Savvy Brown » Hair

More Pics from the Natural Hair Meetup!

Savvy — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:30:02 +0000

Here’s more pictures from the meetup! Thank you so much to Monet a Savvy Brown reader and event participant! Enjoy!

Savvy and Scarlett (l-r)

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Wonder Curl Demo at Savvy Brown Meet Up

Savvy — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 00:08:30 +0000

For those of you who missed it, we had a blast on Saturday over at Ecodermis at the Savvy Brown* meet up sponsored by WonderCurl Scarlett Rocourt, the owner and creator of the Wonder Curl line of products was on hand to talk about her products and to narrate a live demo of her products. Hairstylist Jolanda McLaughlin of DaJahvu demonstrated a wash ‘n go using Wonder Curl products on lucky reader LaToya! Here’s what she did:

LaToya arrived at the meet up with clean and natural hair. (No her hair isn’t relaxed, she used a blow-dryer to dry it which inadvertently straightened it a bit. This is not necessary to use the product).

In fact Jolanda thoroughly wet her hair with a spray bottle full of water before applying any product.

Then she applied a little Get Slick Hair Smoothie all over Latoya’s hair. You can see in the pic below how her natural curl pattern is already starting to emerge.

Then section-by-section Jolanda applied Butter Than Love Hair Pudding immediately followed by Wonder Curl Get Set Hair Jelly to Latoya’s hair. See how curly the hair gets?

After Latoya’s whole head was complete, Jolanda pinned one side up with a pretty white flower. Her hair was still damp at this point.

Scarlett suggested that she use a diffuser to scrunch and dry the hair in sections to dry the hair the rest of the way. Here’s the finished product, completely dry, and the entire process took less than an hour!

Thank you so much to Wonder Curl for sponsoring this event, and for our beautiful hair model LaToya and of course our wonderful stylist Jolanda!

*Savvy Brown is not compensated in any way by Scarlett Rocourt or Wonder Curl.

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BE A WONDER CURL NATURAL HAIR MODEL AT THE MEETUP!

Savvy — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:51:18 +0000

BE A NATURAL HAIR MODEL AT THIS WEEKEND’S MEETUP!

Looking for a natural hair model for this weekend’s meetup in Brooklyn!

Enter to have your hair styled in a wash ‘n go for the meetup with

Wonder Curl Hair products

and

walk away with products yourself!

Anyone interested in hair modeling

contact Scarlett at info@wondercurl.com

with the following:

a recent picture of your 4a/4b hair “worn out” (not up in a bun, braids or locs)
email contact info
reason why you want to model

***CONTEST IS FROM NOW UNTIL THURSDAY AT MIDNIGHT ONLY.***

To increase your chances of winning:

Tell everyone about the event on twitter, facebook and your own blog.
Comment here to tell us what you did!

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My New Natural Poo Method

Savvy — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 20:53:50 +0000

I’m excited about my new shampoo reggie because it’s saves money, product, water and detangling time! Of course it’s sulfate, paraben, mineral oil and cone-free. I was inspired by Naptural85 on YouTube and this video and adjusted it to work for me. I still haven’t tried the hair washing clay she’s using, but I’m itching to, (no pun intended) because it’s all natural!

My New Poo Method

What you’ll need:

1 small or medium sized spray bottle
1/8 cup of your favorite shampoo. (I use this kind )
Duckbill Clips

Hair in twists after DC

Instructions:

I separate my hair into about 8 sections and use my Olive Oil Pre- Poo Method
After deep conditioning I keep my hair in the twists
Then I pour the shampoo into the spray bottle and fill it to 1/2 inch under the rim with tap water.
I shake the bottle well so the shampoo becomes well diluted.

Putting the nozzle close to my head, I spray the poo mixture straight onto my scalp a few times, saturating the roots and rub it in with the pads of my fingers vigorously*.
I then loosen the twisted section I’m working on, spraying a small amount into the section, and pull the mixture through my hair with my fingers gently.
Then I loosely retwist that section and move on to the next one. (It takes about 10 minutes to complete my whole head)

washing my scalp

Then I get in the shower and untwist and rinse the first section.
I replace the shampoo in that section with a glob of my favorite conditioner and use my shower comb to detangle the section. (Which happens really easily since my hair was prepped before I got in the shower).
I move on to the next section until my whole head is washed, conditioned and detangled.
I then take care of the rest of my shower business and end by rinsing all of the conditioner at the end.**

*Note: I personally feel that shampoo is for cleaning/maintaining your scalp, and conditioner is for cleaning/maintaining your hair. That’s why unless I’ve had some really icky product in my hair, I basically concentrate on my scalp when washing my hair.

**Note: Many times a conditioner doesn’t get a chance to work as well as it should, because we don’t give it a chance. We rinse it out too quickly. I let mine sit for a couple of minutes and it really has made a difference.

