ALOE VERA AND BANANA DEEP CONDITIONER

Hi guys,

 

It's been a long much needed 4days break down here in Nigeria and I'm super thankful for the rest. I spent the break at my folk's and I must say that I really have missed my family. Funny how you appreciate your family more when you're not always physically around them.

 

This weekend, I looked at my mum's plants with new eyes. My mum has always been a garden, planting woman for as long as I've known her i.e. all my life. She plants every herb she comes across and every flower she can as long as she can get access to its seedlings and as long as the roots will not affect the foundation of the house and the stem will not weaken the fence. Now, she has really reduced this because over the years, my father did this modern thing everyone does now which is to cement the whole compound. But he left a little portion of sand where my mum still gets to plant a few flowers and herbs and thankfully, our only mango tree still exists there. It's not like before though. I think my mum has also lost a bit of the passion over time as life and work pulled her further away from her plants. Still, she's still got some plants going on.

 

I have never much cared about the plants my mum grows. I just see them as her hobby even though I know everything about taking care of different types of plants. Thanks to living with my mum. This weekend, I looked at the spinach, stinging nettle, 'never-die', bitter leaf, aloe vera with new eyes. I noticed she has now acquired Moringa to the mix.

 

One plant which is still largely dominating my mum's garden is the Aloe Vera. This is one truly useful herb. It cured skin allergies and infections for me and even acts as a moisturiser for the skin. It cures wounds and cools burns. Miracle plant, that one. My mum even used to drink the gel after blending. By now, I'm sure you know my mum's like that. She loves to solve anything with a natural remedy first (not black magic o) before she resorts to modern medicine.

 

 

Well, recently, I complained to my friend, Tolu, about my hair. Tolu is presently studying Naturopathic Medicine and has a first degree in Botany. She's all for everything natural and I fondly call her 'Mamalawo'. She gives me advice on what to keep away from food wise and healthwise. I complained to her some weeks ago when I was battling dryness in my hair and she suggested I do an Aloe Vera Deep Conditioning.

 

Here's what you need:

 

• Aloe Vera - 1 leaf
• Bananas - 2 medium size
• Honey - 2 tbsp.
• Any carrier oil of your choice - 2 tbsp.
• Any essential oil of your choice (optional)

I cut an aloe vera. Ensure you use a knife to remove the aloe from the stalk and not break the leaf as this will just create a waste and a mess.

 

 

no mess to the cutting

 

Use a knife to split the leaf open at the side. You'd see the gel in there.

 

Using a spoon, scoop the gel into a bowl or straight into the blender if you desire.

 

 

Now, blend all the ingredients together.

 

 

Ensure you blend very well so as not to have any lumps or particles left that will cause a nightmare in getting out of your hair. Believe me, I know.

 

 

By the time I finished blending, I saw that I was going to have a watery, messy DC but I didn't mind. Then I thought to add another banana to thicken the mix only to turn around to get the bananas and find that my mum had eaten all 7 bananas up! I couldn't believe it.

 

Me: Mummy, have you eaten all the bananas?!

Mum: Yes

Me: That was 7 bananas!

Mum: No, it was 6!

Me: -________-

 

Smh. Anyways, after I shampooed, I put the blend in my hair and wore a plastic cap and then wrapped my head in a warm towel. I didn't remove it until 3 hours later because I was very distracted. By the time I removed the cap, I had never seen my hair have so much curl definition before since I started this natural hair journey. Amazing. I shampooed and conditioned my hair then did an ACV rinse and then let the hair air-dry for about 45minutes. After which I did the LOC method and then put the hair in mini-twists. I realised my sister had the Emily Millionaire Coconut & Herbs. I used that as my leave-in.

 

 

I have made a combination of all my oils which are: Olive oil, Coconut oil, Grapeseed Oil, Haitian Castor Oil, Pharmacy Castor Oil, Almond Oil and Tea Tree Oil and put them in a bottle. Except for my edges which I will still concentrate my Organic Haitian Castor Oil on, I'd stick to this combination oil now.

