Dry Skin Cronicals – Saying Goodbye To Sheabutter

Getting into makeup has now  opening my eyes to the wonderful world of skin care.  Prior to wearing makeup I would just moisturize my skin with lotion, not even a facial moisturizer.  I would have to pile it on because my skin is severely dry and half way through the day in the winter it would start to flake and I would have dry patches scattered throughout my face…TACKY!

What I noticed started to happen after I put foundation on ,my cheeks still get dry and begins to flake under the makeup and it can be SEEN!  I was using a primer and a facial moisturizer (I will talk about what I’m using in a later post) and still my face was dry. What I’ve started to do now is moisturizer my face at night with Shea butter.  And this is helping a lot BUT I am starting to develop  white heads!!! I’VE NEVER HAD A PIMPLE PROBLEM UNTIL NOW!

Through researching I discovered the problem may have been the Shea butter because it is so rich in providing oil into the skin I had an oil overdose (so to speak) and with the production of the access oil it got trapped in my pores thus forming this white head.  This is all my SPECULATION based off a few articles I read…none of them said that exactly.

I’ve since stopped using the Shea butter and have noticed that I do not have a single bump, pimple, Whitehead NADA on my face. Which is what I am used to and I like it!  I am now us Vaseline Intensive Care on my face at night and I am getting good results just as I did with the Shea butter.  I had one bad day  where my dry patches started to show and that was because I applied my BB cream at 6:30 am and did not get home until 6 pm and I was sweating A LOT.

Goodbye Shea butter on my face, however you will always be my true love when it comes to my natural hair 🙂

 

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So You Want To Be Natural Pt.5 – Products & Tools

Now that you have decided on where you will get your products from, either the kitchen or the store let’s talk about some of the products that you will need to make your natural hair journey  a healthy journey.

The first and most important step in having healthy hair is moisturizing it. So you have to have a product that is a moisturizer. To be an effective moisturizer it’s first ingredient MUST be aqua, water, H20. Water is by far thee BEST moisturizer for our hair and skin. In fact it’s such a great moisturizer that it alone can be your moisturizer (I speak from experience as water is my primary moisturizer), when your hair is in its naturally curly state of course (if you straighten your hair and moisturize with water it will revert your hair back to its curly state).

Another product necessary is a leave in conditioner to continue to moisturize your hair as the days go on. I’ve seen some naturals go without this step. I was one in my pre loc journey, now that I am experimenting with the LOC and LCO techniques I’ve incorporated it into my regimen.  My hair seems to be a lot softer and stays moisturized longer.

You will also want to invest in a cream or butter moisturizer to assist the leave in with providing more moisture to your hair and other benefits such as shine.  This is the second step in the LCO method and the third step in the LOC method.

All of this moisturizing will be done for nothing if you do not invest in a sealant. There are a multitude of oils you can use to seal the moisture in your hair. Without this vital steps the moisture will leave your hair causing it to be dry and breakage will occur.

Where we would be without a good cleanser to help us clean our scalp and rid it and our hair of all the other products we put in it.  Selecting a cleanser will require some consideration on your part. Biggest choice being to shampoo, cowash, or,both. Some naturals swear by cowashing alone, others stick with tradition shampooing.  If your a neo in the natural world cowashing is the act of using a conditioner to cleanse your scalp. Many naturals use both in their regimens, like yours truly 🙂

Another essential product is a moisturizing deep conditioner. This beneficial treatment aids in providing deep penetrating moisture to your hair and scalp. There are many natural, non natural and home made products that fall under this category.

In Order to provide strength to your tresses you should use a protein treatment. Just like the moisturizing deep conditioner the protein treatment will aid in the overall health of your hair and it to can be purchased or made in the kitchen.

This is not low on the list because it is least necessary! A Hot oil treatment is one of the best things we can do for our hair.  It is the spa treatment for hair.  It helps condition, strengthen, moisturize and heal your hair.  It can be purchased or made.  It is one of the easiest of the home products to concoct.  A journey without this is missing an important part of healthy hair.

Last but certainly not least is a rinse out conditioner, this is also used by some naturals after washing the hair but before the leave in is applied. It is another method of conditioning for those who feel it is necessary to help their hair be more manageable and moisturized. I do not incorporate this in my regimen.

Styling tools will also be necessary, items such as wide tooth combs or tangle teasers for detangling, Denman brush used for smoothing and clumping curls, butterfly clips and elastic bands for
separating hair. A spray bottle or two is also a necessary tool.

Previous: Pt. 4

Next: Pt. 6

Disclaimer: Everything listed here is basic and is meant to be a starting point. The links I’ve including will take you to some of the products I use for the various steps of maintaining my natural hair. I am no expert on hair care, I do not have my costmatology license, nor am I a chemist, biologist, or scientist. I am a natural women who’s been researching natural hair care since 2012. I am however an expert in my own hair story and that’s what being natural is all about…developing a relationship with the hairs on your own head. I share what has worked for me in hopes that it may work for you as well. 

Product Review – Miss Jessie’s Baby Buttercreme

Early on in my natural hair journey I vowed to NOT be a product junkie but to be a KISS kinda girl.  KISS  meaning keep it simple sister :). For the most part that worked. I did manage to stumbled upon some Miss Jessies back then and it was nice on my hair and I said I’ve got to try that again. Then I loc’ed and had no purpose for it. Now I’m not loc’ed  and I had to revisit it. 🙂 🙂  And so I did.

The smell of this creme is delicious and so is how it feels in my hands and hair. It’s very thick and creamy.  It keeps my hair moisturized for a couple of days actually an entire week. I don’t like the price, $58 foe 32 oz jar, or the greasy feel of my hair when I take my twist out however I think both of these may be my own issues. I am very heavy handed with my products so if I lay off a bit maybe my hair would not be as greasy and it might also last me longer which in turn would make it not so pricey. So far I’ve used it three times and I still have a good amount left. May get another 3 to 4 uses out of it so that would be approx 6 weeks worth of twist outs …hummmm that may be worth the money. Overall this is one of my staple products from this point on. Even so much that I am allowing it to replace my home made moisturizer, just for me not my daughter. Still going to keep things simple with her hair.   Below are the results of my twist out on wet hair using this product.

Me and my oldest daughter 🙂 can’t quite get her to go natural ..lol but to each their own

Baggy Method

One of the best ways to get moisture to your hair is to do the baggy method. I do mine on clean dry hair and of course with a shower cap and a wood cap on top of that for added heat. I keep it on for 45 minutes or overnight. I do it on dry hair because if the hair is dry it will absorb more than it would if it was already full with water. Any type of conditioning done on dry hair will be absorbed directly into the hair… More value going in. I perform this type of hair treatment when I feel that my hair can use some extra moisture. I am very random when I decide to do this

My Ingredients

Jojoba oil
Castor oil
Vitamins A, D, and E
Essential Oil(s)

Daily Moisturizer Mix

I do not get caught up in hair typing but in order to learn about my hair I did research the topic and apparently I am a combination of 4A/B (majority) and the back is 3c. And because of this and getting to know my hair, I know it needs to be moisturized daily. When I don’t moisturize my hair daily it becomes hard and crunchy, this is when I know I need moisture. Discovering this about my hair led me to concoct a mixture. And because I think water is thee best moisture for our hair it is my foundation :). After spraying my hair with the below mixture I seal with oil.

Daily Moisturizing spritz

Water
Aloe Vera juice
Kinky Curly Knot Today
Glycerin ( I remove this is the winter)