Monday, January 23, 2012

Good Hair, Gone Bad Pt. 1

This story begins at the end of a two week coil & coil-out.  I will never wear a style for two weeks again because by Friday, January 13th my hair was really itching.  With that said, Friday night I washed my hair and this began the makings of my first two strand twist-out. I created my twists using Curl Junkie Curl Assurance Smoothing Lotion as my leave-in conditioner and Curl Junkie Hibiscus & Banana Honey Butta as my twisting product. Because it was a long holiday weekend, celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, I decided to wear my twists all weekend.  

Tuesday morning, January 17th, and it's time to go back to work.  I untwisted my hair using Bee Mine Luscious Balanced Cream Moisturizer on the tips of my fingers.  This was my first attempt at a twist-out and I feel it was successful.

My first two strand twist-out

To prepare for second day hair I decided to re-twist my hair that night using Jane Carter's Nourish & Shine.  My second day hair was a success, but I knew I would need more moisture for third day hair because my hair was beginning to feel dry. That night I decided to spritz my hair with water and re-twist using more Jane Carter's Nourish & Shine. I probably used more product than needed because when I untwisted my hair the next morning it was a little bit greasy to the touch.  I also noticed that my scalp was itching in a couple of spots in the back and about to start flaking in the front of my head around my widow's peak. To fix this uncomfortable situation I put drops of Jane Carter's Scalp Nourishing serum on my itchy areas.  Not even 10 minutes later my scalp became extremely irritated.  The area around my widows peak was excessively flaking, turned red, and was about to get bumpy.  To help soothe the itch I put some old-fashioned African Pride Caster & Mink Oil with Shea Butter on my scalp along with Carol's Daughter Mimosa Hair Honey. It helped a little because I didn't have enough time to wash out my hair before work. 


Third day hair gone bad

My day three hair looked good but it felt terrible.  My good hair had really gone bad.  I endured the itch throughout the day but that night I couldn't wash my hair fast enough.  I washed my hair using Shea Moisture Organic Coconut & Hibiscus Curl & Shine Shampoo and conditioned with Shea Moisture Organic Raw Shea Butter Restorative Conditioner.  I deep conditioned my hair with Shea Moisture Organic Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment Hair Masque. After my wash, condition, and deep treat my scalp felt 100% better.  I used Coconut Oil as my sealant and completed my wash-n-go with Kinky-Curly Knot Today and Kinky-Curly Curling Custard.

Relief!!! wash-n-go

On Friday, January 20th, I was in love with my hair again.  It felt so much better.  Obviously, there is something in the Jane Carter products that caused my irritation and I will no longer use them. This is a true example of what works for one person may not work for another. By writing this blog I am, by no means, telling anyone not to use Jane Carter products.  I am just sharing MY experience.  I am going to closely examine  and compare the ingredients in the Jane Carter products with the other products in my hair arsenal.  I think this will help me pinpoint which ingredient or ingredients caused my irritation.  I will come back with Part 2 of this blog and let you know what I've discovered.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and please subscribe :)

Peace & Blessings...

Natural4Rachel





Saturday, January 14, 2012

Product Junkieism

Are you a product junkie?  Is that necessarily a bad thing?  I ask because I've often heard people in the natural community mention the term product junkie and how either they are one and/or don't want to be one.  I've even heard it mentioned in a negative tone as if it were  a real problem.  Any answer given to this question would be relative but I thought I would share my opinion with you.

So what is the definition of a product junkie?  Yes, it sounds obvious but to be certain I took the liberty of looking it up and breaking it down.  Wikipedia says a junkie is "a hyperbolic expression for a person with a particularly strong enthusiasm for some activity."  Basically it is saying someone has an exaggerated, intense enjoyment, interest or approval for something (in our case: hair products).  I assume that when we hear the term "junkie" people tend to think about drug addicts which adds to the negative stigma of the term.  Junkies usually go wrong when they sacrafice their responsibilities to fulfill their habit.  Ok, I know I just went deep but I would like you to know that I don't believe product junkieism is anywhere near that serious or deep.  Junkieism!?...Ok, I would like to think that I made that up...LOL!

Rece. A PJ's new finds. 26 june 2011.<http://ahairstory.wordpress.com/2011/06/26/>

So what makes a person a "real" product junkie?  Is a product junkie that person who has a lot of different products because they like to try new things and/or rotate their products?  Is it a person who likes one particular product or product line and wants extras stored in their bathroom closet because they don't want to run out?  I still have a hard time answering that question.  I don't believe that we can fairly determine another person's wants or needs for the products they purchase.  I have nothing against the two scenarios I've stated above and in my opinion I would not label that product junkieism.  I only know my finances and would say that purchasing hair products instead of paying rent, mortgage, car note, gas/electric, etc... is the characteristic of a product junkie.  I would not neglect my responsibilities and I would hope other people wouldn't either. (Not taking care of your responsibilites is another extreme example to parallel the drug addict example above and it is not really what I'm focusing on.)

I look at a person who buys a lot of hair products the same way as I look at the person who buys a lot of shoes, a lot of purses, or clothes etc.  This is something that person likes and there is nothing wrong with it.  There are a lot of products on the market today and I know we can't have them all and not all of them work best for us.  Unlike shoes and clothes, in most cases you cannot try on hair products to see if they work well for your hair before you purchase them.  Therefore, many people are left with a lot of unused products in their cabinets which can become wasteful and cause money to go down the drain.  My suggestion to this ,as if you asked, is to pass it on to someone who might like it (donate, gift it, sell it at a discounted price!). This makes room for your next products that hopefully work better.  It's fun to try and buy new things.  My hair journey includes growth, maintenance, and experimentation.  I love experimenting with my hair products and styles.  Well, my styles are still kind of limited but I'm looking forward to my days beyond the TWA (teeny weeny afro).  In some people's eyes I may be considered a product junkie, but I will not claim the label for myself.  I hope that we don't fall into the trend of labeling individuals.  Let me wrap this up by saying...do you and I will always do me.

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Peace & Blessings...Happy Belated New Year!

Natural4Rachel