Curls- Goddess Curls

Ingredients:
Water, Sorbitol, Polyacrylate-14, Polyquaternium-7, Polysorbate 20, Fruit Certified Organic Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Plumeria Alba Flower Extract, Biosaccharide Gum-1, Carbomer, Certified Organic Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Aminomethyl Propanol, Tetrasodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, DMDH Hydantoin

Price:
$10.99 at Meijer

*I didn't find this exact product on the Curls website, so I'm not sure if this is available any place other than Meijer.  The website does have a few products that seem similar to this though.


Scent:
The scent is hard to explain.  I don't want to say it has an alcohol smell, but it does sort of remind me of some alcohol based gels.  It isn't a strong smell though, just not fruity or flowery.

Consistency:
Thick liquid, not sticky or greasy and doesn't leave C's hair feeling crunchy, flaky or greasy and doesn't leave any build-up.

I've used a little less than half a bottle of this, so I might come back with a different opinion later.
I have used this on C's hair along with the Curls Creme Brule and the Curls Lavish Curls Moisturizer on completely free hair and ponytails with free hair.
As I said, I might come back and do another review on this later, but as of now I'm not too impressed with this product.  I didn't notice any less frizz or any more definition.  Each time we've used this, I added generous amounts to C's hair.  I'm still going to keep using this, but I'm not sure I'll ever try it again once the bottle is empty.  I feel that this is a fair review considering we did go through almost half a bottle and got the same results each time, but I will keep using different amounts and using it with different products to see if I like it any better.  I did like the fact that all the products we used were from the same company, because a lot of times products will work better together when they are all from the same company than if you use a different product for moisture and styling.  But whatever works is what I'm going to do!

I have tried the entire Curls line available at Meijer except the shampoo.  To me shampoo doesn't really matter as long as it's sulfate free so I'm not sure if I'll try that or not.  We have about 8 bottles of sulfate free shampoos- each one gives us the same result, which is why you won't see many shampoo reviews here.  I have to say, the Curls line is not the best product out there, but it gives decent results for the price.  Since nothing else we've tried has been any better, this is our product line until we find something better :)

Have you tried this or any of the other Curls products?  What did you think?

Curls- Curly Creme Brule Review

I don't usually bother to look at the hair products at most stores, but for some reason I decided to look when we were at Meijer.  The label caught my eye right away when I saw the word 'Curls', so I grabbed one of the bottles. 
The bottle of the Curl Creme Brule says that it's formulated with certified organic ingredients and has no sulfates, silicones, parabens, mineral oil or petrolatum, so I was sold.

*I wasn't able to find this product on the Curls website, so I'm not sure if it's available anywhere other than Meijer.

Ingredients:
Water, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Glycerin, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Glycerin Soya (Soybean) Oil, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Glycerin Stearate, Tocopherol, Allantoin, Certified Organic Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Certified Organic Prunus Amygalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Stearic Acid, Cetyl Alcohol, Sodium Carbomer, Potassium Sorbate, Fragrance, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol

Price:
$12.99 for an 8oz. bottle at Meijer

Product Description:
Curl Creme Brule will define, defrizz and moisturize your tresses leaving soft curls without hold.  Add Goddess to your extra frizzy sections for more control.

Directions:
Day1- Apply Curl Creme Brule to freshly cleansed/conditioned hair, section by section.  Allow hair to air dry.
Day2- Refresh your curls with Lavish Curls Moisturizer, and reapply Curl Creme Brule to curls as needed.

Scent:
This smells wonderful.  It reminds me a lot of Catwalk's Oatmeal And Honey conditioner.  In fact, I'd say they smell the exact same!  It smells a little like a sugar cookie or a white cake.

Consistency:
Creamy, thick but light and non-greasy.  This didn't leave C's hair flaky, crunchy or sticky and didn't leave any build-up.


When I use a product that promises curl definition and less frizz, I like to leave at least some of C's hair free so that I can see if it really does what it's supposed to do.
I deep conditioned C's hair the night before and added lots of leave-in conditioner plus lots of the Curl Creme Brule and Lavish Curls Moisturizer spritz.  I moisturized her hair the same way before I styled it.
Here is a photo of C's free curls before school, while it was still damp...

