Product Review - Whip Coil Cream

About a month ago, my husband and I started a major clean and decluttering as we prepared to stage our house for selling. In the process, my beloved electric mixer landed in storage. I was devastated and to be honest, I still am a little bit.

The main reason for my devastation was the fact that I was due to make my whipped shea butter, but it’s impossible to get the right consistency without a mixer…at least for me anyway.

I ended up at my neighbourhood Black Beauty Supply store (BBS), searching for a something to set and twist my hair with, since I had also ran out of my supply of Hair Love (need to re-order). I also thought of my readers, It’s was time for another product review.

I found Roots of Nature Remedies® for Natural Hair Butter Whip Coil Cream™. It was only $7.99 for a 6.1 oz jar. I figured it was pretty cheap not to contain drying alcohol, mineral oil, petrolatum or parabens. So I picked it up. Not to mention it also contains mango oil and cupuacu butter. I love everything mango, but the cupuacu was new to me.

Product description: With Mango Oil and Brazilian Cupuacu Butter (6.1 oz.) Found in the heart of the Amazon Rain Forest , moisturizing Cupuacu (coo-poo-wah-soo) Butter has for generations been the secret of Brazilians for beautiful hair. Combined with softening Mango Oil, our Butter Whip Coil Cream deeply nourishes and conditions to stretch and define each coil with just the right amount of hold for twists, braid-outs, and TWA’s (teeny weeny afros). Dull, shrunken coils are transformed into lasting, soft, elongated, shiny coils. Hair Types: Relaxed, Natural, Color Treated, and Over-Processed Hair

Ingredients: Aqua (Water) , Glycine Soja Oil (Soybean Oil) , Butyrospermum Parkii Butter (Shea Butter) , Cetearyl Alcohol , Glycerin , Polysorbate 20 , Cetyl Alcohol , Behentrimonium Methosulfate , BIS-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2 , Butylene Glycol , Mangifera Indica Seed Oil , Mango Seed Oil , Theobroma Grandiflorum (Theobroma Grandiflorum Seed Butter) , Phenoxyethanol , Fragrance , Lecithin , Quaternium-33 , Hexyl Cinnamal , Sorbic Acid , VP , Dimethylaminoethylmethacrylate Copolymer , Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride , BHT , Geraniol , Limonene , Caramel , Methylisothiazolinone , Linalool , Benzyl Alcohol , 2-Oleamido-1 , 3-Octadecanediol

Here is the bottom line, it works pretty good on my 4A - 4B tress. I love the smell and the consistency is creamy. I used it on wet and dry twist outs and I liked the results on both styles. The twists were defined and my hair felt soft and moisturized. I will definitely continue to use this product and keep it as a go-to styler. It does not top my whipped shea butter or Hair Love, but when I want something that has a light texture and is inexpensive I will think of the Whip Coil Cream.

Have you tried this product? What are your thoughts or does something else work for you?

Blessings and Curls,

B-Curlie

Featured Curlie - Shereen South

Name: Shereen South

Hometown: Jamaican (raised in Scarborough)

First year of curlieness: August 2011

Shereen with relaxed hair

Why I went curlie: Well to be honest I didn’t plan on going back to my natural state. About a year prior to embracing my natural hair, my permed hair was acting up. I was losing hair at a rate that was not normal, so I went under braids. After three months I took the braids out permed my hair again only to have the same issues happen...and this time worse! At that point I went back under the braids this time for a longer period. One August day I was looking at my braids and knew it was time for a redo ... but I was SICK of the braids...did I say SICK? MADD! Something lead me to call my sister girl who is natural and asked her who does her hair etc. She gave me her stylist contact information and I made the call. I was nervous about this new look that I haven't seen since I was 12 years old. I thought alot about what people would say how my workplace would react,  but when I BC'd August 13^th,  2011, I fell in love with myself I believe for the first time ever - I couldn't believe how good I looked! I didn't care who didn't like it, but funny enough I was embraced by all. Even my Dad was all for me going natural. I can honestly say that I was unaware of how MANY naturals out there until after I chopped. I feel as though my going back to natural was a spiritual awakening for me!

