Product Fail: Tresemme Reformulation #??

Once upon a time, before its (I think they're at two now?) formulations I loved Tresemme Naturals (nourishing moisture with aloe and avocado). It guaranteed perfect faux W&G's, smooth buns, ponytails and moisturized hair for days.

Today, I'm staring at an almost full reformulated bottle, that is on it's way into the trash. There have been countless blogs, threads, videos etc. about the topic so I have nothing to add that hasn't been said.

It miraculously tangled a previously detangled section and made my ends clump into a massive knot. I had to lean under the sink to re-wet the section and start over with TJ's Nourish Spa. 

Not sure who this is, but I feel the same
way she does about this trash.

On a side note, I'm noticing that my hair prefers natural products. When I use TJ's or KC my hair is soft, moisturized, clumps perfectly and is overall amazing. I might be onto something…

All items were purchased by me, unfortunately since this Tresemme product is garbage!

1. Holiday 2014 Prep: The Planning Stage

It's official, my family is heading to St. Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla, Tortolla and possibly St. Thomas in 2014! This is a homecoming and first international trip wrapped up in one for my mom and brother respectively.

St. Kitts

Frigate Bay, Nevis

Shoal Bay, Anguilla

Tortola

So being the obsessive planner I am, I've started prepping for our holiday. Starting early means that I can afford to wait for deals, search for coupons and be more selective. This post is going to have a lot of name dropping and price tags, even though it isn't sponsored. The only company I'm loyal to is the one with the best price!

My new camera is waiting under the tree for me, courtesy of Mom!

Canon SX510 Powershot

It's a Canon SX510 Powershot, 12.2 MP and 30x zoom (Price matching, a coupon + Target red card = $50+ cheaper). I'm in love and I haven't even taken a single picture with it yet.

I also got a 32GB memory card from Amazon for $22, much cheaper than Best Buy ($35) and BJ's ($28). I paid more for a class 10 since my camera can record videos up to 1080p. I plan to buy a few smaller cards for my trip (16 and maybe 2 8's). I also want an extra battery, so I'm price watching on Amazon.

Ona Bowery, $119. Scratches seem to be added to the
display bag,  because there are less scratches in personal reviews.

Earlier I was leaning towards this bag in leather but after a chat with Mom I'm getting the canvas. From my keyboard research stalking, it seems like the leather is very soft and scratches easily. Sounds like a nightmare for my OCD. Scratches ≠ character, at least to me. I just wish the strap was leather instead of seatbelt fabric.


 Bathing Suit I'm shvitzing over. And another one I'm interested in.

Santorini by La Blanca

Ibiza by La Blanca

I also need a new rain jacket, with a bigger hood because my current one can't handle my big
curly hair. It can't even handle a low bun without making me look like a dinosaur LOL. I'm partial
to Patagonia (college nostalgia) and North Face so here are a few options:

1. Patagonia Women's
 Torrentshell Jacket $129

2. Patagonia Women's
Storm Jacket $269

3. TNF Mesmeric $149
Cute shape!

4. TNF RDT Rain Jacket $149

My green patagonia has been fun, but I'm going for a less LOUD color this time around. I'll probably make a trip to REI (I'm a member) to check them out but I'm leaning towards the first and third. The second one seems like a fall, early winter jacket which I definitely don't need. The fourth is also a contender, the zipper placard is very shiny/distracting.

And this fun hat. Hopefully I won't put it down to check my phone and then leave it home like I did for my trip to PR. I didn't even realize I forgot it until I got to the beach later that day LOL.

Fortunately, I don't need much. I did a lot of shopping last summer, so I don't need any more shorts, skirts and tops.


All items were or will be purchased by myself. Or good ol' Mom LOL.

Quick Thought

I've been natural most of my life (only relaxed between 16-19) but I spent many of the years before my relaxer coveting relaxed hair. I loved everything about the mythical relaxed head of hair. No more frizzy halo of hair after gym class. No more long detangling sessions between my mom's legs cringing at every tangle.

I enjoyed my relaxed hair until it began to thin. Three years later I realized relaxed hair (for my head), wasn't all that I'd made it out to be. My hair was thin. I had three spots on my hairline that were thinning and I had to strategically style my hair. Hmm this part is too close my center thin spot, but it's also reall close to the thin spot on the right. 