 

 

My ends were sealed with my whipped shea butter. I know I said I was not going to use the butter or coconut oil anymore because of dandruff but I really am not bothered about that anymore. Plus the dandruff is gone. I guess the grapeseed oil and tea tree oil were useful afterall. In my next post, I'd show how I came up with my whipped shea butter.

 

I'm thinking of making an aloe vera leave-in conditioner. I've made one before but my major problem with aloe vera is that it does not keep for long. After about a week, it changes colour and produces a questionable odour. I may try storing it in the fridge though and see how that goes.

 

You could try this DC and see how it works for you. It is good as a moisturising DC and very suitable for people with coarse hair (I am finding that I have combination hair {both coarse and fine strands}).

 

Ciao now!

 

Stay beautiful and healthy!

Oh, Look, Cocoa! Hey, feel, Softness!

Hey people!

Before I go into anything, we have more than 1000 views on le blog! *shakes shekere* *dances the Funky Chicken* *side-eyes other bloggers with 10s of thousands of view wondering why the excitement*. Many thanks for the clicks on this blog. They are much appreciated. Do come again :D

 

I should have written this post several days ago but I am getting lazy. Still, hair I am! Tehe!

Last week Wednesday, I tried bantu knot outs AGAIN! It looked promising at first then did a fast downwards spiral when it got to the 'out' stage. *sigh*.



Bantu Knots night before: Looking good

 

Unravelling the knots next day: Looking even better



Further unravelling to give body: What is This??!




[source]

I eventually put a comb through the thing. We trudge on.

 

So I set off after this hair mishap to get to e-centre at Yaba. I only went to see Pacific Rim and Despicable Me and ended up not only seeing those but parted with so much money on some impromptu shopping. Chai! *bites finger in memory of surviving account balance* I won't go into details on that but a little fraction of the money got spent on this hair AGAIN!

 

On my way to the mall centre plaza (really, what do you call that place), I made the most amazing discovery. A woman selling Cocoa right smack in the middle of Montgomery Street! She had so many! I immediately thought of some cocoa butter and made a detour towards her. She spoke no English, which was fine. I got one big cocoa for N200. I really wasn't sure what to do with it or how I was going to extract any butter from it but I was curious enough. She told me throw the cocoa pod on hard ground in order to be able to break it and that I shouldn't bother with a knife as it wasn't going to crack it. Then she said I was to lick the seeds. Interesting.

On getting to e-centre, after the movies, I did a quick dance to my new favourite store, Health Plus Pharmacy and parted with about 2000 naira in exchange for a bottle of Almond Oil and a bottle of Natur Vital Sage Conditioner. I know I had just bought a new conditioner like 2 days before that but I'd explain why I bought this Natur Vital version.

Next day, I broke the cocoa pod just like the woman said to do. Threw it on hard ground while wrapped in a nylon bag and it easily split in two. Upon opening the pod, it revealed about 30 or so seeds covered in white succulent juice. I looked inside to see if I would find some butter but other than the seeds, all that was left was a hard interior. I then went on Google and searched. Google Google on the Web, where is the butter? Well, it would seem that the butter is actually gotten from the seeds. The seeds are dried and fermented and the butter is extracted. Oh well. If there was no butter, those seeds needed some licking! I dug in.

 

The taste was so nice. Very little anything to use to compare it. It tasted nothing like chocolate. I thought it would but my research revealed that all those chocolatey taste, smell, colour all come from the seeds after drying and extracting. If you see anyone selling these, please buy it. Everyone needs to know what cocoa seeds taste like. Weird that it's not commonly seen in Lagos even as it is widely grown in the South-West.

Pocketful of sunshine

As for the almond oil, I know I've been buying a lot of oils lately but I felt I needed this one. Almond oil is really good as a carrier oil for the hair as it is a good sealant and good for hair growth and thickening hair ;). I wanted to get some Jojoba oil too but it cost N4300! I did a quick 180degrees.



