킴씨머리 (Kimshi Meoli) Product Review: Shea Moisture Hold & Shine Moisture Mist + "Flax-i" Hold

I'm going to try something a bit different today and use the CurlyNikki Community Review format as a basic structure for this review. Here goes!

Description of your hair: (1) medium density (2) fine and medium texture (3) normal/low porosity (4) Daughters OS [check out the LOIS system] + cottony/silky. 

Name of Product in Review: Shea Moisture Hold & Shine Moisture Mist

Product Description [from Walgreens.com]: 

Our all-natural moisture mist eliminates frizz, while hydrating hair and creating brilliant shine and curl control. For thick, curly hair.
• Coconut oil: Hydrates and protects hair from heat and chemical damage
• Silk protein: Reduces breakage, strengthens hair, adds smoothness an silkiness
• Neem oil: An age-old ayurvedic oil that strengthens hair and provides brilliant shine
• Provides moisture and body
• No parabens, phthalates, paraffin, Formaldehyde, propylene glycol, mineral oil, synthetic fragrance, PABA, synthetic color, DEA, animal ingredients, or sulfates

Product Ingredients: (from NaturallyCurly.com)

Deionized Water, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil*, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter)*, Silk Protein, Essential Oil Blend, Melia Azadirachta (Neem) Seed Oil, Algae Extract, Hyssopus Officinalis Extract, Salvia Officinalis (Sage) Leaf and Equisetum Arvense Extract, Lonicera Caprifolium (Honeysuckle) Flower (and) Lonicera Japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle) Flower Extract, Tocopherol (Vitamin E). *Denotes Certified Organic Ingredient.

Fragrance: Tropical - not as coconut-ty as the leave ins and stylers, but you can definitely tell what the scent is.

Texture: Liquid

Ease of Application: on a scale of 0-5, how easy was it to apply to hair with 5 being easy (not rough in texture)

It was relatively easy to apply. It comes in a spray bottle,  so spritzing it on a section is pretty effortless. It goes on my hair pretty well; I can usually rake it through without too many issues. My coarser strands don't take to this as easily because of the large amount of silk protein. It's a smoother glide on my finer strands, however. So I'll give it a 4 out of 5.

Your experience: I used this as my liquid leave in and refresher for the past month or so. The entire time I tested it was almost solely with the SM Curl & Style Milk. I thought that that would be too protein-y for my thicker strands of hair, but it actually wasn't too bad. It also blended well with a protein-free leave in I bought a while back. It's supposed to help with hold (hence the name), and while it didn't give me much of that, it did help me a lot in the shine department. My twists have been shine-ty and on point for weeks now, thanks to this. The oils, butters and plant extracts added a healthy shine to my coils and curls. I also used this to refresh my twists before bed; once during the middle of the week, I'd spray my ends and smooth a bit on my roots, seal it in with some EVOO, and cover with my scarf for the next day. It tamed frizzies pretty well, and helped keep my ends looking smooth and sleek. 

Because of all the protein, I really think that my ends might have benefited the most from using this spray. I've noticed less SSKs and less breakage. Definitely an incentive to repurchase!

Would you recommend to a curlfriend: Yes!

How many curls overall: 5 big, fat juicy curls! :-D

Want proof? Here's photos of different twists I did with this wonderful spritz as my L:

In addition, I've started making my very own....*drum roll*....flaxseed gel! I wanted extra hold for my twists, but regular gel wasn't cutting it for me. I remembered that we had flaxseeds in the pantry, so I looked up Naptural85's recipe on the magic YT and followed it almost to a T. I omitted the EOs because 1) I can't really afford them right now, and 2) I don't particularly like them.

I was more than a little skeptical of how well it would hold, but as I used it on my twists week after week, I was floored! A small amount gave my curls amazing definition, actually added moisture, had slip enough to rake through, and put some extra shine on ma hurr. I love it! I made a second batch on Friday (which was a little too runny), and again used it on my twists for the week. Now don't get me wrong, it's not on the same hold level as HE Set Me Up gel, but it doesn't get tangled in my curls, and defines them more quickly. It doesn't help atall in the shrinkage department though, and the hold can vary depending on how long you boil your batch. So it's definitely a light to medium hold gel - maybe best for when you want bigger hair, less hang (when is that?! o_O), or don't mind not having hold as strong as a regular gel.

