Got Another Shampoo... Mill Creek's Biotene H-24 Natural Shampoo with Biotin and Peptides

The product promises Thicker, Fuller Hair Naturally. It has both Biotin and Peptides in it, something that I know a lot of women on hair care boards love. I will plan on trying this tomorrow when I do my wash. This shampoo also comes together with a conditioner and a scalp Emulsion with Biotin in it. GNC does however sell the shampoo and conditioner seperately which is what I bought. This IS a protein based shampoo and the Conditioner is protein based as well. So if you are protein sensitive I probably wouldn't reccomend you use this product. And also for some reason I am feeling like there are a few different formulations of this product going around I will list the ingredients that are on the bottle that I have purchased.

Ingredients: Deionized Water, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Aloe Vera Gel, Decyl Polyglucose, Glycerin, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Cocamidopropyl Betaine(Coconut Oil), Pathenol(Provitamin B5), Biotin, Retinyl Palmitate(Vitamin A), Clotsfoot Extract, Yarrow Extract, Rosemary Extract, Sage Extract, Nettles Extract, Birch Leaf Extract, Horsetail Extract, Calcium Panthothenate, Inositol, Asorbic Acid(Vitamin C) Citric Acid, Cysteine HCL, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ethylhexlglycerin, Caprylyly Glycol, Essential Oils. pH balanced.

These are how the ingredients appear on my bottle, I have seen ingredient list floating around of this shampoo that have Sulfates in it, Hydrolyzed Keratin along with the Hydrolyzed Collagen, and Hydrolyzed DNA and RNA. I don't know if this company has changed the ingredients on this product or if there are two formulations floating around or what. With these companies you just never know. I will be giving this product a try to see how I like it and if I do like it since it is a protein based shampoo I would alternate it with my Shea Moisture ORSB Moisture Rentention Shampoo. Not sure as of yet what I will do with the Neutrogena Shampoo I have... *sigh* I was doing so good with my Pjism and now I have started it back up. I am going to make this promise to myself that this is the last new product I try and will only spend money on my staple products that I know worked for my hair... But I will be back with my review later on this week....Till next time.... HHJ

Today's Wash Day Got to Try New Hair Products =]

Today I decided to wash my hair and get back into my regimen, I went to the salon last week for my touch up. Anyways, prior to washing my hair I applied Tea Tree Oil to my scalp and massaged it in. I am going to start off saying that this oil stinks! But it seems as though it worked and I liked the benefits that come with using this oil. After I applied the oil to my scalp I then applied ORS Hair Mayo to dry hair, placed on a conditioning cap, and sat under my heating cap for 30 minutes. I then rinsed out my hair combed it forward and shampooed with Shea Moisture ORSB Moisture Retention Shampoo. I like the way this shampoo made my hair feel, it was like shampooing with a moisture rich conditioner. When I dried my hair and rubbed my hands through my ends my hair felt really moisturized and oily. This to me is a pleasant surprise coming from a shampoo even one that doesn't have sulfates in it. I will see how it works after the six weeks post mark. After drying my hair I mixed my Queen Helene Cholesterol Conditioning Creme, EVOO, Glycerin, and Peppermint Oil in a bowl and applied it to my hair in sections. When I first started applying the Queen Helene to my hair I was a little iffy about it because it made my hair stiff feeling. But once I sat under the heating cap for 40 minutes, and rinsed my hair out it felt nice and moisturized. I liked how it made my hair feel thick and fluffly not to mention this conditioner has nice slip as well. And it comes in a tub, and Sallys has big tubs of it as well which is a plus! I will also see how this works pass the six weeks post mark. I applied my leave ins, and I wanted to say I tried the new formulation of Profectiv Healthy Ends. I use to use the old formutlation like one or two years ago and I feel like though the new formulation smells better it for some reason didn't feel like it was coating my ends like the old formulation did. But I will keep a watch out for how it works. After applying my leave ins I detangled and air dried using the scarf method. Once my hair was dried I moisturized and sealed with Wave Nouveau and Wild Growth Oil. So far I liked how things turn out, but I want give a full set in stone review until after the six weeks post mark. I feel like after a fresh relaxer hair seems to respond well to almost every product and technique you try. But once you get pass the six weeks post mark that's when you really get to see how a product will really work for your hair. But I will keep you all posted... Till next time HHJ =]

Regimen Changes, Somet Things New Some Things Old

So I got my hair relaxed last Friday and I didn't really like what I seen. I wasn't too happy with the way my ends looked, and this could be one of two things: The new regimen I had incorporated from last time I relaxed to this relaxer or I am reading too much into it. I am going with the former, the picture on the left is of my hair taken down after work and combed it down. I feel like my ends are too thin and uneven looking though that could be my "V". So the solution is, I am going back to my old regimen where I was seeing good results ("If it ain't broke then don't try to fix it right?), because clearly with my hair looking like that the new regimen isn't working. My old regimen was still keeping it as simple as I could get but it was more involved than the previous one.