Now almost 3.5 years post relaxer, I feel natural. At peace. Slicked down hair feels strange on me. I don't recognize myself with straight hair. It makes me feel weird, like a child looking at pictures of their mother before they were born.



*Sidenote: I'm not a fan of the natural nazi movement lol. I've seen many gorgeous relaxed heads on the forum, relaxed hair just isn't feasible for me. HHJ!

The Leave-in/Gel Olympics!

I am always on the hunt for a good leave-in. Always.

For the last few days I've picked up a few products that I've always wanted to try. So with the next two days off and a little extra $$, what better time to let the PJ have a little fun?

First up: Curls Hair Gel Curls Creme Brulée. I have to take the L on this one. In my excitement at this being on sale at Target (run don't walk, they have for for $6 and change if you like this line) + my redcard %5, I bought this without smelling it. A definite no for my sensitive nose and migraine prone self. This was disqualified.

Second: My current favorite combo of them all, Kinky Curly Knot Today and Kinky Curly Curling Custard. I applied the KCKT in sections, smoothed the KCCC on and the separated the clumps. Perfection. My hair was defined albeit a little dull (IMO, but my friend disagreed) due to my heavy-handedness. Everyone talks about the steep learning curve for KCKT and KCCC, but I don't see it. I got rid of the dullness by scrunching in a little Jojoba Oil. This gave me FIVE DAY hair, which is the longest I've ever gotten out of a style.

Third: Shea Moisture Curling Gel Soufflé. A swing and a miss. I've been looking at these products for ages, since they work well for Gabrielle, my goddaughter. The smell was overwhelming and smelled a little stale IMO. I still gave it a shot and it made my hair stringy with very little clumpage. Similar to how my hair looks with Olive Oil, a HAM.

Fourth: Eco Styler Argan Oil. Gives me similar results to KCCC. I am not saying that this is a dupe, but so far I'm liking the hold and clumpage that I've gotten from it. I also LOVE the price. At $5 for 32 oz this is the second cheapest item in my stash.

Fifth: Taliah Waajid The Great Detangler. This is marketed as a detangler and leave-in. My cousin Karen uses this to detangle her kids hair and it works well for them. For my purposes as a leave-in it was meh. The smell was nice but it's no KCKT or TJ's Nourish and Spa Conditioner.



All of these items were purchased by me. 

Quick Regimen Update

Right now my current reggie is modified to my work week. My washday is always Wednesday night right after work. The only shampoo I use is Trader Joes Nourish and Shine. I try to avoid harsh sulfates when I can. I also set my style for the week on Wednesday or sometimes Thursday, even Friday and allow it to air dry in 12 braids. For my leave-in I rotate between Tresemme Flawless Curls conditioner, Kinky Curly Knot Today (if I have somewhere important to go) and TJ's Nourish and Shine.

Air drying in 6 lazy braids LOL

Once my hair is dry I unbraid it and wear it down for Sat. and Sun. Then bun until Wed. I love buns and I don't like my ends rubbing up on my clothes especially in the winter.

Regular bun

I henna my hair every six-eight weeks. If it's a henna week I'll do it on Monday night and then DC until Tuesday morning. Then I'll wear my hair in a bun until washday.

Sneaking pics at work w/ my DC bun

All of these products were purchased by me :) and TJ's is only available in the store.

3 things this PJ can't toss

One of the important things about being natural having hair on your head, is testing out products. Hopefully after all of your testing you'll end with a few products you like and maybe even a holy grail (HG) item or two. But you'll also end up with a few products that you didn't like/can't return/don't have anyone to give to/don't need, but can't part with. Thankfully my list is short but mine are:

1. Flexi-Rods. I'll be honest. At this point in time curling my hair with flexirods is on my "Ain't nobody got time for that" list. Plus my roots like to do their own thing. Sometimes they fall in line. Other times, I'm walking around with wet roots and a dry faux W&G. I also think they're too large for any style I'd want to achieve, but they still rest in my bottom drawer approx 2-3 years after purchase. Oops.

2. Jane Carter Nourish & Shine. Possibly the first product I bought post BC. Unfortunately the jar still has about 3.9 of its original 4.0 oz. It's too finicky for my taste. It doesn't like to be used with any of my leave-ins. Defiance or absurd optimism is rewarded with dull, grayish hair. Butters make my hair fall into limp stringy curls. I can only use them to slick down a bun/ponytail when I don't plan to wear my hair out again. Sometimes I can get away with using a little JCNS if I wet my hair first, but I don't always have time for that.

