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Cayenne Pepper Treatment – Week 4

This week is my last week doing the Cayenne Pepper Treatment. I’ve enjoyed doing it. The mess, the tingling, the getting it in my eyes and having to wash it out. lol. It was great.

I just repeated what i did last week as this was the 5th Sunday in the month. I rinsed, double shampooed added conditioner over the shampoo and rinsed. Then i detangled and rinsed that off. I DC’d in the usual manner with the Ikove conditioner i mentioned in the previous posts. Left that on for about 30 mins and rinsed in cool water. Leave-in conditioner, Whipped hair butter mix and 4 cornrows to air-dry.

I wanted to talk about a few of the products i used today as they were kind of the only downside to an otherwise great hair run.

I’ve been trying to run away from ‘cones’ in my regime for a while now and it has sent me on a crazy product chase which has led me overtime to wander down to boots to see what was available. I browsed the isles to find a suitable co-wash and detangling conditioner and had read somewhere about this product – Original Source White Source and Avocado Conditioner for £1.99. I was quite exited to try it out and used it today as my detangling conditioner and for the conditioner over shampoo. I was so far from impressed it wasn’t even funny. It took me AGES to detangle because this has no slip whatsoever. Once i rinsed this out my hair felt like it had been shampooed, not conditioned. It was not good. The only thing it was good for was the conditioner over shampoo for the not so stripped feeling. But that’s hardly worth trumpeting. Any conditioner can do that job. I’m going to throw it away. It’s that rubbish and i’m gaining some serious clutter with all the different products i’ve been trying.

Another thing i wanted to mention was the Ikove conditioner i’ve been using for the past four weeks is not cutting it for me anymore. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still the best ‘no-cone’ deep conditioner i’ve used but it’s quite temperamental. It’s results rely heavily on what product it follows on from. The best results i’ve had was following on from the Indian herb treatment. The end result was fantastic. But this week and last i noticed the results were not as great. Following on after a shampoo seems to make it struggle a little bit to get my hair to that ‘soft’ place. It’s conditioned but not so deeply.

I found a new product line that i’m going to try it’s called Curl Harmony and it can be found here. I’m going to try the shampoo, cleansing conditioner, hydrating conditioner and the intensive mask(doesn’t it sound like i’ve become a product junkie?). I’ve promised myself (and my sister-in-law) that this will be the final products i try out. Then, if they don’t please my demanding tresses i will gravitate back to what i KNOW my hair is happy with – Herbal Essences Hello Hydration for co-washing and detangling and Jason’s 84% Aloe Vera for deep conditioning. Both have dimethicone in them but even so my hair just loves them. I will update you with my results.

Next i will be trying the onion juice natural hair loss remedy which i will post about in greater detail.

Take Care

Technorati Tags: Cayenne Pepper,Ikove,Original Source,Curl Harmony

3 Comments

Posted by mercz on May 30, 2010 in Cayenne Pepper, Deep Condition, Hair Care, Natural Hair Loss Remedies, Natural Product Brands, Shampoo

Tags: Cayenne Pepper, Curl Harmony, Ikove, Original Source

Cayenne Pepper Treatment – Week 3

23 May

This week i repeated the cayenne and neem treatment again using the hemp oil. I didn’t pre-poo with the oils overnight like i usually do. I don’t know why exactly, i guess i just couldn’t be bothered and… my hair was oily enough anyway (can you hear the excuse, lol).

This morning i made the paste again using only 1 tablespoon of oil and again applied in sections. I left it on for more than 30 mins i think as i was pre-occupied with other things but i was subconsciously monitoring how my scalp felt.

I shampooed using the Ikove Amazonian avocado and acerola shampoo. I went section by section (as i always do) taking down the twist, rinsing thoroughly making sure the water ran clean before shampooing. I did a double shampoo before applying the conditioner to rinse out as i noticed the foam was quite red. I did this by applying a good amount of shampoo to the section massaging it through until it was nice and frothy. I then squeezed off the excess shampoo and then applied more shampoo onto the section again massaging it through the hair and really making sure the scalp was clean. I squeezed off the excess and then applied a small amount of Herbal Essence Hello Hydration to the hair before rinsing. I then detangled by slopping on my Herbal Essence’s and combing through gently after which i used my Denman to get rid of any shed hairs that may have tangled up in my hair. I repeated this for all sections.

I deep conditioned using Ikove Amazonian avocado and babaçu conditioner, mixed with honey and olive oil. All in all i left this on for about 45 minutes before giving my hair a final rinse with cool water.

My hair wasn’t ‘butter soft’ like it was last week but i’m still super pleased with it. It seems the cayenne, neem and hemp oil mixed with the Indian herbs really made a good combo.

As for the growth stimulating effects of the treatment… I can’t really see any. My hair at the nape is at an awkward stage where it’s quite fluffy so it’s hard to tell whether there is any progress there. Really, i should have taken pics of my nape before and after to compare the end results. That’s a slap on the wrist for me.

Next week will be my last cayenne treatment. I might try the onion juice treatment for the next four weeks after that and document the results. I’ll defo take pics of before and after to really see whether there has been any progress. My next posts will be about the benefits of Neem and also of Onion Juice.

