Product Review: EcoStyler Gel with Argan Oil

As previously mentioned, I FINALLY got my hands on some EcoStyler Gel with Argan Oil. I'm a huge fan of the Eco Olive Oil gel because it gives great definition, hold, isn't as drying as other gels, mixes well with other products, and most importantly, does not FLAKE.

I wish the same could be said for the Eco w/Argan Oil.

If you know anything about argan oil, you would know that it is an oil with a distinct scent. The Moroccan Oil products are argan based and are heavily scented with it, as are some of the Shea Moisture products. This gel smells nothing of argan oil, nor does it have the "feel" that argan gives products. Argan has a lot of slip...well all oils do, but argan has a LOT! It almost feels like a hair serum, to give you an idea. Argan is the second to last ingredient on the list, as is olive oil in the OO version, but come on now!

I've mostly used the EwAO on my edges and at the end of the day, I would have flakes. I haven't seen flakes like this since my days of using black Ampro gel way back in the day. At one point, I felt the need to add some water to my hairline to get rid of the flakes.

I tried using it for a wash n' go, mixing it with EVOO like I always do and it did OK. The EVOO helped to keep it from flaking and my hair was very defined.

So in all, I won't go so far as to say it was an EPIC FAIL, but the flakes almost took it there. That's a gel's #1 no-no! Eco is obviously running with the "Argan Oil" hype like most of the other national product lines, but I know the difference. Since I have a pretty big tub of it, I will keep working with it to see what works best and report back.

*Smooches*

Type 4 Shrinkage: My Hair in all its Shriveled Glory

Just to look at my hair, you would never know that I am almost 3 years in the game of my journey through Natural Hair. Shrinkage is a "B" and then some!! It keeps me from having the voluminous hair that I long for without the use of heat. Some people actually see my hair as big hair...I can hear them whispering about "all that hair" when I walk past them. When I look in the mirror, I swear I can see straight through it! LOL!

The pic below is my true curl pattern from a wash n' go. The front is pinned with bobby pins. You see how tiny my fro is...

The pic below is a twist-out done on dry hair using the Mizani Butter Rich. A little more volume, but it still looks sparse to me...lol!

I believe it's time for me to try banding or braiding to stretch my hair out as much as possible before setting with the twists. I WANT BIG HAIR without using heat to get it!! But 3 years in, I am a little tired of the extra work it takes to make my hair do what it don't do...lol! I officially have Natural Hair Senioritis :(

What have you ladies tried to keep things fresh in the "relationship" with your hair??? DISH!!

Mizani Butter Rich: Dry Twist Out

Here are some pics of a dry twist out that I did using Mizani Butter Rich that I bought at the World Natural Hairshow. I LOOOOOOOOOOOVE this stuff! It softens my hair right on up for easy twisting. The consistency is somewhat watery when applied but you can feel the natural oils as you twist and when it dries. I would not recommend this if you are blowing your hair out with a blow dryer for a twist out because it dampens the hair quite a bit.

This style was achieved on a one day old wash-n-go. I didn't part, just grabbed sections as I went, applying the Butter Rich and twisting to the ends. I allowed it to dry overnight under a silk scarf, but my hair was still a little damp the next morning. When taking the twists down, I didn't fluff or separate for this reason to avoid frizz. Here are the results...

The next night I re-twisted in larger sections as Tdavis recommended. I literally took four twist and twisted them into one (without messing up the original pattern) and it took maybe 5 minutes. The next day my hair was bigger ( a little..dare I say...WILD, even) and I think I liked it more that way. Trying to get 3 day hair out of this set re-twisting with EVOO each night and applying Eco gel to the edges.

Oh, yeah! I finally got my hands on the EcoStyler with Argan Oil. More on that later. Have you ladies tried Mizani Butter Rich? It retails at about $19.99 per jar at most local BSS.

Good News/Bad News

I got good new and I got bad news...

The bad news is, I don't have my personal computer anymore.

