Juicy Juicy

I recently won a gift hamper from Body Beautiful on D'Avenue and when I went to collect I went gaga when I saw their recent shipment of Naturalista Cosmetics' Juicy Leave in. I have been following Naturalista for a while, ever since their Facebook page was attacked by spammers, and I have really enjoyed seeing the outpouring of support for the brand as well as their astounding growth in such a short period of time. I always wanted to try it so I was beyond ecstatic when Allison of Body Beautiful offered me a small sample to try.

The ingredients list reads as follows:

• Butyrospermum Parkii (Organic Shea Butter), 
• Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, 
• Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil,
• Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, 
• Cannabis Sativa (Hemp) Seed Oil,
• Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, 
• Organic Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, 
• Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Organic Sweet Almond) Oil, 
• Cinnamomum Cassia Leaf Oil, 
• Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, 
• Tocopherol (Vitamin E), 
• Panthenol (Vitamin B), 
• Vegetable Glycerin, 
• Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, 
• Raw Organic Honey, 
• Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Peel Oil,
• Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil, 
• Natural preservatives, 
• Fragrance

This first thing I noticed was its light whipped texture, I haven't used a product with this consistency before and I quite like it. The second thing was the smell. OMG can somebody say heavenly!!!! It definitely smells like I should be eating it rather than putting it in my hair. The first thing I did was to massage some between my fingers and into my skin. I was concerned that juicy might mean greasy. Initially it did feel a bit greasy to touch but that feeling soon went away. 

Nice and whipped and delicious smelling

On wash day I tried an experiment. On one side of my head I moisturized with my usual homemade leave-in,  the other I used my 2oz Juicy Leave In sample. And I did use all of it lol. 

Right after application and twisting. Left side - my homemade leave in. Right side - Naturalista Cosmetics' Juicy leave in

I did medium sized twists all over which I planned to rock as is for the work week. My initial impressions as I was applying and twisting was that on the Juicy Leave in side, there was less frizz, a little more shine, somewhat more stretch  and definitely smelled better than my homemade leave-in.

Juicy Leave in side

On my home made leave in side, it defined my curls better, detangled my hair way easier, was much less greasy and felt more moisturized to the touch. The white stuff eventually goes away but I guess its a plus for Juicy that you can twist and immediately leave the house without ppl's minds wandering to the gutter thinking about what is all that creamy stuff in your hair lol.

Home-made leave in side

Three days later I examined my hair for differences again. Both sides were equally frizzy (remember I didn't use any styling aid for hold). The greasy feeling from the Juicy had for the most part gone away and both sides felt about equally moisturized,  although I will say the ends of my hair with the homemade leave in felt better than the Juicy leave in side. This may most likely be due to the acidic ph of my homemade leave in. 

Three days later

 A week later, my hair stayed moisturized about equally on both sides. I ended up retwisting mid-week using Shea Moisture hold and shine moisture mist and it looked about the same on both sides.

One week later after retwisting midweek with Shea Moisture hold and shine moisture mist

Verdict - I like Naturalista's Juicy Leave-in. It definitely leaves your hair juicy and moisturized so if you aren't into mixology it would be a convenient leave in product. While I don't like greasiness, this product does smell divine and the greasiness goes away over time. I think this product would also be good for stretching on dry hair although I haven't tried it like that yet. At US$23 for an 8oz jar it is kind of pricey compared to similar leave-ins. You can check their website for purchase or my trini naturals, you can try it and buy it at Body Beautiful on D'Avenue.

Where to Find Natural Hair and Skin Products in Trinidad - Part III

Hi Folks!!!!

Hands down, the most popular posts on my blog have to do with where my fellow naturalistas can locate products in my lovely home Trinidad and Tobago. This makes me so very happy and just for that I feel this blog has served a useful purpose. I am so happy that so many ladies in Trini are embracing their natural hair and rocking it proudly. If I can help in anyway to encourage, educate, motivate or whatever else, I am only too happy to be a vessel. 

One of the reasons I am heartened is because of how many people have taken the time to share where they have been able to locate products. This post is just a summary of some of the suggestions in the comments from the two previous articles on where to find products in our sweet, sweet TnT. Please feel free to keep adding places where u satisfy your product junkyism! 

Thanks to all my lovely fellow naturalistas who have commented and shared this wealth of info. Keep it coming! And as always, if you go to any of these suggested places, make sure and tell them MzNappyTrini sent you! lol

 

Valrosa Limited
Located on 102 Abercromby Street Port of Spain (623-6805).

