Review: Red Colorwash on Sisterlocks

Since my locs love absorbing products, I was excited about this red shampoo by Celeb Luxury Viral.

I only shampooed the midshaft to the ends of my Sisterlocks with the red shampoo.  Because my locs are mostly black besides the grey strands, I can only see the red tint in the sunlight.  I only shampooed  once with this colored shampoo.  If I was prelightened, then I would assume that the fire engine red color would be front and center.

I wore gloves to be on the safe side to minimize staining of my hands.  The shampoo suds up fine. The shampoo works.  I was a little disappointed initially, but in the sunlight, one shampoo tells the real story.

Shower Cap Review: April brand from Dollar Tree Store

The good news is that the shower cap was only $1 USD at the Dollar Tree store.

It also had a terry cloth lining inside of the plastic shower cap.

The bad news is that it was so small that I do not know if my foot would even fit inside of it, let alone, my head.

And the plastic covering tore up before I even attempted to wear it.

Essentially, it was a wasted dollar. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars.

I am not sure if the Dollar Tree accepts returns, but I may spend more time and gas trying to get a dollar refund than it is worth.  So I will just trash it.

Texture Release Curl Shape and Shine Cream Review

Avlon Texture Release Curl Shape and Shine Cream comes in the Texture Release System kit.  

In the past, it has worked well for "wash and go" final styling.  Except now, this new jar seems to be stiff and expired.  Can you see my fingerprint?  I don't remember any other hair product  but edge gel leaving this much of an indentation of a fingertip.

This new jar was just opened and unsealed, and I have no idea what has made the entire contents stiff.  Avlon really was premature to market with its Texture Release line.  It has been one disappointment after the next with this kit.

Review: Design Essentials Deep Fortifying Treatment

Bad news first:  I hate when manufacturer's give hair treatments generic names like "Deep."  You have to ask do you want the "Deep" deep conditioner or just a deep conditioner.  You feel me right?  The name can lead to a little confusion within the salon.

Now, the good news:  I love the smell of this treatment.  The Deep Fortifying Treatment is designed to be left on the hair for up to 15 minutes with heat.  I spend about five minutes combing it through the hair for even distribution, then I let the client sit under the medium heat dryer for another 10 minutes.  Rinse thoroughly and and continue to my next styling steps.

If it is a blow dry, then the aroma from the treatment just permeates the salon.  The hair smells delicious.  Not many conditioners leave a fragrance in the hair like that.

Unless someone has extremely damaged hair, I do not suggest using it on a regular basis.  The directions says that three consecutive weeks of use can greatly improve the hair's integrity.

So overall, the Design Essentials Deep Fortifying Treatment is a definite keeper for clients with double processing or if they need a quick treatment.

Review: Laila Ali Professional Intensive Hydrating Conditioner

The Laila Ali Intensive Hydrating Conditioner has a "baby powder" smell.  I am not a fan of the smell.  It has a thick consistency.  I cocktailed it with KeraCare Humecto conditioner to ensure adequate hydration to the hair.  It has Glycerin, Shea Butter, Wheat Protein, Marula Seed oil,  and Panthenol among other ingredients.

This conditioner seems to work best with natural, non-relaxed hair.  I have been spoiled with the aroma of my Pureology and Paul Mitchell products.  In addition, this conditioner can be purchased from some discount stores.

Overall, my curiosity was up because Laila Ali is such an icon for beauty.  However, I am going to stick with my longtime professional lines for my clientele.  It was good to experiment.  You never know until you try it!

Design Essentials fail to properly label their relaxer tubs

Back in October 2011 timeframe, I introduced the new and improved Design Essentials regular relaxer with shea butter and olive oil. Take a good look at the old packaging on the left and the new packaging on the right.

Recently, I purchased another full container of Design Essentials regular relaxer. I was floored. "No they didn't" just sell me a tub with old labeling and put a sticker with "New and Improved" on it? So let us check the ingredients.

