Monthly Archives: June 2015

DIY Curl Refreshing & Activating Spray

Hey Maicurlies,

Today I have another really quick DIY spray to share. I think your hair will LOVE it! My hair drinks this up and is super soft afterwards, moisturized, shiny and it actually helps to refresh my curls too!

DIY Moisturizing & Curl Activating Spray

I use this spray in different ways (you can apply this on your scalp and face too btw, who doesn’t love a good 3 in 1 product right)?!

Ingredients:

1 oz plain water (I use bottled water)
0.4 oz Rose Water
0.1 oz Glycerin (optional Ingredient that can be replaced with honey or agave nectar)
0.3 oz Fresh Aloe Vera Juice (you can use store bought)
2 capsules Vitamin E Oil (roughly 0.15 oz)
1 – 2 drops Essential Oil (optional – I LOVE the scent of rose water so I skip this)

Benefits of each ingredient:

Water – the ingredient of life right? H2o is a naturals best friend as it hydrates the hair, restores lost moisture, provides elasticity to the hair, helps prevent breakage, honestly water should be our closest buddy.

Rose Water (apart from smelling AMAZING) – it is known to help revitalize the quality of your hair due to Its natural moisturizing and nourishing properties. It helps ease scalp irritations or dandruff, it leaves the scalp feeling fresh, is said to help reduce hair loss due to the fact that it helps stimulate hair follicles, provides shine and helps restore the natural pH of the skin and hair.

Aloe Vera Juice (AVJ)* (Fresh or store bought) – promotes hair growth, stop hair loss, treats scalp problems e.g. dry/itchy scalp. It restores moisture to both the hair and scalp, helps simulate hair growth since it contains enzyme that stimulates hair follicles and can help reduce buildup since it has astringent properties.

*If you are using AVJ directly from the plant (completely pure and untreated) it is best to do a skin patch test to see if you are allergic to it first since people can develop an allergic reaction to it.

Vitamin E Oil – a commonly used oil to help extend homemade products shelf life (however only extends products for a little bit). It rejuvenates and offers protection for the scalp and skin by nourishing both and is said to help sooth scalp issues such as psoriasis*. The oil helps to condition the hair resulting in healthier and shinier hair.

*Should you suffer from psoriasis it is best to consult a medical professional e.g. a dermatologist or your personal doctor as this is NOT a cure for psoriasis.

Essential Oil (EO) – depending on the EO you use you can get different benefits my suggestion is peppermint, tea tree or rosemary but you can use any EO of choice. (I prefer to skip this because I LOVE the scent of Rose Water).

Moisturizing & Curl Activating Spray

How I use it:

Depending on how my hair is styled, I will either use it to freshen up my curls in the morning, spritz it on an old wash and go or even to remoisturize my hair at night before putting in twists (after sealing with a little oil).

What I love about this is that the mix is really light weight so even if you spray this on “old hair” it will not weigh down your curls, it is super moisturizing thanks to the ingredients and of course it is all natural!

Storage:

The recipe is simple to do so it won’t take you long to remake it. I do suggest making small batches to ensure it stays fresh since there are no preservatives added. I do recommend storing it in the fridge just to make sure it doesn’t go off too quickly and since it is easy to make it won’t take you any time at all!

I would love to hear what you think about this mix!

Thanks

Maicurls

Overnight DIY Hot Oil/Pre-Poo Treatment

15 Replies

Hey Maicurlies,

So today I have a two tutorials to share and both are all about a Hot Oil mix which can be used as:

a pre-poo – applied before using a shampoo/cleanser to avoid the hair feeling completely stripped.
an overnight hot oil mix – after which you would co-wash or shampoo your hair (you don’t have to warm up the oil)

DIY Hot Oil Mix

Personally I like using it as an overnight hot oil mix so I shall delve a little more into that aspect but like I stated above you do not have to warm up the oil before application since your body heat (your scalp) and a shower cap (which you should use) helps to keep the oils warm. I prefer warming up the oil because it feels awesome applying it while lightly warm and my hair seems to soak up the oils when it is warm.

