BellaCurl Shine and Seal

Firstly I'm sorry it's been so long between posts. My work life gets real crazy this time of year and I've taken a self imposed break from hair chatter for a while. I need to use up some of what I have lol!

However, I had to take the time to post my review of the BellaCurl Shine and Seal.

This stuff rocks our world!

This is a SOTC or finishing product that absolutely imparts shine. It cuts frizz like you would not believe - and it does not sit on your hair. We use it every morning for T's hair and it just refreshes wonderfully. I cannot say enough good things about this butter/sealer. We aren't uber crazy about the smell but it is natural and it dissapates after a while. You don't need much - we use about a pea sized for T's whole hair. I would compare this very favorably with the Shescentit Gillian Butter which is the other finisher/sealer that we like at our house.

I have also used this to SOTC and it helps to hold and form the curls very well. This is a quality product and I highly recommend it!

As listed on the Bellacurl etsy site here are the:

INGREDIENTS: butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter, mangifera indica (mango)butter, brassica oleracea italica (broccoli) seed oil, astrocaryum tucuma (tucuma) butter, theobroma grandiflorum (cupuacu) butter, camellia sinesis (camellia) oil, essential oil blend

Spiral Solutions Emollience Hair Butter

Emollience

This is a fabulous butter - it works great to Scrunch Out the Crunch (SOTC) or to scrunch in mid day for a pick up. It's a butter so you'll need to emulsify it in your hands a bit. Your hands will thank you!

It is not heavy and oily - it sinks into your hair and hands without residue-leaving soft skin and hair with a healthy sheen without frizz! I use it after I've diffused and SOTC to get rid of the few flyaway and frizzy pieces. Just rub between your fingers or palms (depends on how much you need!) and then gently scrunch it in.

As a body product this stuff rocks. I rarely find a butter that immediately absorbs into my skin--most tend to sit for a while and I end up being ultra careful of my clothes and bedding so as not to get oil stains on them. With Emollience I don't have to worry--it's all in right away. This stuff also works good on your cuticles!

I used this on my daughter's ends and my son's coarser hair on his nape -- worked great for both of them.

As with most butters a little dab will do ya' but don't worry if you go a bit overboard..just rub it into your hands or body!

Enjoy!

Shescentit

Shescentit is another handmade line I learned about on naturallycurly.com and longhaircareforum.com and I'm so glad I did!

I've ordered a couple of times and always had great experiences. We have liked all the products we've gotten! I have only ordered the conditioners and such without silicones (or silica) in them. I'm very tempted by the others but know I would regret it afterwords. Ah well. On to the review.

The Avocado Conditioner is green--seems appropriate. It comes in a regular bottle with flip top lid. Her bottles are very unique and, honestly, quite classy and fun looking. I love her logo. Anyway this is an excellent conditioner if your hair is normal to dry. We didn't find it had enough *umph* for T's hair but for my hair it's great. My son also likes it (his favorite color is green). Smells good. Very inexpensive for an online product. Nice!

Next up on the list is the Super Soft Honey Conditioning Rinse. I LOVE the smell of this and it works amazing for me as a rinse out conditioner. It makes my hair moist and bouncy without leaving it over conditioned. It has just enough moisture power. It's another inexpensive option.

My favorite conditioner right now is the Green Tea and Hibiscus one. My hair seems to love Green Tea in any form. It's a deep conditioner but I usually just leave it on in the shower. I'll have to try it with my hard hat dryer but so far its working exceptionally well with just the shower heat for about 5-8 minutes. It smells fine--a little more herbally than the other two I've tried but completely acceptable.

The Coco-Cream Leave In Conditioner is a favorite of many. It works wonders for my sons hair. It provides a lot of slip and can easily be used to detangle. It smells positively divine and is a little more liquidy so it spreads very easily. You don't need too much. If you like leave ins that have a lot of slip or that make your hair feel very silky you will like this one. I felt it made my hair a little too slippery leading to reduced curl.