I’ve been doing this routine for a few months now, and Steps 2-11 take me about 25 minutes, tops!

What tricks do you use to wash your thick and curly hair?

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Olive Oil Pre-Poo Method

Savvy — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:52:03 +0000

I was telling my cousin that I was looking for a new deep conditioner and she mentioned that she used olive oil to condition her hair and scalp.

Well duh.

I always have olive oil in the bathroom, whether I’m using it as a body oil or on my face for my Oil Cleansing Method I’ve used other oils in my hair, I don’t know why it never occurred to me to use olive oil as a pre-poo. A “pre-poo” is a hair conditioning method that you do before you wash your hair. In other words, you deep condition before cleaning your hair instead of after. I started using the following method weekly on “washing day”, and I love it!

Olive Oil Pre-Poo Method

There are various ways of doing this. Some people like to heat their oil up first, but since I’m going to put on my heat cap anyway, I just skip that step and start with plain old EVOO. (That’s Rachel Ray speak for extra-virgin olive oil)

What you’ll need:

A jar or a cup
1/4 cup of olive oil

Directions:

my hair in sections before I apply oil

Pour olive oil into container. Before washing your hair, separate dry hair loosely into sections. I make big sloppy sections with my fingers and then tie them off into puffs with tiny terry ponytail holders.

Next, I remove the hair band for a section and dip my fingertips into the olive oil and massage my scalp only. Then I dip my fingers again and rake my fingers through my hair, concentrating on getting the majority of oil on my ends. If your hair is really tangled don’t yank on your hair, just apply the oil to your scalp and do your best to get some on the rest of your hair in the section. Then I wrap that section back up and move on to the next section.

It’s important to remember that this method concentrates on your scalp and your ends. Don’t worry, all the massaging you’re doing will get the oil on your hair, but it’s not as important.

When all of the sections are complete, then I get out my heat cap and sit under that for about 30-45 minutes. It doesn’t get as hot as a hair dryer, and because it’s like a helmet, everything heats up evenly. This is the one I use, but this one is also great and it doesn’t stay plugged in, so it’s more green!

After that, I wash my hair and condition/detangle as usual. Since I deep conditioned with the olive oil before I washed, there’s no need for me to do it again after. Sometimes I throw in a tea rinse but usually I just squeeze my hair dry with my favorite towel, and put my hair into two-strand twists as usual.

That’s it!

I’ve practically eliminated my dry scalp using this method. Any dirt/debris on my scalp is loosened which makes washing my hair more effective, and I’ve experienced more hair growth from the scalp massaging. Doing this weekly has also cut down on shedding.

Do you “pre-poo” What do you do?

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Review: Shea Moisture Organic Shea Butter Shampoo

Savvy — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:00:06 +0000

I kept passing this stuff whenever I was at Target, because I remember the old Shea Moisture brand, (remember the ones in the white bottles with the red and green lettering?) and they were chock full of icky ingredients. Then one day someone asked me had I tried their reformulated shampoo and I got curious. I’d already tried their Deep Treatment Masque, and I really like it. So I thought I’d check the shampoo out for you guys. Here’s my review:

Shea Moisture Organic Raw Shea Butter Moisture Retention Shampoo (12 oz.) $9.99

Ingredients: De-ionized water, Decyl Glucoside (sugar beets), African Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea butter) (denotes certified organic ingredients), aloe vera leaf juice, Argan Oil, Panthenol (pro-vitamin B-5, rosemary extract, sea kelp extract, vitamin E, Lonicera Caprifolium (honeysuckle) flower and Lonicera Japonica (Japanese honeysuckle) flower extract.

Ok so, I separated my hair into sections and washed each section with this stuff, concentrating mostly on my scalp and well wow. First of all, a little goes a long way. It really
suds up! Which made me nervous enough to re-read the ingredients like 5 times to make sure that it didn’t have any sulfates in it.

It doesn’t.

I really judge shampoos by how well they clean my scalp, because I don’t really put much on my hair when I use them. (Unless I’m rinsing out some crazy product I’ve tried). I use my conditioner for that. This product really got my scalp clean on the first try! I also don’t believe in shampooing more than once.(I read somewhere, that that’s just a manufacturer’s claim to get you use up more of the product more quickly). It was extremely emollient with a lot of slip. So much, in fact, that I was able to finger detangle the section BEFORE I used my Trader Joe’s Condish and detangling comb to finish the job!.

On top of that, my skin felt great! In fact, I’ve used this shampoo as a body wash a couple of times, I love the scent and the shea butter really softens my skin. I even squirt a little on my pumice stone at the end of a shower to scrub at my heels and elbows. Nice!

RATING: 5 Savvy!* – Great product, great ingredients, great price, multi-use!

