RSS

Tag Archives: Curl Harmony

Onion Juice & Curl Harmony – Week 4 (Final)

30 Jun

This is my final week using both the Onion Juice Treatment and the Curl Harmony Products exclusively. It’s been an interesting month and i’ll give you my verdict in just a little while.

My onion juice treatment was exactly the same as last week. My onions were a little on the small side so i used one and a half onions this time to make sure i had enough juice. I again used the bentonite clay, ACV and essential oils. My head was extremely tingly. Not in an irritated way but in a more cooling way. I left it on for quite a while this time as i had a lot to do. My head emitted a lot of heat but it was fine.

 

Curl Harmony Review

 

I rinsed, cleansed and detangled my hair using the Cleansing Conditioner one section at a time before DC’ing with the Intensive Repair Deep Conditioner, honey and olive oil. There wasn’t enough of the Deep Conditioner left to make a full batch so i added in some of the Hydrating Conditioner. I applied it a section at a time, covered my hair and left it on, again for a while.

I rinsed thoroughly with cool water, towel dried, added leave-in conditioner and Shea Butter Mix and cornrowed my hair into six cornrows, as i was trying out a hairstyle.

 

Onion Juice Rating

PRO’S

  • Easy to get. Onions are very common and so it’s easy to make this treatment.
  • Cheap. Onions are very cheap as they are plentiful.
  • It seems to work. Feeling my nape area, it has grown and gotten bushier over the four weeks. A long term commitment to onion juice might see some dramatic results.

CON’S

  • The smell! Let’s face it. It’s a VERY SMELLY treatment. Even when you’ve rinsed it out you can smell it on your scalp. Even when i added essential oils to it, you could still smell it. Nothing will mask that smell completely even the essential oils did not help. I even felt slightly nauseous when washing my hair the second week. It was that lingering pong that just did it for me. That’s why i added the oils in the third week to try and make it more bearable.
  • Onions make me cry. Juicing the onions was a feet. Not the juicing itself but trying to see what i was doing through stinging and teary eyes. And it doesn’t just stop there. You have to mix it and put it on your scalp and walk around with it for at least half an hour. All whilst your eyes are stinging and teary. You can’t run away from it or open a window to get rid of it. IT’S ON YOUR HEAD. Maybe i’m overly sensitive to onions but this was my plight.

Verdict

The onion juice treatment is a very effective treatment for aiding in scalp stimulation and hair growth. The results i have seen within these short four weeks are very encouraging. I have read that you need to do it for at least six months before you start seeing real results.

Maybe mine was noticeable because of the other things i have done and am doing. For example, i did the cayenne and neem treatment for four weeks which stimulated the scalp and killed any harmful bacteria and fungus lurking on my scalp. So the onion juice had a good base to work from. I’m also taking some supplements: Kelp, Spirulina and Beauty Complex which is a multivitamin and mineral tablet that includes silica and biotin.

I think my hair loss and the continuous battle for it to grow is associated with a hormonal imbalance, my thyroid gland has not worked well for a number of years and having children must have tipped it over the edge, that’s why i’m taking Kelp as this has a great deal of iodine in it to help the thyroid function better and therefore correct my imbalance.

So… If you can tolerate the smell and burning eyes i say go ahead, it’s definitely worth a try. 9/10 – It’s not the perfect solution (it’s stinky and tear jerking) but it works.

Curl Harmony Rating

Curl Harmony products are made for wavy, curly and afro hair types. It’s supposed to be specially formulated to work with curly hair and bring out the best in it. I have to admit i agree. I’ll break this down by product as i used four out of their range.

Shampoo

  • It is pH balanced. I tested it with my pH strips and it measured a 5.
  • It kept my hair very soft and not overly stripped and dry. Even when i used minimal conditioner over it my hair felt good.
  • It’s the best shampoo i’ve used to date. For me, in terms of performance – cleansing my hair and yet leaving it soft, it beat Aubrey’s and Ikove hands down.
  • The consistency is the major downfall of an otherwise excellent product. It’s just too watery and that makes it uneconomical. You waste a lot of it as it slips through your fingers. I had to try and move quickly once i pumped some into my hands.
  • The smell is neither here nor there. It doesn’t smell of much and it would be nice for it to smell of something.

Cleansing Conditioner

  • Nice, thick and creamy conditioner
  • Coats the strands well for an easy detangling session
  • Leaves hair feeling extremely soft and ‘fluffy’.
  • Not entirely sure how cleansing it is. It seemed like a thicker version of the Hydrating Conditioner. It didn’t froth up at all. not even slightly, so it’s just more of a conditioner then a cleansing one.
  • Again the smell is not really present so it smells like plain old conditioner base.

