Coco cookie scented locks

Hey dolls,

It's been a busy week again! In general, so that also goes for my haircare. The less time, the harder in creating time! It's been (almost) exactly a week since I blogged about the hair regimen and I do have an update in usage.

After getting it cut and trying some of my Redken products again, I had about 2 days of 'rest' and then my locks started screaming again. I mixed Dabur Amla original, Castor oil and Vatika coconut enriched hair oil. This time I used a lot!
It was almost dripping, but I wanted to try and see just how much my hair needs. I know that if you put to much oil into the hair follicles, it gets dull and dry, but since it does in general, I needed to try it out. Massaged it into the scalp, braided it and left it in overnight.

Washed it out with Garnier's Pure Shine shampoo, used pure coconut conditioner and let it dry naturally. While still damp, I applied Vatika hair cream, which I hadn't tried out yet.

It's a protecting, nourishing leave-in conditioner, which you should apply on damp hair and then style naturally. According to my local shop, it's not recommended for heated stylers and it also says on the back 'natural styling'. It contains henna, almond and aloe vera. Smells divine!

On the package it's also mentioned, you could use it prior washing and leave it in for 15 minutes.

When completely dry, I brushed it and there were no knots, no fly-aways, but very light weight, shiny hair. However, it really annoys me how light weight it is exactly. If it were a little thicker again, there would be more weight on the length and not feel that light. It's good and bad. A sign of thin hair, yet no product build up + volume. I was contented.

I visited some Asian hair related websites, blogs & watched some YouTube videos to see what I'm missing in my hair care regimen. Nothing really.
But there was one girl that told she does use Vatika & Amla etc, but her hair was so most and healthy, because she likes to mix pure oils. And then she switches her use so her hair keeps reacting to every product. That's mere logic.
Not relying on pre-mixed (and adjusted) oils, but mix your own pure oils.

With my hair stash, you can imagine, I do have some pure oils. Because when I started using oil, I did go for the 100% pure oils that you can use to cook.
To be precise, I have a bottle of 100% almond oil, a jar of 100% pure coconut oil, a bottle of 100% pure castor oil and a bottle of 100% virgin olive oil.

Here is a picture of the pure coconut oil I used. It's all natural and can be used for cooking too. I believe that whatever you can put into your body, and is good for you, is great on the outside too. Plus, trustworthy. (Imagine, a product that is poisonous for you to eat/swallow, but recommended for your hair or skin?? Sounds weird right?)

That little light bulb above my head asked for another try, so on monday the 8 of august, I mixed 1 tablespoon of pure coconut oil with a few drops of castor oil. Honestly, it smelled delicious. Like a coconut cookie. Braided it and left it overnight. That was a bit hard.
Last night when going to bed, the hair on the sides of my face, just kept coming loose from the braid. And then I'd have a swish of coco cookie oilyness on my cheeks. Had to wash it of constantly to later have a second towel keeping the braid up on the pillow and my face down. It was the oil that made my hair so soft, the band wouldn't hold it.

Yesterday in the early morning, tuesday the 9th of august, I washed it out using Garnier's 2 in 1 shampoo.

This is a fortifying shampoo that is used to work against dry and very dry hair. It is supposed to give intense nourishment and easily detain your hair. The shampoo provides your locks with vitamines b3 and b6, AHA Fruit substances and make your hair still feel lightweight. It promises to make your hair up to 2 times stronger and 3 times smoother after 10 uses.
For me, this was the first time to use this shampoo, I believe. Or perhaps second, but I hadn't used it recently.

After that, I conditioned my locks with Dabur Vatika olive hair mask against dull hair, left it for 15 minutes and rinsed out with cool water.
Used the Vatika hair cream again, to try out what it does for my hair and braided it loosely, while still half wet/ very damp.


In the late afternoon, I brushed it through and it felt amazing. Super soft, shiny and full. I was amazed by the results. It's wednesday night while I'm writing this and when I touch my hair, either the roots, the lengths or the ends, they're all super moist. Looks like it is definitely working! Just a little frizz on some locks, but manageable.

Watch out for a new update soon dolls!

UV-rescue, Brunette Guard, save my locks!

