Tag Archives: Leave-In Conditioner

Revlon Realistic Wash-n-Go (Black Seed Oil Product Line)

Wash-N-Go Process

My Wash-n-Go started with my wash day process where I first used the Strengthen Shampoo:

Photo credit Revlon Realistic USA

1. Cleansing Using about 4-5 pumps of the shampoo after damping my hair with water (I wash my hair in sections) I focused on my roots and scalp first in order to remove product buildup, sweat, dirt etc. Using my finger tips I gently massaged my scalp and worked the shampoo. I also used my scalp massage brush to help lift product buildup and sweat from my scalp. I added another 3 pumps of shampoo onto my roots and scalp before working the shampoo on the length of my hair. It smells divine and had a little bit of slip to help detangle (however, I did not necessarily focus on detangling while using the shampoo that came later). I have always had a hate hate relationship with shampoo because from past experience they have ALWAYS left my hair feeling dry and stripped. However, this shampoo did neither! It lathered up a little bit and left my hair feel clean without stripped of natural oils produced by the scalp. It basically left my scalp and hair feeling clean without that typical “squeaky clean” feeling I have experienced in the past. In terms of shampoos, this definitely has been one of the best I have personally used.

Photo credit Revlon Realistic USA

2. Conditioning: After shampoo-ing I moved onto their Strengthening Conditioner (Intense Moisture). I struggled getting the conditioner out of the pump because it is really really thick which, is something I had anticipated when I did my initial review of the box (check my previous post). I ended up removing the pump and just squeezed the conditioner out of the container. I worked the conditioner from ends to roots since the ends of our hair is the oldest and driest parts so I focus on that first. I am very heavy handed with conditioner because this is when I really finger detangle and remove shed hair (using my fingers as a comb – I no longer use a comb while washing my hair). This conditioner melted into my hair, despite being really really thick. I had anticipated that it would sit on my hair but I was proven wrong! It basically dissolved. My curls were left detangled, soft, moisturized and clumped together. I absolutely loved how hydrated my hair felt after using the conditioner. I was left with a normal amount of shed hair (for me) as I would on any other wash day. I left the conditioner on with a shower cap for 10 minutes (as per their instructions) and then rinsed it out.

Photo credit Revlon Realistic USA

3. Moisturizing For the Wash-n-Go process I first moisturized my hair with their Strengthening Butter Creme Leave-in Conditioner. This is the thickest Leave-in Conditioner I have ever applied on my hair! I was actually a little worried that it might just coat my strands because of the thick consistency of the product, especially since I have fine strands. I also wasn’t sure if my curls would be weighed down due to the product just sitting on top of the strands instead of being absorbed but I yet again was proven wrong! My hair literally drank up the Leave-in! It did’t sit on top of my hair, it practically melted into int nor did it leave it feeling greasy in any way. I really put it to the test by applying A LOT of Leave-In. It smells amazing and left my curls moisturized, soft, shiny, hydrated and clumped together. After applying the leave-in is when I go for my wide tooth comb to make sure I have gotten rid of all tangles and shed hair (my comb was free of shed hair at this point).

Photo credit Revlon Realistic USA

4. Defining: To define my Wash-n-Go I used the Strengthening Curling Custard. This is another product that is thick in consistency however, it has more of a cream texture compared to the Leave-In. This product helped to enhance my curls, clumped each strand and also left my hair smelling amazing and looking shiny. It didn’t leave it feeling coated nor did I have a “crunchy” after effect on my curls. I was left with fluffy, frizz free, bouncy hair that had body, movement and definition.

Final Verdict:

Overall, I loved the results of my Wash-n-Go, from cleansing right down to styling. I was impressed with how well my hair absorbed the products without feeling weighed down nor product overloaded. My hair had volume while having little to no frizz (I went to town with my Afro comb because I LOVE lifting my roots to create MORE volume). My curls were defined, soft, shiny and hydrated.

Initially I did wish that the line included some kind of oil since I am used to applying one after moisturizing my hair however, I think that since both the leave-in and the curling custard include oils such as: sweet almond oil, black cumin seed oil, olive oil, argan oil, coconut oil and even Shea Butter & Cocoa Butter, I think for someone with fine hair such as myself the oils included in the products are sufficient. (I don’t know if those with thicker hair strands (coarser) hair would feel the same). I would have liked to see a Deep Conditioner in the product line because my wash day usually includes deep conditioning on a weekly basis. Maybe that will be added at some point.

Other than that, I enjoyed using the line & look forward to trying the other styling product I received when I do a Bantu Knot-out!