200ml/N1200

You have probably only heard of Sweet Almond Oil as being good for hair. Well, this Almond Oil is the same as Sweet Almond Oil. Here's how you can tell the difference. If it's a carrier oil or oil in a big carrier oil sized bottle labelled 'Almond Oil', it is the Sweet Almond Oil. Where you find it as an essential oil though, that is Bitter Almond Oil. Sweet Almond Oil is the carrier oil while Bitter Almond Oil is an essential oil. No need to fret when you see just plain 'Almond Oil'. :)

 

When I bought the Natur Vital Sage Conditioner, I was actually looking for a good leave-in and then my eyes caught this. I've always known Natur Vital as my mum is a loyal customer and they are known for using natural ingredients for their products. I remember the one time I wanted to buy the Shampoo though, it had sulfates so I never went near it after that. This time though, I discovered that this particular conditioner had no silicones or parabens or colourants or preservatives or mineral oil in its ingredients but even boasted to containing "100% organically grown Ginseng and Sage extracts". I was sold at that point.

N880

[click for a closer view]

 

So, I did a quick comparison of both the V05 Tea Therapy Blackberry and Sage Conditioner against the Natur Vital Sage Conditioner. I used the V05 on one half of my hair and the Natur Vital on the other half. Here's a quick review:

 

V05 Tea Therapy Conditioner:

• Smelled AMAZING! Blackberries.
• Had lots of slip
• Detangling was a breeze
• My hair still smelled of blackberries after rinsing out.
• Light conditioner. A bit watery.
• My hair was left soft afterwards
• Contains sage which is very good for scalp health and hair growth

 

Natur Vital Sage Conditioner:

• No striking scent
• Really thick consistency
• A little went a long way
• Gave good slip
• Its thickness makes it good for deep conditioning
• My hair was left soft afterwards
• Contains certified organic sage which is very good for scalp health and hair growth

My verdict: Both are fantastic! I'm glad I own them. The scales tilt a little more towards the Natur Vital for me though because of its thickness and more natural contents.

 

As for my oils! (Bet you thought this post had ended, yeah? Don't be lazy!) Remember I got the Haitian Organic Castor Oil, Grapeseed Oil and Organix Argan Oil some time ago? Well, I tried them all out.

 

Organix Argan Oil: Contains cones. In fact, those cones are the first 3 items before you get to the Argan Oil itself on the ingredients section. Because of these, I haven't really opened my heart towards this. But I did notice a bit of softness to my hair whenever I used it. Smells nice. I wouldn't use it often. Because of the fear of build up, I washed my hair more often.

 

Grapeseed Oil: Of all the oils I bought, I expected the most out of this and found it to be somewhat disappointing. My biggest frustration with it? It's too light! It's so light that you need a lot. A bit annoying as I bought a small quantity of it, 2oz. And even after putting what you feel is a lot, you still feel like you don't have oil in your hair. It hardly locked up any moisture for me. And surprisingly, whenever I used it, my hair super itched! This surprised me greatly as I thought it was supposed to do the reverse and it was mixed with tea tree oil. Smh. Too poor. I later found that Grapeseed oil is suitable for people with fine hair. Only means I don't have fine hair.

 

Haitian Castor Oil: This seems to hold the most promise. It claims to be organic unrefined castor oil. It is refreshingly thick especially when you're coming from the water that is Grapeseed oil. I usually put Castor oil on my scalp as it is heavy on my hair most times but with this oil, I decided to put it on my hair. It made my coils pop! So exciting! I loved it. And the softness it gave to my hair... It's a winner. I'm still applying it to my edges though with the hope that it'll do a miracle.

 

My verdict: Yes, Haitian Castor Oil, Yes!!!

So, after the test of my 2 new conditioners, I did a combination of all my oils and made twist-outs in my hair. I unravelled the twist outs on Monday morning and I had my first perfect twist-outs! I couldn't believe it! Something is finally working and I'm so glad. Not only that, I had never seen my hair have such incredible softness. I used to think my hair was soft. Now, I know it wasn't. My hair was left tangle-free too which I never have after my unsuccessful twist-outs. Amen to whatever did the magic (this includes my 2 new conditioners and my too many oils). I tried uploading the pictures but they're particularly heavy and my internet was suffering. Will do in some later posts. But still, this was how I felt after my twist-outs.

