Tuesday, August 28, 2012

•ღƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღ• Henna Me Silk 8~25~2012 •ღƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღ•

Sunday night I prepared an awesome Moroccan henna treatment that I applied overnight and rinsed out yesterday morning. I believe I almost have this recipe down to an exact science. I will do a few more before I release it. This means by the end of the month I should absolutely have the exact recipe that I refer to when doing the Moroccan henna treatment. I did add amla powder to it to see the difference so this obviously threw off the measurements and and why I need  a few extras to get it right.

On thing interesting to note is the color of this henna. I'm not sure why it turned this color and I wanted to determine if adding the amla made it like this. I also added marshmallow root and I'm just not sure yet if this ingredient should be a staple in my Moroccan henna recipe. It does add  slip and moisture but I must question if I want to rely on having the marshmallow root on hand every time I do a treatment. ...I mean, I already have to stock the henna powder, cocoveda oil, aloe juice, etc. I really do have a lot of marshmallow power, it is beneficial, and I do use it in almost every herbal treatment I do.  So again, I'm just going to let that ingredient simmer on the sideline for a few until I know for sure. 

 


So back to the amla- I wont know about the color for  a few days. I must wait for it to oxidize to determine what color it has given me. I let this henna sit for 1.5 hours before I applied it and let it sit in overnight. I do not like to do this as my head starts to itch. This  doesn't happen all the time, but it happens more than enough for me to know that leaving in henna or conditioner for an extended amount of time is a no no.  I'd say 4 hours to 6 hours is the longest for me.


When I rinsed the henna out my hair was well moisturized and I didn't feel the need to deep conditioner, but you know I did! I used the new Cantu Shea butter deep treatment masque. I added oils and stuff but I wish I hadn't. I really needed to try this on it's own to say how it really works. It was okay but I'm not in the position to give a fair review since I left it on for an extended time while asleep and my cling wrap slid off my head, exposing some hair and making it feel harder as it dried slight- I did not mean for it to dry in any way. 

As those of you who follow me already know,  I am doing a stretch of hennas once a week for four weeks, then stopping for four weeks and then picking it up again for the course of 6 months at least. This does not mean that I  will not do them in between the off time , it just means that I have a schedule that I will fulfill and extra henna treatments are even better. 

 I am doing this to prove to myself that the Nupur henna, another awesome henna, is slower at building on my strands when compared to the Jamila, Moroccan, or other, more pure hennas ( that do not contain other herbs) that build a lot faster. At the end of 6 months I will compare the roots of my strands that were previously not coated ( but supposed to be coated with the Nupur henna after using it for a year just about), to the ends of  my strands that are thicker and were previously coated with the Jamila and Moroccan hennas. 

I predict that, by using the Moroccan Henna, my roots will be some what thicker than they were when compared to the ends when I was using the Nupur henna. What makes this experiment fool proof is that for one, once the ends of your hair reached full saturation, that is it- they will not gain more thickness.  Secondly, I used the Nupur henna for a year and will only be using the Moroccan for 6 months when I do the comparison- this means that if there is any kind of thickness  of my strands in the lesser time alloted for the Moroccan henna to build, then it already stands that the more pure hennas are faster at building  on the strands. And lastly, henna is merely just an experimental treatment that you change to suit the needs of your hair. Sometimes you get it right, other times it's not so right...

Ok, enough about my experiment..has anyone else had a love affair with henna like I have? LOL

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Regular Conditioner as a Leave In

 
While vacationing in Grenada we  planned to leave the resort and stay up at the house for a few days. Of course I had a  smaller arsenal of hair care products with me, but I did not want to even lug those around. So I only took my homemade bug spray,Trader Joe's Tea Tree Body Wash, and the Trader Joe's Tea Tree Conditioner. I planned to use the conditioner as my leave in since I didn't want to bring leave in too!
 
