Updos on hold

I said I was going to do a week of updos, but my sister came over on Tuesday and did my hair. See pictures below. The twists have shrunk more than I wanted so I'm thinking of putting in extensions. If I do I'll put up pictures of the result.



Week of Updos - Updos Day 1

Day 1 of my week of updos. I parted the back and the rolled both sides in. Then I made a quiff at the top. Yeah I know, the parting isn't straight.

Week of Updos

Though I love my fro, I can't continue to sport this looks as it makes my hair more likely to tangle at the ends. I will attempt to do a week (7 days, not necessarily consecutively) of updos. I did my first one yesterday, it was a variation of a style shown by oooop75 (click on the link) on her updo tutorial. It looks a little rough, because this was later in the day and I hadn't put any products in my hair that morning. I realised that I will have to get some gel, but one that wont feel gloopy in my hair or go hard.

Soon to come

I've listed some products that I have recently purchased, all (bar one) of which contain chemicals that most Nappturals don't wish to use in their hair. I will soon post info on other ingredients that can be used in hair on its own or mixed to make your own hair product. I hope to also do future reviews on products that don't contain chemicals.

Hair Product: ApHOGEE Deep Moisture Shampoo

ApHOGEE Deep Moisture Shampoo





Im not going to say too much about this, it's one that I've used before, bought from a hair shop on Seven Sisters Road (can't remember the price). Unfortunately it does contain SLS, so I'll be using it until I can found a good (and reasonable priced) sulfate free shampoo.

Hair Products: Creme of Nature Chamomile and Comfrey Nourishing Conditioner

Creme of Nature Chamomile and Comfrey Nourishing Conditioner

Bought from a hair shop on Seven Sisters Road for £2.49, this conditioner claims to smooth and detangle whilst providing moisture and protection. I've used it before and liked it so I thought I would try it again until I can find a conditioner with all natural products or a convenient recipe so that I can make my own.

Ingredients

Ultra Purified Water, Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Dicetyldimonuim Chloride, Lanolin Oil, PEG-12 Dimethicone, Amodimethicone, Phenyl Trimethicone, Peppermint Leaf Extract, Basil Extract, Polygala Senega Root Extract, Watercress Extract, Sage Leaf Extract, Thyme Extract, Rosemary Leaf Extract, Grapefruit Sedd Extract, Chamomila Recutita Extract, Symphtum Officinale Leaf Extract, Orange Oil, Peppermint Oil, Lime Oil, Spearmint Leaf Oil, Coconut Oil, Shea Butter, Cocoa Seed Butter, Jojoba Seed Oil, Soybean Oil, Hydrlized Wheat Protein, Hydrlized Wheat Starch, Panthenol, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Isostearyl Ethylimidazolinium Ethosulfate, Polyquarternium-10, Polyquarternium-32, Paraffinium Liquidum, Fragrance (Eucalyptus Globulus Leaf Oil, Cymbopogon Schoenanthus Oil and Citrus Aurantium Bergamia Fruit Oil), Citronellol, Coumarin, Hydroxycitrnellal, Limonene, Linanool, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, ButylParaben, Isobutylparaben, Phenoxyethanol 

Hair Products: African Pride Herbal Healing Leave-In Conditioner

African Pride Herbal Healing Leave-In Conditioner

I got this from a hair shop on Seven Sisters Road for £2.99, it's from African Pride and claims to reduce breakage, improve management, and heal damaged hair. Its a little thick, smells nice and has small bits of what I think are herbs inside.

Ingredients: (starts well, but goes downhill after the herbs)

Water (Aqua), African Pride herbal complex: nettle extract, rosemary leaf extract, actium lappa root extract, betula alba extract, rosa canina fruit extract, carrageenan extract, dandelion extract, equisetum hiemale leaf/stem extract, wild cherry bark extract, echinacea purpurea extract, sambucus nigra flower extract, coltsfoot flower extract, rumex crispus root extract, brewers yeast, Petrolatum, PEG-4, Glyceryl Stearate, Sorbitol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ceteareth-20, Octyl Palmitate, Isocetyl Stearate, Cyclomethicone, Amodimethicone, Cymbopogon Schoenanthus Extract, Rosemary Leaf Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, Jojoba Seed Oil, Glycerin, Panthenol, Polybutene, PEG-75 Lanolin, Polyquarternium-10, Polysorbate 20, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Cetylpyridinium Chloride, Fragrance, Benzyl Benzoate, Cinnamol, Coumarin, Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, Butylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Phenoxyethanol, Orange 4 (CI 15510), Ext. Violet 2 (CI 60730) 

