Giveaway Winner!!!

   First of all I would like to thank everyone who participated in my giveaway. I like to help out others and share some of the products I love and use. I really enjoy doing this so please don't be upset if you weren't the winner this time. I say this time because I plan on doing many more. I hope to have my next one this Spring so if you unfollow me on Instagram or unsubscribe you will not be eligible for my next giveaway. Now this was super hard for me to do, so I picked the winner with random.org to be fair. So after the number was chosen I counted starting from the first entries to the recent. So I would Like to congratulate..... NATURAELLE YOU'RE THE WINNER!!!
Hope you enjoy your goodies I will Direct Message you through Instagram for your mailing info.

5 Month's Natural/Hair Growth Products

   Hi Everyone! I can't believe I have been natural for almost half a year. Yes, I did Big Chop October 3, 2015 but I have been growing my hair natural since August 2015. As I had mentioned previously I wanted to grow my hair back out from rocking a undercut style for over a year. So the last time I shaved the sides and back  of my hair was the end of July. I then waited until my sides were as long as my new growth on top and "Big Chopped" the top. So since August until now I have about 2 1/4 inches of growth!!! I'm pretty happy with that because my hair grows slow. I'm hoping to see at least 5 inches by my one year mark. But to be honest I really just want to have healthy hair.

   In October I started using products to help my hair growth process and one of them were Hair, Skin and Nail Vitamins. The first brand I tried was Natures Bounty 90 count gummies. I really liked them they had a good Strawberry taste and they lasted me 45 day's. I can't say I noticed rapid hair growth because I was still newly natural, but I did notice my nails grew long and strong fast. After I was done with those, I wanted to try a different Brand. I went with Spring Valley Hair, Skin & Nail pills 120 count. With this particular brand the serving size is 3 pills a day which seems like a lot. Some day's I took 3 other's I took 2. If taken as directed this brand would last you about 40 days. I have had more hair growth than I expexted at this time so I beleive these vitamins are good and actually work. I have also seen lots of growth and strength in my nails. Not so much difference in my skin though. I'm almost done with these vitamins and would Love to try something different. What vitamins do you reccomend? Please let me know in the comments below.

   Along with vitamins I have also been using various hair growth oils. The first one I use is the Jamaican Black Castor Oil in Coconut. I have read great things about it's hair regrowing abilities so I wanted to give it a try. One thing I love about it is the smell. I heard the regular Jamaican Castor Oils don't smell so good so I made sure to get a scented one. The second thing I like is it really makes my hair soft. The next growth oil I use is Alikay Naturals Essential 17 Hair growth oil. This one has a mixture of 17 ingredients for healthy scalp and hair growth. I like the smell of this one as well it smells like peppermint. You can check out my previous review on Alikay Natural products a few entry's back. And last but not least is Yani Care's Everyday Spray Serum. It helps promote healthy scalp and hair. It is made up of a nice assortment of essential oils and distilled water. It has a very nice fragrance as well.  I have only been using it for 2 weeks but I honetly Love it. It is not too greasy and my hair is so soft after using it. I'll have to give you an update on it after I use it a little longer.
   I always mix my growth oils (hoping for a little extra growth) LOL! I first spray my Yani Care on first. Next a couple drops of Jamaican Castor Oil and a couple of the Essential 17 growth oil. Then I use my fingertips and gently massage my scalp for about 15-20 mins 3 days a week. Massaging the scalp helps with the circulation of your scalp allowing blood to flow and hair to grow.

   And lastly, I always knew my hair took a long time to absorb product so I decided to do the water porosity test. Basically you take a clean strand of hair and place it in room temperature water. If it floats you have low porosity hair. If it sinks you have high porosity hair. So I placed two stands in (hope you can see them) and kept checking on them. They never sunk and stayed on top. So I have what I thought, low porosity. I really need to find some products that work for my hair. I hope to try the new line by Shea Moisture for Low porosity hair. I would really Love to review it.
   I hope you enjoyed my hair growth update. My next one will be at my one year natural mark, October 2016. Hope you found it a little helpful. And please let me know what products you use for hair growth below. I will leave the links below to purchase from Yani Care as well as Alikay Naturals. You can find the Jamaican Black Castor Oil at Sally's Beauty Supply and the Vitamins I used at Wal-Mart. Make sure you subscribe below so you don't miss my next sweet review.

http://yanicareproducts.com/
http://alikaynaturals.com/







 

DIY Honey Face Wash/Scrub

   This week I wanted to do a little DIY project. I will show you how to make a face wash and scrub that's good for your skin and easy to make. You probably have all the ingredients in your home already. A couple months ago I did a review on a company that made natural skin products. I received their honey lemon face wash and honey lemon face scrub along with some other products. I really loved the face products and decided to see if I could recreate them at home. All you will need is 3 simple ingredients; honey, lemon and sugar.

