Triple Nutrition Garnier Fructis Conditioner: Day Three Results

The Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition Conditioner with Olive, Avocado & Shea has held my hair well over these past couple of days. The consistency of the conditioner is like a light moisturizing lotion. I noticed today that this conditioner gives my hair a light natural hold more so than the Kiss My Face Big Body Conditioner. Is it a good thing? It depends on what you are looking for. My hair is more bouncy and has more movement and less frizz with the Kiss My Face but some people prefer a light hold with a cream leave-in and don't mind some frizz. I prefer the smooth look especially in the summer because my 'fro can get very dangerous when left to its own devices. I don't necessarily mind the light hold but I know it will never replace my Kiss My Face! I have lots of shine and I even got a compliment today on my hair, the lady told me 'what ever you're doing keep doing it!'

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Above is the whole line of the new Triple Nutrition by Garnier Fructis, I can't wait to try the 3-Minute Undo Dryness Reversal Treatment.

Product Review: Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition Conditioner with Olive, Avocado & Shea

I was at Wal Mart yesterday with my brother and of course he was getting annoyed with me visiting the hair care and beauty isle (couldn't help it!) but any who I came across Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition Conditioner with Olive, Avocado & Shea, I was sold just by looking at the ingredients! The packaging is great and the scent is a subtle cucumber melon with a hint of citrus. Its not over powering at all which made me want to buy it even more. When I got home my fro was looking dangerous so I decided to do a co-wash with the conditioner and set my hair with it as a leave-in along with the Qhemet Biologics Amla Oil Nourishing Pomade. The co-wash was great, my hair wasn't silky but soft and full of bounce, the conditioner did not weigh my hair down at all and my hair stayed tangle free. Some conditioners I've used in the past gave me a lot of tangles so its always something I look out for when I start using a new conditioner. I than proceeded to set my hair into bantu knots using the conditioner as a leave-in. After putting the conditioner in I sealed my roots and ends with the Amla Oil Nourishing Pomade. My hair was shiny and healthy looking as it dried throughout the evening. This morning I undid the bantu knots and smoothed some shea butter on each twist and than undid my hair. My hair was soft and bouncy. I will use this product in my routine, it's more affordable than Kiss My Face but will never replace it, I'll just go back and forth between these two when I co-wash or use a leave-in.

Performance: It gets the job done well. My hair was tangle free, soft and manageable. My hair was a little more frizzier than when I use my KIis My Face but nothing too drastic from what I'm use to. The only thing I will do different is use shea butter next time to seal instead of the Amla Oil Nourishing Pomade. 1.5/2

Price: 3.77 CAD for 384 ml, this rings affordable to me especially if you go through conditioner as quickly as I do. 2/2

Ingredients: (the ingredient listing on my bottle which was manufactured in Canada are all scientific terms, the ingredients shown are from an American site which list the ingredients in common language, but it is the same product)

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Water, cetearyl alcohol, palm oil, behentrimonium chloride, apple fruit extract, glycerin, stearamidopropyl dimethylamine, niacinamide, pyridoxine hci, shea butter, citric acid, olive fruit oil, sugar cane extract, benzyl alcohol, chlorhexidine dihydrochloride, avocado oil, black currant seed oil, linalool, lemon peel extract, CI 19140, camellia sinensis leaf extract, CI 15985, parfum. .5/1

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(CI ingredients are colourants)

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Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition Conditioner with Olive, Avocado & Shea 4/5

Solange Post Response To Her New Do

Solange posted a response to her new hair do via Twitter, this is what she said:

listen. if. i. wanted. to. make. a. statement. i. would. have. twitpic’d. photo shoot. ect. i. was. simply. taking. my. son. to. school.stupid. paps. took. pic. ive. had. my. hair. cut. like. this. for. two. weeks. i. was. NOT. inspired. by anyone. but. my. self. i. have. done. this. twice. in. my. life. i. was 16. i was 18. did. not care about your opinion. then. dont. care. now.dont. need. your. attention. or. your. co-sign. i am #3. trending topic. before. IRAN. &. some of you cant even locate it on a map. its sad.dont. want. a. edge. up. or a perm. because. im not trying. to make this “a style” or a statement. i. just. wanted. to. be. free. from. the. bondage. that. black. women sometimes. put. on. themselves. with. hair.this. phase. of. my. life. i. want to spend . the time. the energy. and the money. on something else. not in the hair salon.im. not. mad. at . all of you. that have made your opinions known. and have sent negative. energy. my way. i expected this of you.you. have. the right to have. an opinion.so. do. i.ONLY reason i responded to this i have is because i was disappointed to see my name more talked about then #iranelection we. gotta. do. better. people.happy. happy. joy. joy “im no soul girl quipped with no afro, im just my god given name. giggles at the word “rant”… im about to eat roscoes chicken and waffles with julezy and my buddies. not a rant in sight. http://bit.ly/gFSxo sighs.