Hydrating Conditioner

  • Didn’t really like it at first as i thought the cleansing conditioner was better. But when i didn’t scrimp with it, it worked very well – detangling easily and conditioning my demanding 4b/a tresses.
  • The consistency is not as thick as the Cleansing Conditioner so it didn’t coat the strands as well. I needed a fair amount to get the best results and again that can be costly
  • This has the strongest smell out of all the products i used. It’s a strange smell, quite sweet and spicy, like cinnamon even. It’s unusual but not unpleasant.

Intensive Repair Deep Conditioner

  • Is very thick. You can hold the tub upside down and  it wont fall out. In consistency, it reminds me of the Jason’s 84% Aloe Vera Conditioner, that too is super thick.
  • It is an OK DC. I wasn’t blown away by it but it worked well enough. Because the shampoo is soft on the hair and hydrating and cleansing conditioners work so well, it’s not required to do much. Even so i would have like a more intense conditioning from it. The honey and olive oil i used with it helped it along.
  • I wouldn’t recommend using it without add-ins. It needs a little kick to get the best out of it.
  • Again the smell is very subtle. It smells nice but not strong enough for me.

Verdict

All in all it is a great system. They all work well and make curly coily hair very soft, tangle free and conditioned. The shampoo is the best i’ve used so far and the conditioners are the best no-‘cone’ conditioners i’ve used to date.

Overall i’m very pleased with how my hair feels. 7/10 is my rating for these products. A few points being deducted for the smell, consistency and the cost, which brings me to my next point.

Do i like this system? Yes. Will i be repurchasing them? No. Let me explain why.

As i’ve said already, i’m very impressed with the performance of the products but the price is very high and the bottles… small. The cheapest of the four products was £9.95 (the Hydrating Conditioner), the most expensive being £13.95 which was the Deep Conditioner. It all cost over £40 for just those four products alone. That is why i was scrimping like crazy. The shampoo is good value i think, but the Cleansing conditioner is just too expensive for me also at £9.95 for 250ml of conditioner. I go through much conditioner when i co-wash and to use that consistently like i would want to will really add-up. I also like to DC every week and that little tub of DC just barely survived a month and that was with me only using 2 teaspoons at a time and stretching it out with honey and oil.

If in the future my circumstances change then i will definitely revisit these products and even make them a staple.

 

What i’m going to do next.

Right now my budget is quite tight and i just can’t afford to keep this up so i’ve decided to go back to my old faithfuls.

For co-washing i’m going back to Herbal Essences Hello Hydration. It’s much cheaper and works fantastically for my hair.

For DC’ing i’m going back to JASON’s 84% Aloe Vera Conditioner. Again much cheaper at only £5.99 for 475ml. Great for when you’re on a budget.

I will continue to use the Curl Harmony Shampoo for a mild shampooing.

I’m going back to my Bentonite Clay Treatment and my Indian Herb Cleanses (My hair misses them greatly). They are so cheap and last very long. A very effective and economical way cleansing and nourishing the hair and scalp.

 

My New (or old) Regime

Week 1 –

  • ACV rinse, Bentonite Clay Treatment & DC
  • Mid-week Co-wash

Week 2 -

  • Shampoo & DC
  • Mid-week Co-wash

Week 3 -

  • Indian Herb Treatment & DC
  • Mid-week Co-wash

Week 4 -

  • Shampoo & DC
  • Mid-week Co-wash

 

That’s all for now. I’m giving my scalp a rest now and going back to my Aloe Vera Gel on the scalp and oil on the hair as my pre-poo treatment before cleansing.

 

 
3 Comments

Posted by on June 30, 2010 in Bentonite & Rhassoul Clay, Co-Wash, Deep Condition, Hair Care, My Regime, Onion Juice

 

Tags: , ,

Curl Harmony Review Week 3 – Mid-Week Co-Wash

23 Jun

So today i went to play badminton with my brother and his wife. It was so much fun, but now i am achy all over and can barely stand up to walk. At first i wasn’t going to bother co-washing but i did sweat a lot and i was excited to try out my new and improved leave-in conditioner.

