Creme Of Nature Argan Oil Collection

*Update February 25th:
So I went ahead and gave Pudding Perfection and the Butterlicious Curls a second try with a mid-week wash day. My feelings are the same. My curls are great but my hair is dry and not moisturized. I even used extra oil in my hair to maybe help seal in the moisture. Nothing really helped. So for my hair these two products did not work. Let me know your results if you decide to try them.
 
   Hi everyone! This weeks product review is on Creme Of Nature's Natural Argan Oil line. I actually won these products from a giveaway held on Creme Of Nature's Facebook page a while ago. I really wanted to try these products out for a long time
1. Because I love the smell of their Argan products and 2. Because I have heard good things about them. This is only a fraction of the products I received but decided to just use these particular products for my washday. So let's go ahead and get started.

   So the first product I started with was Creme Of Nature's Pure-Licious CO-Wash. As I mentioned before I am so in Love with the scent of these products. It's such a fresh Beautiful scent (that's the only way I can describe it). The Co-Wash was nice, thick and creamy. It provided a very nice slip and coated my hair nice and evenly. I was able to detangle my hair very easily. After rinsing my hair that lovely scent still lingered and my hair was really soft. I'm not going to talk price with these products because they are fairly priced. You can pretty much find them in a variety of stores and pricing by store may vary. But you do get 12 oz of product which is pretty good. This Co-Wash is also Sulfate free and safe for color treated hair. The first listed ingredient is water, which is something you should always look for in natural hair products. I definitely recomend this
co-wash for your gotta try list.

   Up next is Creme of Nature's Intensive Conditioning Treatment. This one has the same great scent and consistency as the
co-wash. The Conditioning Treatment helps strengthen, impart moisture and prevents hair breakage. I spread the conditioning treatment evenly throughout my hair put on a plastic cap and sat under my hooded dryer for 15 minutes. After rinsing out with cool water my hair was noticeably soft. I feel like there wasn't anything really special about this product but it did work good. The Conditioning Treatment comes in a 12 oz bottle as well. As with the co-wash the first ingredient listed is water. This one doesn't say if it is paraben or sulfate free so I'll have to check into that. Overall it is a okay Conditioner.

   Next is Creme of Nature's Argan Buttermilk Leave-In Hair Milk. To start it has the same great scent as the others. I was surprised by the thickness of this hair milk because usually milks are a bit thinner. But I like this one because of it's thickness. Other hair milks I tried from different brands were always so thin or just didn't do anything for my hair. I love how it kept my hair soft and started bringing out my curls. The first ingredient listed is water and there are no Sulfates, Parabens, Mineral Oil or Petrolatum. This can be used as a daily moisturizer as well. The Buttermilk Leave-In comes in a 8 oz bottle. Another one you should add to your gotta buy list.

   The last two products I'm going to talk about are Creme of Nature's "Butter-Licious Curls" curl hydrating creme and "Pudding Perfection" curl enhancing creme. I decided to do them at the same time because I feel the exact same about both of them. They both have that wonderful scent I Love. The Curl Hydrating Creme is a bit thicker than the Curl Enhancing Creme. First I applied my oils of choice using the L.O.C method. I then used the Hydrating Creme first raking it through my wet hair section by section from root to tip. Then next did the same with the Enhancing Creme.
   So first I'm going to tell you what I like about them. They both went in my hair nice and evenly, defined my curls and left my curls soft and defined. But what I didn't like is they did not leave my hair looking or feeling moisturized. My hair was soft but dry, no shine to it at all. I had to keep spraying my hair with oils and rubbing oil through my hair to make it look like it had some kind of moisture and shine. Not sure if it was something I did or not, but not a big fan of these two products yet.
   Next week I may try again and instead do the L.C.O method. It may just be that these two don't work for my hair. But they may possibly work for someone elses. I do love that they gave me nice soft curls but not happy with dry hair. The Pudding Perfection creme comes in a 11.5 oz jar and the Butter-Licious Curls comes in a 7.5 oz jar. Both are free of Parabens, Sulfates, Mineral Oil and Petrolatum. I'm not going to say not to try these, they just didn't work out that great for me.
   Overall I really enjoyed reviewing Creme Of Nature's Natural Argan Oil Line. I think the cleansing and conditioning products were good I just wish I felt the same about curl products. I'll give them another try though next week and leave a little update. You can find these product's in most beauty supply stores or order online. I'll leave the website link below. Hope you enjoyed this weeks review. Make sure to subscribe below so you don't miss my next review or future giveaways. Speaking of
giveaways....make sure to follow me on Instagram @candecurls. I will be announcing my Spring Giveaway of the doubles I received of this line sometime this week. Stay Sweet!

