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

Haircare Review: ApHogee Two-step Protein Treatment

Hi loves,
Today, I'm going to be reviewing a product that's very popular with curlies and coilys on social media; the Aphogee 2-step protein treatment. I've been using this product about 2 years and it's made a difference to the look and feel of my hair.
To start off, I colour my hair blue, green or purple which means I had to bleach my hair to lift my natural colour. I knew that by bleaching, I'd be weakening my hair, so  I decided to look for a protein treatment that I can use to strengthen my hair. So off I went to the nexus of knowledge known as YouTube, to listen to reviews and watch some demos. Needless to say, I was convinced by the evidence put forth, so I searched for a local seller and I managed to find one and it was decently priced.

The product...
Comes in two parts: a protein treatment  and a balancing moisturizer

ApHogee Two-Step Protein treatment 118ml and Balancing Moisturizer 237ml

The process...
It's messy..to say the least and it doesn't smell all that great (it's like egg and vinegar). Based on the advice of those who'd gone before me, I transferred the protein treatment to a nozzle applicator bottle, put on some vinyl gloves and covered my clothes with a towel.
I applied the product to freshly shampooed hair (divided into 6 sections) and twisted up each section. Once done with the application, I used my hair dryer on medium heat and slow speed for 15 minutes until the hair was dry.
This product dries hard and Aphogee advises that you not touch your hair, as you might break it. Before rinsing the protein treatment out, I sprayed my hair with warm water to soften it. After the first rinse, I applied the balancing moisturiser and worked it through my hair, I also finger detangled at this point and rinsed out the moisturiser.

Aftercare...
Protein treatments can harden hair, so that it feels dry and brittle; so after detangling I applied one of my moisturising protein-free deep conditioners; my favourite is the Rainforest Radiance Hair Butter from The Body Shop. I covered my hair with a plastic cap and waited for 30 minutes before rinsing out the deep conditioner. After rinsing, I proceeded to my regular L.O.C method and styling.

Moisturising Deep Conditioner: Rainforest Radiance Hair Butter

Final thoughts...
I love that this product is available for the public; I have trust issues with hairdressers because most do not know what to do with afro textured hair (don't come at me with a hair dryer and a fine-toothed comb), so I'm quite happy to do my own hair.
You're meant to repeat the protein treatments every 6 to 8 weeks; I don't always stick to this (I do every ~4 months), but I do have protein deep conditioners and light protein treatments for in-between treatments.

I got my original 2-pack from Obulunji for R 269.00; I recently ordered a 3 pack that includes: the Keratin & Green Tea Shampoo 355ml , the Two-Step Protein Treatment 473ml and the Balancing Moisturizer 237ml for R 498.00; it should last me at least a year. I also ordered the Keratin & Green Tea Restructurizer for weekly maintenance, cost R 169.00.
Kinky Moriri also stocks the 2-step protein treatment for R 529 (they don't specify as to whether it's a 2-pack or 3-pack kit). 

Pros

• High protein content (hydrolysed collagen is the first ingredient )
• Effective (this really does what it says)
• Affordable 

Cons

• Contains silicones  and mineral oil (I don't mind them; I haven't seen any negative effects on my hair)

• Recommended for professional use only (if you're not confident about doing it yourself, I would suggest going to a professional. I don't know of any salon that offers this service in Cape Town. If you're in Johannesburg, you can go to the Obulunji Hair Salon at 570 Honeydew Road West, 2169

There are plenty of articles on Naturallycurly.com; https://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/home/does-natural-hair-need-proteins/ debating the merits of protein treatments for natural hair; I think it depends on the state of your hair. If you colour your hair, you could benefit from doing protein treatments.

That's all folks,

See you in my next post,
xoxo