Gel and Shea Butter: My New Favorite Combo

Ever find that perfect combo of products for a style that you just want to use again, and again......and again some more? (lol) Well that has been me recently with my twists. I always just used my shea butter mix, which is fire by itself, but my twists never seemed to last more than 2 days with out getting frizzy! And then if I just stuck to my guns and left them in anyways my twist outs were never super defined. Well, I absolutely love using ic fantasia polisher gel for my puffs and wash and go's and it never makes my hair super crunchy. So I decided to try adding it with the shea butter mix on my twists. I just moisturize each section with my whipped shea butter and then add a light coating of the gel. Now this isn't some new found technique. I'm pretty sure there are people who have actually tried this combo before. Matter of fact, I've talked to some of them on twitter (follow me! twitter.com/naturally_flyy). However, I LOVE this combo. As you can see in the pics my twists are tight and my twist outs are defined like no other. Try it! you'll like it!

My Miss Jessies Curly Pudding Experience

As you know I don't really favor curling puddings or gels, but I do these reviews for my viewers/readers. Now, My experience with Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding (MJCP) was far better than my experience with the Kinky Curly Curling Custard (KCCC). Although I was hesitant to use it at first because of the price ($22 for 8 oz) and the ingredients. I heard people say that the ingredients were low quality for the pricing and that it contained mineral oil. The ingredients are as follows:
Water
paraffinum liquidum- aka mineral oil! (ahhh!)
glycerin
fragrance - some fragrances can be skin irritants
triethanolamine- making emulsion with mineral and vegetable oils, paraffin and waxes (to blend the oils, and shea butter)
carbomer-help to distribute or suspend an insoluble solid in a liquid. They are also used to keep emulsions from separating into their oil and liquid components. Carbomers are often used to control the consistency and flow of cosmetics and personal care products.

PEG-12 dimethicone- a very harsh cone; the heaviest; very difficult to wash out; used to condition hair but actually dries it out for some people.
dipropylene glycol- used as solvents and viscosity decreasing agents in cosmetics and personal care products; low-toxicity

silk amino acids- adds softness and repair hair structure; A natural water-soluble source of acid derived from liquid silk
aloe barbadensis leaf extract- aloe vera leaf extract
avocado oil
shea butter
sweet almond oil
jojoba seed oil
macadamia seed oil
oleth-5- helping water to mix with oil and dirt so that they can be rinsed away. These ingredients also help to form emulsions by reducing the surface tension of the substances to be emulsified and help ingredients to dissolve in liquids in which they would not normally dissolve.
ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate- protects cosmetics and personal care products from deterioration caused by UV rays. (preservative)
disodium EDTA- helps prevent the deterioration of cosmetics and personal care products. It also helps to maintain clarity, protect fragrance compounds, and prevent rancidity. (preservative)
DMDM hydantoin- prevents or retards microbial growth, thereby protecting cosmetics and personal care products from spoilage. (preservative)

ext. violet 2- coloring (why it's purple)

So as you see, most of the ingredients are synthetic. They disguised the name mineral oil because they know most people are hesitant to buy any products containing it and are most likely not going to look it up. And I'm also wondering why they need 3 preservatives? Anyways I am very disappointed in the ingredients. I expected more from a $22 jar. As far as what it does for my hair, I like it. It didn't make my hair feel hard like the KCCC. It smells pretty good, but that's probably because of all the fragrance in the product. I applied it 3 times, each time differently. The first time I applied it to damp hair. It didn't really do anything. It defined my curls only a little bit and I still experienced frizziness. Next, I applied it to wet hair, applying my shea butter mix first, towel blotted my hair and then applied the Curly Pudding. It came out nice, and I had few problems with shrinkage. I still had some frizziness because I believe the shea butter acted as a barrier to the Pudding. Last I applied it while wet in the shower. First I applied a leave-in cream and then applied the Pudding while my hair was still. My curls were really defined and I had almost no frizz (click here for the video). However, I did experience more shrinkage than I would have liked. All three times my hair was not hard or felt crunchy like KCCC. KCCC is all natural, and MJCP isn't. I wonder if all the synthetic ingredients have something to do w/ that. Anywho, the picture at the top is my second experiment with the MJCP using the shea butter as a base. I also tried this with twists. My twists were completely dry the next day. It wasn't brittle dry but it wasn't moisturized in my opinion. I would not recommend this product to people who are sensitive to cones or over-priced products. Hope this helps someone! Peace and Blessings.

