5 Months Natural + Whipped Shea Butter + Castor Oil Challenge

Here we are!

I have been natural for 5 months now and this has been a great learning experience.

For starters my hair is definitely growing which is a plus because I know some people who went natural and their hair hit a wall so to speak.

I've learned that some products that my hair liked during my relaxed/transitioning days are no longer good on my hair. For example my hair used to love Elasta QP Olive Oil & Mango Butter, most Shea Moisture styling products, and the Olive Oil Gel.
The Elasta  QP product leaves my hair extremely dry after a day of use and gives my hair a dull look. Almost all of the Shea Moisture products now only coats my hair and leaves this filmy residue on the top of my hair. This left my hair hard and dry. The Olive Oil Gel flakes really bad so I only use it along my edges when I do my twist outs and puffs.

So what does my hair like? CONDITIONER! That's right. My hair flourishes when conditioner and water hit it. While I have not purchased any new conditioners the one's that I have used on a regular basis consist of Aussie Moist Conditioner, Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl & Shine, and Giovanni Tea Tree Conditioner. I have also used the Organix Biotin & Collagen Conditioner sparingly as I do not want extremely thick hair right now.
The only moisturizer that is working for my hair right now is my whipped shea butter recipe. It consists of 16oz raw shea butter, 3 tablespoons of coconut oil, olive oil, grapeseed oil, and castor oil. Very simple to make and it will last me a long time. It made my braidout last longer and acted like a gel for twists. It provides a great amount of shine and my curls look more elongated. So I will not be purchasing any store brought moisturizers for a long time.

While I haven't purchased any new hair products as of yet I plan to try new ones out once all of my current hair products are used up. (My attempt to tame the product junkie inside lol)

I am now able to wear puffs and even pull off a bang look with ease now. While I love seeing my curls I do plan to start wearing a protective styles for the months of October through March due to weather changes. I am currently looking for a wig to wear and of course I will be wearing braids as a long term protective style.

Hairlista's Castor Challenge Part 10 has not been a consistent part of my regimen since I started because I've been traveling a lot but I have picked back up on it and will be following the routine the remainder of the challenge.

So cheers to 5-months! Excited for what the next few months have to hold.

Kimmaytube Leave-In Recipe

Hey Guys!

Today was my wash day after a week of the Inversion Method.

As I have always said doing the inversion method during the week makes my hair feel like it is being constantly conditioned and it makes my wash day marvelous!

I did a cowash because I didn't want my hair to lose all of the moisture that I gained over the course of this week. I used Carol's Daughters Black Vanilla Conditioner.

I rinsed my hair in 2 sections, T-shirt dried my hair for 15 minutes, and proceeded to apply the Kimmaytube Leave-In Conditioner Mix.

I put my hair in 4 granny plats to dry overnight.

I can say just from the initial application of this mix to my hair that it will be very moisturizing.

I still have not used a heat pass so my hair and scalp feel great.

Below is the recipe for the mix. After this batch is used up I will change up the ingredients to see if the exact mixture makes a difference in the feeling of my hair. I want to swap Aloe Vera Juice for Aloe Vera Gel and Jojoba Oil for Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Kimmaytube Leave-In Recipe

• 1oz Kinky Curly Knot Today Leave-In Detangler
• 2 Tablespoons Aloe Vera Juice
• 2 teaspoons Castor Oil
• 2 teaspoons Jojoba Oil

*This recipe yields 2oz of mix. It is advised that if you plan to make more to not exceed 3 times the original amount due to the shelf life of some of the ingredients.

Caramel Treatment: Tutorial

Click below for the video of how I mixed my caramel treatment.

I still had great results and will continue to incorporate this in my hair journey!

Hope you enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azCNhkuY7D4&feature=youtu.be

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Caramel Treatment Recipe and Review

As many of you know I have been having the time of my life dealing with my new growth.

Knots...tangles...dryness...the list could go on.

No matter how much I deep conditioned and moisturized and sealed my hair it didn't seem to help.

So I went online and researched different tips, recipes, or ideas to soften my hair.

I came across a recipe called the Caramel Treatment that helps to soften and stretch "kinky" hair. My assumption is that is a treatment that is famous amongst women with African American hair textures.

The ingredients are fairly inexpensive and was easy to prep.

The directions can be found at this link.

I followed the recipe and directions from start to finish.

I let it sit on my hair for  1 hour and 20 minutes exactly without added heat. The only thing I hated was the smell. It was not a pleasant smell but something that I could get over.

I washed my hair using the Organix Moroccan Argan Creme Shampoo and followed with their conditioner. I let that sit on my hair for 10 minutes and rinsed with cool water.

I applied my leave-in and grapeseed oil.

To my surprise I had great slip and my hair was actually manageable to the point that I could put it in a bun!!! I seriously have not been able to bun my hair since the beginning of my stretch because I hate fighting with my hair trying to fully detangle it. I found that though my hair is still very thick it is much softer and the curl pattern is slightly looser but the texture is very noticeable.

The website says that this treatment should only be done once a month and from these results it will be in my regimen for good!

If anyone has issues with the manageability of their hair or new growth this is definite must! You have nothing to lose and they don't call it a hair "journey" for no reason :)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil: GROWTH!!

Hey Guys!!

So I found yet another hair growth technique that I believe really worked!

It requires very little effort and the results are apparent in 7 days!

I watched a video with a girl who used Extra Virgin Olive Oil and the inversion method to grow her hair in a week.

I did this for 5 days using my mix (EVOO, Lavender Oil, and Eucalyptus Oil). I laid upside down over the edge of my bed for 4 minutes (2 minutes on my stomach + 2 minutes on my back)

I did see growth! Of course I couldn't get an actual length check because I am on a no heat challenge for the next six months but I could feel the difference in wear my hair rested on my back!

The thing I love most is that I was basically prepooing my hair and it was really moisturized. However, I have to wash 2-3 times a week to avoid build-up and I also have to start incorporating a light protein treatment weekly to keep my hair in balance.

Overall it makes a great growth technique.

You only have to do it 1 week per month and then start again the next month. So I will start this again March 1st!

Give it a go! You have nothing to lose but LOTS of hair growth to gain :) 

Whipped Shea Butter Mix

I finally had a chance to whip up a 16 ounce container of all natural shea butter to use as a moisturizer and it was lovely.

I used:

- castor oil

- coconut oil

- jojoba oil

- lavender & tea tree oil

After seeing how my hair liked it, I was able to get rid of the store brought moisturizers and use this as a daily moisturizer. It's not heavy and gives my hair a great amount of shine. But because it is so thick I only use it as needed which is about every 1-2 days. A little goes a long way and I won't need to mix up another batch for quite some time!

Also for my new growth spritz I used:

- water

- glycerin

- vitamin e

- jojoba oil

- castor oil (SMALL AMOUNT)

My new growth LOVE LOVE LOVES this!! Especially when on a stretch.

I use this daily on my new growth!

Both of these concoctions are very moisturizing to dry hair.