   Now you might be wondering why honey and lemons are being used for making face wash/scrub? I'll tell you why. Honey is a natural antibacterial making it great for those who suffer with acne. Honey helps treat and prevent breakouts. Honey is also full of wonderful antioxidants that can help slow down aging. It can also give you a nice complexion boost by moisturizing and soothing the skin, creating a natural glow. Honey is also clarifying which helps open and unclog pores. Now to get the best benefits with honey you have to use a truly raw organic honey. This will ensure that all the helpful nutrients and enzymes are intact.
   Now I'm sure you have heard that lemon may not be good for the skin but too much of anything could be bad for you. That's why I only used a little bit of lemon juice in this recipe. You can leave it out if you like. Lemon juice however can help lighten dark spots and blemishes such as acne scars. The citric acid in the lemon can gradually fade spots as well as evens skin tone. Vitamin C which is found in lemons is a great antioxidant for nuetralizing free radicals and boosting collagen production. So now I will show you how to make the honey lemon face wash and scrub.

   To make your face wash and scrub you will need:

*Raw Honey
*Lemon Juice ( you can leave out if you like)
*Sugar
*2 containers with lid (plastic or glass)

   I repurposed the cute glass containers that held the tea I did a review on previously. So first I spooned about 4 oz of the raw honey into the first container. I then added 2 teaspoons of lemon juice and made sure to blend it well. And that's it for your lemon honey face wash. You can add a little more or less lemon juice to get the consistency you like.

  Next take your second container and put about 1/4 cup of sugar in it. Then you will take 1 1/2-2 tablespoons of the honey lemon face wash from the first container and add it to the container with sugar. Next you will need to stir it well making sure to blend it completely. If it feels to dry you can add more of the honey lemon mixture to it. And that's it! You have your honey lemon face wash, which I use in the morning and your honey lemon scrub which I use at night.

For best results
* wet your face with warm water, add your wash or scrub evenly to your face
*let it sit for about 30 seconds
*wash off completely

   I really Love this face wash and scrub it really brightens my face as well as keep my acne at bay. I encourage you to give it a try and as I said you can leave out the lemon if it bothers your skin. Hope you enjoyed my first DIY project this will be the first of many. Don't forget to check out my Giveaway a couple posts back and make sure to subscribe below. And please be sure to check back next week for my next sweet review.

Love, Aunt Bonnie

 
   Today's review isn't necessarily about the products but about where I got them from. While searching Instagram for new products to try I came across "Love, Aunt Bonnie." Love, Aunt Bonnie features multicultural owned brands from around the world. They offer these companies full size products by simply answering a few quick questions and paying only the cost of shipping and handeling for $5 through the "Product Cabinet." I think this was such an awesome idea to help support black and brown owned businesses get their products out there.
   Seeing that I Love finding and trying out new natural hair products, I was automatically drawn to the "Hair Cabinet." So I signed up and had a choice between the Briogeo line of Green Tea Shampoo and their Avocado+Quinoa co-wash or Earth's Nectar Styling Pomade. I'm a sucker for shampoo and co-wash so I chose Briogeo which are part of my giveaway going on now. But you can choose both if you like. The questions were easy to answer and were catered to my hair concerns. Besides the "Hair Cabinet," there is also a Skin, Cosmetic and Fragrance cabinet as well. In each cabinet you get a choice between two products that change about every two months.

   Love, Aunt Bonnie is great for those who not only love to support new brown and black businesses, but also those who simply Love trying new products for a low cost. It's also great for Hair and Beauty bloggers such as myself to try out and review products to help others make informed decisions on products to buy. Quoted from the website...