They carry products like Uncle Funky's Daughter, Wonder Curl, Curly Kinks, Camille Rose Naturals, BeeMine, JessiCurl, darcy Botanicals and so much more (see flyer below). Lots of product lines I haven't personally tried but hopefully I get the opportunity to! Make sure and visit their Facebook page for more info.

Product lines carried by Valrosa Limited

Mayleah Organics
Located in Santa Cruz and they DO DELIVERIES!! (385-4327)
Specialize in natural and/or organic products. All products are free from parabens, artificial fragrances, artificial colors, phthalates, animal testing, petroleum compounds, sodium lauryl sulfate/ sodium laureth sulfate, PEGS, PPG, MEA, DEA or TEA and GMOs
Check their website for the product lines they carry and check them out on Facebook

Hair City
Located on Henry Street (4 stores up from the promenade)
They carry lots of things, most notably Ecostyler gel (olive and argan oil), Cantu line, black soap, jbco, argan oil, sweet almond oil and shea butter.

Pennywise
Nationwide -  never know what you might be lucky to find, they carry a lot of stuff.
Chartlottte street branch in particular carries - Infusium 23 LEAVE IN, amla powder, and ayurvedic products.

Live Green
Located at the western end of Ariapita Avenue (622-8911; 685-9291)
They carry Giovanni products.


Starlite Pharmacy
Located in Diego Martin (632-0516)
They carry Giovanni products ($50 each), Redken, Aussie Moist, and African Pride


Sankofa African Store
Located on Penitence Street San Fernando
They carry black soap and shea butter ($30/jar)

Onika's
Located upstairs Carlton Center High Street San Fernando
They carry the Mixed Chicks brand

Puja stores - henna

Risa's - She is a certified Mehendi artist and she sells Henna powder in ziplocked packets of 100g for $35. Her contact is 312-5239

Xtra Foods Grand Bazaar - methi, coconut oil

Superpharm -  jbco ($120/bottle), 100% aloe vera gel (Fruit of the Earth)

Santas - High Street San Fernando - lots of brands

Pharmacy at Movietowne POS - Vatika coconut oil

Herbal Store,  Town Center Mall POS - basil oil, lavender oil, jojoba oil, veggie glycerin

HiLo Arima - aloe vera juice ($26/bottle)

Look who won something again!!!!

Beautiful box and beautifully wrapped! Can you feel the love?

ME!!!!!! lol if you read my post from the last time I won something, you can understand my excitement. I didn't just win something yall. I HIT DA JACKPOT! lol Look at this beautiful gift basket...

I know yall see all that stuff!

I won this bounty due to the fact that I practically live on Facebook lmao. So when bright and early one morning before Mother's Day the folks at Body Beautiful on D'Avenue asked their Facebook fans to answer a question on the products they carry, I was one of the first folks to answer. Now they never said what you would win, just that they had a gift. So trust me, I almost fell out when I saw how much stuff I won! And the best part? I had never tried any of the products before. 

I had to line the loot up. Somebody say product junkie jackpot! 

Allison of Body Beautiful was so sweet that since I so happened to show up to collect my prize when they had just got a shipment of Naturalista Juicy Leave- in, she generously gave me a sample to try!!! I about died and went to natural hair product junkie heaven yall lol 

Collecting my prize from Allison at Body Beautiful on D'Avenue

So expect some product reviews and in the meantime my Trini naturals, head down to the Avenue and see Allison at Body Beautiful! They carry so many of the popular product lines including Kinky Curly, Shea Moisture, Karen's Body Beautiful, Jane Carter, Curls, Eco Styler, Naturalista Cosmetics and so so much more. They also carry JBCO, shea butter, lots of ayurvedic products and other beauty products and candles. When you go make sure and tell them MzNappyTrini says hi!!! lol check out their Facebook page for more

Revisiting the Coconut Prepoo

Ingredients used for my first Trini coconut prepoo mix

Last few months I have been rough on my hair so I decided to give it some TLC by doing a coconut prepoo treatment a few weeks ago. This would be the fist time I was attempting this in Trinidad. I had coconut oil that I brought with me from the US but I needed to locate the other ingredients locally. 

After mixing up all my ingredients. It was a bit less thick in consistency than when I made it previously but worked just as well

My undetangled, dry hair before prepooing. Clearly the last few months been rough lol

A section of my hair after applying the prepoo mixture. Curls are elongated and the section is easily detangled.

Full head all done prepooing

The amount of hair lost. Not bad at all considering I can't remember the last time I fully detangled my hair prior to this lol

Prepoo hair the next day after sleeping on it. 