Hair Products: Africa's Best Ultimatre Herbal Oil

Africa's Best Ultimate Herbal Oil

I've used products from this brand before and they worked well. This one may replace my oil mix as it has a good mix of oils and smells nice. I got this from an hair shop on Seven Sisters Road, but I can't remember how much for, I think it was between £1-£2. I'll probably transfer this to a spray bottle and put the remainder of my oil mix in an applicator bottle to use on my scalp.

Ingredients:

Soy Bean Oil, Walnut Seed Oil, Kiwi Fruit Extract, Olive Fruit Oil, Castor Seed Oil, Sesame Seed Oil, Jojoba Seed Oil, Carrot Seed Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate, Safflower Oil and Calendula Extract and Yellow Extract and Cucumber Extract and Carrageen Extract, Ginseng Extract and Sage Extract and Confrey Extract and Aloe Extract, Fragrance.

Hair Products: Shea Butter Softening Hair and Scalp Lotion

Shea Butter Softening Hair and Scalp Lotion

I've had this for some time now and generally use it on my scalp. Its good and the applicator nozzle is very handy especially when my hair is braided. It's from ORGANIC ROOT Stimulator who have a natural hair range. I bought it for £3.99 from a hair shop in either Turnpike Lane or West Green Road. One thing to note regarding products claiming to have shea butter is that sometimes the quantity of the shea butter is very little (as pointed out by BlackOnyx77 on her 65 Do's and Don'ts video). The ingredients that are listed higher up on the list are those that make up most of the product. So if shea butter appears towards the end of a list of ingredients, the you know that it's not really a shea butter product (they just call it shea butter because more people will buy it). When I use it directly on my hair it feels a bit light and watery, so I only use for this purpose if I run out of my shea butter mix. I'm ot sure if I will use this again.

Ingredients:

Water (Aqua), Cyclomethicone, Dimethicone Copolyol, Glycerine, Methyl Gluceth-10, Dimethiconol, Shea Butter (Butyrospermum Parki), Phenyl Trimethicone, Sodium Chloride, Polysorbate-20, Carrot Oil (Daucus Carota Sativa), Fragrance (Parfum), Propylene Glycol, Diazolidinyl Urea, Methyl Paraben, Propyl Paraben, Quaternium-15.



Hair products: ApHOGEE Balancing Moisturizer

ApHOGEE Balancing Moisturizer

I bought this yesterday from an hair shop in Seven Sisters for £4.99. I saw a video on YouTube by Rustic Beauty were she states that she has used this and that it made her hair soft, so I decided to try it out. I used it last night when preparing my hair for bed and it did make it feel soft, though it also smelt a little. The only thing that does concern me with this are the ingredients listed on the product, however, I will continue to use it and see what it does to my hair. 

Ingredients (there are a lot of them)

Water, Glyceryl, Stearate, Cytyl Alcohol, PEG-100 Sterate, Glyerine, Steoralkonium Chloride, Petrolatum, Cetearyl Alcohol, Mineral Oil, Oleyl Alcohol, Squalene, Acetamide MEA, Panthenol, Silk Amino Acids, Allantoin, Collage Amino Acids, Hydrolyzed Elastin, Cyclomethicone, PEG-150, Sterate, Polysorbate-60, Steareth-20, Proline, Alamine, Tryptaphan, Sage Extract, Chamomile Extract, Rosemary Extract, Citric Acid, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Fragrance.

At some point I'll post the effects that some of these ingredients have on your hair.

Welcome

Welcome to all the napptural ans soon to be nappturals out there. The main reason for me doing this blog is to have somewhere to chronicle my experiences with various hair care products and write about anything afro hair related that I come across. I hope to all post pictures of hairstyles I've tries. I hope this is useful for someone out there.