naturalhaircare – sarah fynn

The Mane Choice Take Over

Hands up if you have heard of Mane Choice? Mane Choice is one of the bestselling hair vitamins in the US and has finally landed in London! I had been stalking Mane Choice for a while and watched countless of ladies on YouTube on their journey to healthier hair with Mane Choice vitamins and their results were amazing. I finally took the plunge and got myself a 6 month supply during their Black Friday sale last year. (A review will be up soon, I’m just pass the 3 month mark!). But this post isn’t about that..

The takeover party on Friday was for us to meet the Mane Choice team, have a Q&A session and network, network, network! Between the amazing canapes that were on hand (seriously I could not stop eating them lol) I met some really lovely bloggers and reunited with the Black Beauty and Mag crew!

The Q & A session with Courtney Adeleye, owner of Mane Choice was very insightful. She spoke about how she started, gave great business advice and dropped a few hints for stuff in the pipeline! One thing she said that stuck with me was ‘it’s not about balance, it’s about priority’ you can tell how passionate is she about her craft from hearing her talk and which was great to see.

Mane Choice has now expanded to include a full hair care range including deep conditioners, oils, gels and cleansers! They also have styling tools like their professional shears and hair straighteners! I got my vitamins shipped from the US which didn’t take long to be honest but the full range is now been stocked by Beauty by Zara

It was great meeting Courtney and her lovely team and I wish them all the continued success both here and the US! Really excited to work with them again in the near future! For more information on the brand/products, visit the Mane Choice website

P.S- Courtney’s hair is goals lool

‘It’s not about balance, it’s about priority’

See you soon,

Sarah

ApHogee Deep Moisture Shampoo Review

I am currently loving ApHogee products! Read my previous reviews on their Keratin 2 minute Reconstructor and the famous 2 Step Protein Treatment.

Today, we will be talking about the Deep Moisture Shampoo which recommended for dry hair and it’s formulated to help maintain the hair’s moisture balance. It also features the PropHytamine Complex like all their other stuff. I got this in a pack with the protein treatment but it is also available to purchase separately.

ApHogee also recommends this shampoo for heat styled hair or dry flyaway hair. it claims to control frizz, provide body and resist humidity.

Experience

I only use this shampoo in conjunction with the ApHogee conditioners I have however I really like it. It gives a lot of suds and has a good amount of slip for finger detangling easily. After shampooing, my hair feels so much softer and doesn’t feel stripped of its moisture. For my 4c hair, it works well to gently cleanse my hair and scalp.

It works really well with the ApHogee conditioners and I feel like my hair is getting the maximum benefits with the combination. I will definitely recommend this shampoo if you are searching for a moisturising shampoo. It does contain sulfates which is probably why it gives a lot of suds but it doesn’t dry out your hair, infact I feel my hair clumping when I use it.

Overall verdict- 5/5

For more information on ApHogee products please visit their website

The Deep Moisture Shampoo is priced at £3.99 at Afro World

Other ApHogee reviews I have done

ApHogee Curlific Rich Moisture Leave in

ApHogee Pro Vitamin Leave In

ORS Natural Hair Care

Hey family, so this will be the last post in our ORS miniseries, have you been keeping up so far? Let’s take a look at the previous collections:

Shealicious > http://wp.me/p1uQOd-F0 Curls Unleashed >> http://wp.me/p1uQOd-F3

Monoi oil >> http://wp.me/p1uQOd-Fr HAIRepair > http://wp.me/p1uQOd-FC

This collection, Natural Hair Care helps you manage your styles like braids, plaits and locks. It’s been created with botanicals that directly treat the causes of hair and scalp problems.