Ignore the face C's making- we didn't have time to keep taking pics before school :)


And here's what C's hair looked like when it was dry...

Her hair isn't only dry- this was taken after a whole day of school, and she was running around in gym!

Umm... Yeah, I think her curls look great!  Her hair was MUCH more more moisturized and had lots less frizz than normal.  There's also lots more definition.

 We've used a full bottle of this and part of another one, so far so good! 

I decided I wanted to try the this on more of C's hair to see what it would look like. 

I used lots of the Creme Brule in each section of C's hair, and then I sprayed a good amount of the Lavish Curls Moisturizer spritz and rubbed it into her hair.  Here is what C's her hair looked like at the end of the day...

I was less impressed with the results this time.  It was snowing and C's hair got pretty wet by it, then she was wearing her hood too so that might have had something to do with it.  I will probably try it again.  Her hair was more moisturized than other things have made it, but it had lots of frizz and poorly defined curls.

As long as this Creme Brule keeps C's hair moisturized in styles and in small amounts of free hair, I'll be happy with it!  Basically, this isn't the best product so I'm still going to try other things, but it's no worse than anything else we've tried.  Since it's easy to find and has decent ingredients, I'll be keeping this around until something better comes around.

I'm going to do a review on the Lavish Curls Moisturizer spritz (tomorrow??)  I used it to freshen C's Valentines Day style before school and before bed, and we've been using it almost everyday along with the Creme Brule.  We also bought Goddess Curls defining gel to have a more completely partnered product line, so be sure to check back for that review as well!  :)

 

Heart Faux Hawk With Beads- A Valentines Day Hairstyle

I wanted something cute and of course Valentines Day themed for today! :)

I had lots of styles I wanted to do, but this one just seemed to keep coming to my mind so this is what I did. 

You might remember seeing a similar style here on our blog, if you've been following us that long.

This is the style I did on D, who was our first Curly Friend to be featured!

C's is basically the same, only I did flat twists for D and cornrows for C, and also I put a ponytail inside C's heart with some braids and beads.

So, here's how I did C's style...

First I prepared C's hair by seperating it into several small sections, then finger detangled followed by

combing with our wide tooth comb.  I used a generous amount of moisturizer (I'll be reviewing it later!), sealed with oil, then re-moisturized each section as I worked.  I used Bee Mine Curly Butter for hold.  This is experiment #1 to find what will work best with the curly butter- more on that later too.

Once C's hair was detangled and moisturized, I parted straight down the middle then tied the left section off.  I made the heart first, then I cornrowed around it.

Next, I simply parted small sections of hair and cornrowed them up towards the center part line.

I decided to make this style a little more eye catching by braiding in a couple heart shaped beads to some of the cornrows. 

To do this, I sectioned off a small amount of hair where the cornrow would begin (the amount you would normally take to begin a cornrow), and used our beader to add a single heart bead to that hair. 

Then I split the hair that was coming from the bead into 2 strands, added a small piece of hair to make a 3rd strand and cornrowed as usual.

I really hope that makes sense!

When I was finished with all the cornrowing, I pulled the hair from both sides up to the middle and added ponytails.  C's hair is still damp in the photos, but when her hair is completely dry, it will poof out and look really cute!

I pulled a few cornrows together and put them in ponytails so that I could use less ponytails in her hair.  I also added beads to all the braids in the heart and the cornrows around it.

I didn't want a particular pattern, I wanted the beads to be random and colorful.  I love the way beads look when they're in a package or container all mixed up and that's what I like to do a lot of times when I put them in C's hair :)

This morning, C's hair looked very fresh and seemed more moisturized than usual.  I dampened her hair again, added more moisturizer and just a little oil to seal it in, then I sprayed it with a moisturizing mist (which I'll also be reviewing later!)  I hope that this style will stay fresh a couple days, even though Valentines Day is over after today.  I didn't get nearly half my ideas finished on time for Valentines Day, so that means I'll have even more to do next year and maybe think of even better things!

Well, the Valentines Day styles might be over, but I have some other things I'm planning on doing and lots of reviews coming, so keep checking back!

