Protective Style: Three Strand Twist

Now when i first learned of this, i was like no way is that possible, but it and and its fairly easy..
fairly.

Now I found a simple tutorial on youtube (click here) that completely dumbed it down. I always refer back to this video when i get my finger placement wwrong or need a refresher. its simple, and i liked the fact that she showed you how to do it with the yarn rather than having to try to catch her finger movements as she does her own hair.

So yea...

I havent done these in a while, the last time being 2012 (i think) yep it was then so lets compare shall we

dec. 2012 vs. feb 2014

 
Not that much of a difference other than length of my hair, i colored it, and i did them a bit chunkier. The method used (not that you can really see it) is also different. I had to go back and make some smaller since they were really puffy. I use a tension method to keep the twist really tight. Meaning that after a few times of going around i would pull at the ends as far as it would go to bring the hair up and start twisting again.

I recently saw this video and i like the method of braiding the hair a bit first (same as a stylist would do when twisting with extensions) and starting the twist from there.

I like how mines came out and how i look with the twist. I'm leaving it in until friday. Got an exam that day and then Saturday is the Locs Revolution: Know Your Roots natural hair even in Harlem. Ill be there as brand ambassador for Alikay Naturals.

So come through!

Have you tried 3 strand twists before?

A.Soul

Product Review: Entwine Couture 'Fall Ready Collezioni'

Hey all, i was a giveaway queen for th new year! last week i used my goodies from @MNRtv, loved the Miss Jessie's shampoo, didnt get a wow with their leave in condish but i'll try it again. Same with the sweetback treatment.

This week i used my hair crack (Mixed Chicks) for wash day. I dont use it often since my pockets arent that deep. But know this, as soon as that deep conditioner hits my hair, my hair is in HEAVEN!!!!

Ahem..
Any who here's what i used

I somehow ended up with two boxes (not that im complaining but i gave one to my coworker since she was looking in to getting the sample kit from Amazon). From Entwine Couture I got their Fall Ready Collezioni: which included full sizes of their 

• Exotique leave in hair potion (here)
• 100% raw+vegan argan oil (here)
• Exotique butter creme hydrator (here)
• Creme jelle styler (here)

After i washed my hair, toweled dried it, let it air dry for bit and then followed up with the leave in. Then the argan oil ( i do like the pump!) and the butter creme hydrator. This was my LOC. These three are very light weight and have a very light scent to them. i followed up with my now foods castor oil and the creme jelle styler. The styler is a heavier consistency but also very fluffy as well, it was whipped really well. 

I did some three strand twists ( next post) and that was it. I liked the feel of the products going into my hair. I prefer the creme jelle styler over the butter creme in that my hair needs a heavier moisturizer. The leave in was a bit more watery than i liked. But my hair feels awesome. I dont even have to say anything about my ends this time around (my problem area) cause they are well and truly hydrated.

I highly recommend this! 

Iits CG friendly as well - no mineral oils, parabens, petrolatum, or phthalates. 

Enter the Entwine Giveaway here

Love,
A.Soul

Product Review: Miss Jessie's & ORS

It was a Miss Jessie's wash day this weekend. I recently won the super slip sudsy shampoo and leave in condish from the My Natural Reality birthday giveaway  and i already had some samples from various other natural hair events that i've been to in the past few years. (Exact pic of everything i used! lol)

                        

HOWEVER!...

This is my first time using any of it. Cause you know my pockets dont run that deep and its 50/50 on what people say about it. I am more for the CG method of being natural staying away from cones, parabens, sulfates, mineral oils, etc... And the first thing i see on the shampoo ingredient list after water is Ammonium Lauryl sulfate ...

((((O_O)))) (lord give me strength)

But i did it and i really like this shampoo... didnt get that slip it talked about but it did suds up nicely and my hair did not feel stripped and was really moisturized (thank you jeezus!). Will i purchase again... meh. lets see how my pockets feel when it runs out lol.

