Naturally Kinky

The results of my hair after the honey and olive oil deep conditioning treatment.


Wet




Dry



Notice I am showing you the results where you can see I have two different textures of hair. You can see how it works on 3b/c hair and 3c/4a ish hair.

Over the past year I have attempted to put my product junkism aside and focus on being cost effective, while still maintaining my natural locks. So for those of us who don't want to devote a mortgage payment to products, what do we use. Well here are my suggestions for those on a budget:

Shampoo:

Try a vinegar or apply cider vinegar rinse. It is really awesome for your hair. It gives it shine, it also works as a great detangler. One tablespoon per one cup of water. Here is a recipe for vinegar and baking soda shampoo. You can also try Castille soap. You can get a gallon for $32.99 at Amazon. That should last a while considering you can water it down so it can last longer. You can also use black soap. Both castille soap and black soap can be used on your hair and body.

Conditioner:

This isn't natural, but it is uber cheap. Suave Naturals. It costs about $3 or $4 a bottle, and then if you catch a sale, less than $2. If that is not an option a great natural conditioner is olive oil. It is great to help in detangling. I personally have never tried this, but people claim it is the best thing ever. You can also do honey and olive oil. It also makes for a great hot oil or deep conditioning treatment. Coconut milk is known for it's conditioning properties as well.

Daily Conditioner or moisturizing:

Olive oil, Coconut Oil, Shea Butter, if pretty broke I have heard of people using regular vegetable oil and even vegetable shortening. Shea butter is kind of pricey. Coconut oil, is very inexpensive and most of these thing you can use on your hair and skin, as well as cook with them. Truly multupurpose.

Hot Oil Treatments:

Look at daily conditioners above. Warm it up, put it on wet hair wrap it in a towel, and sit for 30 minutes. Deep conditioning. For deep conditioning try honey, molasses, yogurt, mayonnaise, egg, banana, and avocado.

For curl definition:

Aloe Vera Gel works wonders. For a great natural product is Curls By Sister Smith, Wet Set Hair Pudding .
A 16 oz jar will last you months and is only $11.05.


You can have awesome hair, use great products and not break the bank.

You know how I know I have too much hair. I use two shower caps to cover my hair in the shower between wash days. At least I did, now I have the TOPAZ shower cap. I am very happy with this creation as it completely protects ALL of my hair. I am contemplating buying a couple of more, as I am so excited I did not have to create my own super duper shower cap, that always falls off in the shower and gets my hair wet, not that it is a big deal, but it extends out my hair prep from two minutes to almost five :)

It is a bit pricey in terms of the shower cap market, the ones I usually get are only around a dollar and this one is $10, $15.95 with shipping, but the quality of this shower cap is much nicer. It is machine washable. You can't beat that. It is ideal for locs, and people with a ton of curly hair like me :) A definite buy. Also the Loc Soc is a great product too, I used it back in the day when I was pressing my hair, I used it to wrap my head at night before the purchase of silk pillowcases to keep it off my neck at night to ensure my hair stayed relatively straight. I bought that product about four or five years ago, and it is still in pretty decent shape after several wears and washes.

*****Deodorant update*****

I need to research this "natural" Arm & Hammer deodorant, it works almost too well considering it claims to be paraben and aluminum free.



*****Honey and Olive Oil Hair Treatment with Vinegar Wash Update*******

My hair has stayed well moisturized, shiny, and very soft these last few days. Definitely will try again.

So I hadn't trimmed my hair in a long while, I usually flat iron it to trim it, but I wanted to see if it was possible to trim without straightening, not because I am scared of heat, but because I am too lazy to spend three hours doing it, plus whenever I straighten my hair, it summons the rain gods to ensure it will only stay straight for 30 minutes.

So I did a split end search. I grabbed each curl and inspected for split ends, if I saw some I trimmed them, just a bit, if I didn't I still trimmed just a bit so my hair wouldn't be too uneven, of course it is hard to tell when your hair is curly how even or uneven it actually is. As a safety precaution, I decided after my trimming the other day to do a split end repair recipe I got out of my favorite natural hair care book, Mixed Up by Ayesha Fleary aka Najahface. Note, there is no way to fix split ends other than trimming them off, but this is good for deep conditioning the hair. Of course I didn't follow the instructions to a tee, but hey, I don't think my alterations really mattered.

I used some regular clover honey (yeah I know not vegan), some olive oil, and palm kernel oil (this was not in the recipe, it called for Rosemary Oil, I didn't have any, so I figured this palm kernel oil couldn't hurt to add for extra moisture) and heated it up.

I then went into the shower to saturate my hair with water and applied the mix and then wrapped my head in a warm towel for 30 minutes. I washed my hair as usual, then conditioned and detangled, rinsed out my conditioner and did a vinegar rinse.

For the vinegar rinse: It called for apple cider vinegar, but all I had was plain old white vinegar, and upon searching the internet I learned it could be used in my hair, even though apple cider vinegar is preferred. I mixed a tablespoon of vinegar with a cup or cup and a half of cold water and after rinsing the conditioner out of my hair, I applied and massaged my scalp as well as ran it through my hair. I then rinsed again.

I then applied my conditioner again (as I use it as my leave in) and styled as usual (aka the wash and go).

I will give you the results of this when this dries, but my hair looks great wet.

Even if it doesn't cure split ends, this mix will make a great deep conditioner I could use monthly in lieu of a hot oil treatment.

OK I need to update you on my deodorant experiment. The homemade deodorant was too harsh on my underarm skin. It stung to put it on. It also literally burned off a layer of skin. Not pretty. I will be putting a warning at the original post to protect folks.

However, I did find a cheaper alternative to Tom's of Maine. Apparently Arm and Hammer makes an aluminum and paraben free deodorant, and it is significantly less than Tom's of Maine. I tested it's effectiveness the other day when I took my brother and sister to the fair. It held up pretty well, considering is was over 90 degrees outside and we were in full sun the majority of the day, but by the end of the day, it's effectiveness waned, but to be fair, on a day like that, Tom's of Maine would have waned as well. It doesn't burn off my arm pits, so I would say it is a good deal. I was able to get it at my local grocery, so it is something that should be easy to find. The only downside is it claims to be natural deodorant, but the first three or four ingredients I can't even pronounce, so I don't know exactly how natural it truly is, I just know it works well and doesn't have the things that caused me to consider natural deodorant to begin with.

I might try this deodorant next. You know I got lots of love for coconut oil, so this might be right up my alley.

So as you guys know, I have a lot of hair. I can take DAYS to dry. I usually walk around with a wet head. With winter coming up, I decided to try plopping or plunking. Plopping is a method to enhance curls and shorten drying time of your hair.

You plop or plunk your hair by: Spreading an old t-shirt or micro-fiber towel onto a flat surface (such as the toilet with seat down). Bend over at the waist and position your hair in the middle of the cloth. With your head touching the cloth, drape the back section of cloth over your head. Twist the sides until they form "sausage rolls" and clip or tie them at the base of your neck. After 15-30 minutes remove the cloth.[1] If your hair is frizzy after plopping lightly graze the hair with gel.

You can get these instructions, here or here. Here is a video on how to plop:



I will say it did shorten my drying time a bit, but not as quick as putting heat on my hair. In terms of curl definition, I didn't notice much difference, but it didn't make my hair frizzy or horrible looking either.

This is a nice method to keep your hair from dripping on your clothes on the days you wash in the morning and are in a hurry to get to work, but it didn't make my curls "pop" anymore than usual.

Hair Rules, the product that I cannot say I know about, but this video I can so relate to.