Happy Valentines Day! <3 

Bee Mine Curly Butter Review

We actually tried this product about a year ago, and I just realized I never did a review! So here it is...

Product Description:

This shea butter and aloe based curly butter is packed with rich moisturizing nutrients to give you long lasting moisture and promote growth. It has a soft touchable hold that will help to defrizz your frizzes and give great definition. This Curly Butter is wonderful for twists, finger curls, puffs/pony tails and especially for laying down unruly hair. Great for naturals, relaxed, texlaxed, everyone.

Scents available:

• Coconut Cream
• Unscented
• Island Mango (Tropical Mango)

Ingredients: 100% Shea Butter, 100% Aloe Vera Gel, Essential Oil Blend, Vegetable Glycerin, Rosemary Leaf and Chammomile Extract, Silk Powder and Perfume
With this and any other of our products please do a patch test prior to full use.

Price:
$23 for a 16oz. tub/$13.97 for an 8oz. tub

Consistency:
Creamy, thick but light.

I purchased the 16oz. tub of the Island Mango Bee Hold Curly Butter.  I love the scent- it smells wonderful! 
I washed C's hair as soon as this came in the mail and put it into cornrows.
This is the first style we used the Curly Butter with.



When I put the Curly Butter in C's hair, it did feel nice and I thought this was going to be a product we always keep in the house.  Her hair looked pretty nice too- she didn't have any hairs poking out of her braids until the 2nd. day.  Once her hair was completely dry, it soaked up every bit of the Curly Butter.
I went and added more to each cornrow and her ends hoping that would keep some moisture, and that made it look nicer for a while.  The next morning, her ends were more moisturized than usual. 

*This is not meant to be a 'hate' review or to say anything bad about the Bee Mine company or anyone who uses and likes their products.  This is just my opinion of it and I always give an honest review!

This was the very first natural hair product we ever used so maybe my expectations were a little high after reading all the reviews about this Curly Butter.  We were also using the No Sulfur Growth Serum, so I figured that was good enough to use as an oil to seal in the moisture.  I made a post about that but I never followed up, but I'm going to do the review on that next.

C's hair had to come down after the usual 3 days, and by that time her hair was bone dry and very frizzy.
A lot of times this happens- I just can't keep her hair moisturized for the life of me!  But then once I take the cornrows or other style down, the hair inside is still moisturized and looks nice for a braid out.  That didn't happen with this.  None of the braid pattern was noticeable, so I had to restyle her hair.

The label does say that it does everything I'm looking for in a hair product...  Long lasting moisture with less frizz and more definition, so I kept using it for a couple days.  By the 3rd. day, C's hair showed no improvement and was just as dry as ever, so we moved on to another product.
Even though I didn't get the results I want and it doesn't say that you have to use anything else with it, I'm thinking about trying it again with the addition of the Bee Mine Daily Moisturizing Spritz and maybe one of the moisturizers and see if we have any better luck.

Have you tried this or any other Bee Mine products?  What did you think?
Which products do you like to use together?

Taliah Waajid Kinky, Wavy, Natural Herbal Comb Out Review

Directions:

The secret to combing children's natural hair. Tools needed: afro comb, large or medium clips, brush, blow dryer-(optional). Combing Out: Kinky, Wavy, Natural can be used on damp/dry hair. 1. Part hair into 5 or more large sections. 2. Undo one section at a time. Apply Kinky, Wavy, Natural to section. 3. Use fingers to distribute product from scalp to ends. 4. Use afro comb and start combing from the ends of the hair and work your way to the scalp until the section is free from tangles. 5. Brush toward scalp for root stimulation. 6. Clip and move on to next section. Repeat throughout the entire head until hair is manageable. For blow drying: Follow steps 1-4 for comb out. 5. Use blow dryer with horizontal comb. On medium heat blow out the tangle-free section. Daily moisturizing/styling: Distribute Kinky, Wavy Natural through hair using fingers while styling, combing, brushing, braiding, twisting.