The full collection is

Herbal Cleanse
Lock and twist gel
Nature’s shine
Anti-itch scalp oil
Shea butter moisturising lotion
Jojoba oil
Tea tree oil
Coconut oil

I think everyone has used the coconut oil from this range! Before we jumped on the coconut oil hype, when we just wanted hair cream, didn’t we just reach for this one? Lool. I have personally used this, the nature’s shine spray (I loved the smell and it did a great job of adding shine to my braids) and the herbal cleanse which has a tingling sensation also was effective it removing some light dandruff I had when I cleansed my hair with clay but it didn’t removed all the dirt/buildup.

Let’s see what others are saying

Great video featuring most of the products

I don’t think we need a video on the other 3.

That’s all folks. I hope you enjoyed this miniseries, let me know if you have any questions or comments. Here in the UK you can purchase the full collection and many of their other products online at Beauty by Zara >> http://www.beautybyzara.com/ors-1/

Until next time,

Love

Sarah

LoveShea

Hey my loves, guess what I have another UK based product collection! this time we are talking about natural skincare products. LoveShea provides products with natural and certified organic ingredients, so you know its the real deal. For my green savvy naturalists, their loyalty scheme encourages recycling. I share her philosophy of going back to basics and re discovering ingredients from childhood. I am re discovering the great benefits of African black soap and my skin is thanking me for it!

In this post, we will look at the full skincare collection and where to purchase it. Let’s get started. LoveShea provides whipped Shea butters and body scrubs and African black soap. You can use the butters for both hair and skin!

The full collection is

Whipped Shea butters

LoveShea whipped Shea butter
LoveShea chocolate fudge whipped Shea butter
LoveShea key lime pie whipped Shea butter
LoveShea bake well tart whipped Shea butter

Scrubs

Ginger and orange moisturising sugar scrub
coconut and lime moisturising sugar scrub

African black soap

LoveShea also provides gift sets of the body butters in mini and large sizes.

Ok, so don’t they sound like a trio of desserts?! LOL. I can imagine these smelling very lovely on the skin! I haven’t used any of the products yet… Look out for a review soon though!
I was able to find a review from Rachy from Ukafrolista, watch it below

I am currently using African black soap, although its not from LoveShea, authentic African black soap will perform the same! so why should you purchase this and use it? read my post on it here >> http://wp.me/p1uQOd-DJ

That’s all folks for now! I know you guys have been asking for more UK based products, this is a great one to try out! Let me know your thoughts on them. I can’t wait to try the butters!

For more information or to make a purchase, please visit her official website>> http://www.loveshea.co.uk/products

Until next time

Love

Sarah

CLEANSING SERIES: SHAMPOOS

Hey guys, welcome back! So we are starting a new series on the different ways on how to cleanse your hair. Please check out the previous series on conditioners. It has a lot of information and product recommendations (Who doesn’t love that?)

Let’s start off with shampoos, something every natural loves to hate! Is shampooing our hair really that bad? I mean when we had relaxed hair did we not happily reach for our shampoo? (I am assuming we didn’t mind that) so why is shampooing now one of the most horrid words you could say to a natural lol along with creamy crack and heat!

CHECK THE LABEL!

Sure every shampoo is different but if you look at the commonly used ingredients you will find these

Ammonium Chloride
Ammonium lauryl sulfate
Glycol
Sodium laureth sulfate
Sodium lauryl sulfate
Sodium lauroamphoacetate
Polysorbate 20 aka PEG(20)
Polysorbate 80 aka PEG(80)
PEG-150
Citric acid
Quaternium-15
Polyquaternium-10
Di-PPG-2 myreth-10 adipate
Methylisothiazolinone, or MIT

The dreaded S words! Naturals are notoriously known to try and stay away from Sodium Sulfate and parabens too (among a bunch of other scary words lol) why? Were we not reaching for the same sulfate as relaxed girls? Sulfate is the main reason your shampoo is able to cleanse effectively. It is powerful enough to penetrate dirt and oil and remove product build up. Unfortunately it also removes the natural oils of the hair…….. (ooo that’s why) causing it to be drier and frizzier and more prone to breakage. It is painfully irritant (Just let a tiny bit get into your eye) and can also dry out the skin (especially if you wash your hair in the shower and you let the water/foam down your body, although this is impossible to avoid lol. Anyone also notice if they spend a while in the shower washing their hair they can become very itchy?)

