Tag Archives: deep conditioner

May10

Deep Condition :: The Natural Root 2-in-1 Sweet Honey Deep Conditioner

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Lauren

Deep Condition :: The Natural Root 2-in-1 Sweet Honey Deep Conditioner

I LOVE HONEY!!! I love honey in my tea….I love honey on my face (yup, to wash my face!) and I love honey in my HAIR!

Honey is an amazing multi-use natural gift from God and is an amazing conditioner and humectant for our hair. I won’t go into too much detail on the benefits of honey because I plan on doing an Ingredients 101 post on it but I mention honey because it’s the main ingredient in the 2-in-1 Sweet Honey Deep Conditioner from The Natural Root. If you missed it, I did a review on their wonderful and very affordable Gourmet Rosemary, Sage, Lemongrass Shea Butter, AND they just updated their website which looks awesome might I add :o)

So the Sweet Honey Deep conditioner is a honey based, conditioning treatment and it comes in a glass mason jar ((I have an obsession with mason jars for some reason lol they just make whatever is in it look so pretty lol #weird)). I was sent the 8oz jar in my goodie bag I received awhile back. It retails for 6 oz for $6 or 8 oz for $15 on The Natural Root’s website.

Product Description
Our Sweet Honey treatment is comprised of the best oils for your hair. The coconut oil in our formula is one of the only oils that actually penetrates the hair shaft, leaving your hair soft and elongated, also it’s your built in hot oil treatment. The many characteristics of honey makes your hair nourished and enriched. Honey is food for hair, it hydrates, strengthens, stops shedding, breakages and adds elasticity.

How to apply: shampoo, rinse and towel dry hair. Remove excess water with towel. Mix honey in small bowl. Section hair into four areas. Apply honey with applicator from root to end of hair. Repeat steps on each section. Use fingers to work honey through hair. Cover hair with damp hand towel or bonnet, then plastic bag. Sit under dryer or steamer for 15 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes and rinse with cool water.

Ingredients
Raw Honey, coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, argan oil and avocado oil

So the 2-in-1 Deep Conditioner is a sweet and yummy combination of honey and oils, and it can be used 2 ways. You can use it either by itself (using the method above) or you can add it to a conditioner to enhance the benefits of the conditioner. If your hair is damaged and you are trying to nourish it back to health, it’s best to use it plain and strait from the jar and it’s even better if you use it with a steamer!! Unfortunately I don’t own a steamer but I have my Hair Therapy Warp Thermal Turban that I plan to use with this DC next time :o)

But since I feel like my hair is at a point where I can ((by the grace of God)) consider it healthy, I have just been mixing the Sweet Honey DC with my conditioners, mostly my cheapie conditioners like my Nature’s Gates or Trader Joe’s conditioners (Tea Tree Tingle or Nourish Spa) to give them a serious boost. I was actually amazed and what a huge difference it made!

I section my hair into 4 parts, squeeze a big old gob of conditioner in my hand and scoop some of the Sweet Honey DC into my hand and mix it with my fingers before applying it to my hair. I must caution you that it’s best to do this in the shower because it can get a little messy! lol Also, the honey and oils separate so you have to mix them together in the jar before you scoop it out. Oh and I am not sure if the label is waterproof or not so just be cautious with that also, I keep the jar on the little side ledge of my tub behind the shower curtain when I use it so it doesn’t get wet. Sometimes I will leave it in and sometimes not, but either way, it conditions my hair.

I can’t tell you enough how much honey REALLY improves the elasticity of your hair! I use it in my own DIY treatments like my Honey Banana one, and my hair loooooves it and it loves this Sweet Honey DC too! My hair feels so strong and soft after each use. The honey is a humectant so it just pulls aaaaalll that moisture into your strands (this is why using a steamer would be wonderful!). It’s got amazing oils, especially my beloved coconut hehe, which help seal in all the moisture the honey brings in. And another great thing about this DC also, is that honey is water soluble so it’s not sticky and doesn’t leave any residue.

