Be Curly

This morning I was standing in line at my local grocery store and scanning the headlines of the covers of the gossip mags when I happened to strike up a conversation with the lady behind me who had a mountain of curly hair escaping from a scrunchy. My fellow shopper was impeccably dressed except for the scrunchy and frizzy hair that really needed taming to give her the polished look that I am sure she was yearning.

I am curious nosy and I can’t help but look to see what people buy, it fuels my imagination and it does tell a lot about us, don’t you think?  I was not buying rope, masking tape or a sharp knife, I was there for fresh mango's, BTW.

 In her basket I could immediately tell that she was going to war with her hair, there was every kind of de-frizzing product the store had to offer and she probably had more sitting at home. 

Pointing to her arsenal I mentioned the obvious; she rolled her eyes and politely confirmed that she was having coily issues. Always looking for a new client I told her that I am a professional stylist and gave her my card. With this she warmed to me realizing that I was not there to pick up anything more than my fruit, she asked my advice on what I would suggest for her hair. 

I looked at the products and told her blankly that she could do better by using things in her kitchen cabinet and proceeded to tell her about my work as an organic hairstylist and how I make products that are made from food grade items. This chance meeting gave me an idea and today I want to share some of my basic recipe's that I have used over the years in my salon services and perfect for curly hair types.

Start experimenting with small batches so you don’t waste product if you make a mistake.

Deep Moisture Conditioning Mask

Who would have thought that items that taste so good in your mouth would also make the best deep conditioning treatments? 

You’ll notice that these recipes have a lot of similar ingredients because these are what have worked the best for so many coily's thus far. Try them out and see which base product makes your hair feel the softest.

Special reminder: For some coily's, protein can actually dry out your hair. If you find that happening, it might be best for you to try a different treatment or alternate between one of these and another one that doesn’t contain as much protein

Avocado Mask

The recipe:

• 1 avocado
• Extra-virgin olive oil)
• Honey

Avocado is great for deep conditioning. It can also be used for a quick softening, conditioning and moisturizing mask. The use of honey on hair is talked about everywhere. Honey by itself isn’t sufficient enough to provide the conditioning necessary, but when combined with other products it can make your hair feel softer and provide smooth hair. 

The recipe:

• Organic banana flavored baby food
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Honey

Banana is another great kitchen item that can help give you that soft hair you have been wanting. The key to this recipe is getting banana baby food instead of using an actual banana. When using a whole banana, if you do not blend it well enough or strain it, it can leave pieces of banana throughout your hair. You would then have to shampoo and condition your hair several times to get them out and that would defeat the purpose! When you use the baby food it’s already strained and liquefied so it can mix easily as well as still provide you with a great conditioner. Not to mention you have the great scent of banana and honey to accompany you throughout your day!

Cucumber and Egg

The recipe:

• 1/2 cucumber
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoon of extra-virgin olive oil

 NO HEAT (including hot water)! The heat can literally cook the egg into your hair and that just spells a smelly disaster.

Cucumber is a naturally refreshing so it’s no wonder that a great treatment would include it. It’s a great finishing touch to a deep conditioning treatment. Eggs are great for a smooth finish.

Fruit Salad Hair Smoothie

The recipe:

• 1/2 banana (I use banana baby food)
• 1/4 avocado
• 1/4 cantaloupe
• 1 tbsp. yogurt or organic base conditioner
• Any oil (use in moderation depending on thickness and dryness.

The fruits in this treatment all work great together to give you soft hair that also will smell just as great. If you are worried about using the banana, substitute the banana baby food so you can be sure to avoid the chunks, learned the hard way when I first started using it in my salon. If you have no fear of the actual banana, be sure to blend it well and strain it before mixing it with the other items. This recipe will make your hair smell fantastic.

Curl Moisturizing Spray

A perfect balance of distilled water and aloe vera gel or juice will keep your curls, coils, or kinks refreshed and ready to take on the day! Add a few drops of essential oil of your choice, remember not to use one that is drying to your hair or scalp if there is an issue, i.e.  Tea tree is drying. Use equal parts aloe and water.

Shea Butter Styling Cream

A mixture of your favorite essential oils, carrier oils, and of course organic shea butter! Whip everything in a bowl with an electric mixer, and allow to solidify over night. Make it as thick or thin as you want, according to your hair type. The more oil used the more action and slip will be created.

