Silk Dreams Goodies

I really like helping out small businesses. I have been purchasing the majority of my hair products from small businesses. Shi-Naturals and Silk Dreams have really been getting a deal of my business. These two companies are my favs.

Note 1: My three criteria for a great conditioner is that it leaves my hair soft, manageable, and moisturized. So you will see these three words a lot.

Silk Dreams has a lot of wonderful products. I have taken a real liking to their deep conditioners. But let's back track to I was first introduced to Silk Dreams Hair Care. I first saw an advertisement for Silk Dreams on the KISS website. I visited the website a few times but didn't commit to buying anything at first. Months later fellow Hairlista made group for the Silk Dreams and raved about how her hair loved these products. My interested was piqued again but didn't pull the trigger. I was browsing one of my favorite blogs Just Grow Already and Jeni had mentioned that was trying out some products from Silk Dreams. What got me to finally order was her review of Vanilla Silk Cream Moisture conditioner. I was sold. 

Here are the ones that I keep in my deep conditioning rotation.

Let's start with the Vanilla Silk Cream Moisture Dream. (VSCMD)

Ingredients: Water,Cetyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol,Stearalkonium Chloride,Vanilla Butter(coconut oil,palm oil,vanilla planifolia), Honey, Simmondsia chinensis(Jojoba) Oil,Aloe barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice, Prunus armeniaca(Apricot Kernel) Oil,Hydroxypropyltrimonium Honey,Dimethyl Stearamine,Hydrolyzed Milk Protein, Hydrolyzed Silk Protein,Panthenol, Lactic Acid, Germall Plus,Fragrance

This was the first conditioner that I tried and loved. The  texture has a very thick and creamy consistency to it almost liked it's whipped and it smells so good. Like vanilla frosting. It doesn't take a lot of conditioner to cover my entire head. Although when I first used it I slathered it on because it melted right into my hair. I deep condition with this for 30 min w/heat. It leaves my hair very soft and moisturized. My new growth was very manageable. Although this conditioner is a moisture treatment, it does contain some protein; Hydrolyzed Milk Protein and Hydrolyzed Silk Protein. Theses two ingredients are at the bottom of the ingredients list. So those who are protein sensitive, in my opinion can still use it. You have you your moisture-protein balance in one jar. 

Next up Chocolate Bliss

Ingredients: Water, Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Cream, Cetearyl Alcohol, Stearalkonium Chloride, Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Agave tequilana (Agave) Nectar, Aloe Vera Juice, Prunus dulcis (Almond) Oil,  Cacao Powder, Citric Acid,  Germall Plus, Fragrance, Anthemis nobilis (Chamomile) Extract

This conditioner is a chocoholic's dream. I love the way this chocolatey scented creamy conditioner leaves my hair. It has a thick consistency but not as thick as the VSCMD. The jars that I have has almost have a mousse-like texture. Like I do all of my conditioners, I apply it to t-shirt dried hair usually about 45% dry. Put on a plastic cap and sit under the dryer for 30 minutes. This conditioner just like VSCMD leaves my hair feeling so good. 

Lastly Mocha Silk Infusion (MSI)

Ingredients: Water, Cetyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Simmondsia chinensis (Jojoba) Oil, Glycerin, Hydrolyzed Silk Protein, Coffea arabica (Coffee Seed) Butter, Palm Kernel Oil, Panthenol, Theobroma grandiflorum (Cupuacu) Butter, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Theobroma cacao (Cocoa) Butter, Cocoa Powder, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Germall Plus, Fragrance

This conditioner is a light to medium protein conditioner depending on your hair. My hair always feels a little stronger but still moisturized after using it. I have.

I have never been a fan of any coffee, mochas, or lattes but last summer my new addiction was the McDonald's Chocolate Chip Frappe. I said that say that this conditioner smells like that Frappe. It has a very light coffee scent but I actually like it just because it isn't overpowering in the least. It is recommended that you use a very moisturizing conditioner or a substantially moisturizing

leave-in conditioner afterwards. I use my TreSemme Naturals and Garnier Fructis Anti-Frizz Serum afterwards as my leave-ins and detanglers. That works fine for me.

If you are interested in trying out Silk Dreams click this link: http://www.silkdreamshaircare.com/

The owner, Jorien, provides great customer service. If you have a problem with your order, email her and she gets back to you quickly.

Also allow some time for your order to process because these are HANDMADE natural products. Also take advantage of sales. She gets a lot of orders and if you wait to put in order after a sale the site might be shut down to taking orders while she processes and ships out orders. Believe her customers take full advantage her sales.

Caught the Color Bug

I've wanted to color my hair for a little bit now. The urge got a little stronger after seeing Shea Moisture’s new Hair Color System on their facebook page. It’s not all natural but it doesn’t have as many harsh ingredients as some of the other hair color lines out.