http://cremeofnature.com

Lotus By Alesia

   Hi Everyone! Yes I'm back so soon because I couldn't wait to do my next product review. I had the pleasure of trying out and reviewing some products for my wash-day by Lotus By Alesia. I was sent the Hydrating Mango & Hemp Shampoo, Hydrating Mango & Hemp Conditioner, Hydrating Mango & Hemp Deep Moisture Masque and Moisturizing Leave-In Conditioner. I was really curious about the Hemp added in the products and couldn't wait to see how it would work in my hair.  So let's get started with my review.

   So I usually only Shampoo my hair once a month and cowash the rest. I had actually just Shamppooed my hair the week before but I couldn't resist giving Lotus's Hydrating Mango & Hemp Shampoo a try. Because this shampoo is free of sulfates it was a thin low suds cleanser. I'm not sure if the scent of it was from the hemp but I surprisingly liked the smell of it. I really can't describe it to you though. All I can say though is that it was a pleasant clean scent. I really liked how clean my hair felt during and after washing. It worked easily through my hair and did not leave my hair hard like most shampoos. It also has a applicator top to make it easy to cleanse your hair while in a protective style.
    The key ingredients are; Distilled Water infused with Nettle Leaves, Rosemary Leaf, Lavender Flower, Organic Castille Soap, Mango Butter, Hemp Seed Oil and Tea Tree oil. Overall I think this is a great Shampoo for naturals. It gets rid of product buildup without stripping your hair od it's natural oils and leaves your hair fresh, clean and soft. For this product you get 12 oz of shampoo for $17.99. I have said this before on other reviews, but sometimes the price is ok if the product does everything it should and then some. And this is that kind of product.

   The next product I used is the Hydrating Mango & Hemp Conditioner. This one had the same exact scent as the Shampoo. It was rich and creamy and gave really good slip. You can use this as a conditioner after shampooing or as a cowash. I liked the fact that this conditioner left my hair super soft and hydrated. The key ingredients in the conditioner are pretty much the same as the shampoo but also includes Carrot Seed Oil. For this product you get 12 oz of conditioner for $17.99. As stated above if the product is great it's worth it.

    Next up is Lotus's Hydrating Mango & Hemp Deep Moisture Masque. The Masque had the same scent as the Shampoo and conditioner from the Mango and Hemp line. The masque was thick yet creamy and easily spread on my hair. I then added a plastic cap and sat under my hooded dryer for 30 minutes or so. As with the conditioner It gave me really moisturized soft hair. I read that this masque can also double as a styler by adding it to just washed damp hair. So I will be sure to try that out on my next wash day. Some of ingredients listed for this product are; Distilled Water infused with Nettle Leaves, Rosemary Leaf, Lavender Flower, Mango Butter, Hemp Seed Oil, Carrot Seed Oil, Tea Tree Oil and Vitamin B5. The masque comes in a 8 oz container for $16.99. I wish it came with a little more product but if you use this sparingly it can last a little while.
                  