Bravo, You couldn't have said it better than me!

Solange Completely Shaves Off Her Hair

Solange Knowles was spotted in Los Angeles a few days ago with her hair completely shaved off or with a big chop. I am happy to see her natural hair but I was taken a back by this drastic change. Is she embracing her natural glory or is this a cry for help? What do all of you think?

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***Update***

I followed up on Solange's Twitter acoount, and yes she has been talking for a few months about cutting her hair. Good look Solange, welcome to the Natural Community, the more high profile people willing to wear their natural tresses the better!

Toronto Natural Bellas Gathering Part Deux: Thank You

From left to right: Sandra, Tiffany, Mona, myself (Natalie), and Faith

We had a smaller crowd this time around but that didn't take away from the fun we had. Sandra brought some great products with her which was great. For the first time I was able to see Elucence products in person and the quality looked pretty good. We enjoyed our food and chatted it up until closing! I think we could have went for a few more hours, can't wait until the next gathering.

The No-Comb Method

The No-Comb Method is simply only combing your hair preferably with a wide tooth comb when it is wet and has a generous amount of conditioner in it. I really like this method. It helps retain growth and allows the hair to stay more moisturized throughout the week since you use minimal manipulation by using your hands to smooth, detangle and style. If I do need extra help with my hair I use a toothbrush to smooth and my Scunci Boar Brush for large sections. I comb my hair once every one to two weeks. If it is combed sooner than that than its an exception like changing my style in the middle of the week which I rarely do. I would love to hear feed back regarding the No-Comb Method, thanks!

Malia and Sasha Obama In their Natural Glory

Recently Malia and Sasha were spotted wearing natural hair styles, a braid out and a puff, very cute!

Do You Love Your Curl?

Over the past few months I have been noticing a commonality among some naturals when discussing curl patterns and texture. We are all unique and our hair is no different , some of us have very tight curls which we can refer to as coils, some of us have more of a kink in our hair and some of us have a bigger curl pattern. I have all three kinds throughout my hair and am blessed and content with getting to know my coils, kinks and curls. When I first began to familiarize my self with "hair types" I thought this would be helpful to know what products to use, techniques when styling and tools but as my journey has evolved I have discovered that many of these notions such as "only type 4 hair can do this" are totally incorrect, it is truly an individual journey, I have not met a hair twin as yet and am also very happy with that.

The categorizing of type 3 and type 4 hair is being used by some to divide us, create an ism that is based on hierarchy rather than individuality, this is dangerous. Visiting forums and blogs and seeing people insist on what their hair type is or asking emphatically to be told what type of hair they have is an act that doesn't help the cause but hinders the person's progress toward accepting themselves. Usually the insistence is on the type 3 hair, some want to be told they have type 3 hair as if that will diminish something unsavory they thought about themselves. Statements like "Oh I love your hair its so curly and silky looking, I would go natural if I had your kind of hair" or "I really don't like my hair, its so dry and its not growing. I think I might texturize it for it to be more manageable." Also, their is the opposite side saying "My type 3b and 3c hair is so bulky. Every time I do a wash n' go my friends say they love my curls but I don't see what the fuss is about, sometimes I hate my hair." Why do people covet other peoples curls and the person's hair that is being coveted acts ambiguous instead of telling their friends to love themselves. This may come across as harsh but it needs to stop somehow and sometime, why not now. Good hair is healthy hair, period. Obsessing over growth and curl pattern is ridiculous. You begin to buy into the notions of beauty that you vowed to challenge. A woman is most beautiful when she is comfortable in her own skin. We become caricatures of past stereotypes when we decide to become something we are not, we devalue ourselves and begin to narrow our view of what beauty is. This battle between hair types is historical, fair skinned blacks with "good hair" always got the better jobs, were perceived as more acceptable than their darker counterparts and this persist today. With the development of the natural hair movement fair skinned black women with curly hair are used in commercials to sell hair and skin products. The most popular actors on TV and the movie screen, and the most popular singers in our community are fair skinned, you don't have to look far to see where this is coming from.

