natural hair blogs – sarah fynn

ORS Monoi Oil Shampoo & Conditioner Review

The ORS Monoi Oil collection looks great and features a wide range of products, for a full list of products in the collection, check out my previous post.

I was sent the new shampoo and conditioner for a review a while back and I can finally bring you my thoughts on it. I will be reviewing the Monoi Oil Edge Control too. All the products I have feature Omega 3 & 6 which seems to be the main ingredient and has anti breakage and moisture properties.

The Fortifying Shampoo smells nice and has a runny consistency. It cleansed my scalp and hair really well without stripping it of its moisture. I used a fair amount to get a lot of suds which had a little slip to it which I was able to finger detangle easily with. After lathering my hair felt very soft.

The Fortifying Conditioner has the same scent as the shampoo and has a nice thick consistency. It has a good amount of slip which meant I was able to detangle quite easily with it, both with my tangle teezer brush and my wide tooth comb. The downside is because it’s quite thick I found it difficult to get it out of the bottle- cue hitting the bottle besides the sink and lots of shaking lol. Also it’s quite small- only 296ml! It made my hair really soft though, like butter soft! I always deep condition with heat for about 10 minutes with it.

The Anti Breaking Edge Control Hair Gel – I really like this! It claims to have a flexible hold which I find to be true because my edges are still laid when I take of my wig at the end of the day. It doesn’t melting during the day either! It is soft in the tub which I really like compared to most edge controls which are quite hard. I apply with a tooth brush and smooth it down with my fingers. If I have time to spare I will tie my hair down with a scarf but it’s good to go without that too. I believe its alcohol free (I lost the packaging it came in). I find most edge control gels work on slight damp hair but this works great on both damp and dry hair. Only thing is you can get some white flakes when you use it on top of other products.

Overall Thoughts

I really like this! The shampoo is great for detangling (actually says this on the product) and smells really nice. I really liked how soft it made my hair feel after rinsing. The conditioner is another favourite! The slip it gives is amazing! The only thing I wish they would change is the packaging or the size! I also prefer this edge control to their Olive Oil edge control. With regards to the anti-breakage properties, I haven’t really noticed a difference in the amount of hair shed during wash day- it’s been the same.

Make sure you check out the website for more information on this line and the products are now in stores

Lord God of Heaven! You are great, and we stand in fear of you. You faithfully keep your covenant with those who love you and do what you command

Nehemiah 1:5 GNT

A to Z of Natural Hair

Hey guys, I hope everyone is doing well! I thought it would be super fun to compile a list of all the well-known terms in the natural hair community and boy do we have a lot! From A-Z, these are some of the well-used terms we like to throw about among ourselves leaving people that don’t know like whatt?? Lol. I also tried to find definitions and videos that explain it in detail! I hope you enjoy (P.S- I am also doing one for beauty)

A – Apple Cider Vinegar aka ACV. ACV has many benefits for your hair, but probably the most used one in the natural hair world is to use it as a clarifier or to balance pH levels. If you can stand the smell (Guys I tried, I really did, and I just couldn’t), buy from Holland and Barrett for £1.75

B– Bagging method/ BSL. The Bagging method is when you cover your hair with plastic bags in order to trap heat to allow your conditioner/oil/treatment to penetrate deeper into your hair (also see Greenhouse effect). It’s a good method to use if you do not have a steamer/hood dryer. BSL– Bra Strap Length- a term used to measure the length of your hair. When you get to BSL it simply means your hair is now reaches your bra strap.

C– Co washing/ Curly Girl Method. Co-washing- using a cleansing conditioner to wash your hair instead of a shampoo. This is said to add moisture compared to shampoo stripping the moisture away. Read more about this and see product recommendations in my Cleansing series post. Curly Girl Method– I must admit, I don’t really understand this method nor have I tried it lol but I found a video that can help you.