Shereen rocking her braids

Regime and products: My hair regime and the products I use are simple. I learned very quickly that oils are one of the key products for healthy hair. Castor oil is an oil that I use in all that I do. I use it in my hot oil treatment which I mix with EVOO and Vatika coconut oil. I also use castor oil when I am sealing my hair. I wash my hair weekly and cowash once or twice a week. I use Kinky Curly Shampoo and Kinky Curly Not Today Leave-in Conditioner for my weekly washes. I use Hello Hydration from Herbal Essence to co-wash, I also use Giovanni Leave-in after I co-wash. I alternate weeks of either deep conditioning (a homemade mix of mayo egg and honey) or I will do a hot oil treatment. I always apply the LOC method after washing or co-washing, this method aids in retaining the moisture in my hair, as my hair is all type 4’s. I NEED as much moisture as I can get. I also use Henna once or twice a month for strengthening and conditioning and not to mention to cover up my greys. Every night I spritz my hair lightly with Rosewater & Glycerin and re-twist. At the end of the day I believe and follow the rule of do what works for your hair and LISTEN to your hair!

Shereen posing at the iHEARTmyHAIR photo shoot

The best part of being curlie for me is: Knowing that I am truly loving all that God gave me … NO LYE! One small change can impact your life going natural has also caused me to become more aware of what I am putting in my body. Natural hair truly ROCKS!

Blessings and Curls, 

B-Curlie

iHEARTmyHAIR Photo Shoot

I took part in a natural hair photo shoot last weekend with Añya Grant and a few more gorgeous ladies from the iHEARTmyHAIR crew.

I was honoured to be a part of the shoot and I had a lot of fun. Not only did I get a fun makeover, but I also had an opportunity to re-connect and also meet more Curlies and Naturals - which is always fun.

Me and Añya after the shoot. Photo: iHEARTmyHAIR

Añya, did my hair, Rita of Salon Beauty Mark did my makeup and Sean of Sean Anthony Photography took the photos.  I have to say thanks to all of them for putting their time and energy into making everyone look beautiful.

Blessings and Curls,

B-Curlie

Hair Love Review and Giveaway

Althea Joseph from Curly Canadians™ contacted me recently and asked me to do a review on their new product Hair Love. I was ecstatic, since I knew my hair agrees with ingredients in the product.

Ingredients: Beeswax, Unrefined organic shea butter, Organic coconut oil, Sweet almond oil, Sea buckthorn berry oil, Vanilla & Orange essential oils.

Hair Love Photo: Curly Canadians™

Hair Love has the consistency of a firm to creamy shea butter and has a mild sweet citrus scent. I’m a huge fan of shea butter and I’ve come to the conclusion that it absolutely has to be a part of my natural hair’s existence, so it will not surprise most of you that I love this product. Not to mention it also contains my hair’s other best friend coconut oil. Matches made in heaven – plain and simple!

I used Hair Love as a sealer and styler, so much so that I’m almost out of my supply. It was the main styler for my Curlformers set that I did a few weeks ago and for my twists and twist-outs over the last couple weeks. It easily became my go to product to seal and freshen up my hair in the mornings after spritzing it with water.  I found that it helped my hair retain moisture when used as a sealer and styler and imparted lots of shine to my 4A/B combination hair.

I would definitely recommend this product for those who are interested in an all-in-one product that can be counted on.

If you like your own jar of Hair Love and a few other goodies from Curly Canadians™ you can enter my FIRST GIVEAWAY, sponsored by Curly Canadians™. THE GIVEAWAY ENDS MAY 26TH!

Blessings and Curls,
B-Curlie

Natural Hair Resources

I’ve received a few requests from readers asking where to buy natural hair products in Canada, not only Toronto.

I want to create a list of where Curlies and Naturals are purchasing their products across the country and abroad. For some having access to products, know-how and perhaps stylists, may be the reason they may or may not go natural. Well, I think as a community we should help each other and share ideas and hot spots for product junkies and for those who want to be pampered in a salon…LOL

My plan is to create a page that provides the following: business names, their website, their email address, their phone number and location. So please submit your favourites in the comment box below and I’ll take it from there.

Thanks for your help … I can’t wait to add your resources.