The good news is, I just saved a lot of money by switching my car insurance FROM Geico... (j/k...but for real, I did save $$ by switching to Nationwide!)

No, the real good news is that I will be getting another laptop for free due to a class action lawsuit that I was eligible for. I bought an HP laptop in 2007 that had a graphics chip made by NVIDIA that has been the cause of problems ever since. They have to replace my laptop (a whole 4 years later!) but it will take close to 8 weeks to get it.

I appreciate your patience if my posts become somewhat sporadic until I'm back in business. It really does feel like I've stepped back into the stone ages. There should be some time to do some quick posting at work to keep you all up to date on products and techniques I'm working with. Meanwhile, feel free to catch up on the whole blog or re-read some of the favorite posts (listed to the right).

*Smooches*

Queenofthe4s

GLAM Weekend: World Natural Hair Health and Beauty Show

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the World Natural Hair Health and Beauty Show, hosted by Taliah Waajid Black Earth Products. The show has grown exponentially...so much so that I don't think anyone expected the increase in show attendance. Thankfully the my girls, Tdavis and Ebabs-J, and I decided to attend on Sunday which was a lot less crowded. On the downside...most of the national retailers were completely out of product at 2:00om (the show was scheduled to end at 7:00pm). I was sooooo disappointed at that At one point, the Ms. Jessie's reps were passing out empty bags with no samples in them..tisk tisk. Now they should have known better along with SheaMoisture, Jane Carter Solution, and Hair Rules. They missed out on some serious money and I felt that it left potential customers with a bad taste in their mouths.


I did get my hands on some Mizani that I have been wanting to try. I got the Butter Rich and Coconut Souffle, along with some natural soaps, and some more African Oyl from Black Earth Products. I also got a lime green tee that has a fro and says "Black Barbie." It's too cute!


All in all, we had great time. We made a full weekend of it having dinner, drinks, and getting all GLAMmed up for the show. Tdavis provided us with some awesome make-overs, I styled our hair, and Ebabs-J had us covered with the liquor :)

Here are some tips to working the show and getting the most of the deals there:


1.) Attend and purchase as a group. A group of 4 to 5 works perfectly as most of the vendors have deals like 5 for $20 ect. Everyone pics their product and combine the purchase. Make sure to have cash broken down into 5's and 1's to make this process a lot easier. Most vendors only take cash, and no one wants to front you on their check card during group purchases...#imjustsaying


2.) Walk the show before making purchases. - Usually there will be several vendors selling the same (or similar) products. Take the time to check them all out to compare quality and pricing before making a purchase.


3.) Decide the best date/time to attend.- This is typically hit or miss, but I will never...ever...EVER attend a show at the start of the first day. You are just *asking* for chaos. There may be people lined up for hours to pay for one day tickets and you will be tired before you hit the exhibit floor. About 3 hours after the start time is pretty safe. Most shows it's best to attend on the second day as vendors are not as tight with the product samples and you can find some last minute close out deals. Vendors would rather sell product than pay to transport it back (if they are not local).


4.) Have fun! - Rally the girls (and the liquor if ya'll drink), the makeup, and the hair products. Get dolled up, go to the show, and WERK!

Smooches-

Queenofthe4s

Blown-Out-Twist-Out Part 2

Thought you ladies might be curious to see how my hair is hanging in there after my blow out. I am *SO* not playing about getting the most out of this style considering the heat I used to accomplish it.

The pic above is me on day 4. The previous night I'd re-twisted in bigger, chunkier (is that a word?) sections because I was dead tired. I actually like the way it turned out, and it didn't lose as much definition as I thought it would.

By the end of day 4 my hair felt a little dry so I re-twisted with Canu SheaSoft Leave in conditioner. Because of its creamy consistency, I only used a little on each section so my hair wouldn't get too damp and shrink up. Day 5 my hair was off the chain..but of course I forgot to take pics :(

Last night I used big re-twist sections again and the pic below is me today (day 6). Not too much of a difference and still very defined. At this point I am *DYING* to co-wash my hair but I am going to try to wait until my Shea Moisture order comes in. Key word there being: try.

