KMS Dandruff Conditioner Review

A few weeks ago I bought KMS dandruff conditioner to try for co-washes. I HATE IT! It didn't make my hair soft at all, and I actually think I'm allergic to it. I used it twice and after both times, my scalp burned like crazyyyy! It usually costs $16.50, but I got it for $3 because Trade Secret was having a sale. To stop the burning, I clarified my hair then deep conditoned and I felt better after that.

First Impression: Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum

Master Cuts salon is having a buy one get one half off of Paul Mitchell styling products right now. When I bought the PM tea tree special shampoo, I also got a small bottle of the Super Skinny Serum to try out. I really like it. I use it right after I get out of the shower and put one pump through out my hair. When my hair air dries, it feels super soft compared to when I didn't use it.

Claims:
Basics: Smoothes, conditions and seals strands.

Benefits: Leaves hair smooth, shiny and frizz-free in any weather.
Bonus: Speeds up drying so you get silky smooth results in less time.

My hair is super soft after using it, but it still frizzes so that part, for my hair, isn't true.
I did notice that my hair didn't take the usual 2 hours to air dry though.

Ingredients:
Cyclomethicone, Dimethiconol, Trimethylsiloxyamodimethicone, C11 15 Pareth 7, C12 16 Pareth 9, Trideceth 12, Glycerin, Amodimethicone, Cetrimonium Chloride, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Isobutylparaben, Isopropylparaben, Butylparaben, Fragrance (Parfum), Amyl Cinnamal, Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Salicylate, Citronellol, Geraniol, Hexylcinnamal, Linalool, Limonene

Pretty much it's full of silicones, parabens and preservatives which are all bad for your hair. Because of the amount of silicones, I'm not surprised it made my hair feel so soft.

I'll figure out if I want to repurchase when I'm done with the bottle.

Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Special Shampoo Review

Hey! I know it's been a while since my last post, but I'm going to get back on track soon.

I just used Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Special Shampoo for the first time. I was hoping that it would help me with my dandruff. Normally I like to use products more than once before reviewing, but I've already made my verdict on this product:

I hate it.

Why? Because it sucks! That's Why!

But to be more detailed and less elementary about why I hate this product, it's actually a few things that I dislike.

1. Smell:
It smells like a typical essential oil. Personally I don't like the potent smell of essential oils. While I was in the shower, the smell was so strong that it started to burn my eyes. I really don't judge the quality of a shampoo/conditioner on how it smells, but this was unbearable.

2. Stripping:
My hair was so dry after using this. Before hand, my hair was really soft and moisturized. After using this it just felt dry and didn't move at all. Similar to protein overload.

3. Tangled my hair:
Like always, I detangled my hair before I washed it. After using this my hair was super tangled. I tried running my fingers through it to get rid of some of the tangles, but my fingers wouldn't budge. I had to use my detangling comb under running water get all of the tangles out.

Before purchasing this, I read a lot of reviews and everyone loved it. So, I'm on the hunt for another dandruff shampoo.

Ingredients:
Water Aqua , Sodium Lauryl Sulfate , Sodium Laureth Sulfate ,Oleamidopropyl Betaine , Cocamidopropyl Betaine , Mentha Piperita Oil Peppermint , Melaleuca Alternifolia Leaf Oil Tea Tree, Linoleamide DEA , Cocamide DEA , Bisamino PEG/PPG-41/3 Aminoethyl , PG-Propyl Dimethicone , Hedychium Coronarium White Ginger , PEG-12 Dimethicone , Algae , Aloe Barbadensis Leaf, Anthemis Nobilis Chamomile , Henna , Simmondsia Chinensis Jojoba , Rosmarinus Officinalis Rosemary , PEG-Dimethicone , Lavandula Angustifolia Oil Lavender.

The ingredients seem okay. The bolded items are things that I know for a fact are bad for your hair. The other things I'm not so sure about, but I can't really pronounce most of the ingredients which, in my opinion, is not a good sign.

*I'm returning this to the salon I bought it at.
*I followed up with Kenra Moisturizing Conditioner
*I didn't buy the conditioner.
*Cost me $11.39

Bantu Knots and Pink Grapefruit Review :)

Last night I detangled my hair and did 8 bantu knots in my hair. I haven't done these in a while so I wanted to revisit them. Thank goodness I did, because I actually like my hair today and got a lot of compliments on my curls. I used to do 3 bantu knots- one on top and two in the back, but last night I did eight and that could have made a difference in why I like these better. I've still been using the GF leave-in conditioning cream to moisturize and seal and my hair has been SUPER soft!