You can find this product in bulk at the Savvy Shop

*Savvy Ratings: 5=Savvy 4=Smart 3=Suitable 2=Satisfactory 1=Stupid

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Review: Wonder Curl Butter than Love

Savvy — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 17:56:03 +0000

My girl Scarlett is back with some new products in the Wonder Curl line and I couldn’t wait to try them! I’ve reviewed and done giveaways on her Wonder Curl Get Set Hair Jelly here on the blog, and so I was excited when she told me that she was coming out with another product call Butter Than Love. It comes in two formulations: pudding and whipped. Here, I’ll review both:

Wonder Curl Butter than Love Whipped 4oz. $12.00

Ingredients:
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Castor Oil, Shea Butter, Caprylic/Capric/Stearic Glycerides,Cetyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Acrylates/C-10 Alkyl Acrylates, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin

Although some of the ingredients aren’t 100% natural, the product does not contain any sulfates, parabens, cones, mineral oil, or petrolatum. I also know for a fact that Scarlett makes this product in her kitchen, where I’m sure she wouldn’t be handling any harmful chemicals!

This product is thick and rich and emollient. I like using thicker products on freshly washed damp hair because I think they lock in the moisture better because since they have less water in them, there’s less to evaporate. (I would say that I have 4a/4b hair with 4c back in my “kitchen”.) I damp twisted my hair with this product and added a dab of [WonderCurl Get Set Hair Jelly] to about 11 medium-large sized twists (because it was really humid and rainy out) and let them air dry. In the morning, I untwisted and fluffed and got these fab results!

My curls were nice and defined, but did shrink a bit (which I don’t mind) and were definitely tight that first day. After a couple of days they loosened up a bit.

Wonder Curl Butter than Love Pudding 4oz. $12.00

Ingredients
*Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Castor Oil, Cetyl Alcohol, Shea Butter, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Acrylates/C-10 Alkyl Acrylates

Now this product is a little thinner, has less chemicals and reminds me of the consistency of thick conditioner. I used this mid-week last week when my twist out was in need of a little TLC, and my hair felt a little dry. I spritzed each section with a little Oyin Handmade and slicked each section with Love Pudding before twisting. This product alone, doesn’t seem to provide much hold, so again I paired it with WonderCurl Get Set Hair Jelly, and twisted up 10 or 11 sections.

The results were soft moisturized hair that extended my twist out a few more days before wash day. I also like smoothing this product on my edges before I put a scarf on to smooth out my up dos.

RATING: 4 Smart! – Good ingredients, great price, curls looked great, will buy again!*

*Savvy Ratings: 5=Savvy 4=Smart 3=Suitable 2=Satisfactory 1=Stupid

FULL DISCLOSURE: These products were sent to me free of charge, but I was NOT compensated for this review. For more info about this product, please see info below.

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Review: Amazing Botanicals Aloe Mint Spritz and Hibiscus Gel

Savvy — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 17:06:05 +0000

I’m back with another review of Amazing Botanicals Products. Last week I reviewed the Pumpkin Pomade and this week, I decided to double-up the review by trying both the Aloe Mint Spritz and the Hibiscus Cream Gel.

Amazing Botanicals Aloe Mint Spritz $7.00

Ingredients: Distilled water and Aloe Juice infused with Marshmallow root, Burdock, Nettle, Horsetail, Plantain Extract, Irish Moss and Peppermint, Behentrimonium Methosulfate , Cetyl Alcohol, Jojoba oil, Black Castor oil, Baobab, Wildflower Honey,Polysorbate 20, Panthenol, Neem Oil, and Rosemary

Amazing Botanicals Hibiscus Gel $5.00 (2oz.)

Ingredients: Distilled Water, Flaxseed, Hibiscus tea infusion,Chamomile, Aloe Gel, Optiphen,Rosemary, Lavender, Sunflower, Glycerin, Xantham Gum

After washing my hair I squeezed out the excess water with my microfiber towel. I then sprayed the hair in sections with the Aloe Mint Spritz. I then applied the creamy Hibiscus Gel to each section liberally. It really has the consistency of conditioner and has a nice, flowery scent. (It’s not overpowering though). I then two-strand twisted the hair into about 10 large sections using a new method I will reveal in an upcoming post! wiggles eyebrows

Day 1

Day two

I actually got four days of this twist out before it started getting fuzzy. The creamy Hibiscus Gel provides great definition with soft hold. It’s not crunchy at all like some of the other clear gels out there. I loved it! The Spritz conditioned my hair well too, and did a good job of rehydrating my hair the second day. I was skeptical that a 2oz. Jar of anything could handle all of my hair, but I’ve done this process twice now, and I still haven’t finished it. A little goes a long way!