So i co-washed with the Hydrating Conditioner in my usual sections and detangled with a wide tooth comb only. I didn’t scrimp at all with it. I wanted it to saturate my coils and make detangling a breeze. Which it did. The comb slid through my hair, easily annihilating any tangles. I must say, i think it’s won me over this week. I said i liked the Cleansing Conditioner better, but after that performance it’s probably edged into the lead. I also did a final rinse of the left over tea from making the leave-in conditioner. Once i had finished detangling, i rinsed off the remaining conditioner from my four twisted sections and then poured the tea slowly over my head. There wasn’t a lot of it left, about a cup. I squeezed it through my twists. I towel dried and then section by section added in my leave-in conditioner and Shea Butter mix.

I must say i am SUPER PLEASED with the results from my leave-in. The consistency was lovely and thick and it wasn’t too slippery. With my last one it was so slippery and sticky i had a hard time spreading the Shea Butter over it. It was just sliding off. This time as i smoothed it on one untwisted section i noticed my hair became so soft. Mmmmmmm. I applied some Shea Butter Mix to the section and it smoothed on easily. Double Mmmmmmm. It made my hair feel silky, soft and well conditioned. I braided the section and moved on to the others.

I keep touching my ends now that it’s dry to see how it feels. It feels super soft. Triple Mmmmmmm. This one is definitely a keeper. Now all i have to do is keep my Ingredient supply topped up regularly and i can have leave-in conditioner whenever i need it. GREAT!

 

 

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on June 23, 2010 in Co-Wash, Hair Care, Leave-in Conditioner Recipe

 

Tags: , ,

Onion Juice & Curl Harmony – Week 3

21 Jun

This is my third week using the onion juice treatment and also reviewing the Curl Harmony products.

This week i pretty much did the same thing with the onion juice as i did last week: onion juice, bentonite clay and ACV to balance the pH. This time i also added in some essential oils of Rosemary, Tea-Tree and Eucalyptus. This really made a difference with the smell of the treatment. It helped a lot. You could still smell the onion but the essential oils did mask some of the smell and also added in their own benefits. My scalp was extra tingly and also cool at the same time. It was great. I applied it to my scalp and focused especially on my nape area. I left it on for about 45 mins before washing my hair.

 

Last night i saturated my hair with olive oil in preparation for shampooing, and sectioned it into four large twists. Put a plastic bag on and tied a headscarf over it ready for bed.

Once i was ready to wash my hair i jumped in the shower and rinsed the twists thoroughly before taking down a twist, rinsing that more until all the bentonite had rinsed off. I then took a few pumps of the Creamy Shampoo and smoothed that in gently until it was nice and foamy. I then scrubbed my scalp, using the balls of my fingers. I squeezed off the excess and rubbed in a dab of the Hydrating Conditioner before rinsing out. I then added more hydrating conditioner to the section and detangled carefully with a wide tooth comb followed by my modified Denman brush. I then twisted the section, still with the conditioner in and clipped it up before moving on to the next. Once i had shampooed and detangled all sections i then rinsed out the remaining conditioner with the twists in and towel dried.

The DC was the same as i did last week with, the Intensive Repair Deep Conditioner with added honey and olive oil. I applied it in sections and covered my hair with a plastic bag for about 30 mins. I rinsed out, towel dried, added in some leave-in conditioner and Shea Butter mix before slicking it back in a ponytail and twisting the tail into three twists, pinning it up. I was going to a barbeque so i couldn’t have my usual unsightly large braids that my husband so detests. lol. I had to cover my hair with a black headscarf to look presentable which was fine.

Next week will be my last week with the onion juice treatment and the curl harmony review. I’ll let you know my overall rating/opinion of both then.

 

Take Care.

 

 

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on June 21, 2010 in Bentonite & Rhassoul Clay, Deep Condition, Hair Care, Natural Hair Loss Remedies, Natural Product Brands, Onion Juice, Shampoo

 

Tags: , , , ,

Onion Juice Treatment & Curl Harmony – Week 2

14 Jun

This week i tweaked the onion juice treatment slightly. I also took some pictures of what i did as i said i would in my previous post.

Onion The Onion i used

My Juicer I juiced the onion in my Champion Juicer

Muslin Then strained it through a muslin cloth to get rid of any little bits

Onion Juice Here is the resulting juice

Onion & Bentonite Next i added in some bentonite clay

Mixing And whisked it in until smooth. I used 2 teaspoons in all, adding it in 1/2 a teaspoon at a time.

pH Test The pH of the mix was between 6.5 and 7. This is considered acceptable for hair and scalp usage as it’s the same pH as water… But i wanted to bring the pH a little closer the scalps pH which is between 4.5 –5.5

pH Test with ACV So i decided to add in some ACV (Apple Cider Vinegar). Just a 1/4 teaspoon. That brought the pH right down to between 5 and 5.5. The darkness of the bentonite clay made it hard to read it properly but it was definitely in that range.