I said a few months ago that I would go on a 'skin journey'. I stuck to a regimen for a while, but not much has changed. So last week I bought a new product: Neutrogena's Oil-Free Acne Wash with Grapefruit. I decided to get the scrub since I know how important exfoliating is for clearing acne. First off- the smell is delicious. It smells exactly like a grapefruit, which is good, but honestly I don't really care what my face smells like. I've used it for almost a week now and this crap made my skin SO dry. I'm not sure how well it works for acne, because I haven't used it for that long and don't plan on it! I'll continue to use it as a weekly exfoliator, but as for washing my face twice a day, it won't do. I will NOT be repurchasing.

 

3 month length check, haul, reviews



hair as of 10/08/2010



hair growth as of 11/08/10
about to take a shower to wash my hair

 this is my 'new' hair growth. honestly, my hair doesn't look any longer than it did last month. but i will say that my ends look a lot better and I haven't even cut them yet.

HAUL:

this week i got anxious and got the aphogee stuff any ways with out waiting to run out of the SE stuff. I got:

-Aphogee Shampoo for damaged hair
-Aphogee 2 minute reconstructor
 (already had the Aphogee green tea and keratin reconstructorizer)
*and the non-aphogee stuff
-lustrasilk Shea butter mango cholesterol plus
(all costing $16.42 at my local beauty supply store)

REVIEWS:

A. Shampoo:
LOVE IT! its the first shampoo that made my hair feel this soft at home. I only did one wash because that's what the bottle says to do b/c it has so much protein in it. Next time i might do 1 1/2 wash. (just using a small amount of shampoo for the second wash) I like this shampoo because my hair feels clean afterwards, but doesn't feel stripped of moisture or super dry.
A. 2 minute:
I love this too! it made my hair feel softer! I wasn't sure what a 'reconsturctor' was, but its basically the conditioner that goes along with the shampoo. I put a lot of it in my hair, massaged it in then put my plastic cap on for 2 minutes. When it was rinsed out it felt super soft!
Lustrasilk Mango:
eh.. extremely disappointing. I used this as a DC (with out any oils added to it), and it took away all the softness the aphogee products gave me. I got this because I heard a lot of people using it and loving it. Also, its featured on hairlista's top 10 must have beauty products. I got it but it wasn't as wonderful as i hoped. I didn't use any oils or conditioners mixed into it but i will the next time and hope for the best.

I'm loving aphogee so much, I'm thinkin about getting the aphogee  pro-vitamin leave in conditioner too!
I also want to try ORS replenishing pak. (i already tried this before- before i started my hair journey- and i think i liked it but I'm not sure)

Next Friday i'll be the 8 weeks post and I'm excited to get my relaxer! my NG is out of control and it needs to be tamed. lol. If i could find a way to make my NG lay down flatter, then i would stretch for longer but since i can't i won't. I'm supposed to get a relaxer next Friday, but since I have to work I'll get it done on that Saturday after I get off.  :)

Problem with Aphogee:

The future problems I see with aphogee are:
Aphogee is high protein:
A lot of people had to eventually stop using aphogee because it has such a high protein content. Protein will dry out your hair and make it hard if you don't use a good enough moisture-protein balance. (to be explained in a later post) I do a lot of things to my hair that adds moisture (DC, M&S, leave ins, etc). But still fear that it will be too much protein. But if it is, I can use a moisturizing shampoo/ conditioner every now and then to make sure it doesn't happen. (aphogee already makes one just for this occasion.)
Aphogee is for 'damaged hair':
Aphogee is specifically for 'damaged hair'. what happens when my hair isn't damaged any more? What products will i switch too after that? I don't want to rely on aphogee to always make my hair great because one day it won't be necessary. Everybody I watch on YouTube eventually switched off of aphogee to different products. (Ateyaaa switched to NuGro, omgitsvictoriaxd switched to Garnier Fructis then to Aussie, etc.) Does it matter if its for damaged hair or healthy hair?

Short term hair goal:
by the end of the year I hope to be full shoulder length. At the latest, by 1/31/2011 to be full SL.
Long term hair goal:
bra strap length by December 2011.

Hair Journal- Silk Elements, bantu knots, Herbal Essences

So for the first time i tried the regimen I've been talking about for months and it was..eh. not great like i expected it to be. my hair didn't feel like 'silk' afterwards. not that my hair was rough. I just guess my expectations were too high. the pantene made my hair super soft, but this didn't. my hair was soft though. just not suppper soft like i wanted it to be. Also, it looks good. it still has a nice shine to it, but that could be b/c of the M&S that I do. All together it took about 3 hours.