This is definitely a really good, nourishing, restorative treatment for anyone trying to re-gain the health of their hair or trying to keep it healthy (which would be all of us not that I think about it lol) :o)

Oooooo and I also wanted to share some other goodies I got from The Natural Root (I feel SO spoiled!! THANK YOU!! God is Great!)). So I got a cute lil canvas bag with The Natural Roots signature “lady bun” as I call her :o), if you live in Montgomery County Maryland you will know HOW MUCH these bags come in handy because of the daggone bag tax! I also got some more of their amazing Gourmet Shea butter in the Tea Tree, Peppermint, Cinnamon. This has a very strong scent and reminds me of the holidays, probably because of the cinnamon. It’s very nice if you like the spicy kinds of scents! Of course, it works wonders for your hair and skin! I aaaaallso got some cute little greeting cards! I think this is such a cute, clever idea, they have cute sayings and messages so you can send cards to your curlfriends if they’re reached a “natural hair milestone” like a big chop or reached a length goal lol :o) I love giving hand written notes and cards to people (Hallmark is one of my favorite stores lol) so this touched my heart :o)

Oh and all of these items are of course for sale on their website! Check ‘em out!

Mar12

La Coco Bella is Officially ONE year old!! — GIVEAWAY!!

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Lauren

La Coco Bella is Officially ONE year old!! — GIVEAWAY!!

***GIVEAWAY CLOSED***

I made it ya’ll!!

One whole year of blogging!!!!

I NEVER would have seen myself as a “blogger” and here I am one year later lol when I first started I was like, I hope this isn’t something I start, get tired of and don’t finish. I even had a few words of “discourage” saying that lots of blogs start, last for a few months and then cease. Well, I made sure that I didn’t let that happen!

I want to again, thank each and every reader, subscriber, stumble upon-er, EVERYONE who has taken a glimpse at La Coco Bella or even sat for hours reading! I TRULY TRULY APPRECIATE YOU!!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!

I have had over 118,000 views over the past year, I have no clue if that is a lot or a little compared to other blogs but that is AMAZING to me!! I have readers from almost every continent in the world!!! I am in AWE!!! THANK YOU!!!! Even if I had only 100 readers, I would be just as grateful and humbled. I really mean that, I can not thank you ladies (and maybe gents?!) enough!!! All praise to the Lord for this!! :o))))

You have all made this worth while, you’ve encouraged me and I sincerely hope I have helped in some way or another with your natural hair journey! We in this togetha homies!! lol :o)

SO for the one year anniversary, I celebrate YOU!! And I wanted to celebrate by giving back to you. I want to giveaway my ALL TIME FAV Deep Conditioner, the Bee Mine Bee-U-Ti-Ful Deep Conditioner!! I will be giving the winner a few other goodies so it is definitely worth entering! Oh and the Bee Mine conditioner is from my own stash :o) (it’s brand new so don’t worry)

In addition to entering the giveaway, be sure to check out some of my most popular posts over the course the past year! Each of these posts had over 1,000 views!!

And these are my FIRST 3 posts :o) I have come a long way since hehe

Finally….
The Beautiful Coconut
Product :: Shea Moisture Organic Curl Enhancing Smoothie

BE SURE TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY HERE ——– > a Rafflecopter giveaway

THANK YOU AND GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!

….might be time for a blog design upgrade….hmmmm……. ;o)

Jan27

Deep Conditioner :: Bee Mine Bee-U-Ti-Ful Moisturizing Deep Conditioner

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Lauren

Deep Conditioner :: Bee Mine Bee-U-Ti-Ful Moisturizing Deep Conditioner

I finally found a non-homemade deep conditioner! lol

I have gotten so many questions about if I know of any good deep conditioners (with the exception of the Black Soap Purification Masque one from Shea Moisture) and I always just said I made my own because I haven’t come across one that’s “store” bought BUT I think I have found one!! It’s the Bee-U-Ti-Ful Moisturizing Deep Conditioner by Bee Mine Products Inc. This YUMMY deep conditioner comes in 2 sizes— 8 oz for $18.97 and 16 oz for $28.97. I have seen it on CurlMart for quite some time now and there are quite a few really positive reviews on it! It got 4.5 out of 5 stars as a matter of fact so it’s been tried and true so I am so happy I was able to get my hands on some. Just a little note, the labels on the products I was gifted are different than what you see on their website. I love the packaging! It’s so cute and I love how the brand uses the theme of the Bee all throughout their product descriptions, etc. I love marketing lol :o)