As you can see, there is no Olive or Shea butter listed in the ingredients list. So Design Essentials used old packaging to put their new relaxer formula, but they did not bother to update the ingredients' portion.

Pictured is what the ingredients' label should be. This picture was taken of the tub with the new labeling. The ingredients may look a little blurry, but you can see "Olive Fruit" oil and Shea Butter listed. Design Essentials is a ethnic line sold nationally across the United States and probably abroad. Failure to update the ingredients label with an updated sticker to match the "new and improved" sticker is just outright unprofessional in my opinion. In addition, this relaxer has caused some shedding issues with a few Type 4 curl pattern clients. Type 3 curl patterns grow out and away from the scalp and seem to do well with this relaxer. So I am debating on discontinuing all Design Essentials relaxers for Type 4 curl patterns. I have been using the Design Essentials Stimulations conditioner to correct any shedding issues about a week or two after the relaxer touch-ups for the type 4 curl patterns. This issue has me concerned because the relaxer is quite tolerable (i.e. no burning.) However, no one wants any scalp damage. Type 4 new growth is very much concentrated and coiled at the scalp. With Design Essentials trying to "save money" on packaging, it makes you wonder how are the relaxer sales going with such a push for African American women to wear their natural hair?

Tool Review: Curlformers

Curlformers sales have picked up recently. I had purchased these over a year ago. They are cute and fun, but you need to have straight hair and straight roots. So unless you are born with straight hair or you have a fresh relaxer touchup, you are not going to get optimum results. They cost about $12 a pack. They come in different lengths and diameters. They are soft enough to sleep in. I stared at the Curlformers multi-pack in Sally Beauty Supply for about 15 minutes going back and forth trying to decide if I had enough clientele that could use them. I decided that the select group of people who would most benefit from this expensive "curling" tool would probably complete the service at home and let it air day. Thus I decided against adding to my supply of 4. The Curlformer hook to slide hair through the curlformer costs around $4. Just slide the hook through the curlformer, latch onto some hair and loop it through the curlformer and release. Beautiful spirals lock into place. Just let them dry.

Product Review: Salon Exclusive relaxer brand

It has been at least a year since I have used a "Salon Exclusive" brand relaxer. This relaxer brand seems to leave the hair silky, straight; however, I and a few other stylists felt that the straightness maybe leaving the hair too vulnerable making it easy to break.

I mentioned my concerns to the distributor whom I was buying the product from and his response was "if you like it, then buy it; if you do not like it, then don't buy it." It was at that point that I discontinued use. I finally realized that manufacturers and distributors are there to meet sales quota. Until their sales drop, some have no intention of improving the product.

This company is very aggressive in adding new products to their line to profit from the latest trends such as the Argan oil demand. I believe this brand is also sold as the "Action South" relaxer line in other parts of the region.

The brand name "Salon Exclusive" is hard to research because many different relaxer lines consider themselves "salon exclusive" meaning salon professional use only. So to have a brand name of "Salon Exclusive" can be a little confusing even if making a phone inquiry to someone who is not aware of the actual brand existence.

I only recommend this relaxer system for those who want to maintain a short haircut or who promises to only roller set their hair. Blow-dry styling may be too much stress on really straight hair. It may be safer to use mild strength in this relaxer line and let it sit for a few extra minutes.

Those with sensitive scalps will be sensitive to the regular strength lye version. However, their no-lye version is very tolerable. As with all chemicals, choose with caution.

Review: Fanci-full Foam for Grey hair coverage

The new foam version of the Fanci-full Temporary Rinse/Leave-in works GREAT!!!! It is a "home run!" Just put the appropriate color foam in and distribute into the hair. Then add the liquid Fanci-full leave-in. The hairline coverage holds like a new color touch-up! My clients are loving it! The new Fanci-full foam can be found in Sallys Beauty Supply.
Alert! Make sure you are not buying old product. The one with the pointy lid is old packaging and may be a little runny because it is old. I purchased the old packaging from a Black beauty supply store. The consistency was not as thick as the ones that I bought from Sally Beauty Supply. I believe Sally Beauty Supply has better product turnover so it is fresher. The rounded "lift" top is the newest packaging with the freshest product.