I don't want this stumbling block to become an invisible barrier toward progress, I would rather be optimistic and think this is a "growing pain" rather than the development of a whole new way for us to divide our selves at such a pivotal momet in history. We have made so much progress and to let something like hair come in our way is pathetic, hair is hair, and from now on if someone ask me what is my hair type I'll just say its everything - coily, kinky and curly.

The Best of AfroFest 2009

I have been having a blast over the past couple of weeks and wanted to share my experience at this year's AfroFest which took place July 11th and 12th at Queen's Park in Toronto. I was having difficulty posting an advertisement for the event but that didn't dampen my spirits. AfroFest featured traditional African music along with Reggae, amazing food, and African owned businesses. Their were publishing companies featuring books on the history of Africa and its people, jewelry companies, clothing companies and of course beauty based companies which I immediately took an interest in. I was taking in all the amazing energy and the abundance of men and women wearing their hair in its natural state. I could have counted on one hand among the hundreds of people I saw of people who wore their hair relaxed and/or with weave. I was very happy to see all the young men and women embracing their hair, they were proud and unapologetic.

With everything going on I was still able to note some great companies featured at AfroFest. My first stop was to Eco Body Soaps where I picked up some black soap, which is one of the best I've tried. My friend picked up the signature soap which has shea butter mixed into the black soap and pumice stone to scrub away dead skin cells, so far so good. Eco Body Soaps had so many different soaps. The owner uses oatmeal, goat milk, shea butter, pumice, plant and herbs, and oils to mix up amazing soaps that naturally cleans and rejuvenates our skin without chemicals. Than we went over to Adiva Natural which is based out of Richmond, Virginia. We tried the Ginger and Brown Sugar Polish, this product really left my skin smooth and supple and we also had the opportunity to smell the intoxicating scent of the Hair and Skin Conditioner in Mango. These are great products and just to prove it when we arrived at their booth they had a few bottles of the Hair and Skin Conditioner in Mango in a basket, by the time we finished doing the demo of the Ginger and Brown Sugar Polish with someone from the sales team and walked back to the front to smell the conditioner again, it was all gone! No lie! I of course promised myself that I would follow Adiva's progress as they grow in the United States and Canada. The last company that grabbed my interest was DabsoluteBest, they sell shea butter, soaps, incense, oils, and creams to name a few of the products they had in stock. I was happy to see that they carry Nubian Heritage products which is pretty hard to get in Canada. DabsoluteBest is based out of Brampton, Ontario and really easy to contact if you are interested in ordering some products.

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I will be sure to mark my calendar for 2010's AfroFest, progress comes in small steps at first and than leaps with a foundation to land on, Black is Beautiful.

Eco Body Soaps - ecobodysoaps@yahoo.com

Adiva Natural - www.adivanatural.com and 1 804 683 3738

DabsoluteBest - www.dabsolutebest.com and 416 892 7984 (Jeff)

Shuantae1: Natural Hair TEXTURE TALK PART 1

I really enjoy Shuantae1's YouTube videos, here is another inspirational video from her, enjoy! To visit her channel click here.

Gianvito Rossi Suede Shoe Boot

These beauties are Gianvito Rossi Suede Shoe Boot. They will give your wardrobe that pop of colour that we need sometimes. They boast 4 inch heels, 100% suede and 100% leather from Italy. Cute peep toes and a zip fastening running down the back of each shoe. Visit Browns for more info!

Meet Queen!

Meet Queen, I got her last year October, she's about 1 1/2 years young. The flash bothered her eyes so that's why in all the photos they are closed.

Trace Issue No. 85: Black Girls Rule!

The current issue of Trace Magazine Black Girls Rule! Issue No. 85 is a great read with the creative inspirations that Trace boldly displays, I love this magazine! Visit Trace to view the current issue online here.

