Rhassoul Clay Hair Mask

Hey all!
So I was off yesterday, nursing my little king back to health and I decided to pamper azizi (my hurr). I had recently ordered some rhassoul clay from Etsy and figured that it was the perfect time to try it out.

Courtesy of sheabutterlicious’ etsy shop:
There is no question, that a banana mask is good for the hair. A banana hair mask can increase the moisture content in hair, smooth frizzies, and soothe your scalp. It keeps hair healthy and hydrated, helps nourish scalp and control dandruff. Bananas contain minerals and other nutrients that promote hair recovery and rehabilitation, but who wants to try get mashed bananas chunks out of their hair. That’s where this honey banana mask comes in, it cleanses, detoxifies and conditions scalp and hair.
Rhassoul Clay cleanses and detoxifies hair. Honey and Banana nourishes, moisturizes, and conditions hair. This hair clay can be mixed with water or Aloe Vera juice, make into a thin paste and apply to hair and scalp. Leave on 15-25 minutes and rinse thoroughly. Then follow up with your usual hair routine.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/118751191/rhassoul-clay-hair-mask-honey-banana

So I don’t really follow directions when it comes to mixing things…yeah I know..don’t stone me. But I eyeballed a medium sized amount of the rhassoul clay mask and added to it, warmed milk, raw honey, amino acids (for a little protein), JBCO and some sheascent it conditioner just to thicken it up a bit. I then applied the mixture to my hair and placed a shower cap over it and a hat and let it sit for an hour.
After an hour I washed it and and…WHOA was my hair extra soft and my curls were poppin hunny. My hair felt clean, but not stripped and it totally tammed my frizzies.
….HOLY GRAIL ALERT: I followed up with Oyin’s Handmade Honey Hemp conditioner… & let me just say that this stuff is the BOMB baby. Since discovering I was a low po diva, honey & I have became BFFs and boy did this conditioner treat Azizi well. Soft supple hair, detangling was a breeze and left the curls looking amazing. This condish does contain hydrolyzed silk protein but my hair doesn’t mind small amounts of protein so all was well.
http://www.oyinhandmade.com/hair/honey-hemp-conditioner-180.html
I then did my LCO method using, L: KCCC leave in, water & jbco oil C: Oyin Handmade Whipped Pudding (love this stuff as well) O: JBCO infused with lavender
Lastly, I installed my third set of marley twists and this time I made smaller parts and used 3 strands of hair to get a thicker fuller look. I’m going to boil the ends with perm rods tonight.

Peace & Love <3

Introduction to Hair Porosity

Courtesy annabeloo of lowporosityhaircare.wordpress.com


Hair porosity is your hair’s ability to absorb and retain moisture (i.e. water). Retaining moisture is the key to healthy hair. In order to properly care for your hair, understanding your hair’s porosity is a pre-requisite.

There are three types of porosity: low, high and normal. Porosity is determined by the position of the cuticle, which is the outermost part of our hair made up of a layer of overlapping dead cells. It provides the hair with strength by protecting it from harsh elements and by protecting the inner structures of the hair. It also controls the water content.

Normal porosity
If you have normal porosity, consider yourself lucky. Normal porosity hair requires the least amount of maintenance. It easily draws in water, however does not allow too much water to enter the cortex. This type of hair tends to be shiny, hold styles well and is easy to process (e.g. color, highlight, perm). A occassional deep conditioner and light protein benefits this type of hair.
High porosity
Think of your hair as a sponge. It can absorb its weight in water and easily allow all the water to escape. Cuticles of high porosity hair are too open and allow too much water to enter the cortex. However, just as easily as the water enters, it also escapes rapidly, making it a challenge to keep moisture. This type of hair may be damaged, because of chemical processing. High porosity hair benefits from heavy creams, thick oils or emollients and butters, to seal in moisture. It also benefits from routine protein treatments, which may help to fill in some of the gaps in the cuticle. Additionally, cold water rinses, low PH products such as diluted vinegar or aloe vera, help to seal the cuticle.
Low porosity (lo-po)
The focus of this blog will be on low porosity. Despite the plethora of information on the web about porosity, there are not enough sites that thoroughly discuss caring for low porous hair. This type of hair has flat, shingled cuticles. Picture the shingles on the roof of a house, when it rains the water simply glides off the structure. As you can imagine, it’s challenging for water to enter the hair shaft. This type of hair often takes a while to wet in the shower and it takes forever to dry. Product buildup is a common complaint, as products just seem to sit on top of the hair. Chemical processing is long and difficult.
The trick with low porosity hair is getting the moisture in the hair shaft. Once it’s in, the hair retains moisture quite well and is lustrous and shiny. One of the most helpful methods is deep conditioning with heat or steam to open up the cuticle and help the hair absorb moisture. Additionally, washing and rinsing the hair with warm water helps loosen up debris and open up the cuticles.
If you’re low porosity and looking for some useful tips and advice, well, you’ve come to the right place. This blog will be dedicated to lo-po hair and more methods for caring for lo-po hair will be discussed in detail on this blog. I’ll also include my experimentation with my lo-po hair and what works and does not work for me.

In the meantime, to find out the porosity of your hair. You could take a clean, freshly washed (without products) strand of hair and place it in a cup of water:
If the hair stays afloat for a long time (more than 1 hour), without ever sinking, you’re likely lo-po
If the hair immediately sinks to the bottom of the glass, you’re likely high porosity
Keep in mind, this is not a glass half empty or half full matter. Whether high, low or normal, the important is figuring out how to properly care for your hair. What’s your hair porosity?

I'm a low po diva and proud of it.
:)

Review: Shea Moisture Purification Masque

Hey all! So I’m here to finally do a review on this AMAZING product. Now I know this has been around for quite some time but I never thought to pick this up because I was so set on using the deep treatment masque. However, I finally decided to purchase this product from Tarjay when it was on BOGO and boy was I happy that I did.

Sooo what’s included in the purification masque?

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)

This products does not contain: sulfates, parabens, phthalates, paraffin, gluten, propylene glycol, mineral oil, synthetic fragrance, PABA, synthetic color, DEA, animal ingredients or sulfates Cruelty free, no animal testing

What is the purification masque supposed to do?

Detoxify, condition and soothe hair and scalp with gentle Kaolin clay, herbal extracts, botanical enzymes and essential vitamins. Our intense treatment relieves dry, itchy scalp, removes product buildup and preserves hair by sealing in natural moisture. Treats dandruff, eczema & psoriasis.

Plantain Enzyme: Helps to alleviate itchiness and irritation
Tea Tree: Removes buildup for enhanced shine and volume
Willow Bark Extract: Exfoliates and detoxifies hair and scalp.
(courtesy of Veronica of Pretty Girl Rock)

My Experience: I’ve currently used this product twice and each time I constantly asked myself why I’ve never purchased this product. I suffer from dry, itchy and flaky scalp at times and man did this stuff soothe my scalp. Not only did it aid in removing product buildup but it left my hair feeling buttery soft. The first time I used it as a prepoo and detangling was a BREEZE. I was able to detangle my naps in a flash, the slip is awesome. The second time I used it as a deep conditioner and again it surprised me. My curls were poppin hunny. The only thing that I didn’t like about it was the smell, it wasn’t too overbearing but it does have quite a weird smell.
Overall, I will be repurchasing this product and for the price of 9.99 at Tarjay, my wallet won’t be too upset. Also, its a great product for us low po divas because it aids in removing buildup which we all suffer from.

Have any of you ladies used this product? How did you like it?

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