The importance of a patch test overnight!

Greetings fellow wavies and curlies!

There was a post recently on naturallycurly.com where a fellow board'er mentioned she had been having some burning and irritation on her scalp once she switched to a new product. Although the product was working it seemed as if she might have an allergy or sensitivity to something in the conditioner. Contact Dermatitis is common with cosmetic products including dyes, conditioners, shampoo's, etc.

It came to me then that I haven't seen much on the boards about doing a patch test when you get new product. This lets you know if your skin will be sensitive to it. It won't help if your hair just does not like an ingredient (that can be much harder to figure out but there are common culprits listed below).

The way I do it is I use about a pea to dime size of product and rub it into my inner arm. On the inside of my wrist, above my elbow, basically anywhere that my skin tends to be more sensitive anyway. If I'm worried I do it upper arm only--that way if there is a reaction I can cover it with long sleeves. I am on the PC all day at work so if a product caused a rash on my wrist I would be irritating it all day. Not good! You could also put it at the nape of your neck or behind your ear if you want to be closer to your scalp or even on a small area of scalp. The choice is yours.

I encourage you all to do this at night and then check in the morning. I know allergists sometimes recommend longer. Even though it might delay your instant gratification on the product its worth it in the end if your scalp is going to end up burning or itching or having sores.

Ingredients that may cause an allergic reaction such as contact dermatitis: Citrus (commonly essential oils of organge, lemongrass, etc), papaya (used as a nerve agent in medicines for its ability to encourage sensation in areas deadened), preservatives (too many to mention), cocamidopropyl betaine (shampoos).

Sometimes the patch doesn't show anything and it will still react on your hair but it is an easy way to at least get an idea. Remember that even something you've used before can turn into a sensitivity!

P.S. common ingredients that some peoples hair is sensitive too--can cause it to get hard, dry, limp, lifeless, greasy and more: mineral oil or other petro products, castor oil or other oils (olive, jojoba, etc), protein (hydrolized anything in a product), panthenol, BTMS.

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.

How to classify your wavy hair

Here is some information that helps those who want to classify their hair according to hair curl type. Please note that I am more of a fan of classifying by hair properties (like texture, porosity, elasticity) but many internet places use one of the following systems:

NatuallyCurly.com hair type classification system:

If you look on this website it classifies wavy hair as ALL 2. The difference is in texture ONLY. So here is how it would go:

2A is wavy hair that is fine
2B is wavy hair that is medium
2C is wavy hair that is coarse

There is no progression of the "curls" in a wavy classification if you use the one on naturallycurly.com---so you would only be a 2C is your hair was wavy and coarse. Anyone with wavy/fine hair is automatically classed as a 2A (not a 2C). The amount and level of curls vary but until you hit the 3 category there is no system whereby looser/tighter/spirally matters in your curl pattern.

In contrast to this there is a FIA system as below:
Fia's Hairtyping System

FIRST CLASSIFIER:

The straight ones
1a - stick straight
1b - straight but with a slight body wave, just enough to add some volume, doesn't look wavy
1c - straight with body wave and one or two visible S-waves (e.g. nape of neck or temples)

The wavy ones
2a - loose, stretched out S-waves throughout the hair
2b - shorter, more distinct S-waves (similar to waves from braiding damp hair)
2c - distinct S-waves and the odd spiral curl forming here and there


The curly ones
3a - big, loose spiral curls
3b - bouncy ringlets
3c - tight corkscrews

The really curly ones
4a - tightly coiled S-curls
4b - tightly coiled hair bending in sharp angles (Z-pattern)

SECOND CLASSIFIER
What (most of) your individual strands look like

F - FineThin strands that sometimes are almost translucent when held up to the light. Shed strands can be hard to see even against a contrasting background. Similar to hair found on many people of Scandinavian descent.

You can also try rolling a strand between your thumb and index finger. Fine hair is difficult to feel or itfeels like an ultra-fine strand of silk

M - MediumStrands are neither fine nor coarse. Similar to hair found on many Caucasians.

You can also try rolling a strand between your thumb and index finger. Medium hair feels like a cotton thread. You can feel it, but it isn't stiff or rough. It is neither fine or coarse.