Curl Defining-Frizz Fighting Gel

Want to do define your natural texture? Boil and strain flax seeds – they produce their own sticky gel. Add some coconut oil for shine, and you’ve got a curl definer without the crunchiness.

Whipped Coconut Oil Shine For the days when you don’t need the thick shea styling cream, whip coconut oil with a touch of aloe vera gel or juice for shine and softness. Works well if you have fine or thin hair—won’t weigh your curls down either.

I hope this is some help Monique P. from aisle 12

Where Is The Herbal In Essence?

The words I am picking from the low hanging fruit today is “BEST SHAMPOO”.

So with these words I started thinking…nothing to strenuous but enough to make a wrinkle in my brow, what would make the best shampoo, what is the best shampoo? Why do I make the best shampoo? Well so far that last statement is an unproven fact, but I think I do, and that’s a fact! I would love to hear from you with your ideas on this subject, until then you’re just going to have to read my side of things about… “The best shampoo.” 

I have made shampoo for a living, I have depended on it, and I have people who depend on me making it!! Many of you reading this think it’s the best shampoo, my shampoo gets fan mail all the time, I enjoy reading them. I have even placed a couple of them in my journal because they touched me so much. Thank you!

 With a long history of actively working within the hair industry I have worked with many, many shampoo brands, some good, and some bad. I actually got in to the business of making shampoo by accident. You see, a decade ago I started to look at the beauty products I was using on my clients in a different way. I actually started to research the ingredients in them after two of my girlfriends and a co-worker became sick with cancer, I will always love and miss them every day.

 I’m not saying that this is what triggered there problems, but there problems made me second guess what I was surrounding myself with every day and I did not like what I found so I started to learn cosmetic chemistry one step at a time to prove to myself that we do not need harsh chemicals in hygiene and beauty products. They are not necessary and I did not have to use them on the people who I care about, and that’s people like you. I care about you; there I said it out load!

I know the subject is “the best shampoo” but for a moment I have to look at the other side of this, what makes a bad shampoo, do you know?  I bet you won’t have the same answer as the person sitting next to you?

I look at products differently now. It’s quite possibly a different opinion than yours?

 What makes a bad shampoo? is it that it does not smell like a summer breeze as the commercial stated or that it does not surround you with the rapture of a tropical forest every time you pop the cap? I would like to share with you what I think makes a bad shampoo and not the “best shampoo” and I am going to name names.

Head and Shoulders, Pantene and of course Clairol all have something in common, do you know what that is? Well, it’s not that they all make your hair squeaky clean with sudsy bubbles or that they share colors that Mother Nature would envy. No, they all contain a chemical compound, something called methylisothiazoline, or MIT. I don’t want to alarm you but I think it my duty to tell you that it causes neurological damage.  Is that bad enough for you? 

 This is only a scratch on the surface of the parody the beauty industry uses to brighten your day leaving you with a spotless shine.

If you thought that prescription drugs were dangerous, think again. Personal care products are used by virtually everyone on the planet every single day. We lather ourselves in toxic chemicals made by brand name companies that spend a lot of time jockeying for the best shelf position in your convenience store, grocery store and of course to be used by your favorite beauty service provider who enthusiastically recommends it to you for their usual 10% commission.

One of the problems I encounter when I talk to people about my all natural and healthy product is that they get lost in the words because the cosmetic giants are misquoting their products and actually making people believe they are using something good for them. We don’t know it as the consumer but we are given misquoted information most of the time.

 When companies like Clairol use the words herbal in there chemical based shampoo “Herbal Essence” to imply that this is actually healthy pisses me off. They are playing with words blatantly in our face and we don’t see it. Definition of ESSENCE. 1. a: the permanent as contrasted with the accidental element of being b: the individual, real, or ultimate nature of a thing. To me that quote means in layman’s terms for these products, well… it’s kind of like it but it’s not! It’s a contradiction almost implied. The power of words!

Herbal Essence shampoo by Clairol is generally purchased by consumers who don’t know any better. I’m not trying to sound like a snob, people like me who have taken the time to understand the true meaning of herbal products would not be seen anywhere close to the aisle where these ingredients are sold. This one product I just blabbed about is no different than 99% of the products on the market today. They all contain the main ingredients: water, sodium lauryl and sodium laureth sulfate. I’m not here to preach to you, I will leave that for someone else more devout than me on the subject, but I am here to tell you these ingredients are very bad for you, Google them, I dare you! 

