Fall & Winter Prep (BSS Haul)

Some purchases I made last month. A few things that I can't live without  during the cold months, as well as first time buys.

• Stocked up on my fav cheapies: I ran out of Suave Tropical Coconut so I decided to go looking for another bottle and some how came back with all of these. Do you see Suave anywhere in that pic? Because I sure as heck don't *sigh*, I can't help it. Some of the V05s are already in my regular rotation and I absolutely LOVE, so I'm looking forward to trying the others. And I've never tried White Rain so I hope those work just as well.

• Spray Bottle for homemade leave-in mixes 

• Tesemme Heat Tamer Spray. I prefer liquid heat protectant over serums, less build up and more bounce, but when it's humid out a good serum can come in handy so I keep both on-hand.

• No Slip Grip Large Butterfly Clip for when I don't want to be bothered with my hair or just need to get it off my coats and scarves until I reach my destination.

• CHI Keratin Mist Leave-in has been a staple of mine for over 2 years now. I usually use it before flat-ironing and roller-setting but also if I fell like my hair need some protein after doing mainly co-washes for long periods of time.
• Emerald Laboratories Coconut Oil from GNC. Another staple that I just can't live without. 
• Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar, also from GNC
• Eco Styler alcohol free hair gel (even though I've cut down on my use I still love this particular brand and will prob use more often when I start wearing my hair up more).
• Please ignore the nail polish and BB Cleanser. They don't have a darn thing to do with this post!

I went and dug these out of my storage bins. I will be wearing my hair straight a lot more so these are always good to have.

• Tons of hair toys to play around with and keep those ends tucked and protected from the cold
• Scarf (used only to smooth pinned/clipped up styles)
• A very light weight satin headband to tie edges at night (came with  velcro on the ends but I cut them off)
• Blue Magic Coconut grease  (Yes I know grease is shunned in the hair community but it works for me. Even the best hair product in the world can get a bad rep if used incorrectly in my opinion. I've used it as a staple for years on both mine and my sons hair and we are not bald... yet). I find that when it gets so cold that it feels like even your eyeballs are frozen, regular oil just don't always cut it for me. I need something thicker on those ends that will hold in moisture longer to keep them from snapping off. I also use the Proclaim Coconut Oil grease  which smells a lot better and is a little softer/lighter; but it's all the same to me so whichever brand I happen to see first is what I buy. It's a great way to give those old fragile ends some extra TLC and a layer of protection from the bitter cold.

Possible Solution For Fine, Porous Strands?

V05 EXTRA BODY : VOLUMIZING CONDITIONER 

maximizes body and bounce with collagen

As a natural I tend to shy away from volumizing shampoos and conditioners because I'm usually thinking: "I don't need my hair bigger, I need control". Boy was I wrong and missing out on all the goodies that these type of conditioners have to offer fine porous strands like mine.

Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Cetyl-Alcohol, Cetrimonium Chloride, Stearalkonium Chloride, Stearyl Alcohol, Steareth-21, Glyceryl Stearate, Gelatin/Keratin Amino Acids/Lysine Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Tocopheryl Acetate, Biotin, Niacinamide, Plysorbate-20, Ascorbic Acid, Panthenol, Disodium EDTA, DMDM Hydantoin, Fragrance (Parfum), Yellow 5 (CI 19140), Yellow 6 (CI 15985).


How Did I Use & What's The Verdict:

• Co-washing:- Was easy to distribute and rinse from hair
• De-tangling:- Not the best but additional products were not need to get the job done
• Leave-in :- Super light, full and bouncy strands. I could not believe I had such body without the frizz. Each strand felt like they finally  had some life and an extra layer. With even the slightest movement of my head my hair moved with me, not to mention the fact that I could hardly keep my hands out of it. I'm so in-love with this that I'm already on to my 2nd bottle.

I think this would also be prefect for use before heat styling since it is protein based. I tend to choose products that will give me that extra body but still moisturize and add a little protein to protect strands before I apply heat to my hair.

~*BW*~

Good 2nd Day Hair For A Change

This was a few days ago using Suave Tropical Coconut conditioner, Eco StylerOlive Oil gel and then stretching with blow-dryer the day before:

 

Not bad right?! I was surprise it actually looked decent enough to wear out. Uasually I end up with flat, slightly matted curls and lots of frizz. I would have to spritz my hair to style it, which I hate doing BTW. So I'm forever trying to find ways to get a wearable 2nd day Wash-N-Go. Suave Tropical Coconut conditioner, Eco-Styler Olive Oil Gel and blow-drying seems to be the best combo I've found so far. Doesn't mean I'll stop looking! I'll be sure to post second day pics of all my conditioner reviews for comparison.

I was really loving my hair this day, but as usual... all 2nd day hair ends up in a pony.

           ~*BW*~

Tropical Coconut

Suave naturals : Tropical Coconut conditioner

 infused with coconut extract and vitamin E

This is one of the best conditioners I've used to date. It's light enough to apply under gels without flaking or leaving a white residue. But also creamy enough to give you soft shiny moisturized/defined hair that lasts all day. I picked this up for only  $ .99 at the grocery store. It performs better than most expensive brands that I've tried (for wash-n-go), and since it's very cheap, I can be as heavy handed as I want in each Wash-N-Go sessions.

I also noticed with this conditioner that I needed less gel for my desired  hold. Not to mention I got a decent looking second-day Shake-N-Go.

 Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Cetyl Alcohol, Cetrimonium Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Fragrance (Parfum), Distearyldimonium Chloride, Disodium Edta, Glycerin, 2-Bromo-2-Nitropropane-1,3-Dio l, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Propylene Glycol, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E Acetate), Silk Amino Acids, Honey, Nettle Extract, Rosemary Leaf Extract, Coconut Extract  

 

                                                                                                                                                 *BW*~