***Sort of a Sidebar — Another thing about Bee Mine Products Inc. is the story of it’s inception, if you check out the about page, you’ll read that the owner suffered some serious health problems (and by the grace of GOD has bounced back!) and she began losing her hair due to the trauma. She refused to lose any more hair and decided to make her own products to help grow her hair back and thus came Bee Mine! Her story is inspiring because I suffered hair loss due to trauma as well to see how her experiences didn’t hold her back but only brought on success through a business which in turn can actually be viewed as a ministry—helping other women (and men!) maybe get through a challenging time in their life by making them feel better about how they at least look if they don’t feel so great on the inside. It’s the little things that may help in the BIGGEST way. She has a serious testimony and I really wanted to share that because it’s inspiring and I know it’s not always the easiest to be as open and candid as she was :o)

Product Description

We are pleased to announce the release of our BEE•U•Ti•FUL Moisturizing Deep Conditioner; our first protein-free deep conditioner that helps to detangle your hair and provide excellent manageability. This deep conditioner is made with creamy and emollient Cupuacu butter, to promote smooth and soft hair while boosting the rebirth of the hair’s natural moisture and elasticity. Highly beneficial for dry and damaged hair. BEE•U•Ti•FUL also provides some protection from damaging UV-A and UV-B rays and helps to restore shine and moisture to stressed hair.

Ingredients

Distilled water, Cetearyl Alcohol, BTMS (mild emulsifier), 100% Unrefined Shea Butter , 100% Organic Coconut Oil, Cupuacu Butter, Calendula Extract, Chamomile Extract, Organic Raw Honey, Paraben Free Preservative, Fragrance (Phthalate Free). Silicone – Free / SLS – Free / Paraben – Free / Protein Free

This DC is a medium thick cream and has the most delicious coconut scent (which you know I LOVE), it’s very sweet and seems to have a hint of vanilla. Mmmmm I love smelling sweet lol The best thing about this awesome DC is it is Very concentrated so I didn’t have to use much at all! I was pleasantly surprised because I always have to use quite a bit of product to cover all this hair but this distributed very well on wet hair. I know the price point is a bit high BUT I definitely think it is worth it because a) this is a DC so it’s not something I need to use every week; maybe 2x a month so it will last quite a while. b) DC’s are typically priced higher than regular conditioners.

I washed with my Ayurvedic herb shampoo bar from Chagrin Valley and applied the Bee-U-Ti-Ful on wet hair while in the shower. I put a plastic cap and used my thermal hair turban and left the DC in for about 40 mins. My hair was SO soft, moisturized. I love that it contains honey and coconut oil because those two ingredients always work well in my hair. This is a GREAT winter DC since the winter months on the East coast are so freakin dry ugh! But yes, my hair was quite easy to detangle, I didn’t need to use my Denman brush, I just finger combed and gently removed any snags. Oh and it’s protein free so for those of you with protein sensitivities …try it out! I know a lot of DC’s do contain protein because they are meant to be more of a treatment rather than a “daily” conditioner.

If you check out the ingrediants (you see how ALL-natural they are!), you’ll notice cupuacu butter and calendula extract. I am trying to “branch out” lol and try products that have butters and oils/extracts that I don’t always use i.e. shea and coconut lol so I was intrigued by the cupuacu and calendula. So the cupuacu butter helps restore elasticity and strengthen hair because it is high in essential fatty acids and it also gives some sun protection which is always good if you spend a lot of time outdoors. Calendula (which I have been hearing about lately for some reason lol) is antiseptic, anti fungal, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial properties so this DC would be beneficial for those of us with scalp issues. Calendula also improves elasticity, penetrates the core of the hair shaft to help restore Keratin levels which means less breakage! So overall this is a great deep conditioner and I will be adding it to my .essentials list!!

Check out the results! Here’s my hair wet after I rinsed out the DC:

Be sure to check back because I have 2 other products I am excited to try and out and share with you from Bee Mine!!

May31

Product : : Zuresh Deep & Purifying Olive Butter Conditioner

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Lauren

Product : : Zuresh Deep & Purifying Olive Butter Conditioner

Ayy, what up?!

