Product Review: Darcy's Botanicals Madagascar Vanilla Styling Creme

Darcy's Botanicals Madagascar Vanilla Styling Creme

Cost: $12.00 (www.darcysbotanicals.com)

Size: 8 oz

Scent: Very Light Vanilla 

What They Say: Our Madagascar Vanilla Styling Creme is a luscious blend of all natural oils that will provide healthy conditioning, softness & moisture to your naturally curly hair.  The BEST super rich moisturizing styling butter for natural twists, braids, locs and curls.

What I Say:  Absolutely LOVE it! It provides a soft hold, adds shine, makes hair super soft and it is very moisturizing.  I use this to style flat twists in Baby Girl S's hair after lightly spritzing the hair with a hair mist.  It gives great definition for twist outs.  The creme has a very think consistency, so a little goes a long way.  Although the picture above shows a creamy consistency, mine came as more of a solid.  Great sealer as well.  Sidenote:  It can also be us

ed on the skin, how awesome is that!

Ingredients: Organic Palm Oil, Organic Aloe Vera, Organic Madagascar Vanilla, Vegetable Emulsifying Wax, Candelilla Wax, Organic Castor Oil, Rice Bran Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil and Potassium Sorbate.

**** I give this product a 5 out of 5 Baby Curls**** 

Twist Out Day

After wearing their hair in two-strand twists for the week, I decided to give both girls a twist-out.  Baby Girl M loves wearing her hair free and curly and I usually put Baby Girl S twist-out in ponytails.  To keep down on frizzies, I typically don't pull the hair apart after untwisting, I let the hair do its own thing, lol.  Here are the results:

Baby Girl M Twist Out
 I used SM Coconut & Hibiscus Curl & Style Milk to twists and applied Beautiful Textures Moisture Butter right before untwisting.

Baby Girl S Twist Out
I used Darcy's Botanicals Madagascar Vanilla Styling Creme to twists,  applied Coconut Oil to untwists and misted with Cara B Moisturizing Hair Mist while adding a little more coconut oil to style.

Take Your Child To Work Day

Today Thursday, April 26, 2012 is Take Your Child To Work Day!!!

Are you taking your child to work?

Enjoy...

Natural Hair Lingo...

When I first entered the "world" of researching and blogging on natural hair care, I was hit with acroynoms and terms that had me totally confused and stuck with trying to figure out what the meanings were.  After all, the "Natural Hair World" have a tongue of its own and definitely speaks in code, lol.

Here is a very helpful guide to some of the most commonly used acronyms and terms that you may find in the world of natural hair...

• ACV - Apple Cider Vinegar, typically used to clarify the hair.
• BC - Big Chop, the first time your permed hair off.
• CG - Curly Girl, not using shampoos with sulfates, mainly washing with conditioner and not using any products with silicones.
• Clarify - Washing your hair to remove product build up, dirt, oil or anything clogging the hair follicles in your scalp.
• Co-Wash - Wash hair with only conditioner. 
• DC - Deep Conditioner.
• Dusting - A light trim, usually about 1/4″ or less of the ends of your hair.
• EVCO - Extra Virgin Coconut Oil.
• EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
• HG - Holy grail a product your hair LOVES.
• Humectants - Ingredients or type of products that draw moisture from the air and into the hair shaft. Most naturals don’t like to use humectants in dry weather because the products will draw moisture from your hair (since there’s no moisture in the air) and dry it out.
• JBCO - Jamaican Black Castor Oil.
• Manipulation - The amount of time you spend touching or doing anything to your hair on a frequent basis (i.e. brushing, combing, detangling, etc.). 
• Porosity - Your hair’s ability to soak up moisture. The more porous a strand is, the more quickly moisture will be absorbed into the cuticle.
• Protective Styling - Any hair style that protects the ends of your hair from exposure to elements such as the weather, clothing, etc. Protective styles can be worn for days at a time so that there is low manipulation to your hair (i.e. twists, flat twists, cornrows, braids, etc.)
• Sealing - Sealing moisture into your hair. This is done after a moisturizer/leave-in has been applied and usually done with a heavier type of oil or butter. 
• Shrinkage - When your curls tighten and “shrink” making the length of your hair appear shorter than it actually is, usually when the hair is wet.
• Slip - How well a product allows your fingers/comb to glide through your hair. The more slip, the easier it is to detangle.
• Stretching - A very simple technique used to lengthen the curls in the hair without heat. (i.e. banding, twisting, braiding).
• TWA - Teeny Weeny Afro.
• Twist Out - A hair style where two strand twists or flat twists are done in hair, dried completely, untwisted and gently separated to create fullness. 
• Wash- N-Go - A styling method where you wash your hair, apply some product if needed and go, usually allowing hair to air dry.