References for the ingredients come from
Wikipedia.org and cosmeticsinfo.org

New Protective style: 3 Strand Twists/twist Out

Hey Lovelies! If you are following my on twitter you probably know about my latest protective style: 3 strand twists. I first saw a tutorial a while back from a lady on youtube showing different ways to start locs. Recently her channel was deleted so I searched for another video and found one (click here for the video). Unfortunately I need to purchase a new camcorder so I won't be able to post another live tutorial until after my birthday on August 23rd (a long time, I know!). Anywho, 3 strand twists look and sound difficult to do but they are really not. I did mine fairly small (and with all the breaks I took) I'd say it took a combo of 4 hours to finish. Not that bad, micros take longer than that!

Products: I used my shea butter creme to do the twists. Click here for the recipe. And to take them out I rubbed coconut oil on them to give it a shine. I was thinking that the next time I do a protective style I will add jojoba oil to the coconut oil b/c jojoba is good at smoothing the hair cuticle and eleminating frizz.

How long did the twist last? My issue with the twists is that since I'm a wild sleeper I'd wake up and find a few sticking up but I just fixed that by pinning the front in a style. After a 4 days I took them out.

How long did the twist out last( pic in the top right corner)? The twists out surpisingly lasted for a long time. I ended up washing them out after the 3rd day because of my regimen but I know they would have lasted longer. They didn't frizz easily and the curls still had definition. I just put my hair in four loose ponytails and then put a satin bonnet on at night to preserve them.

Conclusion: I like 3 strand twists, its a better way to elongate your fro as still get that twirl that twists outs give your hair. I felt good rocking just the twists because they reminded me of locs. This is definately the method I will choose when I decide to get locs. when I took the twists out I didn't really like it at first because the curls were so defined! It felt fake. But they had a chance to frizz a little the next day and it looked better to me. Hope this helps! Peace and Blessings.

My Whipped Shea Butter Mix

**FIRST PIC IS OF THE SHEA BUTTER CREME (MIXED W/ WATER) AND THE SECOND IS JUST THE SHEA BUTTER MIXED W/ OILS.

Of course I'm not the first person to mix their shea butter with oils to create the perfect styling creme/ butter but I chose my oils according to what I like and my hair likes. First shea butter is a natural moisturizer for the hair and will do what those old school pomades and greases use to but without the damaging ingredients. The oils I chose to use are coconut for the repairing and strengthening properties, olive for the moisturizing properties, jojoba for the smoothing properties, and tea tree oil because it fights dandruff. Of course the peppermint oil is for scent and you can choose whatever scent you like.

Ingredients

at least 1lb of unrefined shea butter (it doesn't have to be exact)

1 tbsp of olive oil

2tbsp of coconut oil

1tsp of jojoba oil

10 drops of tea tree oil

15-25 drops of peppermint oil (or your choice scented essential oil)

Directions

in a mixer using a whipping blade (I used the magic bullet) whip together the shea butter and all the oils. I don't know if it will do this w/ your mixer/food processor but the butter will melt down and it will appear liquid-y...let it sit in the fridge to become a solid again!

***IF YOU WANT TO TURN YOUR BUTTER INTO A CREME, ADD WATER!! What I did was take half of my shea butter mix and put it back in the mixer and slowly added water. No I did not measure. Do it until you get a thickness to your liking. If I guess-stimated I'd say it was 1/2-1/3 cup of water. The creme is great for twists b/c you can feel the hydration coming from the added water.

Okay guys! You won't be disappointed I promise!

Peace and Blessings!