Blown-Out-Twist-Out

In preparation for my sister's baby shower, I suddenly decided to do something that I haven't done in a LONG time....almost 3 years long. I actually took the blow dryer to my own hair. All I can say is... It wasn't pretty. After an hour of pure torture, I had a completely blown out fro. It went wrong for one main reason; I used the wrong tool. All I had to straighten with was one of those paddle brushes with the little plastic balls on the tips of the teeth. It. Was. A. Hot. Dayum. Mess. I don't want to know how much hair I lost, but I won't think of it that way. Lets just say that all of the "strong hair" that made it through is worthy of being on my head at this point... :/ So anyways, after I finished the blow out I sectioned in four, and twisted each section with raw shea butter. The next morning, I awoke to the biggest, fluffiest twist out I have ever had. I've always known that I needed to blow out my hair to achieve this, but I am so anti-heat that I couldn't bring myself to do it before now. Throughout the day my hair continued to expand to the fro you see at the top of this post. For once, I can truly say that I have big hair! YAY!! In order to preserve this, I have to re-twist each night and I'm alternating between raw shea and organic coconut oil each night. I part with my finger and don't use any combs at night to minimize breakage. The pic below is me on day 3, early AM. We shall see how long I can keep this up before I have to co-wash again. For the heat I used, it better make it two weeks! This will be a great spring style, but I will have to give it up in the summer because it would be a catastrophe with the hot weather.



***UPDATE***



So it's the end of the workday and my hair is swelling. The pic below is at 4:30pm. I will post another update just before bed...I'm sure it will be huge and wild by then for sure. LOL!

Deal Alert: Shea Moisture BOGO at Walgreens.com

Just in case you ladies haven't heard, Walgreen's has the entire SheaMoisture line Buy One, Get One FREE!!

But wait! Before you run out to the nearest Walgreen's only to find the shelves empty, let me inform you that there is also FREE SHIPPING on this product!!

I split an order with my co-worker and spent $21.00 on four items. I got a shampoo, conditioner, deep treatment, and styling aid. Stay tuned for product reviews once they come in!

Dry Twist-out Results

Here it is ladies! The picture above shows the results of my version of a dry twist out. I've been working towards achieving a twist out that has full definition from roots to ends, elongation, and hold. Finally, I feel as if I am nearer to my goal. To begin with, I took down my aforementioned puff and rubbed organic coconut oil through my hair. Knowing that I wanted this set to last a few days, I was more than generous with the oil. For those of you who have tried Extra Virgin Coconut oil, and dislike the smell, you should try the Spectrum Organic brand. It's machine pressed and literally has no scent to it, but it works just as well. I actually like the smell of coconut oil, but this brand makes it easier to mix with other scented oils or shea butter. I then worked from front to back, making sections as I went, and adding Giovanni 50:50 before twisting. For the sections that were really dry, I would add a little water to make the hair more pliable. I didn't use a comb or even my "Fenman" to detangle; each twist section was small enough to use my fingers. Here are the finished twists. Look they have a lot more swing to them and are stretched out. They are only slightly damp and dried fully by morning, which is a definite plus.To smooth my edges, I used a sample of a product that I'd gotten from the Bronner Bros. International Hair show. The product is called LAID and it's made by Essations. I've never heard of them or their products, but I was impressed with their smoothing pomade. It works better on dry hair and lays it right on down. Once this sample runs out, I will be looking to purchase this by any means necessary. The next morning, I separated each twist once, and never did separate them further to reduce frizz caused by over manipulating. The set lasted me 4 full days before I pulled it up into a high puff. Each morning, I would remove my silk scarf, shake, and go. So there you have it! I usually like to let the pics speak for themselves. Let me know if you have any questions about products or techniques. *Smooches*