So now that we know shampoo is evil! Lool. What happens now? What if I mistakenly use it?!!!!

Well for starters, we have been using shampoos for years but our hair grows FINE so I really don’t think it’s THAT bad (After all, that’s why conditioners were made) but I do think moderation is key. Personally I still use sulfate containing shampoo (horror face) but once in a while when I really want to remove EVERRRYYYTHANGG lol.

SULFATE FREE SHAMPOO

So on the market recently are sulfate free shampoos that promise to do the trick without the dreaded ingredients. So what is in these shampoos that make them effective if not as effective as their sulfate containing counterparts (Are they as effective? Let me know)

And are they really sulfate free or are manufacturers choosing slightly different chemicals and re – naming them and branding them as healthier to driver sales hmm? No doubt in recent years the amount of sulfate free shampoos have increased! Actually it seems any product that is labelled *insert chemical perceived as evil here* free has doubled on the shelves in recent years!

So what ingredients should you be looking out for when it comes to sulfate free shampoo? According to Innersense, these are the chemicals you should be looking for and staying away from

Glucosides, Lauryl Glucoside

Taurates and Fatty Acid Isethionates

Glutamates, Amino Acid Sulfosuccinates

Stay away from products that claim to be sulfate-free but contain the following ingredients:

Cocamide DEA, Cocamide MEA

PEG’s, PEG8

Propylene Glycol

Cocamidopropyl Betaine and Hydroxysultain

I haven’t used many sulfate free shampoos in my day, as a matter of fact I have only used two, Aubrey Organics GPB Glycogen protein balancing shampoo lavender ylang ylang and Dr. Miracle conditioning shampoo. And I used these years apart! The Aubrey when I first became natural about 4 years ago and the Dr. Miracle now (it seems I’m in love with the sulfate lool see what I did there). I won’t say my hair has been in the best state in those years between and even now but I will not contribute that to the shampoo alone.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

It’s up to the individual to decide if they want to carry on using regular shampoo or switch to sulfate free. I say just use in moderation. If you want to make the switch check out some recommended ones below although I can’t vouch for most of these personally lol, you would have to carry out further research on them.

Aubrey Organics, GPB Glycogen protein balancing shampoo lavender ylang ylang. Its such a long time I used this so I can’t remember how it made my hair feel. All I remember is the price lol, it was £5 pounds on sale from the usual price of £9.99 (ouch). You can get online for £10.51

Dr. Miracle conditioning shampoo. I still use this and I love it very much. It has a tingling sensation as with most if not all Dr. Miracle products. It lathers up ok and gets the job done. Its £2.99 from most BSS

Dark and lovely Au Naturale: Moisture L.O.C sulfate free cleansing shampoo for £6.99

Design Essentials Almond and Avocado moisturising and detangling sulfate free shampoo for £8.50

NuNaat Real Me Lather up and hydrate shampoo for £7.99

Mixed Chicks sulfate free shampoo for £13.90

All these can be purchased on British Curlies (http://shop.britishcurlies.co.uk/sulfate-free/?sort=featured&page=1)

A great alternative to shampoos are natural shampoo bars. Great ones are African black soap and shea butter soap. I recently received shea butter soap from a company called Mon Shea to review and I must say I love it so much. I actually used it today as part of my wash day and washing my hair has never been so easy! (Why didn’t y’all tell me about the ease of use with shampoo bars? Smh lol) Anyway a first look at the company (On the blog already, read it here > http://wp.me/p1uQOd-ys and a full review will be coming soon. In the meantime check out their website for great alternatives for your hair and skin care needs. http://monsheabutter.co.uk/

If after all of this you are now completely off shampooing all together lol, don’t fret! This series is all about providing you with the different ways to cleanse your hair! Watch out for the next instalment which will be on co-washing.