The FDA allows all sorts of chemicals to be used in these products, and that includes chemicals that are known carcinogens and are contributors to liver failure and nervous system disorders. These are the products that we scrub into our body every day. The same products that contain ingredients that causes neurological disorders, birth defects, Alzheimer’s disease, breast cancer and a long list of sad truths. 

So I end today’s topic with a question. What is the best shampoo? Is it one that is full of vitamins minerals and wholeheartedly good for you such as the products I am proud to make? Made with real fruit and ingredients such as Cats Claw Bark, proven to help cancer and HIV patients strengthen their immune system. Or is it fake named products that will lead a future generation in to scorning us for their use?

 Do you want a real herbal shampoo? Watch this space and it will soon be just one click away.

Low Hanging Fruit

I have to admit that I have been a little curious about blogging, bloggers and the people who read them. If you’re reading this, then you are probably here because we share the same interests?
Firstly, I have worked in the beauty industry for the past 27 years, since the age of 14 actually, I was not a good student and the beauty industry gave me a sense of purpose and belonging. I have been fortunate to travel and my work has led me to people and places that I will always be thankful for their friendship and humbled by the experience each place has given me.
When you spend a lot of time working as I do, you become very close and attached to the people around you. When a close friend and co-worker became sick with cancer I became aware of the toxic ingredients that were in all of the professional beauty products I had used. Until then I had happily advised people to buy and encouraged them to buy with gusto. I was ignorant to the fact that I was selling you something that may not be the best thing for your health. I think a lot of hairstylists are sadly living this way today.
Over the years I have lost good friends and clients too many forms of cancer and being a fixer by nature I wanted to understand the ins and outs of what makes a beauty product and the effects it can have on our health.
To be honest I became pissed off when I started researching the common ingredients in beauty products and the alarming amount of carcinogens in them. I became a hairstylist who now feels guilty and enraged with the knowledge of what I was using on every one of my guests and planned on finding as many ways as I can to change the beauty industry’s way of thinking and giving the consumer a fair chance at actually using something that is good for them.
I started making hair products in my kitchen, at first they were not great and if anything they were not working the way I wanted them too. Then as most people such as me who have a curious nature find asking who, where, why and what questions not always enough. I readily admit I became obsessed with finding new ways to make natural products that worked the way I wanted them to so that I could use them in my salon. That was several years ago and at that time there was not the availability of some of the ingredients I sought, so I learned how to make them myself, step by sticky step.
My products are going through some difficult times, not because the product is bad, quite the opposite. I got really involved with making the best shampoo that it actually affected my personal and professional life in ways that make me cringe to think about as I write this to you.
I could not find a good investor and with my funds totally depleted I sadly got involved with a rogue investor who bullied me in to signing away my rights to my little home based empire. Thankfully at the time of writing this I have gained control of ownership and will soon be back to making my kitchen in to a regimented bubble making facility where the soft scented aroma fills my neighborhood.
I got a little off track … My opening statement about blogging and bloggers. I was not truly aware of ways that add agent’s work or what catch words they use to entice you in to consuming.
Before the proverbial crap went down with my company it was growing in recognition with the help of bloggers and the people who read them. Not truly understanding what the advantage of blogging was and does I went to Jayson who was originally hired as my marketing guy who explained what the term “low hanging fruit” means and how all the positive reviews that the wonderful bloggers have done to get my company name circulating the internet. Thank you ladies and gentlemen, you rock!!!
It has been suggested several times that I write a blog but in truth I have never thought that I really had that much to say that people would find interesting or noteworthy. I mockingly said this to Jayson who made me realize that a blog may not only be good for my company but with my knowledge of beauty products and the inside workings of the beauty industry I may have something to say after all?
So what I propose to do is to make a list of all those catch words, “hairstyles for hair, best conditioner, salons, shampoo with, shampoo, non-toxic shampoo…I could go on and on with all those thousands of other useful keywords and hope that we can learn something together about making products healthy and bring back the “care” in the words “beauty care”. Who’s in?