Recipe:

1 oz Rose infused Grapeseed Oil
1 oz Coffee Bean infused Almond Oil
1 oz Neem infused Virgin Coconut Oil
3 capsules Vitamin E Oil (roughly 0.15 oz)
1-2 drops Essential oil (optional)

Mixing Instructions:

All you need to do is to combine all the oils together. If you opt to make it a hot oil treatment then you place the bowl with the oil in a pot of hot water (no longer on the stove) for 3 – 5 minutes. Once the oils are a little warm you can add the essential oil and you are done.

NOTE: Do not let the water mix with the oil especially if you plan on storing the remaining oil for future use. And remember to never place the oil in direct heat e.g. in the microwave or directly in a pot on a stove! You run the risk of not only zapping away the nutrients of the oil but will cause the oil to burn your hair and scalp and might accidentally cause a fire!

Application Process:

Before I apply the warm oil I like to spray my hair with a little plain water. I find this step necessary because 1. it means I am re-hydrating my hair with moisture 2. it makes the application process a little easier and 3. if you have dry hair then applying the oil onto dry hair means you are “trapping in” the dryness versus trapping in moisture if you apply water first.

I like to apply the oil while warm (NOT HOT) going from my roots to my ends. I work in the oil really well and usually do a quick detangle with my fingers. I cover up with a shower cap and scarf for the night and then proceed to wash my hair with shikakai or a co-wash depending on what my hair needs.

Benefits:

Helps to stop cleansers from stripping the hair.
Provides shine.
Softens the hair.
Eases detangling.
Fights against dry hair
Soothes a flaky/itchy scalp.

The results afterwards and even during the hot oil treatment is really quite evident immediately! In the video you can see how my old, dry and tangled hair quickly becomes soft, detangled, shiny, smooth and all round happy!

I would love to hear if you do hot oil treatments and how? Do you do overnight treatments, what oils do you use? Do you apply water first? Tell me all about it!

Thanks

Maicurls

Mini Buns?! I don’t think so Marc Jacobs – Global Couture

2 Replies

Hey Maicurlies,

This is my latest contribution article to Global Couture.

Mini Buns?! I dont think so Marc Jacobs – Global Couture

Yup, I also saw the latest “fashion trend….mini buns”…!!! Okay I don’t want to go off and start a big ‘what is wrong with people’ post simply because I tend to get a little to annoyed and can go on and on. I did address the fashion post what WAS on Mane Addicts website (but has since been removed).

Like I said, I really don’t want to go off again so I have provided a link to my article here. I have said my piece on the matter but I am pretty sure it won’t be the last time I will address a situation like that again, as I said in my article I am not a pessimist I simply am a realist.

Have a great weekend Maicurlies!

Thanks

Maicurls

8 Bantu Knot-out

5 Replies

Hey Maicurlies,

I am ADDICTED to Instagram! Yes I have admitted to this before (here) but seriously it is like a disease LOL!

Anywho, recently I started to take photos of what my hair looks like (quite frequently), so I figured from time to time I will post a few photos here too. Primarily if I have photos of my styling process (taking down my hair, separating, fluffing and styling) or if I capture how a style looks as the days go on I will load those up here.

I want to start with my recent Bantu Knot-out which I did on 8 Bantu Knots. Normally I prefer doing smaller knots (not too tiny) just because it means I’d have tighter curls which creates fullness for my fine hair and it usually (I repeat, usually) means I don’t have to separate as much since my hair will already be in small sections. However, Bantu knots & sleep do not go hand in hand and I am tender headed so I did 8 Bantu Knots.

I put in the Bantu Knots literally right before bed and took them down the next morning.

I separated the sections, fluffed my hair, separated some more, fluffed some more and then decided to pin it back for Day 1:

Day 2:

I did the pineapple method to sleep and covered my hair using a scarf. The next day (day 2). I again had it pinned back but without any curls hanging down this time. By the second day my hair fluffier which gave me volume (yay) and of course also invited frizz but I am fine with that.

That is it Maicurlies! Let me know if you like these kinds of posts or not!

Thanks

Maicurls

Double Twist Head Wrap

3 Replies

Hey Maicurlies,

Yup, I am back with another head wrap (I am sorry but I am obsessed so you will probably see more of these types of tutorials for a while!) 😀

It is yet again a really simple and quick wrap that can be done in 5 minutes, who doesn’t like a quick style that also happens to leave your hair protected??? 😀

All you really are doing it covering your hair once with the wrap and then twirling the remaining material to make a fake “twirled rope” stretching them across your head and tucking away the ends. The End 🙂