Now i followed up with ORS Replenishing Conditioner cause i personally felt my hair (specifically the ends)  needed that extra bit of protein care. But it didnt do much for me, did not like how my hair felt afterwards and this was a first. I then deep conditioned with the Super Sweetback Treatment..

BUT WAIT! (mad jamaican wit it lol)

What did i think i was going to accomplish with the 1-.46oz pillow pack with my big ass head of hair???.. 

Again did not like how my hair felt afterwards. And the bumblegum scent was alright (like bubble tape in my hair lol). I dont think sweetback is for me.. but ill give it another go (without the protein tx) and then try the rapid recovery tx. I did the same method as my last wash and while rinsing out the sweetback treatment... added Shea Moisture's restorative conditioner on my hair as well. It gave it some life but not much.

Moisture Method: The leave in condish was nothing special. Meaning i didnt notice much of a difference in my hair putting it in.  followed by oil, alikay's shea yogurt, castor oil and then the jelly soft curls. And i already like the jelly soft curls, i notice the the curl enhancement as soon as i lay that on my hair.... love my LOCO G method!


Now the SCENT! They were not kidding with they called it a FRESH SCENT! i Felt like i had just washed linen following me around with a hint of lemon and apples mixed in. Its a very light fresh clean but slightly sweet scent. 

I dont mind it. I dont mind it at all.

Recommendations: ALL OF IT! =) Honestly i did like everything. Ill give the sweetback treatment another go (bigger size of course!) But for you guys I would try the sample packs/ 2oz sizes first before you go all full size and yes they do offer them on the site! =)

Love,
A.Soul

O.O Shea Moisture Shampoo Gone Bad! O.O

the smell. omg, the smell.

its like a rotten eggs and perm mixture

:::faints:::

Ok, im done now. But this shit stinks. I bought a bottle of Shea Moisture's Raw Shea Moisture Retention shampoo when Walgreens was having its half off  sale in December. I haven't used the bottle yet myself seeing as how i still had my mini bottle from the shea moisture hair color system box when i colored my hair back in November. I was even thinking of mixing in the smaller bottle with the bigger one.

I'm glad i didn't....

Monday my mom asked me if  used the Shea Moisture shampoo yet and if i added anything to it. I told her no and that i used the mini when i washed my box braids. She went on to say that when she used it it smelled disgusting and she thought that since she had the acv in her that that might have caused the change in scent, But when she used it a second time without the acv or any other products the scent was still there and asking me she now knew that i did not change or alter its contents. Opening the bottle myself, i closed that shit immediately. My first thought was that there is a permed masked as the shea butter shampoo in my house. Then the smell of rotten eggs kicked in.

Eww.

Of course i emailed the company that same day (still waiting on a response, but im thinking with the help of social media.. it'll come faster. so to twitter, facebook, blogger, tumblr, instagram i go)

I honestly spent the last few minutes getting ready this morning taking pictures so you could see the difference in color of the bottles. One, the mini, is the regular tan shade and scent, while the other is is a light creamy green color with a very putrid smell.

                                

I know its probably a bad batch i got or something else (i dunno, maybe bad storage placement on my end) and i'm not saying that this has occurred to me before or frequently. Its the first time. I just want some acknowledgement on  the issue. I mean i only paid $4.99 for it. its not that serious. But if i could get a new bottle that would be awesome. =)

Anyone else had a bad experience with a product similar to this? Has a product expired on you?

Wish me luck!

A.Soul

Protective Style: Flat Twists & Roll Tuck

found this on Entwine Naturalle Couture facebook page.. might be my style for this week!

i dont know if i'll get my twists this lose, cause i usually twist tighter than whats shown but ill give it a go

And there it is. Not as neat as hers but i like it and it fits my face. Instead of leaving the back straight i had it in mini-twists to give it a more crinkled look. Left that in for two days before i took them out and roll tuck them away. 