Applying HELLO! lol. This is what it looked like once i had applied it to my scalp and hairline.

Plastic Bag I then put a plastic bag over my head (Waitrose this time. ha) and left it on for about 30 – 45 mins

Curl Harmony Review

 

I used the Curl Harmony Cleansing Cream to wash my hair. I started by rinsing my hair thoroughly and then took down one of the sectioned twists. I let the water run through it some more before applying a liberal amount of the cleansing cream to the section. I rubbed my scalp well and massaged it into the ends and rinsed it out. I then applied some more of the Cleansing Conditioner and detangled, first with a wide tooth comb and then with my modified Denman brush. It detangled really well. I was very impressed. I think i like it more than the Hydrating Conditioner. But maybe that’s because i didn’t use enough of it last time. Because of the onion treatment i wasn’t scrimping with the Conditioner as i wanted to rid the smell as much as possible

Shed Hair Shed hair from detangling. I lost a little down the drain but this is most of it.

Cleansing Cond I hope you can see. I wanted to show you how much Cleansing Conditioner i used. I could make it last another 3 washes i think.

After detangling i retwisted the section, still with the conditioner in and repeated the process for the remaining 3 sections. Once i had finished detangling i rinsed my whole head with the twists in to remove the remaining conditioner. I towel dried and then DC’d with the…

CH Deep Cond Intensive Repair Deep Conditioner

Spoonful of DC I took 2 heaped teaspoonfuls of the conditioner and mixed it into some honey and olive oil.

Mixed DC Here’s what it looks like mixed together. Still super thick and creamy. Lovely.

Applying DC I applied it to my hair in sections. Taking down the twist apply the DC and re-twisting. Here’s what it looked like. If you look closely i haven’t applied it to the roots. I didn’t want to coat my scalp with it. I didn’t want any conditioner residue left on my scalp.

I covered my hair with another plastic bag (Tesco’s. ha) and left it on for about 30 mins. I rinsed my hair well under cool water without taking down the twists and towel dried.

Leave-in Cond & Shea Butter Mix My leave-in conditioner and Shea Butter Mix. This will be the first time i’m using it since i made it last week.

Working a section at a time i took down the twist and applied some of the leave-in conditioner and Shea Butter mix and sectioned my hair to ‘butter’ my scalp rubbing that in well. I then cornrowed the section and moved onto the next. My leave-in conditioner is really slippery. I like it. The consistency needs to be adjusted a little to be slightly creamier and thicker in texture. Other than that i’m really pleased.

Hair-Out A section of my hair after applying the products. It’s super shrinky. Look at the difference between the length of the braided section and the loose section.

Cornrows Cornrowed hair, ready to air-dry.

 

Take Care.

 

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on June 14, 2010 in Bentonite & Rhassoul Clay, Co-Wash, Deep Condition, Hair Care, Onion Juice, pH Balance, Pictures Of My Hair, Pre-Poo

 

Tags: , , , ,

Curl Harmony Review – Mid-Week Co-Wash

09 Jun

Today i did a quick co-wash using the Curl Harmony Hydrating Conditioner.

I already had my hair sectioned off into four large twists before i went to bed so i started by rinsing my hair thoroughly. I took down one of the twists and rinsed some more. I pumped a few squirts of the conditioner into my hand and rubbed it through the section. The consistency is light, creamy and lotion like and when rubbed into my hair quickly turned thin and watery. The smell is quite strange to be honest. I can’t describe it well. It’s a sweet smell that’s also spicy like cinnamon or nutmeg and strong like perfume all at the same time. It’s not unpleasant but it’s an unusual smell for a conditioner i think. I made sure i rubbed it through well, scrunching my hair to get the strands well coated. I scrubbed my scalp with the balls of fingers and detangled with a wide tooth comb only and retwisted the section with the same conditioner still in. It detangled nicely, which i’m glad about. I repeated this for all the sections and finally rinsed out the conditioner with all four sections twisted. It left my hair feeling really soft. Lovely!

I then towel dried and added leave-in conditioner and Shea butter mix to my hair a section at a time and pulled it back into a ponytail and twisted the end into one large twist to air dry. I had to rush off to take my son to school so no large unsightly cornrows today, lol.

Overall The Hydrating Conditioner gets a big thumbs up for me. It coped very well with my demanding 4b/a tresses and left my hair feeling soft and conditioned.

 

Technorati Tags: ,
 
Leave a comment

Posted by on June 9, 2010 in Co-Wash, Hair Care, Natural Product Brands

 

Tags: ,

← Older posts