My batch:

안녕!

Have you ever tried the SM Hold & Shine Mist? What did you think of it? What's your favorite liquid leave in/refresher, if you use one? Have you ever tried making or purchased flaxseed gel? What did you think  - did it work for you?

P.S. In the few months that I haven't been on here, my hair actually grew! I was fingering through my wet hair a week ago, and I was actually able to gather it into a messy(-ish) bun! I couldn't believe it! There is something to this twisting and putting away of hair. I'd like to see if I could do it all summer and see where I am by the time the fall semester begins.

Look at this! My front sections, which seemed stalled, actually grew. Unbelievable...

Kimmie in Kimchiland...

안녕하세요!

My birthday was a couple weeks ago, but I was on campus nearly all day long that day. So, on 12 April, I went with two of my friends from Scholars (Megan & Yael) to a Korean barbeque/restaurant for lunch as a late celebration.

While I love many Asian cuisines, I haven't been able to venture much into Korean food, so this was a treat. I thought that I'd be able to use some of what I'd learned in class at the restaurant, spend some quality time with friends, and try some new foods to boot. 

Once inside, we took forever trying to decide what to order! Almost everything on the menu looked delectable. Megan decided on Jap Chae, Yael ordered Bibimbap, & I settled on Duk Mandoo Guk.

Because Megan and Yael didn't order soup, they both received small bowls of a dish similar to miso soup. I tasted a bit, and though it did have bits of tofu, it was much less salty than miso, which I liked. Here's a shot of it. If any of you happen to know the proper word for it, please let me know! It's been driving me nuts.

A few minutes later, Megan's jap chae (잡채)

 arrived! It's vermicelli noodles with chicken and lots of veggies :-D

Then my dduk mandu guk (떡만두국)...

Beef broth with dumplings, strips of beef, rice cakes, eggs, onions, noodles, and a bit of sliced seaweed on top. Heaven in a bowl :-D

And Yael's bibimbap (비빔밥)...

Beef strips with veggies, rice, and a fried egg. With seaweed to garnish :-D She got the kind in the hotpot, which kept everything nice and warm.

These cute little dishes, called banchan (반찬), are side dishes served with every Korean meal and shared by every person at the table. At the far end and going clockwise are sweetened potatoes, then fish cakes, kimchi, bean sprouts, lettuce, and squash. I tried everything except for the fish cakes (I'm very particular about seafood; the flavor is delicate), and my favorites were kimchi, bean sprouts and the potatoes.

A closeup of the potatoes. They were so yummy!

And some closeups of my soup. Here's a rice cake slice.

A bit of egg

A dumpling! This was my favorite part, besides the broth and the egg. The dumpling was filled with...meat.

And egg :-D

Ooh, and the noodles! Cellophane, to be precise, which is one of my favorites. In the background, you can see some of Yael's bibimbap.

We each tasted a bit of each other's food, and we enjoyed everything! After the meal, our waitress brought us these cute little bowls filled with a sweet rice water. It was a pretty good palate cleanser, methinks. (Random factoid: Yael, who is from Madagascar, told me that there's a similar drink in her country. Apparently they let the rice cook until it sticks to the bottom of the pot, then they pour water into it. She said that it tastes similar to this.)

Afterwards, we walked a couple doors down to the Shilla bakery, and I bought a slice of rainbow cake, which I ate at home later. It was good, but it was definitely a different type of sweet than I'm used to. The cakes we eat are heavier and much sweeter. This was very airy, light, and had a sane amount of sugar in it.

All in all, I really enjoyed my first venture into Korean food! I look forward to going again, and even trying some at home :-D

안녕!

Do you like foreign food? What's one of your favorite types of cuisine? Do you normally eat it out at a restaurant, or do/can you make it at home, too? Have you ever tried Korean food?