Protective Style II Take Down & Wash Day

                     

Braids are gone people! (finally) After 7 long weeks, i took them down friday and im and so glad to have my hair out and about again. Its a learning experience doing these type of long term protective styles. its long term for me since i dont where my hair in twists for more than a week or 2, 3 is sometimes stretching it.

But take down took me an entire day. I pretty much stayed home after my surgery and chilled on netflix on my brothers big screen lo. Like the loc extensions, i took my time taking out the hair, spraying my roots with the acv spray and ball of dirt collected at the start of the braids. I gently pulled that apart and finger combed for each braid. After a while the pain kicked in from sitting in one position so long and i had to stop for the rest of the night.

heres a good video to watch on take down..

Saturday was wash day. i treated with a protein treatment plus a bit of garlic in the mix to help with my major shedding that occurred. Garlic will be a new addition to my weekly treatments from now on. Afterwards i followed through with the luscious locks shea butter shampoo (can find here or here) and then alikay naturals honey sage deep conditioner (here).

                               

With the DC i read on Curly Nikki this "Before rinsing, add a daily conditioner to seal in the treatment" It was a couple months ago before when i read this that i finally put it to use this weekend because hair still felt some type of way to me. i used Shea Moisture's Raw Shea Restorative Conditioner and it felt great afterwards. i would have used the shampoo but it smells something awful. Never have i ever used used the raw shea shampoo before and it smelled rancid (like rotten eggs and perm)... Just NO! i was not using it and i emailed them immediately! i really like their shampoo its just his one bottle that came out wrong... Lets see how that goes (cue side eye)

As for moisturizing and styling products, i used;

• alikay naturals lemongrass leave in (20% off Code FOC2014, ends 2/10)
• my oil mixture
• alikay natural shea yogurt moisturizer (20% off Code NMEL2014, ends 2/20)
• luscious locks shea butter curl enhancer (out of this months curlkit)

A well needed trim followed. I dusted my ends in th large sections after moisturizing. then again in smller sections as i went through for styling. I was aiming for a flexi rod set.. before i headed out for my friends surprise birthday party (of course my hair didnt dry in time... NEED HOODED DRYER!)... ended up with two large flat twists for the night (no pics)

And now i need a protective style for the week, cause its gonna be cold in NYC =(

...found it yesterday, new post with pics later!

Happy Days,

A.Soul

Shea Moisture Saturdate

Have you heard about todays date with She Moisture?

No?

Well then, i must share this good news with you! Lol.  =)

Today Shea Moisture invites you out to your local Walgreens, where they are have a BOGO sale on Shea Moisture products. There you will take a selfie with said products and enter for a chance to win $100 worth of Shea Moisture goodies.  winner will be randomly selected and announced on facebook on Monday

Sounds fun right!

 Bring a friend & take some random selfies with Shea Moisture goodies at your local Walgreens Today!

Protective Style:: Box Braids: Maintenance & Wash Day

So its been 4 weeks since ive had these box braids in (my mommy did them for me!) And ive been treating them so poorly. The first week or two i was tying it every night, spraying it with the Alikay Naturals leave in, massaging in my oils... and now its just like i cant bother with it.

The first and third week i treated it to a dry wash with my ACV spray. Last week there was also some shampoo used (Shea Moisture Raw Shea Moisture Retention Shampoo), and i used a wash rag to get into btween the braids after rinsing them with some water. I was only focused on my scalp and not the mength of the hair.

today i really shampooed and conditioned cause it was needed.

