Let's Talk Natural Hair...

So let’s talk natural hair…

For starters, I thought I should let you know that I’ve become a total natural hair geek and I refuse to ever use non-natural products in or on my hair, ever again. What brought this about? Well, for about two months I’ve been really working on getting my hair healthy – it gives me something besides length to focus on. In so doing, I’ve been diligent in deep conditioning my hair weekly, not using any products containing sulfates and only co-washing when needed. I’ve been moisturizing my hair w/ a spray bottle mixture of water, tea tree oil, Giovanni leave-in and EVOO. My curls have never popped more, I have ZERO frizz, crazy thickness and mega shine.

What ultimately made me decide to leave all non-organic / non 100% natural products alone was a combination of two things:

1) Naptural85’s YouTube vlog, and
2) The fact that I was using a highly recommended deep conditioning treatment alleged to be “all-natural, 100% organic, amazing, blah, blah…”

Ok so I use it, over half of a 20 oz. jar of it, deep conditioning my hair over the past several weeks and all the while, believing the hype. My hair was softer, shinier and in a way my curls were more manageable. Last week I had some downtime and decided to start at the beginning of Naptural85’s hair journey on YouTube and watch every single video she’s ever posted. Fast forward a year into her journey…she was really getting going at that point and came across the ingredients to the allegedly 100% organic Trader Joe’s Nourish Spa Conditioner she had been using since big chopping. She found out that there were parabens in her “organic” CONDITIONER. Now, for obvious reasons she was furious and anyone making that discovery would be as well. Her on camera revelation prompted me to go home and check out my deep conditioner ingredients. The topic of this blog should tell you what I found…

Well, the worst of the ingredients are the bulk of the product, content wise. The worst of them are Paraffinum Liquidum (Mineral Oil), Behentrimonium Methosulfate, and Cetearyl Alcohol – That’s right, Mineral Oil, Sulfates and Alcohol.

I honestly wanted to cry. No, I’m serious – I wanted to cry! I cannot begin to describe to you the love and care I’ve been giving my hair only to realize that my deep conditioning hair mayonnaise contained products that were COATING my strands and giving off the APPEARANCE of healthy hair... It is a disguise and I encourage you to read all of you product ingredients carefully and if you don’t know what something means, Google it.

I was so bothered by what I found my deep conditioner to contain that I have decided to retire all shampoos and use the only USDA certified hair cleanser on the market, which isn’t a shampoo or conditioner but actually a mud/clay that you use to clean you hair and scalp. I will be doing the Terressentials detoxification beginning this weekend (posts to follow) and then once my hair is completely detoxified in a week or so, I will be continuing to do the Terressentials once a month along w/ my weekly co-washes, hot oil treatments and homemade ALL-NATURAL products. A lot more to follow so stay tuned!

My Super Chunky Twist Out

I've always had much appreciation for the natural hair twist out but I never quite "loved" it until I tried 'Mae's Super Chunky Twist Out' on my my own natural hair. To achieve the look, it is necessary to blow dry your hair straight and start with mostly dry, straight hair. For my best look using Mae's technique, I don't apply any leave-in conditioners or styling products prior to drying my hair.

To begin, you will need the following products or your favorite similar products. Note: I've tried this style with one of my absolute favorite products, Cantu Shea Butter, but I found that it didn't work as well as a creamy gel/pudding like Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding.

Step  1:
Blow dry your hair using a comb attachment nozzle from its naturally wet state until it is mostly dry. I use my Yellow Bird dryer that came highly recommended by stylists at my local Beauty Supply store.

Step 2:
Part your hair where you normally wear it and section it into large sections that will be your chunky twists.

Step 3:
Apply the Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding to each section, root to end, prior to twisting and then twist and if needed, secure your twist at the end w/ a Goody rubber band. Some people won't need to do this but my hair never stays twisted in the front without first securing the ends.

Step 4:
Work your way around your entire head, twisting the large sections and securing them as necessary. Apply your scarf and remove after several hours, usually overnight.

That's all folks! Four simple steps for an amazing style that gave me three full days of wear before I repeated the process. Hope it works for you! As always, leave you questions and comments below.