C - Coarse
Thick strands that where shed strands usually are easily identified against most backgrounds. Similar to hair found on many people of Asian or native American descent.

You can also try rolling a strand between your thumb and index finger. Coarse hair feels hard and wiry. As you roll it back and forth, you may actually hear it.

THIRD CLASSIFIER
Your overall volume of hair

Put your hair in a ponytail with as much hair as possible in it. Don't bother with the way it looks - the goal is to have most/all of your hair in there. If it means it sits smack dab on top of your head, put it there.

Measure the circumference of the ponytail. If you have bangs and/or you can't get all of your hair in there adjust according to how much of your hair you have measured.

To measure the circumference - take a piece of string, or a soft tape measure (the kind used by dressmakers). Wrap the string or tape measure around your ponytail - just below the elastic you have in to hold the ponytail together. Read the corresponding number from the tape measure, or hold the string at the length you've measured and use a ruler to determine how much it is. The number given is the circumference of your ponytail.

i - thin (less than 2 inches/5 centimeters)
ii - normal (between 2-4 inches or 5-10 centimeters)
iii - thick (more than 4 inches/10 centimeters)

(Taken from the following website --
http://homepage.mac.com/annsofie.henriksson/hairtyping/Personal27.html)

So if I use Naturallycurly.com classification I am a 2A/3A.

If I use FIA I am a 2c/3aFi

Hopefully this is helpful!

Jasmines Bath and Beauty Products

I originally heard about Jasmines produts on the Long Hair Care Forum. I didn't pay much attention at the time. It wasn't until a fellow naturallycurly lady reviewed these that I actually went to the website and took a look.

I can only say WOW! This site has a lot of products! There are things for hair, face, skin, bath, makeup and more. One of the greatest things about Jasmines is that you can get your products in the scent you like and there are TONS of choices! I wish more stores did this!

I decided to try the hair conditioners first. I chose the 3 that were free from silicones. I also ordered some shea butter that was scented for my son's excema.

The Moisture Renewal Conditioner is just an amazing amazing leave in. On my hair I can use at least 2 tsp of product which is a lot. It sinks into my hair without leaving it weighed down. Of course the scents I chose (Caribbean Coconut for one bottle and Vanilla Butter Cream for the other) so of course I love them. This is lightweight but it does provide the required level of moisture. I think this has been discontinued so hopefully we'll have another product in the spring.

The Babassu Butter Cream Organic Conditioner comes in a jar and is pretty thick and white. It doesn't have protein so was a good choice for T's dry hair that is protein sensitive to some degree. When we used it there was enough slip to detangle but not as much as the Shea conditioner reviewed below. I do have to note we aren't as thrilled with the Pink Cupcakes scent because it smells more like buttered popcorn but the conditioner works great. I will say the scent does not linger and when it gets in your hair it doesn't smell like popcorn--just in the jar. I ordered more but in different scents so I will udpate once those arrive (SCENT UPDATE BELOW!). We definitely liked this one for its conditioning properties and it also worked well as a leave in for T. Nice!

Our favorite product is the Shea Butter Conditioning Cream Rinse/Leave In. We use it as both a rinse out (PHENOMENAL!) and a leave in (Superb!). I have never had my hair SO SOFT without loosing curl. I couldn't express how soft and great my hair felt. If it wasn't against the law I'd of run screaming down the street in my Bday suit! It has some protein which my hair loves.

The Shea Butter (unrefined) we mostly use for skin and not hair. We like it. The scent we chose was fine (Sexy Vanilla) and it works well. It's shea butter so we already knew we'd like it. The quality seems just fine as well.

I have to tell you I liked these products so much that I turned around and placed another order less than a week after I received my first one! I ordered 6 more conditioners in the 4oz size in different scents.

The pic above is with Jasmines used as a Leave In (Shea Butter Condish) and even with a great curling gelly (which I used) it won't give me that much curl without an outstanding leave in.

These products get two very enthusiastic thumbs up! You'll also love to hear that the owner responds to emails lightning fast and is a great communicator! With these smaller companies where you have to wait a while for your order the level of communication is so so important. Jasmines owner is absolutely top notch!

So not only are you getting just grand products you get great service with them! What are you waiting for!!