Product Details:
Softens & detangles. Eliminates breakage. Moisturizes & conditions. Ouch-less healthy hair care for children with no more crying at combing time. Green Tea and Sage Formula conditions, moisturizes and softens on contact. Adds nutrients for stronger, healthier hair. Natural, curly hair needs moisture! I am Taliah Waajid, a mother that understands the challenges of combing and managing our children's beautiful Curly, Kinky and Wavy hair textures. I am also a natural hair care specialist, licensed cosmetologist and natural hair educator for over 25 years. I created the best product on the market for the needs of children's chemical-free curly hair. Kinky, Wavy, Natural also helps repair damaged, over-processed and breaking hair.

*This is the part where I messed up....
I heard about this product a while ago, but I never bothered to look up the ingredients or anything- I do that before I buy it (because I always forget by the time I get around to buying something!)
I planned on going to the BSS, running in and grabbing what I want so I could be in and out fast, so I decided I would look up the ingredients online before I went out shopping.  I first checked the Taliah Waajid website and searched this product.  No ingredients were listed anywhere!  So then I just searched for the ingredients on my own.  Here's what I found...

Ingredients:
Deionized Water, Shea Nut Oil, Green Tea & Sage Extract, Propylene, Shea Butter, Vitamin E Oil, Olive Oil, Cocoa Butter Oil, Herbal Moisturizers and Detanglers, Silk Protein, Balsam and Aloe Vera.

Not bad, so I decided I'd run in the beauty supply store and grab a bottle.
Later, after I already used this in C's hair, I was checking out the label and found the real ingredient list...


Ingredients:
Deionized Water (Aqua), Cetrimonium Bromide, Shea Nut Oil, Ceteareth-20, Shea Butter, Vitamin E, DMDM Hydantoin, Glycol-Vegetable Derived, Green Tea Extract (Camellia Sinensis), Sage Extract (Salvia Officinalis), MINERAL OIL D&C Yellow #5, Silk Protein (moisturizer and detangler), Aloe Vera (Barbadensis), Fragrance (Parfum)

I was mad at myself for not checking the ingredients on the bottle for myself, BUT... at this point we've tried so many products that are natural and supposed to be healthy and super moisturizing, and we still haven't found anything too spectacular.  C's hair is still very dry and soaks up every product even though we've tried changing her hair care routine several times and done everything I could think of, so I thought just maybe the Kinky, Wavy, Natural would still be a good product even if it isn't as beneficial health wise.  I know that Mineral Oil will not make you go instantly bald or anything like that- it's not the worst thing you could do to your hair, but there are better options.
Well, the next morning I was really kicking myself! 
C's hair grease days were resurrected!  Her hair was so dried out, and her ends felt like straw :(
On top of that, I had to CO wash C's hair because it was very greasy and weighed down.  Rinsing it with water wasn't enough, but at least I didn't have to use shampoo so I guess it could have been worse.
But I learned 2 lessons from this.  #1. ALWAYS check the ingredient label yourself before you buy something!  When searching on a search engine, you might find an ingredient list of a completely different product with a similar name.  Or, when reading reviews from other people who have used a product you want to try, they might simply have forgotten a few ingredients or maybe even left them out thinking they aren't an important thing to list!
#2.  Even if I haven't found the best product for us (which may or may not even exist!), it doesn't mean that it will never be found, and it doesn't mean that all the money I've spent is going for products that give the same results as some cheaper things- up until I tried this I've been thinking I'm wasting time and money buying natural products.  There might not be any 'miracle' product out there for C, and even though I don't see the results I want, her hair is healthier (even if it is dry) and I'm going to keep doing my best to try and find what works best for C's hair!  :)

Have you tried Kinky, Wavy, Natural or any other products from Taliah Waajid?
Have you ever been mislead by an ingredient list?

Taliah Waajid Protective Mist Bodifier Review

 

Ingredients:
Deionized Water (Aqua), Wheat Germ Extract, (Triticum Vulgare), Aloe Vera (Aloe Babadensis) Leaf, Cetrimonium Bromide, Cetyl Alc., DMDM Hydantoin, Olive Oil (Olea Europaena), Glycol -(Vegetable Derived), Silk Amino Acid, Bay Laurel Extract (Lauris No Bilis), Fragrance (Parfum)

Description:
The Protective Mist Bodifier is a daily leave-in conditioner. Can also be used for comb-outs and dentangling curly hair. Use on wet or dry hair. The Protective Mist Bodifier coats, protects and softens the curl pattern. This results in easier to comb hair as well longer lasting styles. For the best results, use the complete line of Black Earth Products.