Credit:  La Coco Bella

More can be found here: Essence: Ultimate Natural Hair Dictionary by Jenelle Stewart & Nicole Marie Melton

The Curl Whisperer on Protein: Friend or Foe?

I found this article very interesting and true.  It took me a while to figure out why certain products would make Baby Girl S's hair either dry, hard or tangled.  After investigating, by testing various products with and without protein (protein comes in various forms of course) I learned that Baby Girl S's hair is sensitive to protein. I try to stay away from products with protein as much as possible for Baby Girl S.  However, Baby Girl M's hair loves protein as they have two different hair types.  One of my favorite brands (Shea Moisture) has protein in some of the products I use and unfortunately I had to stop using them on Baby Girl S's hair but continue to use on Baby Girl M with no problems.

So I would love suggestions on good styling hair milks without protein...

*Update: Just ordered Darcy's Botanicals NEW Sweet Cocoa Bean Curl Smoothing Cream (Product Review to Come)  This product did not do much for BG "S" hair but works well in BG "M" hair, then again anything does.  Still in search of a good hair milk for BG "S".  I will be trying the Oyin Hair Dew soon.

Enjoy the article.

Curly Nikki | Natural Hair Styles and Curly Hair Care: The Curl Whisperer on Protein: Friend or Foe?: by Tiffany of Live Curly, Live Free It is a never-ending question on boards and web sites everywhere: does my hair need protein or not? ...

Happy 2nd Birthday to BGC "S"

"Little Miss Sunshine" turned 2 on yesterday.  Boy, how time flies!  We had a pretty busy weekend with (3) birthday parties to attend including her party, so I decided to revisit cornrowing (deep breath).  Cornrowing still takes me forever to do, not to mention her hair is sooo thick.  I think I did okay, considering I don't cornrow that often!  Cornrowing was an instant reminder of why I love flat twisting so much!  Anywho, here are a couple of pictures from the weekend...

My baby makes music with anything!

Cake Time!!!

Flat Twists Style and Twist Out Style

I am so behind with posting pictures, trying to play catch-up.  I absolutely love doing flat twists, they are easy to do and easy to take down.  I am improving day by day, too bad I can't get cornrows like this (oh well)....  After wearing the flat twist style for a week, I took the style down and she wore a twist-out.  This was the first time I let her wear her hair completely out, needless to say when I picked her up from daycare, it was all over the place!

Mini Twists Protective Style (January)

This style was done a couple of months ago (I know, I know).  Two-strand twists is a go-to style for Baby Girl S.  The mini-twists allow for the hair to be manipulated in various styles.  It takes a couple of hours to put the twists in with a busy toddler even while she's sleeping o_0. I was motivated to do this style when Kandy Land Kurls had her Protective Style Challenge back in January. The pictures were taken a couple of weeks after the style was actually done.

Product Junkie: Part II

Getting away from being a PJ:

• Read/watch reviews before purchasing (we all know products work differently from person 2 person, but you can get a generally idea of the product before spending your money.)
  
  
• Find a product you like and stick with what works (if you love it and it works, why change?!)
  
  
• Get what you need (if you don't have a need for it, don't get it!)
  
  
• Find a way to use what you have (if its manageable....mix it and give it a try, you may like it.)
  
  
• Take a look at what have been spent on products that don't work for you (depending on your preference for hair products, this habit can get expensive!) o_O

I want to find the best products for my girls' curls and get the best results!  So far, so good....