1. i sprayed my scap with the ACV spray and gently rubbed it in to help alleviate the build up accrued. In it i have water, acv, tea tree, rosemary and peppermint
2. i rinsed using my applicator bottle ( then filling my applicator bottle about halfway with luscious locks shea butter shampoo. again focusing on my scalp i sprayed it on gently rubbing so as not to irritate it. then i rinsed with warm water. 
3. i filled a small spray bottle with water and herbal essences hello hydration conditioner and sprayed my scalp and the length of my actual hair on the braids. After i felt that i saturated it enough i poured the rest of mixture in and let it sit for about 5 minutes while i worked it into my scalp, again gently rubbing before rinsing with cool water. Always do your final rinse with cool to cold water.
4. lastly i took my rag and went in between the parts to get any lasting shampoo or conditioner that may have been left behind. i towel dried my hair (yea yea bad girl... ill get a microfiber towel for the next wash day) and went off to moisturize
5. i sprayed with the leave and oiled my scalp and hair. I oiled my scalp directly and then pouring some oils into my hands and rubbing it along the lengths of my hair. i saw this done in Jenell's video and she said that since that part of the hair was older and still exposed in someway despite being in a protective style it still needed to be moisturized as well. I thought about taking it a step further and finishing but with a C but that was too much

There was no set way in how i washed it. At one point it was all down (like the chick from the grudge) while i sprayed it. another point it was all in my fist stretched away from my head while i rinsed it witrh the applicator bottle sans spout. i was not trying to get it all wet since i had somewhere tp go later and had no dryer at home.

Funny how im trying to take care of my braids in the last two weeks when i havent been doing so well to begin with. All i know is i wont be doing box braids again. ill stick to twists (Marley, Havana, Senegalese, yarn) and loc extensions, 

Oooooh and i measured my new growth (like i really sat down at my desk at work with a ruler measuring it) but any who i measured 1 in. of growth in the four weeks that iv had the braids in.

But yea my wash routine all without completely soaking my hair all the way through. Simple for these short term styles nad not you know months at a time (which i cannot do). All i know is im starting to miss my fro but in this cold ass NYC weather im good rocking it out only for a week or two at a time, well now at least.

Whats your protective style(s) for the winter or cold weather months?

A.Soul

Photo Challenge & Giveaway

Technically started yesterday but it didnt really occur to me to post and share with you guys.

But as you can see Tribe Called Curl (@tribecalledcurl) & Karen's Body Beautiful (@KarensBeautiful) is teaming up for the month of January for this giveaway. Each week there will be winners, who will receive a KBB product. And also at the end of the photo challenge, once lucky winner will win a years supply off KBB products!

Now who can so no to that!

So all you IG'ers out there join the #TribeBeautiful photo challenge

Product Review: Shea Moisture Hair Color System - Dark Golden Blonde

So i finally did it...I colored my hair.. and i love it!

I recently acquired the hair color at the Circle of Sisters event last month and i told myself that i was gonna wait until Spring of next year to color it but my impaitient behind waited until last night, the wednesday after i took out my loc extensions on Friday lol.. it was a good 5 day wait lol

So heres what i used:

            

  

The Dark Golden Blonde hair color and inside was the 1) Hair Color Creme 2) Creme Developer 3) Shea Moisture: Moisture Retention Shampoo, Restorative Conditioner, & Reconstructive Finishing Elixir 4) Gloves, Applicator Brush, and Applicator top

Now I wasn't sure how i wanted to color my hair, all i know is that i wasnt doing the whole head i wanted to focus more on the ends. so what i did was part my hair horizontally 5 times, starting from the back. the first section was going to be colored so i twisted it to the and pinned it to the side. The next section was not to be colored so i flat twisted it out of the way. and bantu knotted the end. I repeated this for my whole head mommy helped !) =)

After i got my sections down to where i was coloring and where i wasnt, i went through again and detangled my hair. I then followed the intructions and mixed the color creme and color developer in an old bowl. I didnt follow the bottle or brush method, just grabbed up some color on my fingers and rubbed it down the sectioned off hair, which was about three quarters of the length of my hair that the color was on.

I let it sit for about 45 min-1 hour it was just taking long to turn (did i do a post check before hand.. nope! cause im not about that life.. we go in hard body expecting nothing and getting back something lol!) 

Shampoo (love)... Condition (eh its laright)... LOC Method... Twist & Tie for the night

and waalaa

My colored striped hair! 