Take Care.

Technorati Tags: Cayenne Pepper,Neem Powder,Hemp Oil,Ikove

2 Comments

Posted by mercz on May 23, 2010 in Cayenne Pepper, Deep Condition, Hair Care, Natural Hair Loss Remedies, Shampoo

Tags: Cayenne Pepper, Hemp Oil, Ikove, Neem Powder

Ikove Product Use Update

09 May

So… I used the Ikove products i mentioned in the previous blog. I compared the shampoo with the Aubrey Organics JAY shampoo i had on hand to see whether it made my hair feel any different. I alternated the shampoos from section to section (4 in all) to get a really good comparison. In all Honesty they were pretty much the same in performance so… quite unexciting. But using the ‘conditioner over shampoo’ method i’ve talked about seems to not make a blind bit of difference to the shampoo used. It replaces the oils stripped away from the shampoo and leaves it clean but soft once you rinse it off. It’s great. I’m definitely going to continue that method.

The conditioner I used was the Amazonian avocado and babaçu conditioner Nourishing for dry and very dry hair. I mixed in some honey and some olive oil (as i usually do). The conditioner is not tremendously thick, so once mixed in with honey and oil it was quite runny. Once applied i put a plastic bag on my head and left it on about two hours (i had other things to do you know!). When i rinsed it out i was so PLEASED with the results. My hair was soft! I’m so chuffed. I’ve been searching for a ‘cone’ free deep conditioner that really penetrates my hair and gives a great condition. I’ve tried several natural brands and the only one so far that my hair has taken to is JASON’s 84% Aloe Vera Conditioner. My only problem with this conditioner is that it contains dimethicone which can lead to build up on the hair. I’m very pleased with the results of this conditioner. My hair feels great without any ‘cone’ residue.

I did also use the Aubrey Organics White Camellia ultra-smoothing conditioner for dry, course hair. It wasn’t great as a DC so i thought i would use it as my detangling conditioner today. It wasn’t great at that either. What a let down. The only thing it’s good for is putting over the shampoo to prevent that stripped feeling, but i’m not going to buy it just for that purpose because any conditioner will do that job. So, i wont be buying this again.

I’m going to stick with this Ikove range for now. My hair likes it (thank goodness).

I found the actual website for Ikove UK so here it is. Still at the same great prices.

http://www.ikove.co.uk/products.php?page=hc

Technorati Tags: Ikove,Aubrey Organics,Shampoo,Deep Condition

Natural Product Finds

08 May

Ok… so i’m just updating you on some products that i came across in my search for a shampoo and a deep conditioner that is all natural, sls, and silicone free.

The first is a brand called Ikove. They are “natural and organic hair care products using only the best ingredients direct from the Amazon. These hair care products are certified to be at least 95% organic”. (Their own statement).

Their shampoos are “pH-balanced and formulated with mild plant-based cleansers to thoroughly clean the hair and scalp without irritation.” (Their own statement).

They have a few different shampoos and i ordered the Amazonian avocado and acerola shampoo Nourishing for damaged and treated hair.

Ingredients
Aqua (Water), Aloe Barbadensis leaf Extract*, Decyl Glucoside, Malphigia Glabra (Acerola) Fruit Extract*, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Oil*, Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ Extract, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract, Geranium Maculatum Oil, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Citric Acid, Cyamopsis Tetragonoloba (Guar) Gum.

And the conditioner i ordered was the Amazonian avocado and babaçu conditioner Nourishing for dry and very dry hair.

Ingredients
Aqua (Water), Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract*, Malphigia Glabra (Acerola) Fruit Extract*, Orbignya Oleífera (Babaçu) Seed Oil*, Cetyl Alcohol, Sorbitan Olivate, Cetearyl Olivate, Persea Gratíssima (Avocado) Oil, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Tocopherol (Natural Vitamin E), Citrus Aurantium Dulcius (Orange) Oil*, Geranium Maculatum Oil, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate.

I get really excited when i see Aloe Vera in the top 5 ingredients because they are the ones that really count. And in this case it’s the SECOND ingredient on the list. I am aware it’s an extract but it will still benefit the hair greatly. The Cetyl alcohol, Sorbitan Olivate and Cetearyl Olivate are really the ‘body’ of the conditioner and everything else hangs on those ingredients. I’m hoping my hair will take to it because the ingredient list on both products sounds great so fingers crossed.

Their products are very reasonably priced at around £6.12 per bottle of 250ml shampoo or conditioner. But beware because i found the same products on another website that sold all brands of shampoos and conditioners at around £8.50 and £11.99 respectively. So i’ve put the link to original website that i bought the products from.

Here’s the link for their products
http://www.naturalfigure.co.uk/ikove-amazonian-shampoos-and-conditioners-p-88.html

The second brand is called ‘Crown Pride Naturals’ and is a line formulated especially for naturally curly hair. I was quite excited when i came across this range as it’s a COMPLETE curly hair care range including shampoos (normal and alternative), conditioners (including protein and Hair Masks), Oils, Whipped butters and soufflé’s, Buttercream and curl crème. These products, especially the last two, are quite hard to find here in the UK and all for very reasonable prices.