How It's Used:

For comb out and detangling- After shampoo and conditioning, spray the Protective Mist Bodifier onto the hair. Distribute evenly and work into the area. You should be able to run your fingers through that section after you apply the Bodifier. You will feel the product coating the hair. At this point you can comb out the section.

Daily conditioning-Spray the Protective Mist Bodifier on the hair and scalp of braids, locks, twists and natural hair styles. Use at least 3 times a week.

Scent:

I love the smell of this!  It smells like coconuts, much like the Taliah Waajid Lock It Up gel we often use.

Price:

I found this at a beauty supply store for $7.50 for an 8oz. bottle.

I've been looking for a good leave-in conditioner for C's hair for a while now, so when I saw this at a local beauty supply store, I decided to try it. 

The price was not bad and I love the scent!

I've been using this day and night as a leave in and for comb outs for almost 2 whole weeks on C's hair, and I have noticed a difference.  Her hair is softer and has been staying moisturized longer!  :) 

As I do with most products, I use an extra amount of this protective mist.  I put a little bit of the mist into our spray bottle so we can also use it as a moisturizer when her hair is up in a style.  I wet C's hair, divide it into several small sections and add the mist, then I do finger detangling and comb through with a wide tooth comb.  When I'm done combing each section I go back and add a little more mist. 

It comes in a spray bottle, but it's very thick and isn't easy to spray.  I just take the cap off and pour a little in my hands and rub it into C's hair. 

I have used a whole bottle of it, and I will be going to buy more tomorrow! 

This is a pic of C's hair just after I detangled it and added the Taliah Waajid protective mist bodifier.  I wasn't going to do a review until we tried it a second time, just because some products seem great at first but when you use them again, you don't like them as much.  At least that's the way it is for me.  I just really like this picture, and I'm loving C's length!  :)
The BMP makes her hair so shiny, and once it dries it's very soft and fluffy.  This product doesn't weigh her hair down or leave it sticky, flaky or crunchy at all. 
I still plan to try some other Taliah Waajid products as well as others, but this will definitely become one of our regular products.

We've used this all on it's own and also used it with Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie.  Both ways made C's hair look great, although I don't really like it used with the Smoothie. 
This product works fine for moisturizing on it's own right after a wash, but I still need to find a good partner product for it on other days.

Have you tried this or any other leave-in conditioners/detangler products from Taliah Waajid?  What did you think?

I have lots more reviews coming soon, so stay tuned!

Bantu Knot Heart With Rope Twist Ponies- A Valentines Day Style

I like this style, although I do think that it looks better in person than in the pictures.  The heart is much easier to make out in person.  I think it's just because it was pretty big.
This is a simple yet cute idea for a Valentines Day hairstyle, and you don't have to know how to cornrow to accomplish this. 

I think this style is pretty self explanatory.  I just parted out a heart in the center of C's head, and then I parted the hair outside of the heart into symmetrical ponytails on each side.  This was a fun style to do, because we haven't used many accessories in styles lately.  I think adding color makes any style cuter! :)

I decided to go with rope twists for this style because when her hair is completely dry, these will poof out a little and look fuller than braids.  Also, C protested braids because she just had her hair in braids with a heart :)

We added some pink ballies and some cute heart barrettes at the ends of each rope twist, and C was ready for school!

This style only took us around a half hour to complete.  We used Taliah Waajid Protective Mist Bodifier (review coming soon!) and Lock It Up Gel.

Here's a little different angle, I tried to get the best view...

The bantu knot inside the heart definitely looks better from the back!  As I said, the heart was pretty big so there was a lot of hair inside the bantu knot, and I think it looks a little weird from the side view.   Anyway...