RATING: 5 Savvy! – Great ingredients, great price, curls looked great, will buy again!*

SPECIAL!

For a limited time, Amazing Botanicals is offering the Savvy Pack! This includes the Pumpkin Pomade (previous review found here) the Aloe Mint Spritz and the Hibiscus Cream Gel a for just $14.00!

Savvy Ratings: 5=Savvy 4=Smart 3=Suitable 2=Satisfactory 1=Stupid

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Review: Amazing Botanicals Pumpkin Pomade

Savvy — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 19:02:56 +0000

I actually met Shelley, one of the creators of the Amazing Botanicals product line in my neighborhood coffee shop. I immediately got excited when she told me about how they only use natural ingredients in all of their products, judging by her pretty locs, I could tell whatever they were doing was working. So here is my first of a few review from the Amazing Botanicals line of products.

Pumpkin Pomade

Amazing Botanicals Pumpkin Pomade $6.00 (2.5 oz)

Ingredients: Babassu oil, Pumpkin Seed Butter, Uccuba Butter, Castor Oil, Candelilla Wax, Saw Palmetto, Bergamont, Rosemary, and botanical blend

This stuff is great! I’ve used it for midweek dry twist outs as well as on the ends of my twists to keep them from drying out. I also used it to twist my damp hair after washing it and left them in a couple of days before I pulled them out. The consistency of this product is kind of like shea butter. BUT there’s no shea butter in it! My hair stayed really moisturized and I really liked the results.

Here’s what my twist out looked like when I just separated the twists and did not fluff them. (I pulled the sides up and secured them at the top of my head with a comb…

A couple of days later I separated the twists further and finger fluffed, still keeping the comb in place.

RATING: 5 SAVVY! – Great product, all-natural ingredients, great price, multiple uses, will buy again!*

This product is available from Amazing Botanicals.

*Savvy Ratings: 5=Savvy 4=Smart 3=Suitable 2=Satisfactory 1=Stupid

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Savvy Mailbag: “Help With Hair Growth”

Savvy — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:37:18 +0000

Here’s a message that landed in my inbox a few weeks ago. I’m sure more of you have had this problem.

Monique wrote:

”…I have one quick question: I’ve been natural for about 5 years but the hair in the front of my head is still straight and will not grow or get thick no matter what I do. Do you know of anything that might help me? I usually do twists but when it comes to the front my hair usually looks like I haven’t done a thing to it the next day. Can’t wait to hear from you.”
Your up and coming all natural sister,
Mo

Hi Monique!

Everyone seems to have different textures of hair on their head. (Myself included, it drives me nuts!) It’s possible that past relaxers/hot pressing has changed the texture of your hair in that area. I am not a certified hair dresser, but here’s what’s worked for me in the past:

Styling tips:

Flat twist damp hair instead of two-strand twisting the front and use a little gel to give it more body. Need some help flat-twisting? Check out this great tutorial by Autumn, The Retro Natural
Use hair clips in your hair near the front near the scalp to lift hair from the root, and give the impression of more body. These are great to use.

For hair growth and less shedding:

Scalp massage – Massage stimulates the follicles at the point of contact, and has been proven to aid in hair growth. Fleurzty of Texture Playground has a great video on how to do it right.
Tea Rinses – These are great for dry scalp and breaking hair. Just be sure to rinse them out thoroughly and follow up with a deep conditioning. Check out my post on Why I Love Tea Rinses
Don’t Pull Hair too Tightly – The hair around the edges of the scalp is the weakest and most sensitive, pulling it into tight braids, buns or puffs for extended periods of time can make it even weaker.
Apply a healthy growth product – like Nature’s Blessings and massage it into the thinning area (My dad did this and it filled in his bald spot!)
Protect your hair under your hats – Natural fiber hats tend to pull and snag on the hair when worn. Protect your hair by wearing a silk scarf or bonnet on your head under the scarf. Or wear hats that are silk or fur lined and don’t pull on hair at the front. In the fall I like wearing a satin bonnet under my hats. You can buy a satin bonnet here. I like wearing my furry aviator like the one below over my head during the winter. It won’t mess up my style or snag on curls. You can buy a fur lined aviator hat here.

Thank you so much for your question Monique, and thanks for supporting the blog!

What are some of your hair growth (or lack thereof) remedies folks?

If any of you have question that you want answered feel free to email me at savvy@savvybrown.com. I can’t promise you that all emails will make the Mailbag, but I definitely will answer your questions as best I can. Thanks!

SAVVY BROWN’S 1ST NATURAL HAIR MEETUP! That’s right folks. Savvy’s finally having a natural hair meetup...
My New Natural Poo Method I’m excited about my new shampoo reggie because it’s saves...
Review: Amazing Botanicals Pumpkin Pomade I actually met Shelley, one of the creators of the...