DIY Hair Care: Protein Treatment

Now, protein treatments are a must for all hair types, whether natural or straight, male or female... it must be done. Depending on your hair type there are heavy and light protein treatments.

For a light protein: i recommend: Organic Root Stimulator Replenishing Conditioner (light citrus scent, leaves hair manageable and soft, great slip, and an all time personal fave... costs about $6-8 for 12.25 oz or $12-14 for 33.8oz)

For a heavier protein: I usually make my own. . but so far (in terms of buying) I tried the

• Tropical Isle Black Castor Oil Protein Conditiner ( was not fond of the mustard smell and my hair was font of the product at all)
• Aubrey Organics GPB: Love. love love 
• HiProPac Protein Treatment: I really liked this one, my hair came out feeling awesome and i would highly recommend it to others
• Homemade:
• Chocolate Hair Mask: cocoa powder, egg, yogurt, oils, honey
• Mayo Mask: Egg, Mayo, Oils

Now with my mayo mask, i changed it up this weekend. Instead of just mayo, egg, and oils, i added some extraness (yea i made it up) I put in some ACV (restore's hairs pH balance and great scalp cleanser) and Aloe Vera Gel (good for dry scalp/dandruff). The main reason being that my hair has been breaking a lot lately (i havent been treating it very well) and it needed a good balancing cleanser as well since i was putting in a protective style for the next month.

The Recipe:

• 1/3-1/2 cup mayo (depends on how much hair you have)
• 1 whole egg
• 2 tbsp oils of choice (i recommend what ever oil mixture you use or a mix of evoo, rosemary, tea tree, peppermint
• 2 capfuls of Bragg's ACV or if store brand (already distilled) use 1 oz
• 1-2 oz of Aloe Vera Gel

This mix worked really great for my hair. I mixed it in my parkay mixing bowl (yea i reuse lol), had a semi thick consistency (need more mayo for thicker consist-), and used and applicator brush to apply to my hair. I recommend detanglign your hair beforehand. I did it with the mix and my head was so tender afterwards (like i said my hair was suffering from neglect i was all tangled up). 

My hair was so soft and manageable afterwards, had shine, my ends were loving it (jest needed a trim) and my scalp was clean. Everything a protein treatment needed. I followed with the Ori Essentials cleansing cowash and moisturizing conditioner (thumbs up)...LOC..style.

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!

Weekend Hair Care : Eden BodyWorks

So I've had a sample of EBW Peppermint tea tree shampoo since circle of sisters... been months since then and im giving away more than half the samples that ive gottent from that even without even using them myself due to some ingredients disagreement.

(lomg sentence i know)

but anywho from the Style With Eden event for the launch of their Coconut Shea style line i acquired a few of their products from their gift bags and you know the samples lying on the tables... were we supposed to take them... idk but they ended up in my bag at the end of the night!


<---- So from the gift bag i received the Jojoba Monoi Conditioner & Shampoo sample and the Coconut Shea CoWash

From my greedy eyes and fingers lol I took the Coconut Shea Leave in Conditioner and the Curl Defining Pudding ---->

So far the past two weekends and during the week along with some of my own stuff, ive been using all of my EBW full sized samples. i still have yet to use the shampoo's

1st weekend: I did a hot oil treatment followed by an ACV rinse, then the CocoShea CoWash, then the Jojoba Monoi Conditioner... then I used the LOC method to lock everything in with my oil mixture and the CocoShea leave-in. the next day i re-twisted with the curl pudding. throughout the week i either used the leave in and oil or the curl pudding and oil.. 

 
 

2nd Weekend: I pre-pooed with Nubian Heritage Indian hemp & Tamanu growth & strengthening treatment with amla, castor oil, and evco. I followed by using the CoWash, then Tropical Isle JBCO Protein Conditioner, then the Jojoba Monoi Conditioner to rid myself of the smell... oh my stars that protein condit smelled liked spicy pickles! and it lingered for a bit afterwards, sigh

So my hair after that didn't feel great at all... my ends stiff felt rough, i thought i may have overdone it with the protein the past couple of weeks but i realized its been a while since my last trim.. a little over three months to be exact. so i took care of that! My hair felt better, i braided my hair with the curl creme and oil, then re-twisted it with some shea butter on my ends.. my hair feels so soft and my ends are still a little crinkly but its fine.. change in weather and all

 the only thing i didnt like about the Cowash was the consistency: its too watery and works better using from an applicator bottle then a jar....... all in all thumbs up to Eden Body Works!

Chocolate Hair Mask (Protein Conditioner)

Hello to all you fabulous readers out there, though i don't know if anyone actually reads these things but I had another DIY Hair Care weekend and it involved my favorite thing of all time: CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!

love the smell, the taste, the creaminess... you know the all around yumminess!

Now what made me decide to use chocolate on my hair... well i had the Hershey's cocoa powder in my house and i wondered if i could use a hair mask out of it..

you know what came next right?... GOOGLE!

So here are the benefits:

"Chocolate is high in fat and has a bit of protein - a great combination for a conditioner worth trying.  (This sweet also has a small amount of caffeine, which studies have suggested may stimulate hair growth in those suffering from balding.[1])" via hair & health

"Yogurt (or yoghurt for our lovely ladies in the UK) is high in lactic acid, and has natural antifungal and antibacterial properties. The yogurt works to stimulate hair growth and fight dandruff by acting as a natural cleanser that tightens and clarifies the pores on your scalp. The protein properties help to strengthen and moisturize your hair and to tame persistent, pesky fly-aways by smoothing your strands. The creamy consistency and antibacterial ingredients help to soothe your scalp and reduce any itchiness." via Lipstick Masala

Honey: humectant

So here is where i found the Chocolate Hair Mask Recipe

And here is how i found the supplies: Cocoa powder (ill use melted dark chocolate next time) and honey: my cupboard, the Greek yogurt stole it from the office fridge (hey if no one was gonna eat it i might as well put it to good use!)

 

they said saran wrap (like i really have that in my house) i used a plastic bag as usual lol

Oh my yum! the smell of chocolate in the air! left this on covered for a good hour or so, and washed it out with warm water, followed by a blast of cold water. I didn't shampoo afterwards. just left some oil in overnight cause my ends felt crunchy and that was it. 

I  moisturized with shea moisture curl smoothie, and whipped shea butter on my ends for the day (it was laundry day!), followed by kinky curl curling custard when i styled it up in bantu knots for the night.

 

(im at work so dont mind the background!)

This is more of a summer time mask, yogurt cools body temp down and honey draws in moisture from the hair.. but its cold out here in nYC

All in all my hair loved the mask, but my ends weren't feeling it this time =/