Toronto Natural Bellas Gathering Part Deux

Toronto Natural Bellas Gathering Part Deux

Saturday July 18th @ 6.00 PM

Sequel Restaurant @ 3362 Yonge Street (North of Lawrence)

For more info and to have your name noted for reservations contact Mo: mona27lisa@hotmail.com

For those that aren't familiar with this area I've attached a link here.

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Can't wait to see you all there!

Simplistic Hair Care Is The New Fab!

In these economic times getting the most bang for your buck is what it's about. You want to buy high quality products that does what it says its going to do and can be multiple purposed. Having many products, each for a different purpose only drains your wallet and leaves your hair without a consistent routine. Of course, we all have different needs for our hair texture and lifestyle so finding those key products will help simplify the maintenance of our hair immensely. Here are some pointers that I tried and has allowed me to focus on products that do what they say they will, gives me versatility when styling and simplifies the process of washing and conditioning my hair each week:

• Choose a shampoo and conditioner combo by the same brand that not only clarifies but adds moisture to your hair and stick to it: For months I was searching for a perfect shampoo and conditioning set. Kiss My Face Big Body Shampoo and Conditioner really delivers for me. The shampoo clarifies but doesn't strip my hair and the conditioner adds moisture and strength to my hair with a mix of rice protein, aloe vera, glycerin and oils like jojoba, colza, and sunflower. This conditioner is great, I can use it to do co-washes, quick treatments for five minutes after shampooing in the shower and as a leave-in conditioner. My hair loves this combo and I can definitely say these are my weekly wash and conditioning staples.

• Keep it simple with moisturizers: We all love the new, newest thing especially if it boast all natural and organic ingredients. Don't be fooled, hair is simple in the sense that if you have your staples and they work than stick to it. You only need one or two moisturizers depending on the change of climate of where you live from summer to winter. I eliminated a moisturizer out of my routine because my shea butter was doing a great job along with my leave-in conditioner at keeping my hair moist, conditioned and frizz free during these summer months. In the winter I'll start adding in Qhemet Biologics Amla & Olive Heavy Cream again, until than I'm good!

• Know your oils: Some naturals hate oils while others like myself love them. I have three main ones other than my shea butter that I use. Extra Virgin Oilve Oil, Jamaican Black Castor Oil and Neem Seed Oil are used for a variety of things like sealing my ends (evoo & castor), adding them to my deep conditioning treatments (evoo, castor & neem), hot oil treatments (evoo, castor & neem), and scalp messages (evoo & castor), which oil I use or if I combine them depends on my mood and the needs of my hair. My go to pomade is Qhemet Biologics Amla Oil Nourishing Pomade for smoothing my hair, adding shine and conditioning, I love this stuff!

• Check out your kitchen: simple kitchen stuff like honey, mayonnaise, cooking oils like olive oil and grape seed oil, baking soda, molasses, eggs, crisco, and yogurt are used by many naturals to maintain their beautiful tresses.

• Buy in bulk and/or make annual orders from online: This will save you mon-ey! I buy my shea butter by the pound and that means I only buy it twice a year if I buy a pound at a time. You will also save alot of money by buying large quantities online to last you the whole year instead of doing multiple orders and each time paying ridiculous shipping charges.

• Stick to what you know works for your hair: I say this from experience. Don't buy every product that another natural professes works in their hair. I did it a few times and I can certainly say that most of them didn't do nothing for my hair but make it more dry and damaged. Most of the products that are my staples is because I did research on the brands that I use by looking at the ingredients. My hair loves herbs in products like sage, burdock nettle, coltsfoot ....etc., my hair loves oils and a moderate to small amount of protein if any. So I know if I give a product a try with these general guidelines my hair just may think its okay or love it.

• Choose key styles and mix them up: My key set that I use is bantu knots. I can do so much with my hair when I set it at night and let it out in the morning. I can seperate it and fluff it for a curly fro, bun it, half up and half down, banana clip it, do a cute chignon or I can french roll it, the list can go on and on.

• Buy locally: If you can get an item like shampoo, shea butter, coconut oil, etc. locally than why order online? As consumers their is a wealth of variety for us to choose from. If you are having difficulty finding a product visit places you may not be accustomed to like your local flea market and/or health food stores to find simple products that are staples for many of us.