Once I was done pre-pooing, I steamed using my Huetiful hair steamer. I then shampooed using the Kinky Curly Come Clean Shampoo, conditioned with Giovanni Nutrafix Hair Reconstructor, did an ACV rinse, applied my homemade leave-in and twisted my hair up to dry.

Putting that Huetiful steamer to work!

Naked hair after washing out the coconut prepoo after steaming.

Deep conditioning

My ACV rinse: 2 caps full of ACV, 2 cups water

Back view, post-ACV rinse

Front view, post-ACV rinse

Ingredients used in this batch of leave-in

Hair after applying leave in

All twisted up! 

Where to Find Natural Hair and Skin products in Trinidad - an update

Hi Folks,

there has been an overwhelming response to that first post about finding products in Trinbago which suggests to me that many Trinis are interested in the natural hair journey. That makes my heart really happy. lol. Here are some other places where you can find products. Free advertising, I know, but I'm hoping that one of these days if I decide to do a giveaway they will provide some gifts. lmao. We'll see. If you go to these places tell them MzNappyTrini sent you ok. lol. 

1. Body Beautiful On D Avenue

[source]

Located in Woodbrook Port Of Spain, they stock many of the favorites of your YouTube gurus and go to bloggers. From Kinky Curly to JBCO to African Shea butter to Jane Carter products, they have it. They also have natural skincare products as well. I believe they do demonstrations of KCCC if you make an appointment. The best thing about them - they do home deliveries to any locations in Trinidad AND Tobago! Friend them on facebook here to see more of the products they offer as well as to keep abreast of new products, promotions and sales.  

2. Hair It is

[source]

In addition to stocking lots and lots of weave, they stock a lot of the natural hair care brand names like Carol's Daughter, Mixed Chicks, Ms Jessie's and many other popular hair care lines in the US, most notably Chi and Moroccan Oil. This business is owned by none other than Ms Danielle Jones, MS T&T Universe 2004 who was the 4th runner up at the Ms Universe pageant that year. 

If you have the dispensable income to spare and always wanted to try these products, you can pay them a visit. In my personal opinion, these product lines are a luxury, not a necessity. You can take great care of your hair without using products that cost an arm or a leg. They are also located in Woodbrook Port of Spain and run some pretty good sales from time to time, more on the weave than the hair products but hey you know how we Caribbean chicas like to keep ppl guessing. lol. They are also on facebook so go ahead and friend them if you are so inclined.

3. Cher Mere

[source]

Many of us growing up in Trini are well aware of the Cher Mere product line. If you haven't used them you have definitely at least heard about them. They are still around and their product line has expanded. They have several outlets throughout trinidad and do business throughout the Caribbean and ship internationally as well. Their products contain wonderful natural ingredients like aloe and rachette and are infused with a wide array of herbal oils. They also produce products for skin care and offer spa services as well. Check them out on Facebook or get more info on their website

The rest of info I have is still a work in progress. I have been told by Trini naturals who read the blog that my southern naturalistas can find products at a place called Santas??? I'm not sure where it is, somebody give me deets on the actual adress if you can. You can also get products at the herbal store at Carlton Centre. Again, if you have deets, please share. Apparently you can get Mixed Chicks products at some store at Carlton Centre as well. lol 

Ok ppl keep sharing info and I'll keep on updating! We still on the lookout for infusium 23 leave-in in T&T. First person to find it gets some chilli bibi! LMAO

Stay blessed

Where to Find Natural Hair and Skin products in Trinidad

UPDATE!!!! Newer post on where else to find natural hair products in Trinidad


I have so many naturalistas in Trini asking me about products and natural ingredients I figured I should create a post for this topic. It will be a work in progress and I'll add to it as info becomes available. I must thank my sister A for being a good foot soldier and hunting (she really had to hunt) for these things. Thanks boo and HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Love u! lol. Ok, on to where to find products. All prices quoted are in TT dollars.

Mustapha's - just off the corner of Prince and Frederick Streets, Port of Spain, Trinidad.

raw shea butter - 6oz - $40 

jojoba oil - 1 oz - $20

aloe vera - 1 oz - $20

also carries:
sweet almond oil
avocado oil
African black soap


The Little Store - Lower Rapsey Street, Curepe, Trinidad

castor oil - 15ml - $6

A also informs me that castor oil is readily available at drugstores around the country for $4 for the equivalent amount.

Now for this to work it must be participatory so for all my trini naturals please comment or message me at msnappytrini@gmail.com with your favorite hair products, where you get them in trini and how much it costs (with the amount of product). One question I am always getting is where in Trinidad can people get infusium 23 leave in?!!!! Pennywise used to carry it, I don't know why they stopped. Also if anybody has ever seen giovanni hair products in Trini let me know.