=)

Come to realize that yesterday was my 3 year NappyVersary! Go figure! Lookin Good A.SOul!

Protective Style :: Loc Extensions (4Weeks! & Take Down)

Yep, its been 4 weeks (and no im not wearing it any longer than this because it is so not gonna happen, i missmy fro!!!) since i've put in my marley loc extensions (marley wraps in some circles!).. and its time for it to go.

I have been asked my a few if i would ever loc my hair... i say maybe, its a thought, but i dont know if i'm about that life yet. Sure these looked great on me but to keep them in forever.. (major side eye!)

LOL!!!

So i started taking a few down. I cut off about 1/4 of the hair while at work yesterday (yea i had that much free time to sit and cut my hair at work!!!) And I unwrapped and untwisted a couple to see how my hair faired underneath. And i was hype.. grew a bit and it was still moisturized from the whipped shea butter mix that i used putting them in. There was varying ranges of buildup on a few of the twists i pulled so far. One had none while others had little to a lot.

     

So with the buildup, i was not pulling my hair or combing it dry... i want to keep my hair on my head. So what i did is used the mini Alikay Naturals lemongrass leave-in that i had in my bag (almost done so i added some distilled water to it) and sprayed it over the buildup area. I then began to gently peel the clumped area apart. Yea there was some breakage. but not much. I finger detangled as i went along and then retwisted the area.

And thats pretty much my takedown... honestly i was a bit scared before i found a youtube video saying how to take it down. I seriously was like how the fuck am i gonna take this shit out?what will i do if my hair starts loc'n up on me?.. yada yada yada..

But then i was like oh, thats easy lol.. and so far it kind of was but you know shit looks easier when someone else does it lol.

Protective Style :: Loc Extensions with Marley Hair

8-9hrs...
a few random breaks.. a trip to the bank, a girls night/meeting, sleep...
9 packs of marley hair (@ $4.99/each)...
and my weekend

Thats how long it took me to achieve this style.. do i regret it (well my arms did at some point) but nope i, along with many others lover how my loc extensions came out

I got the idea from my friends yarn extensions but after her complaints from washing the hair, the weight of it, the length and such i was not a fan at that point. I knew i was going to get something done either the marley twists, senagalese, or havana but i wasn't set on anything in particular just yet. so after a post on curly nikki on loc extensions i just said alright next weekend after i get paid im getting that shit done.

 

It took my 4 hours and little over 4 packs of hair to put the marley twists in and i wanted to start on the wrapping of the same night and got i good portion of the front and sides done since i had to go out. I originally bought 7 packs of hair but had to buy 2 more to finish wrapping it around for the loc look. I know some didn't come out right with my not wrapping it completely. Some took one piece of marley hair in the way i wrapped others took 2 and a bit. all in all the end result is fine!

my goal is to keep them in for a month.. i use my whipped shea butter and my oil mix on my hair to keep it moisturized cause like she said, no product buildup for me!. i have a spray bottle with aloe vera, grape seed and avocado oil so im good. to keep it clean i have another spray bottle with acv, tea tree and peppermint oil.. so i must say that i am prepared!

my only issue is the little burnt hair pieces that keep coming off.. its annoying but i know it'll stop eventually... ill have my 3 year length check come nov 6! im excited. that sunday before, nov 3, is when ill take out the hair and wash, treat and cut. Ill leave it out for the week before i decide to twist it up again.

Product Review: Aubrey Organics Protein Conditioner

Now i've heard about Aubrey Organics for the longest and i was going to buy it at one point (the honeysuckle rose) but i didnt think about the GPB (Glycogen Protein Balancing Conditioner) until it showed up in my CurlKit last month.