SCENT UPDATES: I got my new products! So I had to update on the scents. This batch is MUCH improved (I guess that's what I get for letting a 13 year old pick out scents! Won't make that mistake again! LOL).

Mango-Peach: Does smell fruity but it has almost a floral undertone. Very classy!

French Vanilla Pear: Smells very vanilla/buttercream'y. Just a very small fruit type note. Understated and subtle for those who don't like really fragrant fragrances that you can smell in an elevator 2 hours after you've gone!

Passionfruit/Guava: Exactly how you expect. Sweet tropical fruit. Yum!

Strawberry Jam: Just like strawberry jam! A great kids scent!

Berries and Cream: One of my favorites. Like fresh berries in whole cream. Decadent and fruity!

Jasmine Vanilla: A very floral vanilla. Wonderful smelling and I can't wait to try it in the shower!

White Tea and Ginger: Classic--like LL Bean. Clean and unisex.

Summer Melon: Another one that smells exactly like you think it will. Like a mix of fresh melon in the summer on the picnic table!

Coconut Lemongrass: Another favorite of mine. Perfect mix of these two!

Pearberry: Sweet more like a pear but with a berry undertone (blackberry to me).

http://www.jasminesbathandbeautyproducts.com

Donna Marie Products

I've only tried a few of the Donna Marie products that are currently on the market. I've used a few that are no longer made. Her curling jelly is AMAZING. Full stop.

The Mira Curl Curling Gelly smells sweet and looks a lot like homemade flax seed gel but more substantial. It's slippery but not slimy and its consistency allows you to spread it through your hair easily. This is a curl enhancer--on it's own it did not have enough hold for my 2C hair. I'm pretty used to that though so it's o.k.! It is a very nice sized bottle for the money and it seems to work equally as well on all hair types. Both the above pic's are with this product in (two different days). You can clearly see the curl enhancing. If you are looking for a good curl enhancer you should try this one out! Be warned though she sometimes gets sold out of stuff so if you see it and want it I recommend you buy it right away!

Gekko422 on naturallycurly.com says "I used DM Mira Curl and really liked it" if you need a second opinion :)

I absolutely adore the Mira Curl Detangler and Conditioner. I use this is a leave in an it never fails to give me a good amount of moisture without being too much. I've used it as a rinse out but honestly it works best as leave in for me. That's a very high compliment from me as leave ins are much harder for me than rinse out conditioners. The smell is sweet with a very very light citrus undertone. I don't have a pic since I'm using some from another curly and it's not in the right bottle. Excellent!

Mira Curl Moisture Mist comes in a spray bottle. It's primarily aloe juice with some other things. I've used it a couple of times. Overall it is o.k. but if I'm not careful I can get oily and stringy hair really quick with this. The smell is sweet. I suspect that medium to coarse wavies and curlies would like this better than fine haired peeps. T liked it just fine and she has mixed textures.

The Coco Hemp Buttermilk is a styler. I've used it as a conditioner to great success. As a styler/leave in I think it's too heavy for my hair. It smells just like the old Coco Hemp Buttercream which I LOVE to use to Scrunch Out the Crunch (SOTC). I simply adore the smell. This is another one that I only have a smaller sample of so it's not pictured. I'll update this post once I use it in the lower dews and humidity we've been having as I think it is a much better winter product as it is very very rich. You have to watch how much you use or you will end up a bit oily if you have fine hair. T didn't like the smell so we didn't use it on her hair but I'm betting it's another product that works better on med/coarse hair.

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

New to CG methods? My 10 top picks for products to buy!

So you are new to the Curly Girl method? Confused by acronym's and wondering what on earth you should buy to begin the journey?

First I believe in KISS --especially in the beginning with CG where you are struggling with the transition to the CG method. Both you and your hair are likely frustrated. We can relate--we started there too!

It goes without saying that you need to read heavily--go visit the naturallycurly.com website or any of the blogs I link below as all have various amounts of information. The Live Curly Live Free website is a goldmine of information as is the blog by Jillipoo.