I have definitely seen the light [source]

 

I know. Long post. Don't complain. You should read more. :P

 

Ciao!

Stay beautiful and seek out cocoa!

 

Organic Root Stimulator Edge Control - A Review

Hi guys,

 

I did promise in my last post to write a review of the Organic Root Stimulator Edge Control which I used to create my frohawk.

 

My sister was kind enough to send the product over to me to try out so I didn't buy it here. But I did spy it in the popular Alhaja's Shop some weeks back. The tag on it says £4.95 so it shouldn't be too different from that here.

 

The pack promises "superior hold and shine" and perfect control for your edges. It further promises moisture and excellent hold without hardening the hair.

 

WHAT IT CONTAINS: Some natural products and scientific name products. Of note are the fact that it contains parabens. If you are finicky about paraben free products, you may need to take a step back here.

 

So, I used this gel to sleek down my edges when I was styling and it did a pretty good job. My hair was not made stiff from it. It got the hold it needed. I also saw that a little went a long way with this one. So, I didn't have to pack on the gel. The hold was just fine. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of the hairdo when I just styled it. It was also not greasy for me and gave good hold.

 

 

HOWEVER, about 4 hours or so after I had used this gel, I noticed it had turned to water or oil, I was not sure which. It had lost all forms of hold and just sat on my hair strands like that. Making itself totally useless. Many times, I tried to sleek it into my hair with my fingers but soon, it came out and just sat there. That was a bit ticking off. If it does provide moisture, shouldn't said moisture be absorbed into the hair?

That shine you see on the sleeked section? That's not shine. That's the gel. Just sitting there. Doing nothing.
[click on image for a closer view]

The gel is not too clear on this image but if you look closer, you'd notice a
whitish looking substance on the hair

 

PROS

• Non-greasy feel
• It didn't harden or stiffen my hair when I put it in
• It gave great hold when I put it in
• Smells delicious!
• A little goes a long way
• It is clear gel

CON

 

• Contains parabens
• Hold lasted only for a few hours
• Its claim to provide moisture is questionable 

I won't be throwing it away. I may use it for a style I don't intend wearing for too long and wash my hair afterwards.

 

 ASIDE:

I'm out of my V05 Moisturising Milk Conditioner so I went on a hunt for it today. I found very few of the conditioner and no moisture milk variance. I wasn't sure which to get. When I spied the back of the V05 Tea Therapy Revitalizing Conditioner where it read "revitalizing formula, with blackberry and sage extracts, gives hair volume and bounce" though, I quickly grabbed that off the shelf. You know how I'm presently hunting for some volume.

 

[click for a closer view to read what it claims to do and the ingredient]

 

 

I may write an update on how this turns out.

 

 

Ciao people!

Stay beautiful and useful!

 

 

 

NB: I wrote this post on night of the 30th of July but the internet didn't let me publish it. I'm not making any alterations as to dates. 

WHITE HOUSE DOWN - A Review

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Directed by Roland Emmerich known for his movies, Independence Day, Day After Tomorrow and 2012. John Cale (Channing Tatum), a security detail for the Speaker of the House (Richard Jenkins) gets a Pass to the White House for his 11-year old daughter, Emily Cale (Joey King) and attends an interview at the White House to join the Secret Service. He is refused the job by his interviewer, (Maggie Gyllenhaal) after which he and his daughter join a White House tour and shortly after, the White House is attacked by right-wind militants who wish to get the black president (Jamie Foxx) because they do not like his policies on withdrawing troops from the Middle East. John Cale has the responsibility of saving the president and his daughter.

 

Basically Olympus Has Fallen with laughs. Just have that in mind when going to see it. This is a comedy-action movie flick that has its own share of clichés and patriotism. Although the patriotism may be called into question as Emmerich is European. Never been much of a fan of Tatum but I think he did good this time and has fixed himself safely into Hollywood as a top Action flick actor. The humor is good. Tatum and Jamie Foxx's combination blend just okay into character. Did I hear Foxx trying to play an Obama accent? I didn't like it. Maybe he shouldn't have bothered. Still, it's fun in the midst of all the gun-totting. Tatum managed to look tough-guy hot as compared to his usual soft-guy-soft-palms type hotness.