Color: Bright Auburn, Sold @Target, Price: $14.99

As I write this, I’ve decided to go ahead and color my hair at the end of March after my All Natural Challenge is over but I know that I will be going back and forth with this decision until then. When I use to get my hair colored I would get highlights. I can’t tell you when was the last time I highlighted my hair but I do know it was sometime before 2010. Lol The reason I am tittering with this decision is that I’m scared that my hair will break off and cause an avoidable setback with it being relaxed and color treated. It’s a double whammy on my hair. But I am taking so much better care of my hair this time around. Before, I was using a lot of heat, relaxing every 4 weeks, not deep conditioning, no moisturizing and sealing, etc. Fast forward to now I am using quality products, I deep condition 2 times a week, and I m&s on a regular basis, I’ve completely stopped using heat, I only air dry, and stretch my relaxers up to 18 weeks. I feel like I can handle my hair being both relaxed and color treated.

I am going to have my hair colored professionally. My cousin, who is also my stylist, will be doing it for me. My mom had an appointment with her yesterday (the 23rd). I decided to tag along because I wanted to talk to my cousin about going ahead and coloring my hair. Of course, she wasn't too thrilled with me buying the brand and color that I wanted to use and kinda turned her nose up at the fact that it has organic ingredients in it. She also said that box colors don't have some of the same things in it that the color that stylists use have but she said she'll use it. I'm praying that everything turns out alright. 

The color pictured above is what I want to use but I don't want it to be that bright. I want my hair to have a nice tint to it like the young lady's hair in this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPpbbvUkpko

Here are the ingredients:

 Stay tuned for the results!

Wash Day Chronicles 2 (Feb 15, 2013):Carol's Daughter Monoi

There are 2 lessons I learned this wash day. One of which I already knew yet I keep ignoring it.

1.           Stick to what you already know

2.         Be careful what you ask for

Let’s start with #1

I really felt like my hair needed to be a little bit stronger. After seeing a couple of reviews about the Carol’s Daughter Monoi Line by a couple of relaxed haired YouTubers, I decided to give it a try. It claims to make hair 13x’s stronger after 1 use and to reduce breakage by 96%. I should have just stuck with my Shi-Naturals. I bought the starter kit that had the repairing shampoo, conditioner, and hair mask.

I’m not sure how I feel about this line but I don’t think that I am a fan of it. The shampoo, although sulfate-free, didn’t feel like it was sulfate-free. My hair felt like I used a sulfate shampoo just really clean but not moisturized. I’m guessing what I was feeling was stronger hair and I’m just not use to it. The conditioner didn’t condition. My hair wasn’t very soft.  Instead of using the hair mask I deep conditioned with the Shi-Naturals Moisture Balance Deep Conditioner. Even that didn’t help. I was seeing more broken hair when I was putting on the deep conditioner than I was use to seeing.

My hair was harder to detangle. I decided to rewash my hair using the Shi-Naturals Olive and Almond Oil Softening shampoo then applied the Curls Unleashed conditioner. My hair still didn’t feel soft. So I went on detangle my hair and let it air dry. If I would have just stuck with my Shi-Naturals wash day routine I wouldn’t be having this problem. I thought that since my hair liked the Chocolat’ Line that it would like this line as well and that was not the case at all. STICK TO WHAT YOU KNOW.

On to lesson #2

I wanted stronger hair and I believe that's what I got and I didn’t like the feeling. Or as I stated before I just wasn’t use to it. I got what I wanted though huh. I can’t wait until my co-rinse day.

I think that it will be a very long time before I use these products again.

Hair Tidbits... Don't Believe the Hype

Trimming Makes Your Hair Grow

Soooooo not true! Trimming those split ends helps to make the hair’s appearance better not grow faster. After trims your will most likely look fuller and healthier. Your hair grows from your scalp not your ends. Eating healthy, exercising, and being consistent with your regimen helps your hair to grow and retain length.

A Couple of Add-Ons for my All Natural Challenge

I was reading a blog post by one of my fellow Hairlista and KISS members. She talked about how she was doing a challenge for herself called the Hair Insanity Challenge. I will include a couple those things into my regimen. My regimen will be as follows.

1x a week Shampoo - Fridays
1x a week co-rinse - Tuesdays
DC after each wash
Protective Style - Bun everyday
Moisturize and seal every other day
Air dry only
Drink 3-4 bottles of water daily
Drink 2 cups of carrot juice a day (morning and night)
Eating more fruits and veggies
Exercise 3-4 days a week.

The only thing that is different about my take on her challenge is that I plan to mostly bun while she will try to bun twice a week and do braid outs. Being consistent with the last 4 things will be the hardest but I will try my best to stick with it. I'm hoping that the health of my hair will improve with the inclusion of these steps and the use of mostly natural products.

The carrot juice is the biggest inclusion for me. I'm not a fan of carrots. The benefits of drinking 100% Carrot juice is great not just for your hair but for your skin and eyes. I have been drinking the Bolthouse Farm Brands. Right now I am working on finishing a couple of bottles of the 100% Carrot Juice then I will move on to the Organic 100% Carrot Juice. (pictured below)




The following quote is from the young ladies blog post on Hairlista and also on KISS. I thought it was great and needed to be included.

"That regimen I listed above addresses two of the most important parts of healthy hair care and growth: retention by low manipulation and growth by dietary inclusion. Retention happens from the outside, growth happens from the inside."