SO after I cowashed my hair I rinsed it clean from all traces of condish, and then I took about a quarter size amount of it and massaged that through my entire head.  The condish coupled with the purest of mountain Grenadian water left my hair silly, shiny, and more bouncy than ever before! I mean, I had the salon effect of that bouncy straight hair, all without  the use of a heating tool! There was nothing more relaxing than being curled up on the porch of a tropical island staring into the greenery while the air gently blew threw my strands....ahhhh
 
So what did I do? I grabbed a camera to take some pics!
 
 
 
 
 
 
This last picture is of my hair completely dry with a quarter size a condish in it. It is silky smooth with volume and texture..I LOVE IT! My hair never became dry and brittle.
 
Will I do this every time I co wash? Probably not! I love the way my hair felt and I have even experimented with other condishes (I like the organix macadamia condish also) but as soon as I moisturize and seal my hair is no longer as 'flowy.' I also don't need my hair as bodified since I don't wear it down or out in a style like that. I will reserve this kind of cowashing technique for when I am in a rush or when I want to wear my hair in this down and out style.
 
Before you consider leaving a regular conditioner in your hair as a leave in, please consider this great article which I found to be helpful in choosing which condishes are best to leave in, and even if leaving a normal condish in your hair is right for you! Should you really leave conditioner in your hair?
 
 
Thanks  for reading and
 Healthy Hair Blessings!

Friday, August 24, 2012

•ღƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღ• Henna Me Silk 8~17~2012 •ღƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღ•

 

Last Friday I henna using my Moroccan Henna- Yes, my Moroccan henna has arrived! As all of you know, I love my Moroccan henna and cannot be happier with the color I achieved using it, although I have been substituting it For the Jamila for a while. The Jamila is more towards the ends of my hair and shows a deeper Burgundy/purple/wine color if you will. The Moroccan yields a much warmer brown. I was so surprised and satisfied with the warm brown I got without using indigo or adding amla  to it.  I am contemplating adding amla to it this next time. I don't think I need it, but I am anxious to see the kind of color it will give.
 
I also Purchased the 500 gram bottle of cocoveda oil which I cannot live with without- well that and now my amla oil. The smell of this oil is just too intoxicating, full of herbs, and actually works well at moisturizing my fine hair type without weighing it down . My hair sucks this right up! Since discovering my amla oil I have been using my cocoveda oil mostly in my herbal recipes.

 I will not dare give the recipe this time. I wasn't thrilled with the consistency at all,  but I will be perfecting it. After all, I have 500 GRAMS of it! :-)


Check out the picture below which shows the difference in color between the Moroccan henna packages of what I'm assuming is supposed to be the same batch.?.  Not sure if I captured it too well, but here it goes..

 

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Konad Nail Art & More

I'm a very neutral person when it comes to polishing  my nails but just  recently I have ventured out in to trying some daring colors... I can thank my new Konad nail art system for this which has allowed me dabble into my artsy side of things...












After the nail stamp


A week after





A week after




A week after, but with the Sally Hansen Salon Effects in Love Letter

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Beaching in Grenada

 

Ahhh, another day under the sun, let me NOT count the days....! I have not been doing much blogging because I am in ..GRENADA! I am finally on vacation after many, many years of not flying anywhere, mainly because of my pregnancies and young children. Well I am finally on Spice Island without my munchkins whom I miss dearly

At the moment I am rocking a curly  mane of colorful hair.. I must put up pics, once I figure out how to do that from here. Today is only day 2 and I plan to be here for a week. My hair is protected at all costs, using conditioner on it during the day, wearing a hat ( only when it compliments my outfit of the day-hehe), moisturizing and sealing, and just being mindful of it PERIOD . 

I've been thinking of jogging, but I just can Imagine it in all of this heat. Instead, I've resorted to  my Ashatanga Yoga practice, which has been lovely on the beach in the am when the sun isn't too intense . 

I am at a resort and plan to stay a few days at the house we have here. tonight I will plan just for that !  All in all I am doing well  and this is the reason for my absence.  

-Namaste-