This next product I completely forgot that I had until a friend of mine tweeted a picture of some products she purchased from the same company! Oops! It was hidden in my little shower head caddy in the back!

So I decided to finally use this new re-discovery the other weekend, it is the Deep and Purifying Olive Butter Conditioner by Zuresh that I bought for $15 at the Baltimore Natural Hair Care Expo back in March. *Side bar* This company is a small yet growing brand that actually had a very interesting start. The owner had lupus and had to create her own products since they were the only things that helped her with her condition. It’s inspiring because sometimes you have to take matters in your own hands when nothing else works :o)

I think I paced back and forth at this booth on at least 3 occasions for about 5 mins each time lmao. I just couldn’t decide what to buy since they had SOOO many products to choose from! It was to the point where I think the owner’s mother was like “you might as well just buy something since you’ve walked past here enough” haha I was put on blast lol. I finally decided on this conditioner :o) I really like that they allowed visitors to try out every product they had. They even had a little washing station too. The only thing that made do a double take was that I think they sell their products in re-used packaging of other toiletry products like soap dispenser and lotion bottles lol. It was a bit strange but I mean I understand their hustle and it works for them! It’s what’s on the inside that counts :o)

Check out the awesome ingredients this deep wash-out conditioner contains:

Ingredients

*Organic Aloe Juice, Castor Seed Oil, Brassica Oil (fatty oil high in Omega 3 & 6), Olive Butter, Organic Green Tea Extract, Organic Rooibos Tea Extract, MSM (naturally occurring nutrient found in plants, fruits, and vegetables – part of the Human diet), Wheat Protein, Activated Charcoal (enhance the conditioning and moisturizing properties of this conditioner), Vitamin B5. Zuresh Essential oil fragrance blend.- pH: 4 – 4.5 – Paraben Free.

I really appreciate that the product is pH balanced as well. Lots of naturals don’t quite understand the importance of pH balanced products, especially when you use products that are constantly opening and closing your hair cuticle (alkaline products vs. acidic products). Our hair really can get quite scientific and technical (I barely skim the surface of how deep it is so do your own research! There’s a book called The Science of Black Hair that I heard great things about that covers….well….the science of our hair! oh and they have a website too www.blackhairscience.com). It is a great thing when hair companies assure the pH balance of their product. It shows that they know what they are doing which is always a good thing :o) Here’s a little about the pH of this product:

**The pH of our conditioner compacts the cuticle layer of the hair, which results in shiny, bouncy hair that is not weighed down. One of the reasons that people complain about the way their hair feels when they use castile soap as a shampoo is the pH is too high for proper hair care. The alkaline solution of castile soap makes the cuticle cells swell up and roughen.

I used this conditioner after an ayurvedic treatment (aritha powder) and I really liked the results. My hair was soft and moisturized. It doesn’t have a ton of slip but the yielded results, after rinsing out and styling, were great. I applied it in sections and let it sit in my hair for about 10 mins, then rinsed it out. This would be good applied during a steam treatment as well. One set back with this conditioner is that it is only 8 oz. and because it lacked the slip I normally prefer, I ended up having to use a lot for each usage. It wouldn’t last me very long. I probably would not buy this product again because of the amount for the price but really want to try some of their other products. They had this honey hair gel that caught my eye. Perhaps that’s what I’ll try next…

May11

Deep Condition Treatment : : Coconut Milk, Honey and EVOO

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Lauren

Deep Condition Treatment : : Coconut Milk, Honey and EVOO

So my obsession with coconuts naturally meant I’d try coconut milk in my hair some type of way. We know the many benefits of anything coconut so I figured the milk would be interesting to try. I went to my local Whole Foods and picked up some 100% pure organic coconut milk. I googled around the web to see what could be mixed with the milk and I decided to use honey as a humectant and extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) as a sealant.

Since coconut milk is a protein, it will help strengthen your hair and prevent breakage. Using it as a DC really helped soften my hair as well. I also found out that it helps with hair shed, hair loss and dandruff so I made sure I rubbed the treatment into my scalp when applying it.