Let me know if you have ever tried Revlon Realistic Black Seed Oil and what you thought!

Maicurls

Medium Pin Curls on Fine Natural Hair

6 Replies

Hello Maicurlies,

So today I wanted to share my current obsession (actually I have yet another new one already) Pin Curls!

Medium Pin Curls

Let me tell you, I LOVE pin curls!!!!

What do I love about Pin Curls?

EVERYTHING! Since I have fine natural hair I tend to look for styles to helps to give me volume and the illusion of more density and pin curls give me that….they give me life! Generally I normally like to style on dry hair or slightly damp hair because I get more volume if my hair is not really wet but with pin curls regardless of whether I start on freshly washed hair or dry hair I adore the results! In my demo I did medium sized pin curls on freshly washed hair which gave me medium curls with bounce but they can be made smaller for tighter results or bigger for looser curls.

Products/Tools Used:

Water (to keep my hair damp)
DIY Boosted Spray Leave-in Conditioner
DIY Rose Water Hibiscus Flax Seed Spray Gel
Argan Oil
Wide Tooth Comb
Bobby Pins
Afro Pick

My styling process (especially when I start on wet hair) is to

Set the Pin Curls
Allow them to air dry
Cover with a silk/satin scarf overnight
Take down the bobby pins, separate the curls and style my hair (the following day)

Pin curled hair

Curls taken down, fluffed and styled

However, there are times when I have to go out after setting my hair (example on the day when I recorded my video) so on those days I do my faux huge headwrap.

Faux huge Headwrap

No one knows my hair is curled up, pinned down and not in a big bun underneath and I don’t have to go out looking a little peculiar 😉 Then the following day I take down my hair and voila!

DSC07908 - Copy

Here is my video of the process:

I would love to hear what you think! Do you do pin curls, would you try them?

Thanks

Maicurls

Finger Twirled Wash And Go

5 Replies

Hey Maicurlies,

Today I have an updated styling video today which is my “Finger Twirled Wash and Go”. The method I use basically helps to enhance the curl pattern of my hair. For whatever reason, it tends to allow me to get more days out of a Wash and Go which is always welcomed.

Finger Twirled Wash and Go

In the tutorial I started off with wet freshly co-washed hair that I already sectioned into twists to make it easier to get through my hair.

Products Used:

Water (in spray bottle to keep my hair damp)
DIY Creamy Leave-In Conditioner
DIY Rosewater Flaxseed Spray Gel (I also added Aloe Vera Juice to this mix)
Vanilla Infused Almond Oil

Method:

I first made sure my hair was damp, applied the Leave-In, followed by a few pumps from the FSG and then the oil to seal in everything. My hair was already detangled before I started so when I raked the products through my hair I didn’t have any issues with tangles. Once the products were raked in I twirled small sections of hair around my finger to enhance the curls and then let my hair air dry.

While Damp

After 3 hours my hair was dry. Even after my hair was dry it still looked mousey! I have fine natural hair so it always looks mousey when wet, when I use Gel, if I use too much product etc especially on the initial day of styling. I get rid of this unwanted look by massaging my scalp with my fingertips to lift my roots, head bang (a lot), scrunch and basically just try to make my hair have life!

Dried (Day 1)

The image below is on day 2. I get a little more “ompf” in my hair as the days go on (I also had frizz with the “ompf” but I am happy to get frizz if I also get fullness!)

Day 2

Here is a video of my method:

I would love to hear what you think!

P.S. I am going to go on a Henna Journey soon (I have probably mentioned this before LOL). I use to do a lot of henna treatments (a few years ago) and at the time my hair was soooo happy, thick, shiny etc and I have been meaning to do some kind of challenge. I will keep you updated!

Thanks

Maicurls

DIY Boosted Leave-In Conditioner (Spray)

8 Replies

Hey Maicurlies,

I am back with another DIY Update! This time it is my Spray Leave-In Conditioner.

This goodness is a modified version of my previous Spray Leave-In Conditioner which you can read about here. Similar to my updated Creamy Leave-In Conditioner I changed the recipe a little due to the fact that I no longer use the conditioner I use to use and the old mix was no longer as effective in moisturizing my hair as it use to be.

This recipe is quite simple, does not include too many steps and like I mentioned is a slight modification from the old one.

Ingredients

6 oz plain water (I use bottled water)
Hibiscus petals (optional) I use about 10 – 12 petals
0.8 oz leave-in conditioner (use any leave-in your hair likes)
2 oz Rose Water
0.1 oz Almond Oil (use any carrier oil your hair likes)
0.1 oz Glycerine (optional)
3 capsules vitamin E oil = roughly 0.15 oz

(Additional ingredients I sometimes use)

I sometimes add 0.8 oz fresh Aloe Vera Juice (from my garden) I didn’t this time.

