Well technically now that I am a full-time Trini we don't have no damn summatime, although you would never know from the proliferation of ads for 'summa' parties and other such shenanigans. No summer in these here tropics. Just Hot and Hotter. Or Dry and Rainy. This heat burns hotter than the fires of hell and the humidity is out of this world lol. BUT, I did get a chance to run away to my graduation and other festivities in the USA so here are some of my 'summatime' styles.
Repping for my clique! lol Rocked a low bun to fit my cap
My Birthday! Rocked a bun and pomp
More bday shenanigans, different city. Rocking a twistout
After the humidity got to my twistout, pulled it in a ponytail and rocked it with a headband fashioned out of my satin scarf lmao
Updated!! Another USA jaunt for a wedding. More styles:
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.
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.
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 previousarticles 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
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
This week I did a co-wash using a longtime favorite, Herbal Essence Hello Hydration conditioner. My hair had been in one for almost a week. Most of my washing time involved just letting the water fully saturate my hair and using water to loosen up the dirt/grease on my hair and scalp. This involved massaging my scalp with the pads of my fingertips and using the closed palm (like you are praying) method to smooth my hair.
If I was washing, that braid would be a loose wet section of hair. Smooth the closed palm down the section from root to end to apply product, wash the hair, etc. This way the hair stays relatively detangled.
Whenever I wash my hair I try not to disrupt the clumps my curls want to be in. I've found that is the number one key to reducing tangling. I think back to my childhood when shampooing involved wild hand in hair motion, trying to create the most lather possible. lol good old days. Washing was fun, combing after, not so much.
Once my hair was fully saturated with water, I applied a shilling size amount of conditioner to each of four sections on my head and let it sit for about 5 minutes. I then rinsed it out, section by section and did a cold water acv rinse to finish off. I dried my hair with a cotton tee to avoid frizz.
Drying with an old cotton t-shirt to avoid frizz
During washing I could tell that my coconut prepoo I did a few weeks ago was still in effect as my clumped curls were well defined and healthy looking while washing. You can really tell once you get out of the shower and the hair is dried a bit. Look at the definition of my natural hair with no products in it whatsoever. This is the true definition of wash and go. One of these days I'll try and experiment to see how tangled my hair would get if I just left it like that to fully dry. lol
Once my hair was about 30% dry, I applied my kimmaytube-based leave in. I used the following recipe this week:
2 tbs Giovanni direct leave in
1 tbs Kinky Curly Knot Today
1 tbs Redken Antisnap
2 tsp jojoba oil
2 tsp castor oil
1 tsp avocado oil
1 tsp coconut oil
As you can see, I forgot the aloe vera juice this week and boy could you tell. My braids were way more frizzy than usual without that added acidity and the curling power aloe vera juice has on my hair.
Nothing tying with a satin scarf couldn't fix though.
The resulting braid-out made me fall in love with braid-outs all over again (sorry! no pic but I'll repeat it sometime). I don't know why I ever stopped doing them but I expect to be doing more in the future. I did another braid-out a few days later using Ms Jessie's curly pudding. I think I prefer the effect from using my homemade moisturizer better but this was very pretty as well. I wore this to a job interview.
I have been natural all my life. thankfully my mother never relaxed my hair and since I've been grown enough to make my own decisions I haven't had any interest in chemicals either. I was natural before natural was cool. lol. I've done braids, weaves, dreads, looped off pieces, chopped it all off and grown it back. I love my hair and I guess my hair loves me too cuz it grows like nobody's business. I have been blessed with a thick head of healthy hair and I am only now paying attention to what I put in/ on it.lol. my new year's resolution is to take care of my hair. i figured it would be good to share my experience, don't know with who yet. at least by writing about it i might stay committed. lol