That’s all folks, I really didn’t think it will be a long one but as I started doing my research I realised I would not be doing you guys any justice if I didn’t include some details. For more information on ingredients or anything please check Google lool. Otherwise here are a few references/websites I used today

http://www.xovain.com/hair/do-you-need-to-worry-about-sulfates-in-your-shampoo

https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Shampoo

http://www.tightlycurly.com/Ingredients.aspx

Until next time

Love

Sarah

Event – Love Natural Love Organic

Hey guys so I’m back with another event worth knowing.

LNLO is the biggest ethical, natural and organic shop with food, cosmetics, skin, body, hair care etc. so if you love your natural products be sure this check out this event. What’s great about it? It’s free of course!

They have a very extensive exhibitor list! Akoma Skincare will be there so will Aviela! You can get everything from gluten free food to shea butter! Check out the full list of exhibitors by clicking here > http://www.lnlo.co.uk/exhibitor-list.php?cCategory=&Keyword=&submit=Search&page=1

Where?

Olympia, London

When?

3-5 July 2015

Tickets?

That’s all folks! Let me know if you are going and what you got! For more information about the event, please check out their website > http://www.lnlo.co.uk/

Connect with me on my social media and tag me in your photos. All the links on under the social tab

Until next time

Love

Sarah

MAY MONTHLY PRODUCTS

Hi everyone!

I wanted to do a post quickly about the products I have purchased and been using this month. It looks like a lot of products but I only bought a handful, the others I got from the events I have been to – these are mostly the sample size products. Most of the makeup I was given too. I will leave links if I have done a review on it or quickly do a mini review if I have used it.

Let’s get started. First I should confess I am a product junkie, so the amount of products should not come as a shock. Personally I don’t think it’s a lot. (Lol). I am going to try and do this top to bottom (lol) and put prices where I remember them

Ultimate organics extra virgin olive oil body whip- top green tub. I love this product! I was drawn to it because of the texture and consistency of it. It’s not runny as a lotion but it’s not ‘hard’ as a cream product either. It’s more like a yoghurt constituency. The smell is good too and the price is £2.19 (if I can remember oh wait the price tag is still on). My only con is it can be a bit greasy.

Silver top white tub (lol, guys you’re in for some amazing descriptions but as long as you get the picture I’m good)- this was part of a set given to me by fashion fair from the Curlvolution event! (Missed out on the event? Check out my event cover by clicking here >> http://wp.me/p1uQOd-ti) It has a lavender scent is which lovely but a bit strong for me so of course my mother grabs it for herself. It is a moisturising body butter

Oil next to body butter on the right- again part of the gift set from fashion fair. It’s the calming lavender moisturising oil. I really like how it feels on my skin. It leaves it silky soft and moisturised without been too oily. I use this on my legs and arms when they are out (nobody wants ashy legs) and also on my heels when am wearing sandals (most embarrassing thing ever- dry heels! Combat this my using an oil regularly on the area maybe 3 days before hand or every day when you’re applying your body moisturiser- ever notice how easy it is to forget that part? This oil works fine so does coconut oil. Shea butter is great too if you have that. Of course make sure you are using your scrubbing stones to get rid of dead skin)

Body shop vitamin E face spray- pink bottle. I LOVE THIS. Moisture boost and sets makeup! I was looking for a makeup setting spray that I could use for travelling so it had to be smaller than my fix plus from Mac (I love this too). I got this after speaking to the shop assistant who recommended the orange vitamin c spray (£10) which gives a dewy finish which was what I was after. However I did not like the scent of that and went ahead with this instead and I am so happy with my choice. I won’t say the finish is dewy but it does get rid of the powder effect (lol) and gives a subtle glow! Well worth the money. I use this alone too or on top of my vitamin E moisturiser (pictured next to the sachet next to the eco styler gel lmao). Grab from body shop for just £8.