The most important thing I can say is to leave your hair alone. The less you do to it the more your hair will thrive. Give it what it needs and let it live! Natural hair is beautiful and should be cared for as fine gold but that doesn't mean we have empty wallets with fab hair styles, that's not cool. Balance it out, and use what you have.

Model Moment: Caroline Bwomono

Caroline Bwomono is a Ugandan model born July 22, 1975 and is based out of Sweden. She is signed to MIKAs Stockholm Modeling Agency and has walked the runway for Duro Olowu and Kenneth Cole. She has also worked with BCBG Max Azria, Kenzo, Tuleh and YSL Rive Gauche to name a few. I look forward to seeing more of this African beauty.

Why Does Carol's Daughter Have So Many Haters?

Carol's Daughter is arguably the most recognized African American company that uses natural ingredients and markets heavily toward women who wear their naturally kinky, coily and curly hair. They have been endorsed by celebrities like Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, Jada Pinkett-Smith and the list goes on. Most of their products contain relatively good ingredients when compared to many product lines sold in black beauty supply stores and the owner and founder, Lisa Price has given back heavily to the community through her philanthropic work. So why the hate? Now, I must admit that I am one of those that was weary of using Carol's Daughter products. When I first went natural I didn't even consider them as a go to to tame my tresses. Instead, I went online and found a company most naturals at that time rarely heard of and started telling people how great it was and that the company I discovered was 'it'. At that time Carol's Daughter was being sold online through their website and had just been introduced to Sephora and since than their products have popped up at salons and retail stores targeted to people with curly hair types.

I first tried Carol's Daughter when I went to New York and saw a kiosk in a mall in downtown Brooklyn. Myself and my cousins couldn't pass up the opportunity to get some Carol's Daughter. One, because we knew of no where in Toronto that sold it and ordering online was out of the question, and two, we wanted to see what all the hype was about. We picked up the Mimosa Hair Honey, Tui Hair Oil, Groove Body Spray, a body butter and a few more odds and ends. I really liked the Mimosa Hair Honey and since than Carol's Daughter has been introduced to a few salons and retail stores in Toronto I have repurchased it a few times. Their products for the most part get the job done but in my humble opinion I don't see what all the hype was about. Although, I do have a few ideas why I see all the hate:

• Carol's Daughter is mainstream. You can find them at Sephora both online and in store or at one of Carol's Daughter stores in the United States. At HoneyFig in Toronto and other various salons in the city. Also, you can just order from their website. So no one has any excuse not to buy their products, they are here , there, everywhere!

• People like the 'new' thing. Exclusivity reigns supreme when it comes to setting trends with natural hair. We see our selves as leaders, rebellious and non conformist. We go against society and challenge the establishment. That means also being ahead of the game and not taking what is given to us. Many naturals love finding that new product and telling their friends about it and slowly that company gains loyal consumers and the previous company becomes stale, passe.

• Some brands are just better. I love all natural and organic brands. The more the better, I am sensitive to scents and certain ingredients. The more straight forward and simplistic the ingredients are the more likely I am to try it out. Many naturals can attest to this. The harder it is for us to pronounce the ingredients or the more we have to reference the encyclopedia to know what is in the product the easier it is to back away from trying it and use another product that is simple, straight forward and gives great results. Thankfully, today their is no shortage of brands that deliver in all these categories.

• Many naturals think they sold out. Let's face it, if you have investors than money becomes the main game and cost cutting becomes the means. One of the first things to change when a hair company becomes ginormously successful is the quality of ingredients. In order for Carol's Daughter to be in so many retail stores in North America and Europe the shelf life of the product must be extended some how, some way and you know they figured out a way. I have heard of naturals speak of when Carol's Daughter first came out and you had to buy online and wait a good while for delivery, than some of the products had to be refrigerated to keep it fresh, not anymore.

• Too much hype. Myself and my cousin heard so much hype about Carol's Daughter that we thought wow this must be 'it'. After trying it we both agreed it was good but nothing to call home about. I have yet to read on a Fotki page, forum, You Tube, or blog of someone telling anyone that will listen to run and buy a Carol's Daughter Product. They either say it was okay, indifferent, or they hated it. Nothing life changing.

