Happy New Year! My Favourites of 2017 - Hair Edition

Hello beautiful people,
Happy 2018! I'm never sure when to stop saying that, but I know I'm late 😁 I hope this year is going well for you and may all your dreams come true.

I had to share my look for the Cape Town Naturally HairFest from last December 😜. Photo by BrianEngel Photography

For my first post of the year, I'm gonna go with the crowd and talk about my hair favourites for last year. So here we go:

Shampoo - Lush Shampoo Bars NEW! and Soak & Float
I've long since given up on drugstore anti-dandruff shampoos, they just don't work for me I've gone from the most accessible to some pricey ones... and all I achieved was dry tangled hair and no improvement to my dry flaky scalp. These shampoo bars from lush have been my saving grace; they contain sulfates but they cleanse my hair and scalp without drying it out so they get to stay in my stash. Price is R 115.

"Soak & Float" Shampoo Bar

Conditioner - Baylis & Harding Great Hair Coconut Conditioner
I very rarely use rinse out conditioner as directed, instead I prefer to use it for my pre-shampoo treatment/detangling. For this I just need a cheap silicone-free conditioner and this one's my favourite. It's got a creamy consistency and a whole lot of slip and it comes in a 500ml bottle for R 60.

Pre-poo combo: Sunny Isle Extra Dark JBCO and the Baylis & Harding Conditioner

Deep Conditioner - Shea Moisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Strengthen, Grow & Restore Treatment Masque
Hands down my favourite deep condtioner for when I need to revive my hair after a month of braids or twists. It's got amazing slip for detangling and it doesn't necessarily need heat to be effective. I love the scent and though the price is a bit steep R 270 at Clicks, a little goes a long way.

Shea Moisture JBCO Treatment Masque

Leave-in Conditioner - My Natural Hair
For me, the best leave-ins need to have a ton of slip to help detangle my coils, because they love to hug each other. This one from My Natural Hair is the best one included in my stash. It's creamy lightweight formula and a little goes a long way. I haven't sen it stores yet but you can get it online on the My Natural Hair site and on Shop for Life as well for R 99.99.

Styler - Camille Rose Naturals Almond Jai Twisting Butter
Meet my current #bae! I know that Camile Rose Naturals is super pricey 🙈 but I like nice things and this one is really nice. It's a toffee-coloured cream with pudding like texture. It smells like Old Fashioned vanilla ice cream with almonds. It's super moisturizing and the twist-outs I get with this butter are amazing. It also plays well with others (including products from other brands). The price is a very nice R 550 from Style Studio.

My Natural Hair Strengthening Oil and the Camille Rose Naturals Almond Jai Twisting Butter

Oils - Sunny Isle Jamaican Black Castor Oil and My Natural Hair Strengthening Oil
My longtime #bae has been with me since I started transitioning back to natural. I've stuck with one brand (I'm loyal 😊) I use JBCO predominantly as my pre-poo/detangling treatment mixed with a cheapy conditioner. When I feel like my hair needs extra love, I mix it into my deep conditioner as well. Thirdly, I mix JBCO with grapeseed/olive oil and jojoba oil with whatever other oils in my stash to make a scalp oil. R 270 for 236ml from African Flair and Obulunji

Strengthening oil from My Natural Hair is the perfect oil for those who aren't interested in being kitchen mixtresses. It's light and non-greasy. My favourite way to use this is to seal moisture into my strands as part of the L.O.C method. It goes for R 80 online.

All-rounder/Multi-purpose - Shea Moisture Raw Shea Conditioner
I use this conditioner 3 ways: As a rinse out conditioner to detangle post-shampoo, as a deep conditioner and as a leave-in. it's got lots of slip and it's super moisturising. Shea Moisture is now available in Clicks stores and the prices are very nice...not! Wait for the 3 for 2 specials and 30% off sales.

Best new product - Buuya Beauty Intense Hair Masque
This is a moisturising deep conditioner; I use it as a regular weekly deep conditioner and to restore moisture balance to my hair following the ApHogee protein treatment (here's the review). It's light and not as creamy as some of my other deep conditioners. My favourite thing about this one is the fragrance - grapefruit 😊. It's available from Buuya beauty and Beautyontapp for R 325 for 450ml.

