DIY Hair Butter Inspired by KLP @SavingourStrands

Since I started following KLP, I don't think she has missed a wash day without using her DIY butter, I thought I would give it a try. It was really fun making it, it felt like I was making custard, and looks almost like it as well!

Ingredients I used (A third of KLP's original recipe, which made about 250g of the butter):
76g (1/3 cup) Shea Butter
76g (1/3 cup) Mango Butter
76g (1/3 cup) Cocoa Butter
1/3 tbsp castor oil
43g (1/6 cup) almond oil
43g (1/6 cup) coconut oil
43g (1/6 cup) EcoStyler Gel (I didn't have Aloe vera Gel, so I used this one as a substitute)

The process:

Results:

The butter hardened once it cooled down, but once you rub it in your hands it melts very fast. The butter has the cocoa butter scent, which is the strongest scent of all the butters in this mix. I love the scent of cocoa butter, so I did not add tangerine and vanilla infused oil like the recipe suggested.

I have been using it to seal my hair after moisturizing, it melts like butter into my hair lol, obviously! My new growth especially loves it because of how it softens it easily.

Be inspired to make your own butter, and you can use it for your skin especially during dry winters. Here is the original recipe from KLP's blog.

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Relaxer Prep Wash Day - 18 weeks post relaxer!

This month has flown so quickly that only when I picked my calendar few days ago, I realised it had been 18 weeks since I last relaxed my hair!! I have never gone beyond 16 weeks in my life so this was in a way an achievement. I will do a separate post to share the techniques I used to reduce breakage and all the not nice things that could happen on a long stretch.

I really wanted to get to 20 weeks post, but I am going on holiday next week and I definitely do not want to be dealing with new growth on holiday so it will have to be a 19 week stretch....

I must confess that due to my busy schedule I have washed my hair only twice this month #smh. This is my last wash day before I relax my hair:

0.) Generously applied coconut oil to 4 sections of my hair and detangled each section separately. This step took about 30 minutes because of all the growth and shed hair from 2 weeks of not combing.
1.) Scalp massaged with castor oil mix: Castor oil, peppermint oil & rosemary oil.
2.) Did a dry protein treatment to strengthen my hair ahead of relaxing it: Mix of aPhogee 2-minute Keratin Reconstructor & ORS Hair Mayonnaise, and sat under my steamer for 20 minutes.
3.) Let my hair cool before washing it with Creme of Nature Sulphate-free Moisturising Shampoo. Lathered twice.
4.) Applied a mix of some of my new deep conditioners: Mane 'n Tail Deep Moisturizing Conditioner + Neutrogena Triple Silk Moisture + Aussie 3 minute miracle moist. My new growth absorbs ALOT of product, so I have had to use my deep conditioners generously in order to get my growth to become soft and manageable after a wash. This is why I find that mixing helps coz I do not want to finish one product within 2 wash days...

*on a side note, I like how clear my pics are coming out with my new phone*

5.) I was too tired to sit under a dryer again, so I deep conditioned overnight.
6.) Rinsed out the conditioner mix the next morning and t-shirt dried for 30 minutes.
7.) Sectioned my hair into 4, and applied Kinky Curly Knot Today to my new growth and length of my hair before detangling. I first detangle each section with my hands, and then with a wide-tooth comb - this step took about 20-30 minutes.
8.) Sprayed ApHogee Green Tea & Keratin Restructurizer + Herbal Essences Split End Protector to my ends, and then sealed with my favourite wash-day oil = OGX Anti-Breakage Serum.
9.) Dried my hair with my blowdryer on cool air before doing my protective style for the week, a simple halo twist.

Hope you had a great wash day, join in the linkup by posting your #washdayexperience on savingourstrands.com or justgrowalready.com!

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Product Review: Pura Body Naturals MuruMuru Moisture Milk

Price: +/- 18 USD  

Purchased at: Sizzelle Online Store

Size: 8 oz

Promises: "Murumuru Butter is grown in the depths of the Amazon and has been known for its anti-inflammatory and bactericide properties. Its rich oleic acid content promotes nutrition and moisture to skin and hair. Murumuru acts as an excellent emolient and its natural gloss brings a desirable shine to dry, damaged hair. It's specifically useful for people of all ethnicities with kinky, curly, or wavy hair because of its emolient abilities to increase manageability. This product can be applied to chemically processed hair as well to increase moisture content and sheen."

Ingredients: water, murumuru butter, BTMS (behentrimonium sulfate and cetearyl alcohol), castor bean oil, palm oil, avocado oil, chamomile extract, vitamin E, phenoxyethanol, capryl glycol (paraben and formaldehyde free preservative), fragrance and/or essential oil.

