Folica.com Holiday Sale

Folica.com is having their huge holiday sale until December 1st at midnight. Most items are discounted and all items for $50 or more receive free shipping and items $100 or more receive an additional $25 off! they have great customer service so hurry and get your favourite tools to stay looking fresh and polished for the holiday season!

Qhemet Biologics Holiday Sale

Qhemet Biologics is holding their holiday sale on December 1st. Simply shop, shop, shop and receive 10% at checkout. Visit qhemetbiologics.com to view all the natural high quality products!

Naturally Loved: Part Two

The term product junky is used so often to describe someone that has what I would view as an obsession with hair products in an attempt to find the perfect product or combination of products that will deliver "perfect" hair everytime, this miracle product is never found. The product junky never wins since they always think their is a better product or that the latest products will cure their search for perfect hair but that day never comes.

I am a reformed product junky and it is hard not to want to try every conditioner, moisturizer, pomade and oils my eyes lay upon! I have to take a realistic approach to my hair texture, what my hair is able to look like, and the styles I can attain. Ofcourse their are high end products that deliver what they say they will do and worth spending your money on. And their are retail products found in beauty supply stores and places like Wal-mart that deliver too. So you have to know what works for your hair.

My search for the perfect product didn't have anything to do with "what I have doesn't work", although I was on a genuine search to find products that worked for me when I first went natural. It was more about me not able to embrace my hair texture and dedicate myself to learning how to treat it. The products were a mask, I used my constant 'inability' to find my miracle products as a reason to relax my hair or chop my hair several times before officially accepting who I am, A Black Woman! Sure I have my staples, and as my mother says if its not broke dont fix it. She is so right after all those years of her watching me buy product after product and waste my money.

Loving your hair and not using excuses to relax your hair because you may think your hair texture isn't soft, and silky and wont grow anyway because it never has (heard it all) are excuses to avoid who you are, plain and simple. This argument is based on beauty standards given to us and perpetuated from generation to generation. Some women have no idea of what they hair actually looks like because they have relaxed, weaved and braided their hair their whole life. That's sad!

It is always up to an individual how they want to wear their hair but excuses like the ones mentioned above demonstrate ignorance and self-hate. If you are using any of these excuses as reasons not to embrace your natural tresses please educate yourself and YES your hair will grow.

Happy Growing,

Natalie

Karen's Body Beautiful Thanksgiving Sale

Just a note to all Karen's Body Beautiful junkies, this Friday (November 28th) only their will be a sale for the entire store with 25% off any purchase of $50. Just enter the code 25off at checkout to receive your discount. Visit karensbodybeautiful.com to view all her goodies, happy shopping!

Product Review: Taliah Waajid Black Earth Products

Hair Strengthener


This light hair and scalp pomade is amazing. I'm certain I've found an oil that soothes my scalp and conditions my hair and this is it!

After cleansing and conditioning my hair I applied the Strengthener to my scalp section by section. Let me tell you how this made my hair soooo soft and moist after messaging the oil into my scalp for a few minutes and this was before any moisturizer! I did mini twists and a week later my hair is still super moist, I can still feel the Strengthener working in my hair and scalp, no itchy scalp AT ALL and no brittle ends!

Usually with my moisturizer and another oil my ends did tend to become raggedy and brittle after a few days so I was constantly babying them but not as much now.


Performance: consistent and delivers on what it says it will do 2/2


Price: this is affordable and is great quality, a 6oz jar for 5.99 CAD 2/2


Ingredients: Pure Distilled Water, Petroleum, Indian Hemp, Yarrow Root, Rosemary, Chickweed, Nettle, Burdock, Coltsfoot, Sage, Chamomile, Vitamin E, Bio-flavanoids (fruit fragrance, bay laurel).
*Subtle fruit scent
*The presence of petroleum lowers the quality of the product but still sooo effective .5/1


Taliah Waajid Black Earth Products Strengthener 4.5/5

Curls Thankful Holiday Sale

Curls has another sale and this time it's bigger and better! Just go to curls.biz and order to your hearts content. The sale covers the Curls line, Curly Q line and the Its a Curl line. Type in thankful, all lower case and one word in the promo box at the top of the first page and receive 25% off! Remember this code MUST be entered at checkout. The sale is for three days, November 26th, November 27th and November 28th, have fun!