I'm always up for a good protein conditoner and nothing could smell worse than the JBCO Protein COnditioner (as good as that one is.. along with a few extra oils.. the smell of that mustard oil is a bit too much for my liking)

INGREDIENTS INCI: Aqua, cetyl alcohol, alcohol denat. (38b, lavender*), aloe barbadensis leaf juice*, triticum vulgare (wheat) germ oil, milk protein, glycerin, myroxylon pereirae (balsam Peru) oil, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf oil*, brassica campestris/aleurites fordi copolymer, citrus grandis (grapefruit) extract, salvia officinalis (sage) oil*, glycoprotein, tocopheryl acetate, hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel) water, equisetum hyemale (horsetail) extract, tussilago farfara (coltsfoot) leaf extract, urtica dioica (nettle) extract, ascorbic acid, glycine soja (soybean) oil, daucus carota sativa (carrot) root extract, beta-carotene. *certified organic








lets just say my hair loved it, my ends as usual my problem areas when i forget to do my monthly protein treatments, were in heaven.. i used this first as a prepoo (yes you can do preotein treatments as a prepoo! as proven by CurlyNikki), then followed it up the next week as a deep treatment, and i was happy with the turn out. my hair felt soft, manageable, easy to come through, had a bit of a shine to it.. i had no complaints about the scent either..

will i buy again?... most definitely!

Product Review: Nubian Heritage

Hey all....

So this one is a few weeks old (along with the next few I'm going to put up in a few)... but yea lol

So i used nubian heraitage's EVOO & Moringa leave in conditioner...  and the Indian Hemp & Tamanu masque and herbal custard

   

I've been using the Indian Hemp & Tamanu Masque as a prepoo for the longest and once or twice as my deep treatment after i washed. It was my frist time using the custard and leave-in since i got htem in my subscription boxes.

Unlike my other products i only used this for a week... i prepoo'd with my oils and the shea moisture anti-breakage mask & the aubrey organics protein conditioner (which i now love!), shampoo'd with the design essentials sulfate free curl cleanser (which i will definitely buy more of!) and then left the masque in for a couple hours which you know i'm lazy and it turned into an overnight deep treatment, not that my hair minds!

After washing i followed the loc method, used the leave in, followed by my oils, then the custard. left my hair in twists for a day or two, then did a twist out look....

And silly me has no pictures =(

But my hair came out really soft, my twist out was poppin!

went to remoisturize it but that didnt turn out to great.. dont think i should have done the whole detangling bit.. cause when i usually moisturize a twist out i grab sections and apply the leave, oil then moisturizer and twist but i combed it out this time and my hair did not like it at all  ::shrug::

oh well... now i know not to be extra unless its needed! but i will definitely be using these products again and trying out more of each product of the line

Style of the Week (SOTW): Bantu knots

So this week i gave China/Chiney Bumps (its a jamaican thing) or Bantu Knots a go as a means of stretching my hair. or so they say. i found it in one of the methods to stretch natural hair and give it a longer look along with flat twists and braid outs.

So on freshly scrubbed (via Brown Sugar Scrub) and deep conditioned hair... i applied my oil mixture, Shea Moisture Curl enhancing Smoothie and As I Am Smoothing gel as a hold. You dont really need the gel you can use pins to hold the knots in place but i wanted the extra hold and tame on my frizz.

How to Knot the Hair:

1. on freshly washed, wet/dry hair or on an old twist out, moisturize the hair thoroughly, focus on the ends
2. section of a reasonable chunk, can be small or large depending on the length of your hair or high tightly coiled you want the end result 
3. for this part you can either twist the hair then begin to wrap it around itself, or wrap the hair until it starts to coil. 
4. depending on how tightly you wrap the coils it will end up tucked in by itself or you can use a pin to hold it.
5. wrap up with satin scarf or cover with bonnet and take down in the morning by loosening the pin, grabbing the ends of your hair and pulling the coil out. 
6. with a little oil on your fingers, separate the hair or twists. you can either let them fall on their own or separate for a full look the first day. 

