Viviscal Update 6 Months

Hello everyone!  So, I finally got around to finishing up my video update of Viviscal.  I have been using Viviscal since June 2012 to help regrow my hair.  My last relaxer was March 2011 and A LOT of my hair fell out.  This is the reason why I went natural!

My spot is not completely gone, but it has shrunk.  The spot use to start about an inch behind my hair line and extend to the top of my head.  Then it went across to both my temples.  Now, it is only in the front of my head and the top of my head is filled in.    The two pictures below show my hair in June 2012 and December 2012. 

The left picture is my hair in June 2012.  The spot extend from the front all the way to the back.  In the picture on the right the spot is just in the front and I have to zoom in closer with my camera to get a picture of the spot.  My hair looks and feels thicker now.  As you can see I have hair growing on the top of my head.

Below is a video I made with my final results.  Please share your thoughts and let me know if any of you are considering trying Viviscal.  Until next time...
Blessings!

Book Revew: Curly Like Me and Curly Girl

Hello everyone! I have been reading a lot of blogs about how people follow certain methods, so after reading several blogs of ladies that follow the Curly Girl Method I decided that I needed to read both books. I had already read Curly Like Me, but to be fair I read it again. So, I read the books and made a video of me talking about the two books and basically how I combine the two methods. Until next time...
Blessings!

Mop Top Review

Back in February I wrote a review on some Mop Top products I won through a drawing and basically I loved them except for one teeny little issue I had with the price.  So, after getting a little refund from Uncle Sam I decided to splurge and buy the Mop Top Deep Conditioner and Leave it in Conditioner.  I also got some more Gentle Shampoo.

Well after doing some research I found out that Mop Top is top of the line in quality.  Kelly at Mop Top is passionate about her products and after watching several You Tube videos I decided that I needed to do a review on the Deep Conditioner and the Leave it in Conditioner.  I couldn't find a lot of reviews of these products and when I did the person used another product from another line with the Mop Top products, so I will be reviewing these products using only Mop Top in my hair and I will give my perspective including my own pros and cons.

I have embedded my YouTube video review and this is only my second video.  If you have any questions or comments just leave it below.  You can go to Mop Top and order your own.  Until next time...
Blessings!

Mop Top Review

I was blessed to win a giveaway from Dominique at Natural Hair Care Info.  I won a travel sized set of Mop Top products that include their gentle shampoo, daily conditioner, anti-frizz gel, and detangler and refresher spray.  This past Saturday I decided to try out my new products.  I want to let you know up front that I didn't use any other products besides the Mop Top products so I could give a honest non-bias review.  I did go to the Mop Top site and watched the video on how to use the products.  

First up was the gentle shampoo.  The scent is lavender mint and I found it very refreshing.  I  followed the directions and focused on washing my scalp.  I used only a little bit about a quarter sized amount and I felt like my hair was clean, but not squeaky clean.  That's good because that means that my natural oils were not striped from my hair.  So, far thumbs up.

Next came the daily conditioner with lemon sage scent.  I liked this scent better than the lavender mint and I followed the directions from the site to not use a lot and to rinse most of the product out after a few minutes of sitting in my hair.  Now, I thought "no way will I have enough slip to comb my hair with that little amount".  So before I rinsed most of the conditioner out I finger combed my hair and I has pleasantly surprised at how easily my fingers slipped through my hair.

After rinsing most of the daily conditioner out and patting my hair with my micro fiber towel, I decided to run my wide tooth comb through my hair and was once again surprised at how easily my hair detangled  with no damage to the pulling on my hair.  Before adding the anti-frizz gel I just had to add some more daily conditioner as my leave in about a quarter size to my entire head.  I then added the anti frizz gel and I only used about a dime sized amount to four sections to my hair.  The gel is labeled as "light hold" and I was not sure if this light gel would hold my curls.  I was a little surprised to see how my curls popped from the little amount of gel.

Just finished applying gel and my hair is still wet.

Couple of hours later and my hair is completely dry.

So let's get to what I liked and didn't like about these products.  I really liked the shampoo and was very impressed with the conditioner.  When I looked at the little bottle of conditioner I thought "well I'll maybe get one use out of this".  I used about 1/4 of the bottle, so being able to use less conditioner was a big plus.  Also, the slip I got from the conditioner was awesome and very surprising.  Moving on to the gel, I liked that I didn't need to glob a lot of gel to get defined curls.  The light hold allowed my hair to retain it's natural softness and I would call my curls "touchable".  My hair also has a very natural looking sheen instead of the wet shiny look other gels can give your hair.

Ok, now the cons about these products.  The expense!  This kit costs $23!  I'm a tightly curly method girl and I have never spent that much money on just four products of only two ounces each.  The daily conditioner ranges from $20.50 to $39.95 and I just can't justify spending that much when I get similar results with my $6.59 32 ounce bottle of Aussie Moist.  Second, the light hold from the gel is just that, light.  The next morning when I used the refresher I had to use more gel to make my curls pop.  Right now as I'm typing this review I'm planning on a puff tomorrow because my hair has frizzed out of it's curl.  I tend to wear a puff when my style has frizzed out to the point that I need to rewash to get the defined curls back, but it's not wash day yet.  So, basically I got only two days out of this style. 

Next day hair after refresher and more gel.

Overall, I'm glad I got to try these products.  The one product that impressed me the most was the daily conditioner.  I loved the conditioner and that might be the one product I would drop the coin on to purchase regularly because I wouldn't need to use as much as I would my Aussie Moist so I could justify the expensive with the fact that it would last longer.  I want to mention that Mop Top does have a deep conditioner and a leave in conditioner.  I can't speak for those products because I didn't try them out.  Until next time...
Blessings!