"Love Aunt Bonnie is the first global luxury beauty media platform connecting Brands with the Multicultural audience. As a whole, we curate Black and Brown experiences and contexualize them with everything from limited edition beauty boxes to editorial coverage. Focused singularly on education Love, Aunt Bonnie functions like a modern day "Beauty Godmother," guiding women in their journey towards knowing their beauty."
 
   I'm really excited that I found Love, Aunt Bonnie and can't wait to see what they will have next in their "Product Cabinet." I encourage you to sign up and help support not only Love, Aunt Bonnie but the Beauty Brands being offered by Black and Brown business owners as well. I will leave the link below so you can see what products are currently being offered in Aunt Bonnies "Product Cabinet." Also, make sure to give @loveauntbonnie a follow on Instagram. Don't forget to enter my giveaway which is two posts back and please subscribe below so you don't miss my next sweet review.

http://www.productcabinet.com/

Color Kill Makeup

   This weeks review is on a super cool Indie lipstick company with the cutest packaging. Color Kill Makeup was so kind to send me their entire line of their Mega Matte Liquid Lipsticks to review. This line consists of seven beautiful shades but I did swatches of five of them. The other two shades
"Indie Red" and "Pink Gumballs" are in my giveaway going on right now so read my last blog entry for details on that. So let's get started.

   First off I would like to give you some more details about Color Kill Makeup. Color Kill's Mega Matte Liquid Lipsticks are Cruelty Free, Vegan and Paraben Free. Perfect for those who strive to use natural products in their lifestyle. Their products are safe for those who are gluten intolerant and made here in the USA. Color Kill also works with a color chemist with almost two decades in the cosmetic industry to create their products.
    When I found Color Kill Makeup on Instagram, I instantly fell in Love with the shade "Lotus Petal" (insert heart shape emoji here.)  I Love, Love, Love this shade. I've been obsessed with pinkish and brownish nudes lately. And I have to say "Playmate" is my next fave followed by "Love Thing" (Purples my favorite color.) The Mega Matte Liquid Lipsticks all come in a tube with a soft tip wond applicator. They are liquid and dry to a nice matte finish. I liked the staying power on these they did not budge and lasted all day for me. I had to use coconut oil to remove it at the end of the day. As you can see their is a smear from where I had tried to clean up around Sweet Salmon, it didn't want to budge. They also have a nice sweet scent like vanilla cupcakes. I find that a lot of liquid matte lippies tend to feel dry or sometimes uncomfortable on my lips. These felt that way but all I have to do is apply a little chapstick before and problem solved. Color Kills Mega Matte Liquid Lipsticks are $15.95 each for 6g/0.21 oz of product. A pretty comparable price for what other lippies are going for now.

   The top picture is me wearing "Lotus Petal" and under is a lip swatch of "Playmate." I totally recommend giving Color Kill a try they have some great shades of lippies for a great price. Please give @colorkillmakeup a follow on Instagram. I'll also leave the link below to check these and their other lippies out. Don't forget to see my last post to enter my giveaway and subscribe below. Hope you enjoyed this weeks Sweet review!

http://www.colorkill.com/

Cande Curls New Year's Giveaway!!

   I'm so happy to announce my very first official Giveaway! I have been wanting to do this for a while now so I have been saving things here and there. I was also waiting for some things to be delivered as well. Everything here will be given to one very lucky winner at the end of this giveaway. Some things I have used before in the past and some I have not tried before. Everything here is brand new and never been used or opened. I may also add a styling product like a curling cream or a leave-in conditioner as a secret gift. I thought it would be nice to do a mixup of different products for you to try out different brands. Because some things took a while to get to me, my New Year's giveaway will run today December 24th to January 14th. The winner will be announced Saturday January 16th. The winner will also be announced on here so you must subscribe. Now for the rules:
*Must Sucscribe to Cande Curls blog (below)
I will announce winner here
*Must follow me on Instagram @candecurls
*No Giveaway accounts
*Must not have account on private Jan 16th
*Only one entry per person
*US ONLY
*Post this giveaway pic from my Instagram on your Instagram feed with hashtag #candenewyear
*Tag 2 curlfriends under this same pic on MY Instagram page.
   And that's it. You must follow all rules or you will be disqualified. I will be checking. Now go to my Instagram and regram this pic using hashtag #candenewyear Good Luck Everyone!!!

