NEW Lottabody Natural Hair Products!!!!!

Moisturize Me Curl&Style Milk

Shape Me Custard Gelee     

Control Me Edge Control 

(Pics below)

I have always heard great things about Lottabody products. I remember my mother using the Lottabody setting lotion on my hair in middle school. I use to rock a roller set faithfully lol. My mother has been a long time user and fan of Lotta Body products. To this day Lottabody is one of favorite brands to use. When I came across the natural hair display of new products by Lottabody I knew I had to try them. The first thing that drew me to this new arsenal of products was the packaging, the pretty decent ingredients, the price and of course the smell. Can you say YUM :) At first glance I knew that the Moisturize Me Curl&Style Milk would be my favorite product to use. So along with the curl&style milk I ended up picking up the Shape Me Custard Gelee and the Control Me Edge Control. I've been working on how to use these products on my type 4 hair for the past few weeks and here is my break down. 

Moisturize Me Curl&Style Milk:

I knew this product would be a good product on my hair. See the way my hair is set up.... It's really really thick type 4 hair. It has a personality of it's own and doesn't play nice with all products. Normally I'm pretty good at selecting products that work well on my hair. When I started using this product I washed and condition my hair and applied it in section as directed on the bottle. Normally I use a leave-in conditioner before a style product but I wanted to see how well this product worked as directed. I simply two strand twist in some what chunky twist. I took down my hair the next morning and I got a very light definition. My hair was soft and full. Unfortunately, it rained cats and dogs so my hair went into moisture absorb over load My hair just fluffed into a super fro. Which is my go to look any way. Over all it was very easy to use. I LOVE the pump on the bottle!!!! It's something different and most natural hair products don't come with a pump. I love the consistency, the smell and how smooth it went on to my hair. I can see myself buying this product again. 

Shape Me Up Custard Gelee:

I have had my battles with finding a curling custard that works for my hair. This one I'm still working with. I used quite a few times so far. I've used it in a twist out and gave very light definition. I tried it styling my hair in a wash and go it didn't work for my hair. This custard is too light for my hair. One problem I came across it has glycerin like most custards. The thing with glycerin and my hair is if a product has too much glycerin it flakes and and becomes coated or hard. I did get some flaking when trying to use the curl&style milk with this custard MAJOR NO NO. I did get some curl but not what I was use to using my normal styling product. Over all I am still working with this product to see how I can get it to work. I aways find out how to use a product. This one is still a work in progress on my hair. 

Control Me Edge Control:

Now I'm not big on edge controls. I've went through my fair share of them. Some good some very bad, but this one was refreshing to use. It's very light on my hair which is good in my case. I don't like a lot of product on my hair line. This product is is very light once applied. I only used a little bit of this on my edges and it was easy to use. It wasn't really sticky or gummy like most EC'S on the market. Of course the smell was great. It gave a nice hold. Not the strongest hold but that was fine with me. no flaking, no residue, no white cast (since this has a blue color base). This is very light on the hair. Not bad it's definitely a product to keep on hand if your like me and don't care for the heavy, sticky, oily edge controls. This product does contain parabens but they are listed at the bottom, but I'm not major on ingredients so it's fine with me. 

Overview 

I like the line. It has a few downs i.e. a little too light at times and the glycerin factor on my hair. I definitely see a co wash, deep conditioner and leave in conditioner being added to this line some where down the line. I have to work out the kinks with the custard. Over all a good line of products so far. I HIGHLY recommend the Moisturize Me Curl&Style Milk that is my favorite out of all the products I've tried. There are two more revamped products I haven't tired from Lottabody that I will check out later. Lottabody did a good job on the new products.  I'm looking forward to see what the company does next.

curl&style milkWith custard&hairmilk

Taking down my twist. 

2-5 Day old twist out

NEW Creme Of Nature Moisturising Milk Masque (Repairing Treatment)