However, I didn't mix anything with the oils that I use, next time i'll mix oils with the conditioner and DC and see if it makes a difference. I wanted to see how it worked straight before i started using a variation of it.
And i did notice that there was NO dandruff. but then again that could've been the M&S.

When i finished DC my hair I tried to do a bantu knot out and I hated it b/c it was frizzy, so i flat ironed it and it looked okay. Super flat with no volume. Then that night i re-bantu knotted it and it looked good in the morning, but the curls didn't last long at all so I went to target and got herbal essences totally twisted curl scrunching gel and the curls lasted all day and didn't frizz. :) I'm really starting to like herbal essences. (i'm hoping i dont jinx myself) When I first took out the bantu knot, it was  lil crunchy but through out the day the crunch went away. Not only that but it smells good and is alcohol-free!

PROS FOR THIS WEEK:
-The SE shampoo was good, it didn't dry out my hair like Dark and Lovely.
- I finally started the regimen I wanted to, even if their are some kinks
-The Wave Nouveau finsihing lotion is a really good moisturizer if i need a lot of moisture.
-I 'discovered' HE scrunching gel and bantu knot outs
-no dandurff
-hair is really moisturized (hallelujah!)
-none of the products stink
-exicted for a new oil (coconut)

CONS FOR THIS WEEK:
-I need a different regimen (specifically conditioner and maybe a different deep conditioner)
- I forgot to get SE megasilk moisture treatment. :( I really liked that stuff in the little packet.

RANDOM:
-after i buy the coconut oil i'm going to stop buying hair products for a while, i don't want to be a junky and waste money on products I won't use
-I won't use this method this week b/c i plan on going to the salon and getting a relaxer and to get my ends dusted, so i won't need to wash it.

-if i figure out cute styles w/o heat, then i'll bump up my reggie to once a week instead of every two weeks.
-I put the HE on the shaft of my hair, banut knotted it, then sprayed the knot with SE styling spritz, so that could've been the cause of the stiffness.

Hair Journal: Pantene Curly Hair Series- Dry to Moisturized Review.

A few weeks ago my mom signed up to recieve a freebie of pantene shampoo and conditioner in the mail. So we recieved a small sample sized and I used it to wash my hair once i took my braids out. It made my hair SUPER soft. But.. I did notice that I used the conditioner more than I used the shampoo. (I had my eyes closed and didn't realize I was using conditioner instead of a shampoo--so I conditioned my hair about 4 times and washed w/ shampoo twice)

-It did make my hair soft, but it didn't detangle at all.
-The smell was decent- it didn't stink, but it wasn't scented.
-I don't think theres any mineral oil in it.

On another note, I've decided to try coconut oil instead of jojoba oil. I think it'll help my hair just as well but its less expensive and you get more product. So I'll wait until I run out of jojoba oil until I get the coconut oil. (unless it goes on sale :) ) Another reason I want to try coconut oil is because it helps with dry hair. specifically dandruff. when I took out my braids I noticed A LOT  of dandruff. I don't see it any more now (weird) but it could've went away since I started moisturizing and sealing.

Also, I've tried moisturizing and sealing for the first time this week. I've noticed that my hair is a lot shiny-er even after doing it for only 1 night it was a lot shiny-er. It also feels soft but that could just be the shampoo and conditioner. When I run my fingers through my hair, my hands feel oily. not greasy and nasty though. I guess this is normal for M&S'd hair? And I don't understand people who can M&S their hair twice a day, If i did that then it would be sooo greasy-Mc-nasty. But i guess that's for people with thicker/longer hair.

I also learned this week that it is important to have a hair goal. I want to go as far as i can and still maintain it- hopefully bra strap length by Dec '11. (maybe that's wishful thinking, but I think I can do it)

And lastly, I learned that i don't have to get my hair trimmed every time i get a relaxer at the hair salon, just to 'listen' to my hair and wait until I need a trim or to get dusted.

GOOD YOUTUBE VIDEOS FOR HEALTHY HAIR:

(don't underestimate youtube now, they got some really good people on here with really healthy hair that are helping me with my hair journey and they can help you too!)

-Tips for achieving long healthy hair during your hair journey- by tiondrab

-healthy hair tips- by omgitsvictoriaxd

-almost any video by ulovemegz

-Hairlicious Inc: My hair care journey- by HairliciousInc