Hiya,
How's everyone doing? Hope all's well at your endz!! My last post was on a few Indian products I purchased among them was NEEM OIL!! I wrote that the look/smell was awful but I wish somebody, anybody would have immediately WARNED ME about this oil!!!

Let me just narrate my experience with last weekend's hair treat that went south before I could say Jack Robinson!!

So I mixed into a paste the Henna and Rosewater all from the Indian shop, then in a separate bowl I mixed the Vitika egg protein deep conditioner and neem oil-


The smell instantly hit my nose (just imagine the worst medicine smell EVER) plus I had several urges to throw up but for the sake of all the benefits I read Neem oil has, I persevered and applied the mixes to my hair, 5 minutes later my head started pounding!! I was having the worst headache ever! I had never incurred such a bad headache even during the entire 9months of being preggers!! Still I persevered 30minutes more by this time I was sure I was having a full blown fever- kept telling everyone at home that the oil must have been absorbed into my scalp and was now affecting my blood-(was probably exaggerating at this point but can you blame me, my head was pounding-LOL)

So I quickly googled THE SIDE EFFECTS OF NEEM OIL and there they were, all my symptoms- vomiting (had the urge several times), brain swelling (maybe that's why my head was aching so bad), lethargy-(was extremely exhausted)! Other side effects include infertility, miscarriage if pregnant, seizures, comas to name a few!

Once I read all the side effects I was really upset with myself because I am breast feeding!! How dangerous of me, I did what most people do when they hear of a hair remedy; I ONLY Googled the BENEFITS OF NEEM OIL, read the benefits and totally ignored the rest of the articles with the side effects and warnings!

So I learnt the very hard way so you my dear readers don't have to- please, please and please if you hear of a product/remedy for hair growth for the first time even from me, simply confirm from our pal google it's benefits, side effects, reviews everything before wasting precious pennies investing in it only for it to end up in the trash where my Neem oil bottle presently lays!

To get the nasty smelling oil from my hair, I searched my house for the most sulphate packed shampoo and mixed it with Baking Soda which I read will help rid the smell and the oil itself;


 I washed my hair with the mix a few times and had my fingers crossed all the while hoping the smell vanished...by the time I packed sweet smelling moisturizers and coconut oil on my strands, the smell was GONE!! YES!! Praise the Lord!!

So that was the end of the saga of the worst weekend treat ever! I will never use Neem oil ever again, there are many other more pleasant products that will give the same benefits Neem oil proffers! This weekend's treat was very different, thankfully! Yesterday night I applied CHI'S Nourish Intense Silk hair masque for an overnight deep condition;


Very Good hair treat, my hair feels super soft and lush- CHI products are known to be really good so I was not expecting any less plus my hair has some of the red tint( can been seen under light) from last weekend's treat- the only benefit from that treat *rolling eyes*;

Hiya,
How's everyone doing? I'd love to say a big BIG thank you to all readers that congratulated me for the new addition to my family, thanks for all the kind prayers and comments!! Much appreciated *HUGS*

Well, my next few posts will be all about hair product hauls and reviews, there is never a better time to test and try products than when you are surrounded by them, my inner strategic product junkie has fully surfaced and I have been stocking up on quite a few hair products which I will share with you all! First up are the Indian products I bought today!!

I was craving a Henna gloss for my hair as a weekend treat yesterday but since I didn't have henna I decided to check google to see if there were any Indian shops around my area and to my excitement there was an Indian shop very near me with excellent reviews!!! Immediately made a date for today with the place called VISHALA GROCERY & RESTAURANT!!



 Went there today and asked for Henna and was directed to this entire section of Indian hair and skin goodies #excitedddddd!!!


I got to Shopping ( this weekend is also tax free weekend so all the products I bought were tax free, the extra excuse I used to convince myself to buy these products :)



As you can see, I got me some Hair  Henna( trust that it will be extra refined which is best for a smooth application on hair)- It has directions on how to make the most of your henna; if you want it for dark brown hair or highlights or burgundy colouring or as a conditioner.

Then I got some Vitika hair products;
Vitika naturals extreme moisturizing styling hair cream almond, honey and aloe vera
Vitika naturals volume and thickness styling hair cream coconut henna and almond
Vitika naturals egg protein deep conditioning hair mask with egg and honey

I must say when I picked up the hair creams I thought the containers were empty and to me that was a good sign because it meant that the product inside is very light weight and won't weigh my hair down, I opened to check them out and they were sealed but I bought them anyway, got home and first thing I did was open them up and BEHOLD;




Light and fluffy looking whipped to perfection hair cream was staring back at me!!! Can't wait to see how these products make my hair feel! Stay tuned for their reviews and use my test when you are hair product shopping, remember; the heavier and more dense the product feels in the container the more it will weigh your hair down and clog your pores!! Aim for fluffy and airy hair moisturizers, they do the best job!


The next thing I grabbed was Neem oil which I have never used, It looks like really gross cough syrup and it smells WORSE!! but the BENEFITS OF NEEM OIL outweigh the smell so I got it anyway and will use it strictly for deep conditioning where I can wash it off with a sweet smelling shampoo or conditioner later...