3. Bed Head TIGI Foxy Curls. No on all levels. Another rookie mistake. To keep it 100% honest, I can't remember why I don't like this product. But, I do remember not liking the stiffness that it gave my hair. I typically used it for braidouts, and it did me no favors. I'm about to empty the bottle when I get up and use it for my homemade TJ Nourish & Spa leave-in.

Product Rave: On Hair Pins & Bobby Pins

For years, I've used the Diane/regla pins that can be found at literally any BSS. I've always hated these pins because by the end of the day they're always missing the paint (blech!) and tips. Totally ridiculous, but I guess you get what you pay for. SMH.

Anyway, I started my HHJ with a trip to Sally's (with its off the chain employees) to create my stash. As I was heading to the register, my eyes glanced upon the Sta-Rite hair pins below.

My first thought was $2.29 for some hair pins!? Why would I buy those when my current hair pins are so much cheaper? But then I saw the game changer on these pins. They have a little clear ball at the tip. So I gave them a shot and here I am a year later raving about them. They're worth every penny. The tips never come off. The paint doesn't chip. And they've made me a girl who doesn't lose her hairpins and instead puts then in a jar after every use.

The above made me a believer and I shelled out the $8 for these Bobby Pins.

A year later and I still have my jar which is about 75% full. Yay me!

All of these items were purchased by me. 

What's in My Spray Bottle

I like to keep my spray bottle mixture simple. I use:

1. Water (not FIJI, I just use the bottle for leftover boiled water)
2. Matrix Biolage Daily Leave-In Tonic 
3. Silk Amino Acids

I don't measure, but I listed the above in order of how much is used in my trusty bottle. If I had to guess I say mostly water, 1 TBSP Matrix and a drop of SAA. 

I'm interested in mixing the above with some Trader Joe's Nourish Spa to see how it comes out.

Making the Expensive, Inexpensive

When I was a kid my Mom always said, "Everything always comes on sale. Don't pay retail." I didn't realize how true this was until I got older and saw the light. With that said, wait and buy your staples, Pj spree items etc on sale!

My best weapon is that I have my staples and I rarely deviate. I'm also a coupon/discount code/sale fiend. No sale = adiós! I am very strict about following sale cycles and will not buy one of the items below until it's on sale.

Joico- I buy this once a year at the Ulta BOGO Liter sale. FYI Ulta does not sell most salon products online. My favorite in this line is the K-Pak, but the Moisture line is also good.

Matrix Biolage- I bought this during the Ulta Buy 2 get 1 sale. My leave-in tonic is about 1/2 a liter so the BOGO isn't applicable to this. If I had to guess, I'd say this deal comes around once every 3,4 months. I bought three bottles for about $13 each. This lasts forever since I use it by the TBSP.

Paul Mitchell- Also bought during the Buy 2 get 1.

Kinky Curly- I just started using this in 2013 so the best deal I've gotten so far was a Target buy 2 get a $5 gift card. I also combine this with my Target card for 5% back.

And for the NHR category, I get all of my ZOYA nail products during their BOGOs. As far as I know, they have a Black Friday sale and Earth Day. However, I'm sure there are more since they're very generous with their great polishes!

The other time of year I look forward to is the PJ Day AKA Black Friday! Miss Jessie's is known to offer a BOGO on her products, Curlmart usually has a 20% off coupon, Curlformers has a 20% and the list goes on. I've already started working on my PJ list which only has Kinky Curly and Curlformers. For now.

All items were purchased by me :)

Never mix Henna with...

Note to self. Never. EVER. Mix your Henna with Peppermint oil again. I don't care if someone on the hairboards does it and they get a great scalp massage that leaves them feeling invigorated. Or if someone else gets a perceptible amount of growth. 

The other night I decided to get fancy and use a few five, ten several I have no clue drops of peppermint oil. The first ten minutes were okay to slightly irritating. The next ten to fifteen minutes were so painful that I got relaxed flashbacks and wondered what the heck I'd done to myself.

After 30 seconds rationalizing, I ran to the sink and washed that ish out like Denzel in Malcom X.