 

The main movie took a long time in starting, in my opinion. It dragged for a bit. But I think that was due to Emmerich's taking the pain to let us see the hatching and action coming together. Many of which was unnecessary as it gave too much away. Due to this, we already knew the Head of the Secret Service was the bad guy even before it was revealed. No surprises for the viewers. This is a movie you going in watch knowing absolutely what will happen but in a good way. Only one interesting twist which I noticed at the end and which was the revealing of the real bad guy. Lots of action to keep your weekly/daily action quota satisfied.

 

The fact that this movie comes so shortly after Olympus Has Fallen means you cannot help but compare the two. Example is the White House in both movies are widely different. But then, we'd likely complain if they were too similar.

 

Just a fun regular action movie. Nothing fantastic but you have a good time with your popcorn. And few laughs too.

GREAT GATSBY - A REVIEW

I saw Great Gatsby today. While I have never read the novel (I am a huge believer of always reading the book first before seeing the movie but this was not a novel I could easily come across), I did not go to the cinemas with any delusions.

 

I know that a good number of movie critics had written this movie short and ridiculed all that pertained to it. But I have always wondered, how does anyone go to see a movie adaptation of a novel and expect it to be just as thrilling as the book? No one has been able to do that thus far. The most any director can do is come close. But he can certainly not produce the excellent effects of the book which your mind and memory have placed such high esteem upon. Why do people still bother trying then?

 

Great Gatsby is a drama. Following the life of Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), an extremely wealthy man who threw large wild parties in New York before the great Depression all because he was hoping to catch the sights of a woman who he was in love with. The story is told through the narration of Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) who lived next door to Gatsby.

 

Well, I liked this movie. Perhaps the fact that I had not read the book was a good thing as it gave me an unbiased outlook into the movie. Baz Lurhmann's directing was really quite extravagant with such bright colours and visual effects. The movie was quite bright. Seems Baz put more into the bright scenes than to other detail. The party scenes were most glamorous and exciting. Kind of pulling you in. Tobey Maguire's role was really boring. Hopefully, that was how the story wanted him to be. I like Tobey though. I like that boyish innocent look about him that time and Hollywood have unsuccessfully and thankfully failed to wipe off him.

 

One thing I particularly loved about this movie was the music. It was a blend of of hip-hop meets pre-depression. 21st century rap and whatnot. And it blended so well with the scenes, it was fun to watch.

 

I like Leonardo's presence in the movie. Although I got the feeling that this movie spoke more about the Director than of the characters. I don't know how that works but that was the feeling I got. Gatsby's name was called so many times in the movie that 10minutes after I was out of the cinemas, "GATSBY GATSBY GATSBY" was ringing in my head.

Cheers to you too, Gatsby!

Me, I like the movie. Don't mind dem critics. Go see it for yourself and have a good time.

Ciao now!

Hulk, SMASH!!!

So I saw The Avengers this weekend - after the whole world and her sister have seen it - and I got an eyeful of eye candy.

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It's the sentinel of Liberty and the son of Asgard, beautiful Chris Hemsworth ;;). Yup!

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Anybody else notice some sexiness to The Hulk? Anyone? No? No? Ugh! 

I thought it was a great movie though. Wonderful effects, lots of wit and interesting dialogue plus of course, all those pretty pretty boys. 

Each character had its day in the movie and not too much over-shadowing. Although for a bit, it seemed to me that the Hulk overshadowed the rest of the crew in that final battle scene. Also, was it just me or did I see some of Transformers 2 in that movie? The concept? Final battle scene? Me thinks though. 

If you're expecting a movie with a highly intelligent script and dialogue though, you'd be looking in the wrong place with this movie. Action comics have never been known to be of that category. It's just your regular good guys against bad guy who wants to take over the world flick (this is the point where you roll your eyes). All in all, great movie. I shall definitely be seeing it again. ;)

Ciao now!