Essential Oil (any oil of choice) – I like the rose scent so I skip the essential oil.

Mixing Instructions

I first add the hibiscus petals to the water and let it sit while I add the other ingredients. In the mean time I pour the leave-in conditioner, rose water, almond oil, glycerine and vitamin E oil in my container. I then pour the hibiscus water through a sieve to catch the petals and then whisk. I pour the mix into a spray bottle and shake it before every use.

Substitute Ingredients

Honey or agave nectar – instead of the glycerine (or skip this all together)
Any carrier oil of choice – instead of the almond oil
Arrowroot – can be added to the mix to give a little extra slip

Side Note:

This mix might be a little too light for those with coarser or thicker hair due to the fact that the ingredients I use are quite light weight. In case you do have thicker or coarser hair than I, you can either increase the amount of leave-in used, add a heavier carrier oil such as castor oil and/or double the amount of oil used in the mix.

When I use it/How I store it:

I like to use this mix when I want to lightly re-moisturize my hair or when I want to dampen my hair without getting it soaking wet before styling/restyling. The Leave-In is left out with the rest of my products (without needing to store it in the fridge). I have never had an issue with the mix going off or going rancid before I use it up, however, you can store it in the fridge just in case.

Do you use a spray leave-in? Do you make your own or use a store bought one? I would love to hear from you.

Thanks

Maicurls

DIY Boosted Leave-In Conditioner (Creamy)

9 Replies

Hey Maicurlies,

(Side Note: I have been having issues with my WordPress…trying to figure out how to fix it but hopefully you will see this new post without any issues!)

So back to the topic, my DIY Boosted Leave-In Conditioner.

DIY Boosted Leave-In Conditioner (Creamy)

Some of you who might have been following me for a while will know that I have a DIY Leave-In Conditioner mix already and might be wondering why another recipe Mai? Well, two reasons: 1. In the old mix I used a conditioner as the base of the recipe but I no longer use that conditioner and 2. my hair wasn’t responding as well as to the old mix as it use to. When that happens my hair is telling me “change the product mix Mai!” Since I do not use too many store brought products I do not have a stash of different leave-ins I can rotate I listen to my hair and rework the recipes instead.:D

I will put a link at the bottom of the post directing you to my old recipe, just so you can see what all I have changed. There are some subtle changes in the new recipe and a few ingredients that I add or omit depending on my mood at the time of mixing.

DIY Boosted Leave-In Conditioner (Creamy)

Ingredients

2.6 oz plain water (I use bottled water)
A couple petals of dried hibiscus (completely optional) – I use about 7
8 oz leave-in conditioner (use any moisturizing leave-in your hair likes)
2 oz Rose Water
0.1 oz Virgin Coconut Oil
0.2 oz Coffee Infused Almond Oil (use any carrier oil)
3 capsules Vitamin E Oil = roughly 0.15 oz
0.1 oz Glycerine

(Additional ingredients I sometimes use)

0.5 oz fresh home made Aloe Vera Juice to the water I use. When I add AVJ I increase the amount of leave-in my 2 oz.
Glycerine – I add glycerine if the leave-in being used doesn’t contain it already but mine did.
Essential Oil (any oil of choice) – I like the rose scent so I skip the essential oil.

Mixing Instructions

I first add the hibiscus petals to the water and let it sit while I add the other ingredients. First I add the leave-in conditioner with the rose water, virgin coconut oil, coffee infused almond oil and vitamin E oil. I then pour the hibiscus water through a sieve to catch the petals and then whisk. When I use glycerine I add it along with the leave-in and other ingredients. After whisking I transfer the mix into my containers.

Ingredient Alternatives

In case some of the ingredients I use do not play well with your hair they can be replaced by basically anything e.g. castor oil, grapeseed oil, jojoba oil, olive oil or any other carrier oil in place of/along with the coffee infused almond oil I use. If glycerine is not your favourite you can use honey or agave nectar as a humectant. (The leave-in I was using in the video had Glycerine in it so there was no need to add any more.)

My next update will be a Spray Leave-In 😀

I would love to hear if you add any particular ingredients to a store bought leave-in to “boost” its properties!

