get in a good washing. This CVS brand is a copy-cat cheaper version of Pantene. I may have mentioned on a previous posting that I was in CVS a few months ago and grabbed a bunch of these products. I couldn't pass up the price (less than a buck). This gave my hair and scalp a good cleansing. I really needed it because I kinda got heavy handed the past week with olive oil and coconut oil on my scalp. This gave me a slight build-up.

Back to the CVS shampoo, to my surprise it undid the damage of the Dove shampoo. My hair easily untangled and felt soft.

I followed with the Dove Shine Therapy conditioner. It is pretty good. Its light and creamy. But the end results still didn't knock my socks off.

I still deep conditioned with my Pantene Pro-V Replenishing Mask to get my hair to feel really nice. This is the deep conditioner that replaced my use of regular conditioners and I use it every time after washing. It leaves my hair soft, smooth and manageable. I can't wait to finish it up to try Pantene's other conditioners.

My feeling on Dove's Shine Therapy - no shine, no great results and a shampoo that tangles my hair - No thanks!

Product Review - Mashooq Hair Oil

The Mashooq people were really great in sending me their samples of hair oil. The products came from overseas and I got them within 2 weeks after my request. Customer service is a big thing with me.

I took my time in using this product so I could get a really good feel for how it works.

All in all the oil is great. Its a tad bit oily. But only lightly just like the scent. You can tell it is all natural.

My hair is very dry and I haven't relaxed my hair since October. I do believe the nearly daily use of this product has helped reduce breakage.

You can use this product in a variety of ways. You can add it to a conditioner, apply to scalp and ends, apply lightly to hair during and after styling for a nice sheen, add before using chemicals and even use as a body moisturizer.

I applied at night before putting on my scarf and in the morning I would have a nice sheen to my hair after styling.

Its not heavy at all and there is no buildup like with other oils or greases.

Even after applying to my scalp the oil would absorb into my hands - so I did get full use of this oil.

Mashooq comes highly recommended from me.

http://www.mashooqhair.com

Product Review - African Pride Herbal Healing S & C

I think it was about 1998 to 2000 when my relaxed hair was in its really healthy and growing stage. One of my key products was African Pride's no lye relaxer. At the time, I didn't have a stylist and I had to rely on myself to take care of my hair. So for some reason, I was struck by the design on the box and made the switch from my usual Cream of Nature relaxer. I became a big fan of their relaxer. I also believed that I used African Pride's grease too. Yes, I too was a big fan of hair grease. I did feel that their products were good quality and helped keep my hair looking, feeling good and growing. This was actually one of the few times in my life, where I was always asked who does my hair and what products do i use.

So when I was fortunate to have won a contest for African Pride's latest products I was very pleased.

I received their relaxer, shampoo and conditioner.

This review is about the shampoo and conditioner.

I've been using this shampoo weekly since November. Although it has the herbal specs in it - i do not feel it was a great shampoo. My hair felt dry after washing. I was expecting better results.

I feel the same about the conditioner. It is a leave in and I was expecting it to leave my hair moisturized. It did but just a bit. This conditioner has bits of herbal specs in it, too.

Both products have a pleasing light scent, light color and a listing of many herbs.

It took me awhile to get these reviews up because i just wanted to like them. I wanted to say that these were good products and I would love to buy them - but I cant.

The shampoo has been passed onto my sons. I asked their opinion and they said it was like any other shampoo.

Although these products retail for about $4-5 each, I would just get suave or vo5 for less than $2....

my new conditioner

well for the past few months, I've been experimenting with my hair. i have not been relaxing it every 6-8 weeks as recommended. so i just shampoo, deep condition and use a leave in condition. i then sit under the dryer for about 30 minutes and thats it.

my last relaxer was the beginning of October. only problem is my hair is short in the back and even shorter without straightening it. styling options are limited and my styling skills are lacking. but whatever, i'm trying to go the healthy route.

so in my online research, i stumble upon a few sites that are raving about molasses. first i see posts that say you should have some daily in tea or coffee. then i see the ones that say if you put it on topically it decreases breakage and leaves hair soft.

i decided to mix the molasses with my current deep conditioner. i apply all through my hair. to my surprise mixing it with the creme conditioner and applying wasnt messy at all.

also, to my surprise, my hair was softer and more manageable.

this will definitely be my new hair conditioner.

i've decided that instead of becoming a product junkie - i will be using what is in my cabinets. so at least my current some what dull current conditioner will not go to waste.

Peace