Blessings and Curls,

B-Curlie

Fighting Scalp Issues

A while back I mentioned that I have dermatitis, since I was a child really. At the time my mom and I didn’t have a clue what it was. To put it in a nutshell, it’s when you have over active oil glands. The glands release too much oil and creates the perfect environment to develop blockages, build-up, flakes and inflammation. Not PRETTY or FUN!

I recently had a flair-up, my scalp was giving me a hard time. There were a couple weeks where it didn’t matter what I put on my scalp, it just didn’t want anything to do with me. It was so itchy and driving me insane.

I finally broke down and went to Shoppers Drug Mart for some scalp meds. In the past I’ve used Nizoral or Nioxin, I’ve experienced OK results with both, but I thought I needed to try something new or at least new to me. Head & Shoulders of all shampoos caught my eye. It’s full of sulfates and other chemicals and not natural at all, but I was really at my breaking point. So I picked up Head & Shoulders Clinical Strength (active ingredient: 1% selenium sulfide) and since I was in the risk taking mood I also grabbed Scalpicin (active ingredient: 3% salicylic acid) an after shampoo or daily treatment for dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis as well.

When treating my scalp, I change my hair washing technique in order to maximize success.  Here are the steps I take. Matter of fact, it would not hurt you to use this technique end for a regular wash.

Technique:

-          I put a little bit of shampoo in a shallow container

-          Grab my old perm brush

-          Section my hair in four or in the affected areas

-          Spray the section of hair with water, so that it’s damp not soaking wet

-          Part the section my hair into tiny sections

-          I then use the brush and apply the shampoo directly to my scalp. I repeat until I run out of hair in the section and then move on to the next.

-          Once complete, I cover my head with a plastic cap and let it rest for a minimum of 30 minutes.

-          When time is up, I wash my hair as usual

My results were amazing! I was not sure about the Head & Shoulders since it didn’t tingle as other medicated shampoos often do. For me the tingle makes me think something is working, but Head and Shoulders, just smelled good.

The shampoo didn’t leave any residue on my scalp or hair. It looked and felt great. It did make my hair a little dry, but nothing a good conditioner, leave-in conditioner and sealer can’t fix. My scalp was really the star here.  Let me tell you, it was in heaven, extremely clean with no signs of dermatitis. I applied the Scalpicin right after shampooing and that sealed the deal. Now that really tingled my scalp, but it subsided after a few moments. Then I styled my hair as usual.

I’m amazed, since I have now gone four days without the need to scratch or even re-apply the meds. I will probably do so tonight just to keep it on the run though, but so far so good.

Weigh in … have you had any experiences with scalp issues?

Blessings and Curls,
B-Curlie

The arrival of doom

Before moving into this post I just want to apologize for not posting the entire history series in February, as I had originally planned. I was under the weather during the end of the month and therefore the reason why my posts were scarce. I will still finish this series though and I hope you all enjoy learning about our hair history as I am....

Beautiful tribal women

When the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade started it was incredibly traumatic to the African people. So much so that it is still affecting us as descendants, to this day. They were wrenched from their homeland and in most cases their family as well and put in chains and loaded on to slave ships to work in the foreign western world. Their language, way of life and traditional costumes and everything they loved was taken away from them. The grooming practices that they were used to was not a priority anymore, survival was the main concern, not to mention as the slaves got younger, they had limited knowledge of how to manage their crown as the skill was only passed down to certain women in the tribe.

Axle grease

The slaves often wore their hair covered to protect hair from the harmful hot sun, wind and dirt. When they found time to do their hair, it was done to emulate the straight hair of their captors. Many slaves started to hate the natural texture of their hair and could no longer see the beauty in it.  They used a medley of toxins to achieve the straight look. A couple early straightening agents were axle grease (also used as a dye) and hot butter knives.  Lard and cooking grease were used as pomades and to moisturize the hair. They used sheep fleece carding tools to detangle, but this spread scalp diseases such as lice
and dandruff.

Fleece carding tool

 


As you can see it was quite a struggle back in those days on EVERY level, but what can be said is that our people never stopped being creative through all of their hardships. They found ways to exist.

Blessings and Curls,

B-Curlie