So here is what I recommend for you to purchase in the first weeks of going CG. Most will be on ground but I've thrown in a couple of recommendations for online purchases if you want to give that a try:

1. Suave Naturals or V05 Moisture Milks or similar for a co-wash. These are widely available and cheap. If you have medium to coarse hair stay with things that don't have a lot of protein in them (V05 or Suave is fine except the coconut)Cost: $1.25

2. LA Looks Sport Gel (LALSG): again cheap and widely available. If you can't find the Sports one then try LaBella or a generic (e.g. CVS) version of hard hold gel. Cost $2.00

3. Lustrasilk Cholesterol Conditioners--choose one of the three without cones (Olive Oil, Shea and Mango, or Organic with Argan Oil). At a price of $2.50 you can afford to pick up a couple. I vote for Olive Oil for Leave-in and either Shea Mango or the Organic for your DT's. Cost $2.50

4. A good conditioner. Giovanni and/or Trader Joe's conditioners: Depending on your hair type and scalp issues and if you have a TJ's around you. Choose the Tea Tree is you get itchy scalp or your preCG hair was oily/greasy. If your hair was pretty dry but not ultra frizzy and dry then I recommend the TJ Nourish or Refresh or the Giovanni 50/50. If you have really dry hair or want to do a couple of very moisturizing DT's then try Smooth as Silk by Giovanni. Your other option is the ones we use on my daughter--Garnier Fructis. The Triple Nutrition and the Sleek and Shine (fortifying Conditioners) are excellent choices for really dry hair or just normal to dry, cheap, and work great. They are reviewed on my blog so you can see what they look like. Cost $3-8

5. Any or all of the following hair accessories if you do not already own them: mini clips, bobby pins, ponytail holders, headbands, clips, barrette's, Flexi-8's, etc. You are likely going to put your hair up or back at some point. Inevitable. Make sure you have some products you can live with to do that. Trust me. You may also want to clip your hair to give it volume on top so clips can be a lifesaver. Hit up the Goody or Scunchi isle's in your local CVS, Target, Walmart, or Walgreen's.

6. A diffuser or hard hat dryer. Whichever floats your boat. Peeps with very thick and potential-poof hair might want a hard hat dryer (I use and love Ion Conditioning Hard Hat dryer from Sally's). I use a diffuser more often on my hair--check out the Conair attachments for regular dryer's available at Sally's as those work well and are cheap $5-8.

7. A towel or something that functions as one. Either a curl towel OR use old Hanes type undershirts or other tshirts or flour sack towels. You won't be using regular terry cloth towel's on your hair and you need something to get some water out.

8. Ingredients to either make your own Flax Seed Gel OR to do DT's and soothe your scalp: Honey, Coconut Oil, Flax Seeds, strainer, Avocado Oil, Jojoba Oil, Tea Tree Oil, eggs, mayonaisse, avocado and more. No you don't have to be a Mixtress to do this-it's easy and you'll like using what you have on hand to have beautiful hair! Recipes are all over the net and on naturallycurly.com on the Recipes board.

9. If you have coarser hair you may want to invest in some butters or cream's that are moisturizing. This is where you start to go online. I recommend something like Karen's Body Beautiful or Shescentit for your butters and creams. We've also used Ohm Avocado Custard and Oyin's whipped pudding to good effect. Just google them. If you are a finer haired wavy or curly I recommend investing in a good protein treatment. There are numerous options like Nexxus Emergencee, Apoghee (may have cones) or one of the online like Hairveda's Methi set or Curl Junkie's Curl Fix. In addition if you are a wavy you may want to invest in a low-poo because many wavies need to low poo--there are many to chose from including the Giovannie or Trader Joe's shampoo's, EO shampoo's, and others you can get from a health food store or drug/grocery store.

10. If you want a curl creme or gel (and trust me you will) then check out any of the following (mostly online but Whole Foods in states other than CA have some Kinky Curly products and you might find the AG and Mop products in a local BSS or salon):

Kinky Curly Curling Custard, Donna Marie Mira Curl Curling Jelly, Amourai Organique Duchess of Curls, AG Re:Coil, Jessicurl Rockin' Ringlet's and Confident Coils, Curl Junkie Curls in a Bottle, Coffee-Coco Curl Creme or Smoothing Gellee, or Mop C Curl Creme and Darcy's Botanical's Natural Coils Curling Jelly.

I've listed in order of importance IMHO. You can always use #1 as a rinse out conditioner as well until you figure out what your hair likes.