Review: Hair Rules Kinky Curling Cream

About $30 in products pictured here. 3- 2oz bottles. Expensive? yeah. Smile. I have been texturizing my Type 4c curl pattern. I tried the Hair Rules Quench ultra Rich Conditioner. It uses shea butter, honey, glycerin, coconut and olive oils. I sat under a pre-heated dryer for about 5 minutes. The conditioner was okay. I did not feel that it defined my curls, but my hair felt softer. It has a nice smell. Since I did not have defined curls at the soaking wet stage (the most important stage), I was not very optimistic about the Hair Rules Kinky curling cream. I put it in generously, section by section and still NO extra curl definition. The ingredients contain a lot of mineral oil and beeswax (isoparaffin). Maybe between the conditioner and the curling cream, the products had too much weight? I layered the Hair Rules Hydrating Finishing cream while wet as well! It dried shiny with a little firmness which was no different than the KeraCare and Design Essentials Twisting gels.

I definitely loved the fresh smell of the Hair Rules products. I specifically think that the Hydrating Finishing Cream carries the smell that I adored. Also, this finishing cream is for all hair types. Otherwise, the conditioner and kinky curling cream were not exceptional. These 2 oz sizes cost around $10 a bottle at Beauty Brands. They gave me the 2 oz Quench conditioner for free. So $20 for three 2 oz bottles to try.

If you have a curly product line that already works for you, then stick with what you know. If you are still looking, then these Hair Rules products probably work better for twisting kinky hair versus trying to coil. They seem too heavy to coil.

Hair Rules does have different formulas for wavy hair and curly hair. They are different than the ones for kinky hair. According to the reviews that I read, the "Curl whip" leave-in is popular for less kinky hair.

I hope that this review helps! If I find something distinct about it on my next trial run, then I will add a comment to this article. Until then, this line is average. Not bad; yet nothing exceptional.

Review: Avlon's Moisturcolor Permanent Haircolor

I have been using Avlon's Affirm Moisturcolor line for about four years. Time and time again, the tubes leaked before the distributors could sell them. Now, I notice that if the tubes sit unused for even a few months, they can start leaking as well.

As far as performance, between the 2N and 6N, it is great for root touchup. The 8N and 10N appears to be too strong to touch the scalp. I would only consider these two colors for off-scalp highlights, and please do not leave it on too long. These colors seem to deposit darker if they are left on too long.

In a nutshell, this color line has failed me time and time again as far as creative color and resistant white hair. Also, with the tubes always leaking, I am losing product, money, and time.

I started using the Wella Color Perfect line for root touch-ups. So far, great results and good strength remained in the hair. I am considering the Pravanna color line for more creative color options. I also have Schwarzkopf Igora10 available for 10 minute quick foiling.

Stay tuned for special promotions on color services to use up my remaining Moisturcolor tubes!

Review: Phytospecific Relaxer (Phytorelaxer)

This relaxer does not have sodium hydroxide or lye in it, but remember it is still a relaxer. Most find that they can go a few weeks longer before the next touch-up service. The hair strand seems to have a different texture to it. The strand seems more fiber-like to the touch as far as texture. This relaxer typically costs around $60 for the box which means you pay a hairstylist another $60 or more for application and styling. There is index 1 and index 2 as far as relaxer strengths. Some people have marketed this relaxer as organic and natural. It is still a chemical. It still should be used with caution. It still causes a permanent change to the hair structure.
The Inductor ingredients show guanidine carbonate as an activator for the straightening creme. So this is a no-lye relaxer that has to be mixed. I have no issues with this relaxer. Everyone has to find a good fit for their own individual hair type. Index 1 is best for Type 2 or type 3 curl patterns. Index 2 for Type 4 or borderline Type 3c curl patterns. On a separate note, I do question the tensile strength of the hair after using this relaxer. It may be more vulnerable to abuse. Roller sets or wet wrap services are recommended.