New Evaluation of Products and Tools

Since I've started Nu Kynk I have given detailed information regarding products I use on a regular basis and products I've tested for you and for my own curiosity. Going forward I will continue to give my detailed reviews along with a numerical rating out of 5, this is the breakdown:

Performance 2/5: Does the product/tool consistently perform to give high quality results

Pricing 2/5: Does the price make the quality and quantity of the product/tool worth purchasing

Ingredients 1/5: Do the ingredients make the product healthy for use, this includes the scent/fragrance of the product. Concerning tools, does the materials make it a quality tool that can withstand use over an extended period of time.

To All Miss Jessie's Addicts

To all the Miss Jessie's addicts www.naturallycurly.com is having a sale on all Miss Jessie's products. Buy one and get one free, you dont have to include an extra product they will automatically add in your freebie of the same product ordered, have fun shopping!

Neem Oil and Cayenne Pepper

I have been using neem oil for the past 3 weeks and let me first say it stinks, the smell is annoying and unfortunately I can't describe the smell better or compare it to something that is familiar. When you use the oil the smell penetrates anything it touches so wear old clothing and use a towel or face cloth that is worn.
Neem oil is great for your scalp. I mixed it with honey, cayenne pepper*, rosemary and peppermint EO and messaged my mixture into my scalp for about ten minutes, than I let it penetrate over night using the baggy method. I rinsed in the morning and than did my shampoo and conditioning routine using Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose. I got great results, my scalp is refreshed and I know this mixture has promoted growth over the past few weeks.
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* The active ingredient in cayenne pepper is capsaicin, this component actually stimulates blood circulation and when first applied can cause skin to turn fiery red. Capsaicin is used in almost all hair lost and growth aid products sold over the counter at your local pharmacist. I found an article that gives more detail about the benefits of cayenne pepper, click here.

Scalp Care

Part of maintaining healthy hair is a healthy scalp. Having a healthy scalp is essential to strong vibrant hair. Here are a few tips that helped me to attain and maintain a healthy scalp:

Maintain a clean scalp. Having a clean scalp promotes growth and allows hair follicles to produce strong healthy hair.

Messaging your scalp with or without oil promotes circulation and growth. Usually this should be done 2 or more times a week.

Eating plenty of fruits, vegetables and protein rich foods such as tofu, lentils and fish gives scalp a healthy foundation of nutrients.

Drink plenty of water, it acts as a hydrator to our body and that includes our scalp. If you have dry scalp or other scalp ailments water assist in lubricating the scalp.

**Try Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar as a clarifier. I use half water and half apple cider vinegar after I cleanse and condition. I simply pour small amounts of about 6 to 8 oz of the solution over my hair messaging as I go until the whole solution is finished. Than I just let it sit for about 5 minutes and rinse.**

The Frizz Factor

One of the main concerns naturals have is frizz. I know all about it and here are a few tips that will help reduce frizz from your hair:

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Use gentle cleansers and rich conditioners to hydrate hair and smooth ends.

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After cleansing apply product to soaking wet hair, try not to towel dry but squeeze excess water from your hair. If the water is a little too much for product to be applied, allow your hair to air dry a bit for a few minutes than apply your product.

Avoid using a towel after cleansing, the less friction the better

Avoid excess combing and brushing, your fingers are your best friends when it comes to styling and detangling. I usually comb my hair only when cleansing either before or after to get rid of knots and when styling for parting my hair. Invest in a great detangling comb like Ghair 100% Oraganic Tangle Free Resin Detangler Comb and a Denman Brush for styling.

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Avoid touching your hair, especially when it is loosely styled. If your hair is braided or twisted you will also benefit from keeping your hands out since you will prevent knotting yours ends.

Avoid excess heat, blow drying can be damaging to your hair, especially your ends. If you do use heat use a product that is formulated to protect you hair, usually these products are heat activated.

Keep your hair well hydrated inside and out, drink plenty of water and invest in a good moisturize. A great serum is Elucence Silk Hydrating Elixir it works as a sealant, frizz fighter and light hydrator.