Cream of Nature Moisturising Milk Masque Price $7.99

So Creme of Nature Agran Oil from Morocco hair line has  NEW natural hair products. They have added 4 new products and I've bought and tried 2 out of 4 of them. The Moisturizing Milk Masque and the Twirling Custard. I've been eyeing this product for almost a month before I finally tried it. For some reason my product junkieism is starting to fade out lately. $7.99 for a deep conditioner was all of a sudden too pricey for me, which is unheard of in my product life. So I finally tried it this past Saturday. I really like it this treatment. I've been a fan of the argan oil line from Creme of Nature for a couple of years now and I must say I'm really liking the new products so far. When using this product I followed my normal shampoo cleansing routine and skipped the regular conditioner step. I applied this treatment on wet clean hair in chunky sections. I simply finger detangled the product in my hair, then chunky twist my hair. I must say the texture was really nice, very thick and creamy. I didn't have to saturate my hair like I normally have to with most conditioners. This is a nice size jar and I love that I can maybe get at least 2-3 uses out of it before having to restock. I have thick type 4 hair so I normally have to let DC's stay in my hair at least an 30 with heat or an hour+ without heat with a plastic cap.  I opted out the heat and just put on a \plastic cap and head scarf and called it a night. I left this treatment in Saturday night and rinsed it out Monday morning. My hair was really soft and felt very smooth and condition. My hair felt like butter which is a plus in my book. Dealing with work, home life, and school had me playing catch up and I just let this product go to work. It states to leave it in 5-10 minute but my hair rebels against rules like those. Over all I like the new treatment its rich and thick smells really nice. The price doesn't botherme now lol. It's a good product it's worth a try. They did a good job on this product formulation. I'm looking forward to trying the Butter Creme and Curl Perfecting Pudding later on down the line. 

How to Build a Haircare Regimen

How to Build a Hair Care Regimen for Natural Hair

When I started my natural hair journey I was so lost in where to go and what to do about finding products for my hair. At the time I was strapped for money so I couldn't try everything I saw ladies on YouTube trying on their hair. I found out the hard way about products that worked on my relaxed hair just wouldn't work on my natural. I started small (and cheap) getting the basics for my hair care needs i.e. shampoo, conditioner, gel. I would research more cost effective ways to say money and have enough products to last me for a while. Before my product junkie gene kicked in to high gear I actually made my own products for my hair. There are countless recipes to make all natural shampoos and hair butters to name a few on the web. My hair butter (which I still make) lasts for a couple of years and is great for hair&skin. Over the course of 2 years and counting I've acquired a few tips that have helped me build a stable hair care routine. 

When building a haircare regimen make sure you have some of the following:

• Shampoo
• Conditioner
• Deep Conditioner/Treatment
• Leave In Conditioner
• Oils
• Moisturizer
• Styler

Shampoo is used to clean the scalp and remove excess dirt product and oils from the hair. Some naturals (including me at times) stray away from shampoo due to the strong stripping and drying process it has on hair. For that I would say to use a sulfate free or natural shampoo every other week or at least once a month just to clarify to hair and scalp.

Conditioner is use to restore moisture and softness to the hair after the shampooing process. Most naturals even used this as their only hair washing product. This process is called "Co washing" or conditioner washing. Some companies even have started to make cleansing conditioners using alternative cleaning agents in a conditioner form that cleanse the hair like shampoo without the dryness. 

Deep Conditioner/Treatment this process is an extended step to help treat and restore moisture shine and some times protein etc. Depending on a person personal hair care needs they can use countless kind of treatments to help with their hair inquiries. There are hot oil treatments for dryness, protein treatments for breakage or shedding, and moisture treatments. You can either buy them from a store or make them right in your own kitchen. 

Leave In Conditioner is used to help continue the moisture process. This acts as the foundation product to help keep hair soft and moisturized before any other product is added. 

Oils are used to feed the scalp and seal moisture into the hair after using a leave in conditioner or moisturizer on the hair. Oils come in different shades, forms, uses and benefits. Depending on personal scalp needs each oil has a healing or hair growth/aid purpose. Do some research and test out a few individually or combine them for your own personal hair elixir. 

Moisturizers are used to help provide hair with manageability, sheen, softening etc. Some naturals either make their own Shea, mango, coconut, etc hair butter moisturizer or use any store bought brand moisturizer. When choosing a moisturizer (or any product) keep in mind the following:

• Does the  ingredients of the product agree with your hair&scalp and won't cause irritation or dryness
• Will the product be  light or  heavy 
• Will the product fit my hair type
• What benefits will your hair receive from using the product
• Is the cost of the product in your price range
• Whats the availability of the product
• Are you going to use the product correctly in your hair care routine 
• How many ways can this product be used
• Will it work properly with other products in your hair care routine

Stylers are used to help add definition, hold, or body to the hair. Things such as gels, curl cremes, twist cremes, edge controls, pomades and the list goes on. These types of product help you "get the look" your going for when styling your hair. Just like the tips for the moisturizer, make sure you select a product that is going to be easy to use. Depending on the hair type more or less of a styler may be used. 

Side Notes

• If you are using heat in your regimen make sure to add a keratin or silicone based shampoo, conditioner, and heat protectant before flat ironing, electric curling, or blow drying. This will help prevent any damage to the hair.
• Always use a sensible heating temperature when using heat tool 
• If you have color treated hair check products to see if they are color friendly or "for all hair types"
• Check out reviews on products before buying to get feed back if your not familiar with a product.