D– Detangling/ Dusting your ends. Detangling- combing/ fingering through your hair with either an oil/conditioner to help ease out shed hair and tangles. Dusting your ends– quick and easy way of trimming our own hair. After putting your hair in twists, you simply trim a bit of the ends

F– Finger detangling. See Detangling. Instead of using a comb/brush, you use your fingers to detangle your hair

G- Greenhouse effect. See Bagging method. Trapping heat on your hair so that it helps the treatments penetrate your hair.

H- Hot oil treatments/ Heat train/damage. Warming oil and applying it on your hair as a treatment. Warming the hot helps it penetrate deeper into your hair. Heat train– watch a video of it below. Heat damage– when you use high heat on your hair for a long period of time usually without a heat protectant, your hair becomes dry, brittle etc and the only way to get rid of it, is to cut it.

I- Indian oiling method/ inversion method. Read more of the Indian Oiling method here. See a video on the Inversion method below

K- Kitchen. The back area of your hair. Hair in the nape area that is usually dry.

L- L.O.C method. The method of moisturising dry hair using a Liquid Oil and Cream. This is very effective for dry/4c hair. There are a number of variations to it L.C.O L.O.C.O, see how to do it below. Dark and Lovely have a whole line to help you take out the guess work, read it here

M- Maximum hydrating method. Another method I haven’t used, fear not watch a video below

N -Nappy hair. BS some people call natural hair lol

O- Oil rinsing. After shampooing, saturating hair with oils before applying conditioner to help retain moisture. Or applying oils after you rinse out the conditioner and lightly washing out the excess.

P- Pre poo treatments/ Protective styling. Pre poo treatments- a treatment before you shampoo to help retain/ protect your hair from hydral fatigue, read more here. Protective styling– a style to protect your hair from the elements or to prevent you from manipulating it too much which could lead to excess breaking/shedding. This can be wigs/braids/ buns etc.

S- Stretching my hair/ Shrinkage. Stretching- after washing, twist/braiding/threading etc your hair in order to elongate it or manipulate your curls so the lay flatter/longer. This prevents shrinkage.

Shrinkage– natural hair esp type 4 has the tendency to shrink/ lose length when it gets in contact with water. This is perfectly normal and is doesn’t mean your hair is damaged.

T- Threading. Wrapping thread around your hair in order to stretch it. Wash the demo below

U- U part wigs. See Protective Styling. A wig that has a u part style in the front that allows you to leave your hair out. It’s so easy to make, watch a tutorial below

W- Wash and Go/ Water washing. Wash and Go- after washing your hair, applying gels or curl defining creams and allowing it to air dry. Water Washing– using water only to wash your hair. See a video on it below!

That’s all for now folks! I missed out some letters because I couldn’t think of a term for it in the NHC. If you can think of any, please help us out! Drop a comment below! I would love to get all the letters!

Which of these terms are you guilty of using?

Benefit Tinted Lash Primer- Is it worth it?

Hey family, I hope everyone is doing great! My make-up havens would have by now, tried and rated the Benefit They’re Real Mascara and can give you the 411 on it! If you haven’t tried that mascara yet, yes the hype is real and totally worth it lol. Benefit has now released a primer version of that in hopes to give us longer fuller lashes!

Benefit They’re Real Tinted Lash Primer has been designed to be used alone or with mascara to give you the ultimate length and volume for your lashes but does it work? I got this in my goodie bag at the QVC SS16 press event a few months back and I have been testing it out since then.

For today’s demo, I combined the primer with the Maybelline Great Lash Big Mascara. Warning: you are all up in my face and my pores decided to make a guest appearance today lol.

Benefit They’re Real Tinted Lash Primer Alone

Maybelline Great Lash Big Mascara Alone

Primer + mascara

Verdict

I love it! You can clearly see the difference in my lashes with the mascara alone vs the primer +mascara. I didn’t get a lot of clumps and it was very easy to remove afterwards. On days where I want a natural look, I usually wear the primer alone. I love the length it gives my lashes plus volume!

Where to purchase

Feel Unique for the Benefit They’re Real Tinted Mascara, £18.50

Superdrug for Maybelline Great Lash Big Mascara, £4.99

What are your fav mascaras?