Hey dolls,

Today was an intensely hot day here and the sun was up & strong before 10 am.
I realized, I have not yet bought any hair protection products that claim to be all natural.
Like for example, Sunsilk's/ Seda's black shine shampoo. A product that I'd truly love to try.
No time to go buy it today though, but quite some time to spend in the sun.
So I opened up my drawer and saw that I still had my Redken UV rescue, brunette guard products. Those are not claimed to be natural, but do promise to keep the hair from going orange.
Yes, please.

I had colored my hair with all natural hair dye somewhere last month and I'd like to keep it dark.

These products are Redken's UV-Rescue shimmering oil spray; a leave in protective smoother for sun-exposed hair. 

You can use it as often as you like.

And Redken's brunette guard  color saving swim cream for brown hair. 

Like the shimmering oil, it contains UVA/B filters that are supposed to protect the hair.

According to directions, you can put both products in either wet or dry hair, multiple times a day and on the back of the products, it says that these products will protect your hair from getting coppery tones. It also protects against UVA rays, water and minerals. 

After applying a rather generous amount, I left the house, carrying the UV-Rescue shimmering oil in my handbag. Set for the day, right?

Well, yes and no. When I got back at about 17:00, my hair wasn't looking all coppery and orange like sometimes before. I'm used to people asking me, usually, during summer whether I'd dyed my hair in a coppery shade, while I hadn't. Cause is sun only.

But I did notice some locks definitely weren't as dark as last week. A little lighter and a spark of red, I'm noticing. Perhaps the product did save my hair from getting completely orange. Or I should have used even more than I did? 

Compare the pictures with my previous posted pictures yourself.

 

Not worth the mention or not a fulfilled promise? 

I'm not sure. If the weather stays like this, I'll give it another go and perhaps shop for the Sunsilk/ Seda products as well. They're still on my to-try list!

Minimalistic for the better?

Hi dolls,

well, to be honest my mix of castor oil and Vatika's enriched coconut oil didn't really work out. And I think it's the castor oil that ruined the results, because that oil is ten times as sticky as the Vatika.

I washed it out on tuesday the 26th of july using Vatika's ultra shine shampoo and used the egg/honey hair mask as a conditioner.

Wrapped in a hot towel for 10 minutes, the hair got a great chance of conditioning, but when I washed it out, the shine was the only good thing about the hair.
When it dried, naturally, it felt sticky and I had so many knots. Even when I brushed them out gently, they seemed to get back within 10 minutes.

Having used the mask quite frequently, I could hardly believe it. This mask usually makes the hair very soft and smooth, but it seemed like the oil didn't get out of the hair.
Like every time I use this shampoo, it is like it doesn't completely cleanse the scalp. It smells great though.

Anyhow, I left my hair like it and used the Argan oil serum I'm getting addicted too and it got better every day. I actually didn't feel like washing it all, since it got shinier each day. So I used a cap, to not get the hair wet while showering. Friday eve, the 29th of july, my nieces were visiting which made it all more pleasant. What exactly? Hair care. Massaging, to be specific.

Little girls that want to fully relax you, because they like the feeling of taking care of someone's hair. Perfect, ain't it?
I let my niece comb my hair a hundred times (it is said to help your hair growth) and after that, massage the scalp with Dabur Amla original hair oil. She braided it and I left it overnight.


It looked terrible the next morning, so I rinsed it out before breakfast. I used the Vatika ultra shine shampoo again, as I already told you I want to give each product a real chance.

I used the pure coconut conditioner for about 3-5 minutes and rinsed that out as well. Until the water ran clean.
One extra rinse with cold water and I was done.

Braided the hair while it was still rather wet and decided to keep the braid overnight. The next day my hair was shiny, but still had some knots at the ends. When I took a proper look, I saw some ends were accompanied by white points. You know that bleep in live shows, when someone answer's wrong to a question? #BLEEEEEEP

Of course I knew it was to be cut asap. Because once the damage rises up, your hair isn't worth a penny anymore. I got it cut and it looked better + felt better. No more knots.

My hair care has been low key these days, but perhaps the minimal care is for the better? It did get shinier each day? Also, I believe that it can have to do everything with what I ate & of course hormones.
But I make a lot of healthy choices. I'll definitaly blog a little about that later on.

At this point I can truly say, I'm, giving it a honest try; starting with a fresh cut! Now I'll just have to wait, see and care to see what my hair loves!