(Previous Creamy Leave-In Conditioner Mix)

Thanks

Maicurls

Birthday Look and What I did

4 Replies

Hey Maicurlies,

So this is going to be a quick post. It actually was my Birthday a week ago (the 7th) so I wanted to share a few details about what I did, what I did with my hair and all the goodies I got! My loved ones spoilt me rotten 😀

So this is what I did with my hair:

Surprise surprise….a Twist Out! It turned out quite well so I was happy.

I used my leave-in conditioner (my updated mix which I need to post here soon), almond oil and a little whipped butter. I put my hair in 6 twists the night before, covered with a satin scarf and left them in until I was getting ready for the “celebrations”. I took down the twists, separated with a little almond oil on my fingers and fluffed.

So for my “celebration” I went out with my family to this AMAZING Mongolian Restaurant. The food was awesome! The menu included a soup as starter, your main course and dessert. For mains you get to select what you want which could be a mix of: chicken, beef, lamb, shrimp and then a selection of vegetables: carrots, paprika, onions, green beans, tomatoes, spring onions as well as the sauces of which there were about 6 to pick from. You give your bowl to the chef who cooks it in an open kitchen and did I mention you could go for seconds, thirds, etc as many as your stomach can hold! The meats and seafood is kept cold/frozen so that it remains fresh and like I said you could go for only chicken, a combo of chicken and meat and if you are really crazy a mix of both meats and seafood together! Yes I rolled out of there full and happy. Oh and my choice of drink was white wine.

After dinner I went out with my friends for a few drinks…a good number of drinks which were Lychee Martinis! I LOVE this cocktail! My curlfriend got me hooked on them so I had to drag my friends to the best spot for cocktails of course. We ended up in our local spot and was surpirsed with a lovely birthday cake.

Now what did I get in terms of presents? I really got spoilt rotten!

Ok so these are my goodies! My sister and I like to give each other random gifts that we call “silly gifts”. So I got the softest bathrobe/house robe with matching shoes (It is sooooo soft I want to wear it all day everyday!), a square bean bag seat (silly gift), a cutting board (my sister said so I can prep food for her lol), plant ties (for my soon to be green garden), wireless speakers, red nail polish, iPod Shuffle, Galaxy S4, Tupperware (silly gift), boots (a girl can never have too many boots), kitchen trolley (so I can put all my DIY goodies and other ingredients!), money and I forgot to take a picture of 2 tops I also got. 😀 Can someone say spoilt!

It was a great Birthday 🙂 however, now I can no longer tick the box of 25 – 30…not so excited about that but hey!

Have a lovely day Maicurlies!

Maicurls

Styling on Dry or Wet Hair?

3 Replies

Hi Maicurlies,

To dry style or wet style that is the question.

Some people prefer to set a style on dry hair while others prefer to work on wet/damp hair. External elements such as the weather can play a role, working with stretched or un-stretched hair and the types of products you use also come into play.

As for me, it depends on what I am planning on doing with my hair and how I want the results to look. Generally when I style on damp/wet hair I get a more “controlled” result (if that is the correct word for it). My hair has more clumped curls and definition. I keep my hair really damp with my spray water bottle while styling and then apply my products.

Wash and Go with Flax Seed Gel (Left completely damp hair – Right after air dried )

(P.S. The photo above is of the same day, left when I finished doing my wash-n-go and right after my hair air dried. My hair is really fine and when wet looks ridiculously thin and mousy!)

When I style on dry hair, even though I do not “wet” my hair, I use something to lightly mist my hair, usually a few spritzes of my DIY Spray Leave-in or a tiny dab of my Creamy Leave-in conditioner. I will either directly seal with my DIY Mixed Sealing Oil or if I want extra hold I will first apply my DIY Flaxseed Gel followed by my Mixed Sealing Oil. Recently I started using my DIY Whipped Butter.

While I love the definition I get when I style on wet/damp hair, I feel like my hair looks the best when I work on dry hair. For whatever reason when I set on wet hair, the results seem too controlled (if you know what I mean). In order to get more fluffy results, I end up having to manipulate my hair which then results in more frizz then fluff because I always try to get rid of the “flat top” on my roots. It is also more time convenient for me to work on dry hair since I do not have a hooded dryer and it can take hours for my hair to be completed dry when it is in twists, braids, Bantu-knots etc. Another reason I like working with dry hair is that I get to stretch my hair a little and that not only means I get to take advantage of the length of my hair but it also limits tangles and Single Strand Knots (SSK’s) and I HATE those!

Wash and Go refreshed on Day 5

At the end of the day, there is no “right or wrong” way to style our hair. It all depends on what we hope to achieve, how much time we have for styling and our methods.

How do you like setting your hair? Do you usually work with dry or wet hair?

Thanks

Maicurls