킴씨머리 (Kimshi Meoli) Product Review: Curl Junkie Curl Rehab (Staple Alert!!)

Description of your hair: (1) medium density (2) fine and medium texture (3) normal/low porosity (4) Daughters OS + cottony/silky.

Name of Product in Review: Curl Junkie Curl Rehab Gardenia-Coconut, 8 oz for $20; 32 oz for $65

Product Description (from the jar): “Give your hair the moisture it deserves. Check your dry, frizzy curls into rehab! Give your hair the chance to rejuvenate and revive with aloe, herbs and rich butters & oils."

Product Ingredients (from the label): Water, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Cetearyl Alcohol, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) Fruit, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Equisetem Arvense (Horsetail) Leaf Extract, Urtica Dioica (Nettle) Leaf Extract, Melissa Officinalis (Melissa) Leaf Extract, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Leaf Extract, Yucca Leaf Extract, Rosa Mosqueta (Rosehip) Fruit Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Theobroma Grandiflorum (Cupuaçu)  Seed Butter, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Vanilla Planifolia Oil, Cananga Odorata Oil, Lecithin, Fragrance, Citric Acid.

Fragrance: Lightly floral; I believe that it is the smell of the Gardenia flower that gives it that aroma. I'm not usually a fan of floral scents (and my nose is highly sensitive to them), but this is a very pleasant and light one. I even enjoy sniffing it just because!

Texture: It's a thick, off-white creamy texture. Shake it upside down and it won't move. But put some on your finger and it doesn't feel quite so dense. It keeps my fine strands moisturised without weighing them down with heavy ingredients.

Ease of Application (1-5 with 5 being the easiest): 10 - It's SUPER easy to apply! It glides onto my hair no matter what.

Your Experience: I first won the CJ Curl Rehab in a giveaway from CurlyNikki earlier this year. I was doubtful of its amazingness because I'd only seen waterlily716's review on it, and her texture is very different from mine. Still, I decided to give it a shot. At the time (February/March), I DCed before I hopped into the shower. So I wet my hair and started to apply the Curl Rehab in sections. I was immediately struck by how thick yet light it felt on my fingers. And then I was floored by the ridiculous levels of slip! Even my dry, rough ends gave way. Every tangle that was in my hair melted away instantly. I finger detangled and deep conditioned my entire head with less than an ounce of product! I ended up using the 8 oz jar of the Curl Junkie Rehab at least 9 times to DC. Fast forward to today, and I repurchased the huge 32 oz canister of the Curl Rehab with the pump. My hair has several more inches of length, a bad hair coloring experience ( = dryness + more breakage) and a wide tooth comb to contend with. Same unbelievable performance. It melts tangles away whether I apply it to soaking wet, damp or bone dry hair. It is well worth the hefty price tag, and a little goes a very long way! I love, love, love, love this stuff! So Waterlily716 was right after all ;-P

Would you recommend to a curlfriend: Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! I have already told a few curlies on IG and IRL about this DC. I think it'd work for a wide range of hair textures and do a superb job on each one.

How many curls overall (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the kitties titties!): Definitely a 100! There is absolutely nothing negative about this product!

Price range SN: Again, like many other uber-natural products, the Curl Rehab carries a relatively hefty price tag in comparison to its size. However, if it's purchased when Curl Junkie has a good sale, you get a better deal. Also, consider the quality of the ingredients included in the product. Additionally, when if you estimate that you use 1 32 oz bottle (or 4 8 oz bottles) in 8 months (1 oz/week for 32 weeks) and divide $65 by 32 weeks, you get approximately $2.03 weekly. If you use only 0.5 oz a week, the 32 oz bottle would last you into the next year and the cost would decrease even more. For some it's not worth it, and that's fine. Do you, boo (in the words of Shameless Maya)! For me, however, the price tag is well worth the level of quality.

Ciao, bellas!

Kimberlee/"Kimmie"

My large bottle of the Curl Rehab Gardenia Coconut!

킴씨머리 (Kimshi Meoli) Product Review: The Healing Place (THP) Daily Greens

안녕하세요!

Today is another product review, bellas. I'm super excited about this one, and I couldn't wait to write this review! More info about the company is after the initial review.

Description of your hair: (1) medium density (2) fine and medium texture (3) normal/low porosity (4) Daughters OS + cottony/silky.

Name of Product in Review: Daily Greens, 4 oz for $10

Product Description (from the jar): “Antioxidant rich green tea, soothing avocado, and nourishing grape seed that come together in creamy goodness to give your skin its daily dose of greens.” 

Product Ingredients (from the label): Avocado Butter, Grape Seed Oil, Green Tea Extract, Vitamin E, Matcha Powder, Fragrance (phalate free), Loads of Love.

Fragrance: Very green tea-esque. I enjoy smelling it even at random times during the day because the aroma is so relaxing and therapeutic. If you don't like the smell of tea, though, you might not like this fragrance.

Texture: A thick, fluffy butter. It has enough weight to keep a light case of the fuzzies/frizzies at bay, is light enough not to weigh down finer strands, and emulsifies quickly (about 5 seconds in my experience).

Ease of Application (1-5 with 5 being the easiest): 5 - It's very easy to apply. It practically glides onto my hair, even on top of other products. It's also easy to apply to skin, too.