    And last but not least is Lotus's Moisturizing Leave-In Conditioner. Now this Leave-In right here had my hair feeling like Butter! I was so amazed by how soft this made my hair feel. The scent was amazing as well. It reminded me of vanilla frosting. But seriously this is a good Leave-In. This conditioner can be used daily to add moisture to dry hair. I added a little bit of this to some water in my spray bottle so I can use it daily. Some of the key ingredients include; Distilled Water, Marshmallow Root, Slippery Elm Bark, Cocoa Butter, Sweet Almond Oil and Rosemary Leaf Extract. The Moisturizing Leave-In comes in a 12 oz bottle for $17.99 and definitely worth every penny.

   Overall I think Lotus By Alesia has a really good product lineup. I enjoyed everything I used and can't wait to use the products in different ways on my next washday. All of Lotus's products are rich in vitamins, essential fatty acids, antioxidants and protein. Super healthy products for healthy hair. Thank you so much  Alesia for letting me review your products. If you are interested in any of these products or others offered I will leave the link below. Please make sure to give Lotus By Alesia a follow on Instagram (@lotusbyalesia). Also make sure to subscribe below so you don't miss future product reviews and giveaways. Well I had fun with this weeks review. Stay Sweet!

http://www.lotusbyalesia.com/
 

A Perfect 10

   Hi everyone! Sorry I have been gone for a while. I have had a really busy last couple of weeks. It started with my youngest son's 3rd Birthday, then my 33rd Birthday and next my oldest son's 12th Birthday. And somewhere in between all of that I had a migraine that lasted almost two weeks that I could not get rid of. But I'm back and feeling better. So lets get started with this weeks review.

   I received some natural hair products from a hair care company I found through Instagram called "A Perfect 10." I have had these for about 3 weeks and used these for my last 2 wash days. What I was sent was their "Watch My Length" Growth Oil and their "Love Me Deeply" Moisturizing Deep Conditioner. 

   So I'll start with the "Watch My Length" oil. This oil is a blend of 10 essential oils that help promote healthy hair growth. It can be used as a sealing oil using the L.O.C method. It's also light enough to be used daily. The oils included are Castor, Jojoba, Olive, Avocado, Grapeseed, Coconut, Almond, Lavender, Tea Tree and Vitamin E Oil. Basically all the best oils to promote healthy hair and growth in one bottle. I have to say I really Love this oil #1 because of the mixture of all these oils and #2 because it can be used so many different ways. I have used this oil as a pre-poo before starting my wash day, as a scalp massage oil to help promote hair growth, a hot oil treatment and as a daily moisture sealent. I have basically been using only this for two weeks. It also doesn't have a fragrance to it if you are sensitive to smells. For this product you get 8 fl oz for $10. Since you get a mixture of a variety of oils I would say that it is a great price for the amount of product. 

   Next is A Perfect 10's "Love Me Deeply" Moisturizing Deep Conditioner. The description reads; "A rich and creamy deep penetrating conditioner that provides intense moisture, leaving your hair feeling soft and ready for any style." It is also infused with vitamin B7 to promote healthy hair growth. Some other ingredients listed are; Deionized Water, Aloe Vera Juice, AP10 Blend, Castir Oil, Vitamin B7, Persea Gratissima Oil, Cocos Nucifera Oil, Optiphan and Fragrance. This product is also Paraben, Sulfate, Silicon, Alcohol, Mineral Oil and Petroleum free. To me this doesn't have a fragrance but that could be a good thing for those that are sensitive to smells. This Deep Conditioner is Amazing!!! It's thick and creamy and added such wonderful softness to my hair. I always sit under my hooded dryer for about a half hour or more while deep conditioning. I was so happy with how moisturized my hair looked and felt. This is definitely a "Perfect 10" product. For the Love Me Deeply deep conditioner you get 16 oz for $15 which I would also say is a pretty good price especially with my results.  

   Over all I really enjoyed reviewing A Perfect 10's hair products. Thank you so much for allowing me to review them. If you are are interested in these and other product's they have to offer I will leave the link below. Thanks for reading and please don't forget to subscribe below for updates of my next review. Stay sweet!!

http://www.aperfect10.biz/

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/