Olive oil ecostyler gel- of course every naturalista needs this! I have tried the clear and argan oil versions so it only made sense to get this one! I have this thing and I’m sure a lot of people do, where I have to try all flavours if the product comes in different flavours (is It sad or weird?) I do this a lot with shower gels and chewing gums. I think the price was £2.69 or £2.99 from diva hair and beauty Croydon

Naturally simple haircare moisture cleanse shampoo (green sachet)

Beautiful textures texture manageability system- I got about 5 boxes of this at the Curlvolution event. It is supposed to help you straighten your hair and keep if straight for a while (even after shampooing) before going back to curly. I have already given 2 away and I think I will give the others as well- I am a heat free journey. I am not sure how it works but I read somewhere the ingredients is not the best. But if this is something you want to try out by all means go for it.

Video on TMS

Two motions products (Gold tubs) reviews can be found here > Pre-wash detangling butter >> http://wp.me/p1uQOd-t7 .Deep conditioning masque >> http://wp.me/p1uQOd-tc

Beautiful textures rapid repaid deep conditioner- I have used this before (years back) and recently fell in love with this line again so stay tuned for this review

Clay sachets- rhassoul clay (review here >> http://wp.me/p1uQOd-us) and bentonite clay bought from SheaButter cottage.

Superdrug vitamin E micellar cleansing water (next to clay sachets) – I LOVE THIS. GO BUY NOW lol. Ok so how I got this this. Wendy Williams (how you doing) spoke highly about the simple’s version (skincare brand) and how effective it was taking off ALL her makeup. I was like whattt? You’re on T.V of course it’s a lot more makeup and it was THAT effective? Hm! *walks into Superdrug picks it up* but I’m like let me try a cheaper version in case it does not work. The simple version is not expensive, about £5 but I would have been pissed to spend that on a product and not work. Luckily the Superdrug brand products were on offer- buy one get one ½ price, so I decided to go with that. I bought it on a day I had makeup on so of course I couldn’t wait to get home and try this. It also claims to take of mascara! Hmm! Did it work? YESSSSS. I swear! One cotton pad is enough to take off your mascara! If you know me you know I like to use two to three different mascaras (lol) to get max length and volume. One pad is enough! I use one pad for each eye then use about 3 more for my face! After that I used a baby wipe to double check if all my makeup is gone and yep! Wipe was as clean as I first removed it. Lol. Next day no panda eyes! In short I am repurchasing lol and can’t wait to try other brands! Oh don’t use it to wipe your lips- it tastes horrid

L’Oréal Miss manga mascara- £8.99. It’s okay. It was really hyped up on YouTube but its ok. I have a better mascara from Superdrug for £3 that works wonders! Yes I need to re purchase and will include it in June’s products.

Video on Miss Manga mascara

You be-natural sachet (on top)

Palmer’s shea formula sachets- I didn’t know they had a natural hair care line. I got the moisture shampoo and conditioner and the curls whipped cream.

Fashion fair lipsticks, eye quad and pink blush (All dark brown packaging) given to me at Curlvolution

Phew, coming to the last few, right quickly now

Curls unleashed sample pack in the left corner- contains set it off curl boosting jelly, curl defining crème and moisturizing conditioner

Maybelline’s big lash mascara- oldie but goodie

And finally ApHogee provitamin spray leave in conditioner- I like this. It smells ok and leaves my hair refreshed.

That’s it folks! The end of all the products I bought and used in May. I know it’s June but I have a great excuse- I went traveling and you’re in for a travel update soon! Yay! Leave any comments on any products you have tried or wanting to try- hashtag #sarahfynn #productjunkie! I guess my favourites would be the micellar cleansing water and the Miss Manga mascara.

Until next time,

Love Sarah