Another other option for a leave in is the Moisture Mist Leave In Conditioner. This is a liquid in a spray bottle. You MUST shake it up WELL. Do Not Forget. This has oils that can make your hair greasy if you don't shake well. For a spray this one does a nice job. We found it much better on my sons hair than my daughter's and I use it occasionally as well. I actually prefer creamy leave in's myself but this one is nice if you want something light. I think the smell is the other reason for it to not be my favorite--not sure how to describe it except as artificial. I don't really care for it.

Our other favorite products from Shescentit are the butters. OH MY do we love them! We love the Gillian Butter the best but the Seyani is no slouch. You can order your fragrance and you can get sample sizes. We have loved every fragrance we've tried (Vanilla Almond, Sugar Cookie, and Creamsicle). All are light and not overpowering. These butters emulsify into an oil and they are wonderful, simply wonderful, for sealing your hair. When we use this after T's leave in and her Qhemet Biologics Burdock Cream we get long lasting moisture--never greasy, sticky, producty, etc. It is fabulous. We use it in the morning as well to refresh second day after the Qhemet products and it sets her hair just right and helps minimize frizz. EXCELLENT! Even if you think you can't do butters but want to try some these are great to give you an idea--inexpensive as well.

Darcy's Botanicals

I love Darcy's Botanical Products!

I originally thought the line wouldn't work because there were a lot of heavy products which seemed more aimed at things like twist outs and braids--none of which I can do on my fine and thin hair. Turns out her products work well for ALL types of hair!

My first and still favorite product is the Natural Coils Curling Jelly. This is one of my HG curl enhancing products and it consistently gives me awesome curls! I love everything about it--the smell (Citrus), the texture (gel but not super slimy) and the color which is a sort of yellow brown. It has lots of ingredients my hair loves like coconut and protein. I use about a dime sized for each side of my hair then another dime on the back and canopy. I use a hard hold gel over it and pixie diffuse or scrunch while diffusing. You can see how awesome this works by viewing my PikiStrip above--the "After" front view is with DB NCCJ! VERY Highly recommended!

Daily Leave In was my next product to try and I have it in the Peach scent. The smell, like all of Darcy's other products, is yummy. It does have some emulsifying wax in it so if you are sensitive to waxes you'll have to take that into account. This is very similar in my hair to fairly heavy hair milks. A little dab will do you if you've got fine and/or thin hair. In my daughters thick hair that's more medium texture we use about a Tsp on each of 7 sections. It works equally well in her hair. I do have to watch humidity and dew point as this has glycerin which can be problematic during one of SoCal's dry spells but otherwise it's an all season styler and moisturizer for me. Lovely!

The Detangling Milk comes in a spray bottle but I found it too heavy to use that way so I just pour some in my hand. I love the vanilla smell (you can chose a scent) and it does a good job of providing moisture and detangling should you need it. I find it very comparable to the Daily Leave In--interchangable for me.

Another of my favorite products is the Coconut and Aloe Moisture Pudding. This is my GO TO product for moisture particularly on DRY hair. If I've used a product with mag sulfate OR my hair is really dry that day or the humidity is in the teen's I break this out and use about 2 tsp and scrunch it in. It never leaves my hair oily or greasy--in fact my hair's two favorite things (outside of the main love which is protein) are Aloe and Coconut--so this was an easy choice. I was out all day today in 14% humidity--normally that would mean my hair would be a dry hot mess when I got home. Not so now--it's after 6pm and my hair is STILL soft and bouncy. Yeah Darcy's!

The last product is Peach Kernel Nectar (not pictured because I used it all up!). OMG the scent..oh lawdy the scent. It REMINDS me of the South and summer days out fishing and coming in to my Grandma's peaches with FRESH cream on top. Melt in your mouth goodness. This is just an amazing oil--it's not heavy and it absorbs into your hair very well. I use it in my hair as a kind of Pre-poo when I'm going to take a bath. The scent envelopes me while I'm relaxed and enjoying a hot soak. Heavenly! You simply MUST try it!

Look for more reviews from Darcy's Botanical's later this month or early next year-I'm waiting on a shipment of a couple of the new products right now! I can't wait to try them! Also the owner of Darcy's is outstanding--she replies to emails promptly, ships promptly, and is always willing to work with you. A wonderful company!

www.darcysbotanicals.com