Eden BodyWorks

   This weeks product review is on the Coconut Shea natural hair product line by Eden BodyWorks. I won these products from a giveaway posted on Instagram a couple weeks ago and received the whole Cococnut Shea line. This week I will be reviewing 5 of the products I used on my recent washday. Of those products I used Eden's All Natural Cleansing CoWash, All Natural Hair Masque Treatment, All Natural Leave In Conditioner, All Natural Pudding Souffle and All Natural Curl Defining Creme. So let's get started.

   First product I used is Eden's All Natural Cleansing CoWash. Because this is their Coconut Shea line everything smells like lovely Coconut. It is a medium creamy texture that isn't to thick and easy to apply to the hair. It gave a nice slip. I like that this cleansing conditioner is paraben and sulfate free and no suds. It coated my hair nicely and left it soft and clean. Some of the ingredients listed are Water, Aloe Vera, Shea Butter and Coconut Oil. I really liked the smell and consistency of this cowash it works well and is a good cleanser. This product comes in a 16 oz jar for $8.99. A pretty good price for the amount of product.

   The next product is Eden BodyWorks All Natural Hair Masque Treatment. This is a Deep Conditioner that is also Paraben and Sulfate Free. The texture of this one is  really thick and creamy. Because I am away from home I put a plastic cap on my head and let it set for 30 minutes. I then used a hand held blow dryer making sure to get all angles for about 10 minutes. After I rinsed my hair thoroughly with cool water. My hair after was okay but not super soft like I hoped. Maybe if I had used my sit under dryer it would have worked a little better. I'll have to redo this one again when I get home. Just like the cowash the first ingredient listed is water, which is always a good sign. The Hair Treatment Mask also comes in a 16 oz jar for $8.99. So for now I'll say this Hair Masque is okay but I would like to use it again next wash day to give it a fair review.

   Next up is Eden BodyWorks All Natural Leave In Conditioner. It is a lightweight creamy leave in that smells of coconut as well. After applying it, it took a bit for it to soak into my hair but it did. It helped my hair to be a little more manageable but still not as soft as I hoped it to be. The Leave in Conditioner is Paraben and Sulfate free just like the others and water is also the first listed ingredient. The Leave In can be used daily and is great for color treated, chemically treated, curly or straight hair. Eden's Leave In Conditioner comes in a 8 fl oz for $8.99.

   After the Leave In Conditioner I applied some Avocado oil (L.O.C method.) I then went with Eden BodyWorks All Natural Pudding Souffle. I was so surprised by how soft my hair felt with this product. I expected to get these results with the Hair Masque treatment. My hair was manageably moisturized and soft like butter. I really Loved the Pudding Souffle. It was white, creamy and thick like pudding. This product is meant to help reduce frizz, enhance textured styles and provide a soft shiny finish. Again the first ingredient listed is water and it is also Paraben and Sulfate free. This product also come in a 16 oz jar for $8.99.

   And lastly is Eden BodyWorks All Natural Curl Defining Creme. This curl definer gives your hair a medium hold without leaving your hair hard and crunchy. I liked the curl definition this cream gave me on the sides of my hair but the back of my head I had a hard time. My hair is a different texture in the back so I usually need extra product to get it to curl. I also usually add a hair gel at the end to finnish my hair but I forgot to bring one. My hair was really soft though so I'm sure a gel would of helped bring more of the curl out. This Curl definer is a white medium thick cream that was easy to apply. It did take a a little while to soak in just like the leave in conditioner but it did eventually. Just like the others water is listed first. This product is meant to infuse moisture to strengthen hair, provide frizz control and optimize style definition. I liked the Curl Defining Creme it just didn't define the curls in the back of my hair as well as I liked. This product comes in a 16 oz jar for $8.99 as well.

   Overall Eden BodyWorks has pretty good hair products for a affordable price. All their products are cruelty, paraben and sulfate free. Their Coconut shea line has a total of 10 products for all your hair care needs. Of the five products my favorite were the All Natural Cleansing CoWash and the All Natural Pudding Souffle. They also have other hair product lines with differnet ingredients as well as a kids line. I really enjoyed today's washday reviewing Eden BodyWorks products. I will leave their website link below so you can checkout these products and more. Also give them a follow on Instagram @edenbodyworks. Please be sure to subscribe below so you don't miss my next sweet review. I will be announcing a giveaway so you don't want to miss out. Stay tuned!

http://edenbodyworks.com/pages/products