Your Experience: When Nubian, the founder of THP, first opened her store, I kept hearing great things about the Daily Greens butter from the other CN ladies. I ordered the travel size (2 oz) of it, and tried a bit of it on my skin when it arrived. It made my dry patch of eczema feel like buttah! I then used it at my next wash session, utilising it after my liquid and cream leave ins and under my flax gel. I was amazed at how readily it emulsified, and how well it sealed in moisture in my hair. My hair stayed moisturised all week long; I didn't have to reapply any products at all! Every time I've used it, it has delivered the same stellar results. I love it! 
SN: $10 may seem a bit steep to some for "only" 4 oz of butter, but remember the ingredients in the product, and that a little goes a long way. I'm on my 4th week of the 2 oz travel size jar, and it might've lasted me until next weekend if I wasn't so heavy handed with it. So, for me, two 4 oz tubs = 16 weeks/4 months of use. That's only $5/month, which is a great deal for such high quality ingredients.

Would you recommend to a curlfriend: Yes, yes, yes, and yes again. This is a great all natural butter that a wide range of curlies would likely appreciate. 

How many curls overall (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the kitties titties!): Definitely a 5! I can't think of anything negative to say about it.

The cute little jar in the bottom right side picture is it! It has made it into my staple category. I just reordered 2 more full size jars

Just showcasing the different products this has been combined with. I like it combined particularly with the SM Curl Enhancing Smoothie, methinks. The hold and moisture are unbelievable!

Sitting 'neath the Nuance is the miracle in a jar. DG worked well with this conditioner, too.

SN: The Healing Place (THP) was started recently by Nubian Flunder, one of the knowledgeable ladies on CN. She is a pleasure to do business with; her turnaround time and shipping are fast, and she will graciously answer any questions you have about her products. Just FYI, I wasn't paid to do this review, but I enjoy supporting other curlies in their entrepreneurial endeavors, so I decided to show my support by reviewing one of her products and helping to get her company's name more "out there." I'm sure that she'd appreciate it if you checked out her Etsy page, too!

안녕!

What new products have you tried lately? Any new favorites? Have you ever tried anything from THP?

WnG Day 3 + My New Favorite Oil

Buon giorno, bellas!

My Wash 'n' Go is still going strong...it's day 3 now (or, the 2nd day after styling). Last night I was feeling extra lazy, so I skipped the bobby pins and put my hair into 7 or 8 fat twists (a la Tightly Curly method style from my TWA days). They pretty much stuck straight up all over my head. I didn't take any photos of it because, well - I don't want to be blackmailed later in life. Lol. I didn't want my hair too stretched, so I made sure to twist pretty loosely and not go all the way down to the ends.

This morning, I drizzled some safflower oil on my hands, smoothed it on my twists, and then untwisted, starting from the bottom. The results?

Left front. You can also see how the roots of that wonky wavy-ish section went straight a bit further back. They are straight ratchet -__-

The back

Full front view :-)

Right side - I have no idea why it looks like this. It kind of looks like most of my hair ended up on this side of my head and it doesn't know where to go. I'll know better next time.

Left side - my favorite :-D I also love that little tendril poking up in the back; it looks like a fiddlehead.

The right front. That frizz further back is driving me bonkers. That area of my head frizzes no matter what I do; it's always been like that. Meh.

I'm still loving it! Once it starts to look cray, I'll just spritz, remoisturize, and flat twist both sides and pin them together.

Maybe I'm just a crazy, but for some reason, my hair seems less tangled, more manageable and quicker to do when my hair is loose. In twists, all the shed hair wrapped around my other strands; it was a nightmare to detangle. Even taking down my twists after 2-3 days to finger detangle didn't help much. And I don't touch my hair nearly as much. Humphy. Mayhaps I'll go for another month and see how my hair does. *le sigh* Is it just me, or does it seem like once I have my hair figured out, it switches up on me? I can't be alone in this lol.


In other news, safflower oil has become one of my favorites! I did a bit of research, and found that it's a great oil for the hair. It's a lighter vegetable oil that comes from safflower seeds. There are two varieties: one with high amounts of polyunsaturated fats, which has a low smoke point and goes easily rancid. That type is used mostly in salad dressings. The kind useful for cooking (and hair) has high levels of monounsaturated fats and a high smoke point (which makes me think that it could be a good heat protectant, similar to grapeseed oil).

Though safflower oil lacks vitamin E, there are some companies which produce the oil enriched with this crucial vitamin (mine is vitamin E enriched). Flavorless, this yellow-tinted oil protects and moisturises the hair strands, nourishes the follicles (when applied to the scalp), and stimulates blood circulation to stimulate hair growth. It's great in deep conditioners, moisturizers, as a sealant, prepoo, etc. Additionally, it's great for eating, too - in salads, for stir frying, and much more.

I love how silky safflower oil is; I put it on my ends and the length and roots of my hair, and it instantly made it easier to finger through my hair. It helps to soften the gel cast and adds a nice shine to my hair. It's definitely on my staples list :-D

Have you ever tried safflower oil? What are some of your favorite oils? How do you use them?

Sources: CurlyNikki.com, "7 Fabulous Natural Oils for Natural Hair" 11 May 2011.
LiveStrong.com, "Safflower Oil" n.d.
Buzzle.com, "Safflower Oil for Hair Growth" n.d.