Avoid or keep to a minimum products that contain alcohol and sulfates since these ingredients are drying to our hair and promote frizz.

Beauty: Red Alert

I love red on lips and I love to play it up especially during fall and winter. It is a classic colour that works well with just about any hairstyle and easily moves with you from casual to formal dress attire . I thought I'd show you some products in my make up drawer. My favourite red lipstick is Ravishing Red by IMAN and my favourite lip gloss in red is High Drama also from IMAN, with these I'm good to go. I choose reds that have golden to neutral undertones, I have a caramel golden complexion so these red tones compliment my skin well. If you have a chocolate to deep complexion cool to neutral reds work well with your skin colour, a wash of red like High Drama from IMAN and Benetint Lip Balm from Benefit are great. For a lipstick try Guerlain Kiss Kiss Extreme in Rouge Infini 120. For olive to light skin tones try a neutral red like MAC Russian Red. Neutral to orange undertones compliment this range of skin colour, some other reds worth noting are:

Lancome Colour Design -Sensational Effects Lipcolor in Retro Red

Dior Rouge Dior Replenishing Lipstick in Action Red #526

Lorac Sheer Wash in Sheer Emotion

Clinique High Impact Lip Colour SPF 15 in Red-y to Wear

Nars Lipstick in Heat Wave

Sale at Curls

Just a note to Curls addicts, the newest batch of Curls Milkshake has double the coconut milk so they have given a 50% discount but you must quote the word eggnog in the promo code section which is at the top of the first page after you add a product to your cart, please enter the promo code at CHECKOUT, happy shopping and visit curls.

Ethically Produced Shea Butter

I just bought a jar of shea butter for 20 bucks from my local health food store. Why? Well, first I researched the distribution of shea butter and not all shea butter can be trusted as pure and organically grown. I chose Kariderm Shea Butter because it is Canadian owned, they import their own shea butter eliminating a third party, you will pay two and a half times more on average but the retail price incorporates Kariderm's standards of high quality shea butter that it asks of its partners. Also, they ethically produce their products with the women of Burkina Faso, the women of the Songtaaba women’s association (www.songtaaba.net). These women are guaranteed better working conditions and higher wages for their work. Their are many projects in process at any given time that focus on hygiene, production and development of new products.

As for the product it self, I love it! Visit http://www.kariderm.com/ for more info.

Okay ... l Love Aubrey Organics

I'm bad, real real bad, I have to admit that I used the Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose Conditioner again and I LOOOOOVE it. I clarified 3 weeks in a row before using the shampoo and conditioner to get rid of all the build up and I have seen an improvement in the condition of my hair. I bought the Honeysuckle Rose shampoo to use with the conditioner and they are amazing. All I have to say is clarify, clarify, clarify before using all-natural and organic products. The conditioner is not suppose to be used as a co-wash on my hair. If you remember I ranted about this product a month ago. I was on the no-poo trial and after weeks of build up I tried to do a co-wash with it, bad move. Now I know, I'll do better, and I also got the Island Naturals shampoo and conditioner from Aubrey Organics which I will review for sure.

The Honeysuckle Rose shampoo and conditioner left my hair hydrated, silky and full of body. I was shocked! I thought I was going to have hard hair and that by using it again I would confirm what I thought I already knew. My next pick up at my local health food store is the White Camellia Ultra-Smoothing shampoo and conditioner. I think I can use more all-natural and organic hair care products than I thought. My next step is to find an all-natural and hopefully organic co-wash for my hair which would replace my beloved Herbal Essences conditioners.

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* After clarifying my hair I also tried using the QB Tea Tree and Grapeseed Therapeutic Pomade on my scalp and it also worked great and did not irritate my dermatitis. I will be removing my October 27 update under the original review for this product in order to prevent confusion of my results.

Products used to attain beautiful hair:

Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose shampoo and conditioner (cleanse and condition)

QB Tea Tree and Grapeseed Therapeutic Pomade (scalp pomade)

QB Amla and Olive Heavy Cream (moisturizer)

Kariderm 100% organic shea butter (seal ends)