Monday, March 16, 2009

Potato Salad

When my mother used to put mayonnaise in my hair, my father would tease me and say my hair smelled like potato salad. I hadn't used mayonnaise in my hair in years, but I decided to try it this weekend. I've been feeling like I need more protein, and since I'm afraid to try strong protein treatments, I went with the old faithful mayo.

I planned to sleep with it on overnight as a pre-poo, but I didn't think I could stand the smell while I slept. That's the one bad thing I remember when I was a child- that nasty smell seeping through my scarf! Instead, I put it on Sunday morning before my weekly walk with my girlfriends in the park. I left it on for about 5 hours and then washed my hair. I felt like it took some work washing it all out, because after shampooing twice, my hair still felt heavy and oily. I shampooed once with KeraCare and twice with Creme of Nature. I deep conditioned with ORS Replenishing and rollerset my hair as usual. This morning, when I combed down my wrap, I noticed my hair felt thicker and looked shinier. My hair is usually pretty shiny, but it is really shiny today. The thickness and shine is even more surprising since I'm weaning my hair off the jet black rinse. I thought it would look dull and flat without fresh color, but not even close. I'll be doing the mayo pre-poo at least once a month from now on.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Product Review: Silicon Mix Conditioner

Okay, I told myself I wouldn't try any new products until I ran out of my existing ones, but I couldn't resist picking up the Silicon Mix. I've been reading how they changed the ingredients in my beloved ORS Replenishing, so I had to start looking for alternatives if it doesn't work for my hair anymore. I picked the Silicon Mix up last weekend at my local beauty supply store. Even though it's a Dominican product, I have seen it at a lot of the black beauty stores in my area.

Product Description
Hair treatment to restore the health, shine and the softness of dry, damaged and weak hair.

Directions:
Wash hair and towel dry. Apply with massages. Leave on from 2 to 3 minutes depending on the condition of the hair. Rinse.

Ingredients
Water, Mineral Oil, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol, Glycerine, Citric Acid, Cetrimonium Chloride, Dimethycone Copolyol, Cyclomethicone, Keratin, Ceramide, Diazolidinyl Urea (and) Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Fragrance

My Experience
I co-washed my hair yesterday and applied the Silicon Mix in 4 sections. I put a plastic cap on and sat under the dryer for 15 minutes. I then applied leave-in and roller set my hair, as usual.

My hair came out thick, light, bouncy and shiny. It felt thicker as I was setting it, so I knew that was a good sign. I was a little worried when I combed out the rollers because it didn't feel as moist as I had hoped. I applied some moisturizer and coconut oil before wrapping my hair. When I woke up, I was in love with my hair. It was definitely moist. I love how thick it looks and feels. I can't stop looking in the mirror! This conditioner does have strong perfume smell, but it doesn't bother me, surprisingly. I can still smell it even after using coconut oil, but it's pretty faint.

Until the ORS Replenishing doesn't work on my hair, I'm going to deep condition with ORS for my first wash of the week, and deep condition with Silicon Mix for my second.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Almost there...

I will soon be claiming shoulder length! My hair is hitting my shoulder, but I believe I will be completely there by the end of the month. I noticed how much my hair has grown when I washed it Friday. Unfortunately, I didn't wash it twice last week as I had planned because I had something going on every night after work. I am determined to wash tomorrow!