I made my concoction by putting all the ingredients in a blender (the coconut milk separates) but clearly this was a genius mistake, that I won’t be doing again, because it made an extremely watery mixture… #dontjudgeme I think I’ll use a whisk next time! anwho, I still managed to be able to apply the mixture to my hair. I put a plastic cap over my hair and let it sit for about an hour. It was not a pleasant experience because that stuff dripped like no other!! It definitely had to do with the fact that I blended it and I also think I put a little bit too much EVOO. I had to wrap a towel around my head to catch the drips and also one on my shoulders. It wasn’t fun. Lesson learned… I mean, It is a milk so it was bound to be liquidy but I think I made it worse lol. I read that some people use cornstarch to thicken it up a bit. Regardless, I made it through and finally rinsed it out. Check out the results below.

The main thing I could definitely see was an improvement in the elasticity of my hair. My curls were shiny, soft and springy. I may add coconut milk rotation but I will most likely experiment using it in different ways. Not sure if I was feeling the EVOO. My hair doesn’t really take to EVOO very well :o( Lots of naturals just mix in the coconut milk with any of their other conditioners, so you don’t have to use it by itself. When I try this again I will be sure to post the results!

Apr7

Product :: Shea Moisture Organic African Black Soap Purification Hair Masque

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Lauren

Product :: Shea Moisture Organic African Black Soap Purification Hair Masque

The past few weeks I’ve been deep conditioning with the Shea Moisture Organic African Black Soap Purification Hair Masque. I bought this because a) I love Shea Moisture products and b) it’s for dry, itchy scalps. I had already been using the Black Soap shampoo and conditioner by SM since this winter had been SOOOO dry. I have no idea what the heck was going on my scalp had never been that itchy in my entire life. Ugh, I just hope it is over now…

So naturally I tried the Purification Masque in the SM Dry, Itchy scalp line. I had heard pretty good things about it around the web so I wanted to see if it lived up to the hype. I do really like it but it wasn’t like amazing.

It has a ton of slip, it smells good (to me at least), it applies easily and spreads through my hair well so I don’t have to use too too much at one time. My jar is about a third of the way gone and I’ve used it about 3 times (the tub has 12 oz. of product). The consistency reminds me a bit like the SM Coconut Curl Smoothie, maybe a little more liquidy.

It says it’s supposed to detoxify, condition and soothe the scalp and hair since it has Kaolin clay and salicylic acid. I guess you could say it does that but I can’t really say I can tell. I mean my hair definitely feels clean, soft and moisturized after each use but I wouldn’t say I use it for that particular reason, I just get good results from whatever the heck it is doin’ to my hair lol. I’ll admit that I hadn’t been applying this directly to my scalp (like it says your supposed to, go figure) but I did do it the last time it used it and it did a pretty good job at cleansing! I may start co-washing with this more. I have been using actual shampoo but I may go back to co-washing more to help retain moisture.

Definitely keeping this “in stock”, again, it’s cheap and easy to find around town. This will be a good “lazy day” deep conditioning treatment (when I don’t feel like whipping something up from the kitchen!). When I use this as a DC, I leave it on for at least 30 mins under a shower cap.

Oh, one thing, I have tried the other Shea Moisture deep conditioner (the Organic Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment Hair Masque, the one with the yellow label) but I like the Purification Masque much better for the purpose of deep conditioning. I ended up using the Shea butter Deep Treatment Masque as a moisturizer for twists. That worked out pretty well.

Ingredients

Deionized Water , Cocos Nucifera Oil (Coconut) , Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) , Mangfera Indica Seed Butter (Mango) , Persea Gratissima Oil (Avocado) , African Black Soap Extract , Sea Salt , Cetyl Esters , Kaolin Clay , Grapeseed Oil , Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil (Jojoba) , Behentrimonium Chloride (Conditioner) , Salicylic Acid , Salix Alba Bark Extract (Willow) , Melia Azadirachta Seed Oil (Neem) , Melaleuca Alternifolia Leaf Oil (Tea Tree) , Sorbitol Esters , Aloe Vera Leaf Juice , Tocopherol (Vitamin E) , Rosemary Extract , Salvia Officinalis Extract (Sage) , Plantain Extract , Lonicera Caprifolium Flower and Lonicera Japonica Flower Extract (Honeysuckle and Japanese Honeysuckle)

Here’s what the product looks like applied to my hair!