Directions: MuruMuru Moisture is a lightweight water based moisturizer which can be used as a daily moisturizer for those in need of  moisture and sheen. It can also be used a leave-in conditioner to moisture and help maintain soft healthy hair.

My review

Pros:

- It moisturizes my new growth! I know this sounds like something that every moisturizer does, but this one is on another level. It is one of the reasons why I have been able to go on a long relaxer stretch with little difficulty from managing new growth.

- Ingredients are naturalista friendly: Yes paraben free, mineral oil free, etc etc

- It smells amazing! The vanilla scent makes me want to eat it, it smells like a dessert lol. The scent is not overbearing it just has the right balance.

- It has good slip: I find is easy to work through my new growth with this product because as I apply it, the growth softens fast.

- Smooth results: I use it in the evenings before I cross wrap my hair, and the next day my hair is almost always feeling smooth.

- A little goes a long way: I started off with the 2 oz sample, just to see if it was worth purchasing. I used the 2 oz sample for about 2 months, so if my maths is correct, a 80z bottle should last me about 8 months :-))


Cons:

- It is thick in consistency so sometimes it is hard to get out of the bottle (my bottle is the squeeze one, not the pump bottle I see on their website)

- Because of its consistency I do not see myself using this moisturizer during the first 8 weeks after relaxing my hair - I think it will weigh down my hair a lot, so I will keep using Hairveda Satin Tea Moisturizer during that time. I also do not see myself using it as a leave-in conditioner as indicated in the directions due to its thickness.

Overall I give this product a 10/10, Love it!

Have you used MMMM before?

2

New Buys: July 2015

- Eco Styler Gel (Argan Oil)
- Neutrogena Triple Moisture Deep Recovery Mask
- Aussie 3-minute Miracle Moist Conditioner
- Aussie Miraculously Smooth Conditioner
- Creme of Nature Strengthen & Shine Leave-In Conditioner (replacement)

I must say that I am really liking all these products so far, and it's exciting to see that these products are now in stock in Kenyan supermarkets. I found the Aussie & Neutrogena Products in Nakumatt @ KES 785 (USD 8) and KES 1065 (USD 11) respectively. So if you are looking for new products to try and you live in Kenya, head over to Nakumatt or any pharmacy which stocks hair products and you will find Aussie & Neutrogena goodies!

Surprisingly, or maybe not, I found the Eco Styler Gel in a store downtown.. If you live in Nairobi, you would know that downtown is no place that you want to go often to shop.. But actually I was pleasantly surprised by the type of products that these small stalls had stocked. I have not been able to get Eco Styler Gel anywhere else in town, so lesson learnt is that you may great products in the place where you least expect :-)

Onto my goal of reducing my product stash by 25%, I think I am doing reasonably well, as I am buying less than the number of products that have gotten finished during the month. 

How do you manage your product stash? Have you used any of these products, did you like them?

5

Wash day: Braid take-up & take-down

Sooo I decided to put in twists last weekend, and this past weekend I removed them lol! After 1 week, the braids felt dry and I knew my hair was also dry despite the fact that I moisturized my braids a few times during the week. Secondly, I noticed that some of my hair and partcularly my ends were sticking out of the braids which I DID NOT LIKE.. any tips on how to completely hide the ends in the braids would be highly appreciated!

Anyway, true to my suspicions my hair was dry and hence I experienced some breakage. So I amped up my moisture levels in this wash day.

1.) Pre-poo: Coconut oil & Aphogee 2 minute reconstructor for 20 minutes.
2.) Shampoo: Creme of Nature Moisturizing Shampoo
3.) Condition: Aussie 3-minute miracle moist (will do a separate post on my new buys for the month, Aussie products are now in Kenya woop woop!)
4.) Deep Condition: Neutrogena Triple Moisture Mask for 30 minutes (another new buy, and I was totally not disappointed. My hair minus my new growth is still feeling soft).

5.) Leave-ins: 
- Kinky Curly Knot Today for my growth and the knots that came from it,
- Aphogee Green Tea & Keratin Rectructurizer & 
- Herbal Essences Split End Protector for my ends & OGX Anti-breakage coconut serum for sealing.
6.) I was inspired by Nerline of Chic from Hair to Toe to copy recreate this style, I have been taking it down every other day to moisturize my new growth It's not as neat as hers, but I am working on making it look better. I also applied some Eco Styler gel (another new buy) to keep my hair neat and laid down, I must say that I am liking Eco Styler Gel a lot.

Any new product tries this week, and any tips on how to keep ends completely protected when in braids?

Hope you had a great wash day this week! Head on to saving our strands or just grow already to join in the wash day experience!

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