The Price of Being Natural

The weekend just gone buy I went looking for a new shampoo, condish, deep treatment and leave-in. Maybe its just me but most of the stuff out there are really expensive! I love to spoil myself every now and then, I love to indulge in things that make me happy, but I believe buying a bottle of good shampoo and condish shouldn't pinch.

My current regimen is fine and manageable, but I just couldn't resist the urge to try something else out there, you know what I mean.....

I've been using:

From Boots I buy:

Herbal Essences Hello Hydrations Shampoo (400ml): £3.49
Tressemme Naturals Conditioner (500ml): £3.99

Online and in local Afro-Carribean or Asian stores I buy:

Dudu Osun Black Soap (150g): £1.00
Henna (500g): £5.00

My BFF supplies my shea butter and I've got bottles of almond, tea tree, jojoba, olive, coconut, and vitamin E oils bought in August from Holland and Barrett for about £40.00.


Here's what I found on the shelf in John Lewis:

Aveda

Key Ingredients: Aloe vera and camomile

Brilliant Shampoo (250ml): £14.50
Brilliant Conditioner (200ml): £16.50
Damege Remedy Intensive Treatment(125ml): £21.00

Aveda recommends the brilliant range to add softness and shine to dull and dry hair, the be curly range is similarly price and is designed to enhance and define curls

Philip Kingsley

Key Ingredients: Cocoa butter, Almond oil, and Avocado Oil
Moisture Extreme Shampoo (200ml): £14.00
Moisture Extreme Conditioner (250ml): £17.00
Elasticizer Extreme: £25.00

PK recommends the following combination for coarse, curly and frizy hair:

Elasticizer Extreme(150ml)
Re-moisturizing Shampoo (250ml)
Re-moisturizing Conditioner (250ml)
Scalp Toner (250ml)

You'll have to part with £73.00 for this.

I'm curious about the PK Elasticizer, to help fight shrinkage. I really hate it when my 3 inch plus hair shrinks. I know shrinkage is only natural but shrinkage + dryness = breakage which I really need to avoid. I'll try this and write a review in the near future

If the result is unsatisfactory, I will try washing my hair only when braided till it gets long enough to put into 6 large braids to wash, should get there in 6 months hopefully.

Ojon

Key Ingredients: Ojon oil, Shea butter and Sweet almond protien

Ultra Hydrating Shampoo (250ml): £16.50
Ultra Hydrating Conditioner (250ml): £18.50
Restorative Treatment (150ml): £39.00

In the end I bought a box of Ojon range from John Lewis containing all 3 bottles above plus a leave-in conditioner on offer for £24.50.

I started off by applying the treatment to dry hair and left to rest for 20 mintues before following with an application of shampoo, then conditioner and finished with the leave-in.

On a scale of 1-10 I'll rate this product as a 6. Simply because I could have achieved the same results using black soap with Tresemme Naturals conditioner, which works fantistic for my hair.


I'm really eager to see natural hair products that don't break the bank, something around £4.50-£6.00 per 250m1 would be great. But until then the search continues, I'm quite happy to keep using the products I've got now, but the fun loving PJ in me will always want to try something new, just like buying a new pair of shoes, just got to have one more.


Do you think Natural hair products are unreasonably priced? What has your experience been?

Caring for Natural Hair: Clarifying

I started out my natural hair journey as a no-pooer, am still a no-pooer but I've now
included black soap as my clarifier and I'm clinging to it for dear life.

While a no-poo or low poo regimen can be great for black hair it can also leave the hair and scalp dry and flaky. A clarifier will help remove build-up, help hair retain moisture, keep scalp flake free and
leave your hair feeling nice and soft.

There are different products for clarifying black hair, on top of my list is black soap. It is 100% natural and works well with my hair. I've also tried apple cider vinegar (ACV) for clarifying but this was not as effective as black soap and only softened my hair temporarily.

I prefer my hair being as chemical free as possible so I avoid most off the shelf shampoos, even those with a natural tag. But not everyone has to go this way, just check you shampoo does not contain any of these 10 chemicals  and you're good to go. But if you try and it's still great for your hair please carry on using your poo!

If you chose to go natuaral all the way, check out  Kitchen Curlies  ACV and baking soda mix and Napturalities natuaral shampoo recipies

The rule of thumb with any clarifier/shampoo of your choice is not to over do it, this is open to your interpretation, how much is too much?  You tell me, with a twa you can get away with pretty much anything.

10 Things

Ten things I love about my fro..

1. My fro is unique, no one else has a fro like me or will ever have a fro like me.
2. Its attitude, no messing about, wild, refuses to be tamed
3. Its versatility, can do so many styles, name it twa, slick back, bun...
4. The fierce look it gives to my eyes
5. My wild s-curls, just discovered 'em
6. Makes me look super super sexy
7. The way it stands on my scalp like hands lifted up praising God!
8.The way it sits on my face
9. It knocks off 10 years off my face like a magic elixir
10.What else can I say its absolutely fab.

Tracie Mae Challenge

I started the Tracie Mae challenge on the day of my BC (04/08/2010) and today is day 4, believe it or not my hair feels like its sprung up from my scalp over night. Today I co-washed using Trevor Sorbie's beautiful curls conditioner, which worked wonders for my hair, followed my two table spoons of ACV as a leave-in. I let my hair dry naturally and applied a home made mix of olive oil, almond oil, jojoba oil and shea butter, the results was fabulous. My hair stayed moisturized all day and I can't keep my fingers out of it, lol.