Best Underrated/Over looked  - Caivil Fusion Oil  and Root Nourisher
I can't get over how well priced this range is; the root nourisher is R 30 and the oil is R 35, it will not get much better than that considering the ingredient list. I have the root nourisher and I like to use it to oil my scalp and seal moisture into my strands when installing braids and twists.

And that's my list. What were your favourite products from last year and what are you excited to try this year?

Let me know below.

See you in my next post, 

xoxo

Hair Review: New Hair Goodies from My Natural Hair

Can't believe that, September has come and gone, where did the time go? 👀
People, I cannot tell you how long I've been waiting for these new additions to the My Natural Hair product range. If you've been following me for a while, then you know that the conditioner and oil are on my list of favourite products.
I was privileged enough to be invited to the product launch at Style Studio Canal Walk, which took place on 31 August 2017.

The new additions to the family:
A Leave-in Conditioner, Hydrating Masque and a Curling Cream 😁 as well as the Nourishing Conditioner in a larger 500ml bottle (our prayers have been answered curly-coilys).

I've had braids installed for the whole of August; so I uninstalled and dug into these to try them out.

I shampooed with my usual; the Lush Shampoo bars the "NEW" or the "Soak & Float", I have scalp issues and these are the only shampoos that work for me.

I detangled with the hydrating conditioner and rinsed it out; I've already reviewed this one , along with the other products in the core range (click here) It comes in a larger bottle 👍👌😁

Look at my face 😁 It's the small things in life

I dry my hair with a towel to get rid of the excess water before applying the hydrating masque. I applied this to my hair one section at a time (I usually have 4/5 sections), then I cover my hair with cling film and put a towel over that and wait 15-30 mins ⏰ depending on how lazy I'm feeling.

The dilemma

After rinsing out the mask, I towel dried my hair and then I styled it. I decided to do a roller set. I separated my hair into 3 sections and applied the leave-in conditioner, the curling cream and strengthening oil.

First roller set in over two years

Feeling after roller set is done. Them rollers were digging into my skull 😶

 Skip past the overnight anguish of the roller set ...to the end result

Soft & Fluffy afro is my favourite way to wear my hair

Now to my thoughts about the new goodies...

1. Leave-in Conditioner 250ml
First off, the packaging in awesome. It's in a 250 ml pump bottle.
The fragrance is the same as in the other products in the range; its a light floral herbal scent, I quite like it. the conditioner is thick and creamy, it's not greasy at all and it spreads through the hair really easily. So a little goes a long way. it's got great slip, making it ideal for detangling and combing through. It performs in the same way as the Shea Moisture Restorative Moisture conditioner (Rinse-out/deep conditioner/leave-in), so yay!!

2. Hydration Mask 250ml
This comes in a tub, it's thick and creamy too. Like the the leave-in it's got really good slip. The end result once rinsed out is amazing. the coils were popping. My hair felt soft and manageable. The only other hydration mask I've tried is from Pure Oils, which is less creamy in consistency.

3. Curling Cream 250ml
So everything in this range is creamy and thick 😀 I really like this curling cream. It's not greasy and its super moisturising. Don't be heavy handed with this one. A little goes a long way. It doesn't flake or anything but why waste product.

My thoughts on using (almost) the entire range: everything works well together. I like how the leave-in, curling cream and oil layer together without flaking or weighing down my hair. There's no greasy mess afterwards either.
I only needed to refresh my hair with the curling cream and oil on day 3, so the longevity is also good.
Price wise, I'm pretty impressed; they range from R 74.99 to 134.99 on the My Natural Hair website. Also, always take advantage of the 3 for 2 specials that Clicks has quite often.

My ride or die from this range hands down are the Leave-in Conditioner and the Strengthening Oil; definitely "holy grail" status for me.

What products are you looking forward to trying from this range?
Let me know below.

See you in my next post, 

xoxo