I also grabbed a tiny bottle of Parachute Coconut Oil (Also available in PARK N SHOP and EMJAYS SUPERMARKET in Naija) I love love love this particular brand of coconut oil because it smells just like coconuts!!! The coconut oil I used before didn't smell like coconuts but this one? WOW fresh coconuts on my hair!!

Rose water  was the final thing I got, Rose water promotes hair growth by improving the circulation of blood on the scalp, conditions the hair strands and curbs dandruff and itching, I will use rosewater instead of regular water to mix my Henna into a paste and other similar concoctions as part of my weekend hair treats.


That's all for now with my Indian hair products haul, as I stated please look out for proper product reviews of the Vitika Products and other hair product hauls and reviews! These product hauls and reviews should help readers who want to partake in the SHOP NHCG IMPORT WINDOWS which will be up and running from September!!! Thanks again ladies for all the support!!


Xxx
Dabs

Hiya,
How's everyone?!! I have been a bit MIA around here because of a trip I had to make which was work related so I had to switch off from Hair Guru Mode :) but now I am back to share with you all my bentonite clay hair treat this past weekend.

So I first heard about bentonite clay from Natural Nigerian's blog then I did further research and found its major benefit is cleansing the scalp from residue and fungus that accumulate on it, it contains magnesium, potassium and silica which all help to detoxify, cleanse and rejuvenate dull and brittle looking hair and skin. Basically it serves as a natural alternative to shampoo. So in my quest to go au naturale hair product wise, I decided to purchase a bag of this clay at the last meet up.

To apply it on my hair, I read that it could be mixed with anything from water to apple cider vinegar so I decided to go full throttle! I poured out a little amount of the clay in a plastic bowl(I read that you have to avoid metallic bowls or utensils when mixing this clay for whatever reason I am not sure I think it might react to the silica metallic components in the clay- I no be Chemist!)

Yup I have finally succumbed! It's time to be Au naturale and I am super excited to inform you my dear readers that I have resolved to turn my back away from............artificial hair products!!from now on most of all the products I will use on my hair will be natural products!

I can imagine what's going through my natural hair readers' minds 'thought she was going natural as in turning away from the creamy crack called a relaxer!hissssss' LOL


Well I am still relaxed and plan on staying that way for much longer, when I was younger in secondary school I had natural hair since they made me cut my hair and I hated it!! Seeing so many people go natural has tempted me I won't lie but by the time I remember how stressful combing my hair was I am convinced to remain relaxed, so natural hair ain't my thing but I love the way natural ladies care for their hair and so I have resolved to be relaxed but treat my hair like its natural because at the end of the day, relaxed hair is more fragile due to relaxers and needs all the care it can get!

So from now on I am switching from normal shampoo


To BLACK SOAP!! 


It's all natural, has no sulphates which damage and dry hair out. Instead it's a mixture of shea butter,honey, palm kernel oil, aloe Vera juice etc basically all natural goodness! I bought the dudu-osun brand and used it on my hair over the weekend and though it didn't lather as much as shampoo, it's Tuesday and my hair ain't itching me so I'm good!

I have not found a replacement for conditioner but for leave in conditioner I did the switch ages ago to WATER & GLYCERINE mixture in a spray bottle


The hair product I use more than anything else is hair moisturizer, now I can say bye bye profectiv or Organics because I have swapped them for 
WHIPPED SHEA BUTTER with ESSENTIAL OILS! 



Thanks to the natural blog NATURAL NIGERIAN which I found through African naturalista's blog, I learnt how to make this concoction and I am loving it!Let me take you through the steps quickly;

First you heat raw Shea butter placed in a bowl over a pot of boiling water( this method is good so the Shea is not over heated and losses it's nutrients)


When it's melted, you add your essential oils, I added castor, olive, tea tree, coconut, sweet almond and then glycerin

After you add the oils you whisk the mixture preferably with an electric whisk. 






You'l need patience sha, I'm saying this because the impression I got was that the mixture turns white and fluffy soon after you whisk just like making cake but nope, it took the whole day! I whisked initially, it stayed watery and then I left it alone, came back a few hours later whisked it again then it was slightly thicker, hadn't changed color though and I honestly thought that I had done something wrong. Left it alone, checked it in the evening and it had really thickened so I whisked it again that's when it became this thick yummy looking mixture that you can mistake for vanilla ice cream!
When it cools down it goes from looking like this; 






 To this; soft, buttery and above all moisturizing!! Shea butter(ori) can be found in the market and its very affordable!



For coloring I finally found some henna dye in an Indian shop in VI! 
Henna is all natural and not only colors but conditions hair.




For hot oil treatments I will incorporate Indian oils I got from the same store with my usual oils, they are infused with extracts from herbs like neem, amla, tulsi which are all great for healthy hair.


I got a relaxer treatment over the weekend and it went well, by the end of the week I will do one of these treatments and let you know how it goes. For as many of you that want to join the natural club either in my way or the actual way(no more relaxers) please you will be doing your hair great injustice if you do not research before you start. You can start with this post then check out natural blogs like the ones I mentioned, those ladies know what they are talking about, they also sell natural products which I will be patronizing once I get the hang of things, I don't want to be a natural product junkie just yet :)
Thanks for stopping by! Stay tuned for my next post, feel free to comment or warn me about any of the above products I want to use!

Ciao,
Dabs