This is OhYesItsV on freshly washed & blow-dried hair doing the wrap & tuck method:

This is WestNDNBeauty on an old twist out doing the twist & pin method:

This is me for the week:

day 1: turban style! wasnt ready to take them out as of yet

day 2: pulled the twist out but not apart 

day 3:covered with a scarf overnight with some oil on my ends  

day 4: hand in hair syndrome, had to pull them apart

day 5: frohawk! spritzed and used amazing botanicals pumpkin pomade

Hair Challenges!

So i joined a hair challenge for Hairandhealth.blogspot.com and KinkyCurlyCoilyMe... The first being a 1in3 challenge, grow hair 1 inch in 3 months and the second being a three month castor oil challenge. Now with protective styles and such and not doing any high manipulation styles, i've noticed how much my hair has been growing lately.

I didn't measure my hair for the 1in3 challenge but the KCCMcastoroil challenge i did. and so far i've grown a half inch to an inch all around my head. to say i'm happy and excited is an understatement.

Super Cleansing Shampoo

Black Soap is good for dry, itchy scalp as well as Aloe Vera Gel and Apple Cider Vinegar. This isn't my first time using this mixture, actually its my third. And my scalp really appreciates its after my 2- or 3-week twist sessions. 

In an applicator bottle, mix

• 1 ounce Aloe Vera Gel
• 1 ounce African Black Soap (I used Shea Moisture)
• 2 capfulls Apple Cider Vinegar
• You can add oils if you like, but i didn't this time cause of the hot oil treatment i did before shampooing.

while hair is in sections, wet hair first, then apply the mixture directly onto scalp. Rub it using your fingertips giving yourself a good head message! (pause), don't want to irritate your scalp too much with your nails. 

This mixture is enough to shampoo your hair twice. The first time around i just focused on getting my scalp clean, not paying to much to my edges. The second time around i paid more attention to the edges than anything else. 

Because of the dark color of the black soap you'll know once you've rinsed it all out. The water will stop being brown, lol.

Condition/Deep Condition afterwards then style as usual.

Three Strand Twist Hair Tutorial

Gonna try my hand at three strand twists.. my hair is long enough now so it should come out fine hopefully!

Product Review: As i Am Smoothing Gel

Again, from this months CurlKit!

I figured since i was already using something new for my hair from the CurlKit might as well go all the way! lol. Anyway i have a problem with frizz on my twists (not that i really mind it) buuuuut i like my twists looking messy but neat like more into the week than a day or two after i did it if you know what i mean. 

Yea i'm not gonna catch all the hair and some extra strands will escape me (somehow they always do.. 0_O) But with the smoothing gel i thought that it would help with the frizz, get them to lay down down instead of play around! And it did. 

When i finished my mini-twist i just grabbed some of this on my fingers and rubbed it over them and finished it off with my winter spritz before doing a few large twists and tying with my satin scarf.

From the website:

• Provides a secure hold
• Moisturizes
• Adds shine
• Rinses easily from the hair when it's time to cleanse
• Won't dry out, harden or roughen hair

Key Ingredients: Aloe Vera Gel, Sugar Beet Root, Vegetable Glycerin and Wheat Protein

Aqueous (Water, Aqua Purificada, Purified) Extracts: Beta Vulgaris (Beet) Root¹, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice ¹, Glycerin¹, Triethanolamine, Carbomer, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein², Laureth-23, Potassium Sorbate, Diazolidinyl Urea, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Fragrance/Parfum, Limonene.
Source: 1-Natural; 2-Wheat Derived

Best if applied to clean, damp hair. Use a spray bottle to dampen hair if necessary.

• Apply gel and smooth down, using your fingers or a soft natural bristle brush. 
• Allow hair to dry completely before touching it again.
• For next-day refreshing, dampen the area where the gel was applied, and smooth.

Non greasy, very lightweight, non flaky when drying, doesn't leave any white residue, and smells heavenly (very light sweet scent). As it says helps in smoothing the hair down. 

Would I recommend.... YES

Would I buy it myself.... YES