I still have a lot more ideas for Valentines Day- it's such an easy holiday to find styles for!  I don't know how many I'll get around to doing, but there will be at least one more for sure so stay tuned! :)
 

Heart Shaped Pony With Big Cornrows- A Valentines Day Style

I have a lot of ideas I hope to do by Valentines Day and also some that I'd like to borrow.  This is one of (hopefully) many!

Since I'm planning on doing several different styles all by Valentines Day, I decided to go with a style that wouldn't take long to put in or take down. 

I started with damp, well detangled hair.  I separated C's hair into several small sections and moisturized each section with Taliah Waajid Protective Mist Bodifier and Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie.  I used a little Africa's Best Herbal hair oil to seal the moisture in.

First, I parted the heart off to the side in the front of C's hair.  Once I was done with the heart and the cornrows around it, I put the rest of her hair into several big cornrows.

I was having a 'bad hand day' as I like to call it.  For some reason I noticed that whenever I go for more than a week or so without doing cornrows, I don't do good with them.  o_O  I'll be doing another post to talk more about that later.

Anyway, there's not much else more to say about this style.  It was just a simple, short lasting style.  Since this style isn't going to last long and won't be in for Valentines Day, I didn't add any accessories.  I like to keep accessories to a minimum, although I might add a few jumbo pink beads in the morning if her hair still looks fresh.  I'll be taking this style down tomorrow night and doing something different.

I really like the front view of this style!  :)

Since I decided not to add any accessories, I ended each braid about an inch or so from the ends so that they would be curly.

I used to be a LOT more creative with C's hair than I am now!  But no that I've found all these styles on hair blogs and keep seeing things on facebook that I want to try, I find myself trying all of those instead of thinking up something of my own.  I'm working on cutting down on that so I can show you all some better things- I really can do more, so stay with me  :)

Also, I did this style last Valentines Day and I've wanted to show it to people ever since!  I didn't want to show it without permission of the person I borrowed the style from, but I finally got brave enough to show it on facebook and I'm going to show it here.  I hope no one minds...

In case you don't already know, this style was borrowed from BeadsBraidsBeyond!  :) Hers looks better though.  At the time, I thought I did a great job on this style.  I still think I did pretty good, and I think my hearts have gotten better too.  I accidentally deleted the picture of the right side, but it's basically the same as the left side. 
I used Africa's Best Kids Organics Soft Hold Styling Pomade & Hairdress for this style.  Although it has no petrolatum or mineral oil, it does have parabens and silicones.  I liked it, but I don't use it any more because I'm trying to use the healthiest products possible and more natural products are easily available.

So... What do you think?  I'd love to share your Valentines Day styles too so if you want them shown, send them to me at curlyhairisbeautiful@gmail.com

Winner #2

I was just informed that I didn't exactly make my rules very clear- I never said how the winner was going to be chosen!  Sometimes I'm so blond it's scary :)

Anyway, I want to be fair here so this is what I'm going to do...
Since nobody won the prizes for guessing C's birth date, I'm going to give that package (all of the items listed) to the person who had the most entries.
That person is Kandy, who had 18 entries!  Congratulations to Kandy, and thank you for entering our giveaway everyday! :)
Please email me with your mailing address and color choices for the Curl Tamer brush- red, blue, purple, black, brown or green and also your color choice for your flower clip.
Again, I'm sorry for the confusion and hope this is a good enough apology :)

Winner!

Sorry this wasn't announced at 7 like I said, I ended up getting busy and then completely forgot!
But anyway.......

The winner of C's Birthday giveaway is entry number 38, which is 'Miss Piggy', Who said "I follow you on twitter."

Congratulations to you!  Please email me with your mailing address and also the name you follow my blog under- I don't see anyone with your name on my list of followers :)

Also, there is another small problem.  The pack of bow shaped beads cracked open somehow.  None of the beads are used, but there may have been a few that fell out. SO.... you can either take the pack as it is, or I will replace it with your choice of color!

And as for the guessing of C's birthday, I was surprised I didn't get more responses- it was a pretty easy way to get an extra entry.  Anyway, although a few people came real close no one guessed C's exact birthday, which is January 27th.  So it looks like there is no winner there :(

Congratulations again to 'Miss Piggy', and thank you to all who entered!  There will be another giveaway here soon- what do you think I should give away next???