Eco Styler Olive Oil Revisted

This morning I decided to revisit my Eco Styler Olive Oil.  Instead of using my Aussie Moist I used Tresemme as my leave in conditioner.  I applied my jojoba rosemary oil mixture under the Tresemme.  This time around, I applied less conditioner then I traditional would do.  As I raked it through my hair I had very little white this time and as my hair dried the white disappeared.

I really like how my curls are well defined, but my hair is really crunchy.  The Eco Styler Olive Oil is a 10 hold on a scale of 1 through 10.  So, knowing this I'm not surprised that my hair is crunchy.  I will see if my hair softens up over the next couple of days.  I noticed that the olive oil version is stickier than the protein version.  It also felt thicker when I applied it to my hair.  Overall, I'm pleased with my results.  My curls are shiny and very defined.  On a different note, I won a giveaway on MopTop products and I'm looking forward to reviewing those products.  Until next time...
Blessings!

Wash n go with eco styler gel

So, yesterday while at the store with my son I needed some more of my Aussie Moist and you know what that means.  Since I was walking down the aisle looking at all the products I happened to come across the Eco Styler Gel.  Now, I have read a lot about Eco Styler Gel and Kinky Curly Curling Custard.  For my first attempt with a gel I decided to only spent $2.49 as compared to $16.99 for KCCC and then having to buy Knot Today for $11.99.  So, the Eco Styler can be used with my Aussie Moist for $5.69 for a grand total of $8.18 or the KCCC for a grand total of $28.98.  No brainer, I went with the Eco Styler. 

Okay, so I co-washed my hair with my Hello Hydration this morning.  For my leave in I used my Aussie Moist and then I started to apply my Eco Styler all over my head starting in the back.  As I raked it through my hair with my fingers I detangled with my wide tooth comb using my other hand.  In the front I created a part and pinned the part down with some clips until my hair dried.  Which only took about 3 hours.  I then used my Denman brush to define the curls in the front.

Wet hair.

Clips I used to hold the part.

Dry hair.  Not bad for shrinkage.

Clips really helped to define my part.

Texture pic of my curls.

Dry hair and loving my curls.

Dry hair and defined curls.

I'm sure you can tell after seven pictures that I really liked this look.  Total thumbs up for the Eco Styler Gel!  I have a very firm hold and it was a little crunchy, but since it has dried and I have played with the curls my hair has softened up a lot.  I expect it to soften up some more after I have slept on it tonight.  It was a super quick style that took only about 5 minutes to apply the gel and I loved how defined my curls came out.  I plan to wear my hair like this till wash day Saturday which happens to also be my birthday.  I'm hoping that it gets fuller as the week progresses because I really like big full hair.  As always your thoughts and comments are welcome.  BTW I will gladly welcome your thoughts on what you think my hair type is.  I think that I might be a 4a or a 3c, but I really don't know so your thoughts are welcomed.  Until next time...
Blessings!

It's Perfectly Natural Root Food One Month Later

I have been using It's Perfectly Natural Root Food for over a month now and I wanted to give you all a quick update.  I haven't noticed much growth in my problem area that thinned out this past March after my last relaxer, but I have noticed that my edges have filled in.  I didn't know that my edges had lost hair until I noticed hair growing around my forehead.

My head is now getting fuzzy.

If I had known that I would have gotten so much growth around my edges I would have taken some before pictures to compare to my after pictures.  So, my verdict is that it works.  I think my thinning area just needs some more time to fill in, and I believe that will come with more time.  I plan to do another update sometime in January giving Root Food three months to work on my thinning spot.  I don't consider myself a product junkie (more like a recovering product junkie), but I plan to use this product everyday.  If you have had some damage to your edges I'm suggesting Root Food by It's Perfectly Natural.  I'll get back to you about my thinning spot.  Until next time...
Blessings!

It's Perfectly Natural Root Food - 1st Usage

I have been following Precious Curls blog for a couple of weeks now and recently she featured a lovely woman named Denise.  Reading her story reminded me of my own reasons for going natural that I decided to check out her new product line.  After reading the reviews of this product on Precious Curls and seeing Denise's before and after pictures of her hair loss and regrowth, I decided to give it a try.  By the way, Precious Curls is having a giveaway of It's Perfectly Natural products.  Check out her post if your interested.

Cost - $12
Recommended to be used for - receding hairlines, balding crowns, dry scalp, dry skin, double strand twists and finger coils.

Root Food claims to - "essentially is nourishment for your hair follicles. For those that suffer from receding hairlines and balding crowns, this is a spot treatment that will help to "wake-up" those dormant hair follicles.  Root Food will give your hair softness, shine and manageability, while promoting growth. This scalp treatment is concentrated and filled with all natural organic herbs that will stimulate your scalp and help your hair to thrive again. This will soften your hair, add shine, help define your curls and of course nourish your scalp."
 

I applied a small amount to my fingers and gently rubbed it into my scalp where my hair had thinned a little this past March from my last relaxer.  My hair doesn't look or feel greasy and I like the scent.  It smells like crushed herbs and I don't mind that at all.  I plan to give this product a one month trial to see if my thinning spot fills in a little.  Below is a picture of the thinned out area in my hair.  This area thinned out in March 2011 after my last relaxer and was ultimately the reason why I decided to go natural. 

My problem area where my hair thinned out after my last relaxer.

If you are interested in trying this product out or any of Denise's other handmade products you can find her shop at It's Perfectly Natural.

It's Perfectly Natural  Root Food Ingredients- Castor Oil, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Grape seed Oil, Candlelilla Wax , Unrefined Shea Butter, Black Seed Oil, Calamus Root, botanically infused with organic herbs, tea tree oil, peppermint oil, rosemary extract, lavender, vitamin e


Until next time...
Blessings!