Best & Worst Products 2015 : Hair Products

Check out part 1- my best and worst beauty products of 2015!

Good quality hair products are an essential to every hair regime. I have tried lots of different hair products this year( product junkie for real) and some new brands too. Let’s get to it

Best Product- Mon Shea Shea Butter Soap

This bar soap gives my hair life every time!

Worst Product- ApHogee ProVitamin Leave In Conditioner

I really tried to make this work for my natural hair but it just didn’t. It worked well with my wigs though so of course I am keeping and using it for that! Recycle baby lol

Most confusing product – Cantu Coconut Oil Shine & Hold Mist

I have been confused on what to use this product for. I used it as the liquid part in my L.O.C method and I didn’t like it. Some say to use it as a leave in spray or to set your styles. I have tried all of the above lol and still wondering what I want to use it for!

Best new brand I tried- Curl Harmony Intensive Repair Deep Conditioner and Dark and Lovely Alma Legend

These are actually old brands but it’s the 1^st time I used products from them. Curl Harmony is an amazing British Brand with really good products! This deep conditioner is super thick and perfect for thick hair!

I fell for the hype and it’s totally worth it –Shea Moisture

Finally it’s available in Boots! Yes all over YT Shea Moisture has been raved about and I have been finally been able to get my hands on some SM products and my hair totally loves it!

Brand I have been stalking for a while and I finally got my hands on- OGX Beauty

They have the cutest packaging and an extensive hair product range! This year they released a revised version of the Argan Oil products and I loveeee it!

Product I thought I wouldn’t like but ended up liking- Mazuri Olive Oil Edge Wax

Edge control products claim to do a lot! And for my natural hair they always fall short. This edge wax I actually like! So far it’s my fav one!

Other brands that didn’t make it here

ORS

Palmers

Love Shea

Remember, you can get reviews for most of these products (I think all actually lol) on my blog! Look through my product index for the links

Happy New Year people! New Year new blessing and hopefully new products to try!

Detangling 101

What do I detangle with? Fingers? Oil? A brush? Or you know but you need some recommendations on what to use and where to get them. If the above pictures explains how you feel, I got you!

Head over to British Curlies to read my article on detangling and my top picks for it. Then browse their amazing shop for all the tools and products you will need. Remember to check out the sale section for some amazing deals.

Extra tip I didn’t include in the article- for extremely matted or dry hair, saturated the hair with conditioner and leave on for 5-10 mins, then gently work in small sections with your fingers, then combs and finally a brush!

Detangling 101

Mwah xx

Photo credit blackgirlwithlonghair

Palmer’s Olive Oil Formula

Palmer's Olive Oil Collection — Palmer’s Olive Oil Collection

Hey fam! So we are carrying on with our Palmer’s hair care series. Have you read up on the Coconut Oil Formula collection? You can check that out by clicking here

The Olive Oil collection has 12 products in totals and seems to be aimed at frizzy, weak or colour treated hair, as well as natural curly hair. It has the

Smoothing Shampoo
Co-Wash Cleansing Conditioner
Replenishing Conditioner
Strengthening Leave In Conditioner
Moisturizing Hair Milk
Curl Extend Hair Pudding
Conditioning Oil Spray
Super Control Gel for Edges
Gro Therapy
Olive Hairdress
Invigorating Hot Oil Treatment
Deep Conditioner Sachet

Most of the products in the collection are parabens, sulfates and alcohol free. The key ingredients are

Extra Olive Oil- which contains naturally occurring vitamins and minerals which acts as antioxidants to protect the hair from damaging free radicals
Vitamin E to aid the hair’s natural ability to repair damage
Keratin- helps to strengthen and repair hair

I honestly didn’t know the Olive Oil collection was this big. I only have the Co-wash which I am yet to try and review for you guys! Have you guys tried anything from this collection? What do you recommend?

Prices start from £3.99 and can be purchased from Feelunique