In a sense I do feel I was taken. Like a virus that spreads I was got too. But I didn't let the bug consume me. It was okay and that is it, nothing special. My hair looked the same, I didn't get amazing growth, and it didn't make me look at life differently. With all that said you must give respect where it is due. Lisa Price was the first within the natural hair movement to take an idea to use natural hair products on naturally kinky, coily and curly hair mainstream. She has been very successful at it and I will not hate on a sister who has her hustle right.

A New Writer at The Coil Review

I am happy to announce that I will be a regular contributing writer to The Coil Review. I have been a dedicated reader of the wealth of information The Coil Review presents and invite all of you to check out this amazing online magazine. Their will be articles exclusive to The Coil Review and some articles already posted to Nu Kynk will also be featured. To view my first featured article click here!

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Thank you for all of your support, their is more to come!

Amber Rose and Turquoise Play

Say what you want about Amber Rose, she is fierce! I love her play with turquoise, it fits her well and is refreshing.

Naturally Loved: Part Nine

Amazingly, I still get questions like "so what are you going to do with it" concerning my natural hair which I find quite funny because no one goes around asking people who have relatively straight hair this question. Inner strength is a must when embracing your kinks, coils and curls. You have to know exactly why you are doing it and having a plan will also help you through the stages you will encounter. When I first did my big chop I had a TWA (teeny weeny afro) and it was great for about 2 or 3 months. Than it started to grow and I had no clue what to do. I was cute with my TWA but as soon as that growth came I felt REAL lonely. I did twist which helped for awhile, I did braid extensions for a month at a time and than I would let my hair rest for a month and than put the extensions back in. I bought scarves, hats and that was basically all the styles I rocked. I never rocked fro-hawks, I wish I did back than and I didn't have any intricate styles. I tried to keep it as simple as possible.

Women who thirst for information concerning natural hair have a wealth of information, products and everyday inspirations like co-workers, friends, family and celebrities to reference when thinking about embracing their natural hair. It is to the point where sometimes it just smacks you in the face like an ad or article in a magazine discussing natural hair or television shows that are placing our hair at the forefront of national discussions.

When I first embraced my natural hair I had to seek the information and the Internet was my best friend for that. I found a wealth of information about products, techniques and individuals willing to give advise as to the different stages we encounter on this journey. I want to thank everyone that has assisted me in this journey, I am so grateful! My 3 year anniversary is coming up in September and I am so happy I made it this far, I am excited about the next three years of my natural journey.

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Happy Growing,

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Natalie

Bantu Knots VS Flat Twists (Bantu Knots Won)

I have been trying out flat twists for a few weeks as appose to my regular bantu knots and I've noticed a few differences. Flat twists are a little more cumbersome to set in the hair. It may be my technique, I two strand twist to the scalp like cornrows and use bobby pins or Goody Latex Bands to hold in place. I found I got breakage from this technique when undoing it after my hair had dried. Also, the back section of my hair always got too straight which didn't allow me to blend my hair into a cute curly 'fro as I usually do with my bantu knots.

My bantu knots work better for my hair texture. The hair at the back of my head has a looser curl pattern which may be why the bantu knots work better because it allows my roots to stay smooth but at the same time I can fluff my curls for extra body, and my hair still maintains texture. The bantu knots set better in my hair, I am able to catch just about every hair in my knots. Bantu knots give me more consistent results, sorry flat twist, you're just not giving me the results I want.

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To Set My Hair

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Step 1: Co-wash or shampoo and condition ( I use Nature's Gate Henna or Hemp conditioners or the Kiss My Face Big Body Shampoo & Conditioner)

**I like leaving about 25% of the conditioner in my hair when I rinse.

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Step 2: Apply a quarter sized amount of a conditioner to each 6-8 large sections of soaking wet hair like Kiss My Face Big Body Conditioner (these large sections should be your guide when setting your hair)

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Step 3: Apply a quarter sized amount of shea butter to each individual bantu knot, smooth on the roots and than apply a smaller amount to length of hair , than set.

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Step 4: Repeat step 3 until complete, let dry.

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Step 5: Remove bobby pins or elastic bands and allow the bantu knots to fall. Apply a small amount of pomade or oil like Qhemet Biologics Amla Oil Nourishing Pomade to each twist, starting at the roots and working your way down to the ends. At this point you undo the twists gently and style as desired trying not to disturb the curl pattern.

**The pomade or oil that you use acts as a sealant and helps to keep the hair smooth when styling.