Some Things Old Being Brought Back:

1. Using protein once a week, I would do protein once a week as a prepoo on dry hair. I was receiving some good results from this, and my hair was thickening up.
2. Deep Conditioning with Moisture 2x a week, I would deep condition with moisture twice a week following shampooing on the day I used a protein conditioner on dry hair and as a prepoo on dry hair on my moisture day.
3. Profectiv Healthy Ends Anti- Split End & Deep Repair, I use to apply this on my hair on wash days. It makes your ends stay even and reduces split ends caused by combing through your hair. I recently just picked up a new jar of this at Sallys and noticed the ingredients have changed. Hopefully it still works the same like the old formula.
4. Sealing with Oils on Wash day, I had got in the habit of sealing with GVP Silk Infusion on wash days, which yeah it did make my hair soft but it has some cones it. I am not one big on not wanting products because of certain ingredients but I did feel that using this on the regular basis didn't work for my hair. So back to sealing with oils =]
5. Back to the Juice! The Juice really does help me to retain length and moisture in my hair better than any moisturizers I have used before. And I had come to the conclusion a while ago that when it comes oil based moisturizers especially Olive Oil and ones with Soybean Oil my hair just felt like eh... =\ towards them. So back to Wave Nouveau, S-Curl, and Care Free Curl Gold though not all at once I plan on kicking one to the curb.
6. Back to Adding Add ins to My Conditioners, now I don't feel like not adding add ins to my conditioners hurt my hair, because it's nothing better and more simple than being able to use a conditioner straight from the bottle without having to add things. But on the other hand taking a good condtioner and making it better with different oils and everything is a plus to me as well.
7. Back to Longer Deep Conditoning Times, A year or two in my Hair Journey I would deep condition for 40 mins max, but kind of got lazy and cut it down to 20-25 mins. Not saying cutting down hurt my hair cause my hair still thrived. But now I want to make sure I am getting the full benefits of the conditioner.

Some Things New, Being Incorporated In:

1. Applying Tea Tree Oil to Scalp as a Prepoo, I will be applying this to my scalp before I shampoo for 30-40 mins. I will be doing this at the same time I am deep conditioning on dry hair. I have read some of the benefits of applying or adding Tea Tree Oil to a regimen and I hope it works out for me.
2. Using Peppermint Oil as a Conditioner add in, I hear a lot of women talk about adding this to their conditioners or shampoos and how stimulating to the scalp it is. So when I do my conditioner mixes this will be going in the batch as well.
3. Trying Out a New Conditioner and Shampoo: Queen Helene Cholesterol and Shea Moisture Organic Raw Shea Butter Moisture Rentition Shampoo... Reviews will be here soon =]

**Hopefully all these new products will work out for me, and if they do then I will just stick with these techniques and products and learn to tame the Pj down again**

I have pretty much already have reached my goal of waistlength hair, and really have just been seeing how much longer my hair will go from there. Cutting my hair back to waistlenght every relaxer just scares me so I just haven't done it. But I will be getting the ends of my hair trimmed some more, because I really don't like how my ends look in that picture. I will keep you all updated on how everything is going with the products and techniques in later post. If it ain't broke then don't try to fix it... HHJ =]

Companies and Their Ever Changing Ingredients List

We've all been there before: you find an excellent product, deem it your staple moisturizer, shampoo, conditioner, etc. Then a month or so later you go to the store to stock up on your staple product only to see the "New and Improved" label on the bottle with some times fancier packaging than before. You start to feel anxious as you turn the bottle around to check the ingredients and you notice they either added something or have taken something out. The first thought that comes to mind is "How could they tamper with such a good thing?" Now us in the hair care forums know that product ingredient changes can go one of two ways: Really bad or really good. But it seems like a lot times of the "New and Improved" product is just a downgrade to watered down, mineral oiled, peteroluem, sulfate, and other added fillers that take a once good product and turn into a hair nightmare. So what's a girl to do? Besides run out and stock up on a good thing while it lasts. Well my advice is as follows:

1. Find an Alternate Hair line: If there is a particular conditioner, moisturizer, or shampoo you like. Look for Lomething in another hair line that works just as good and has the same purpose. That away if your once beloved staple gets changed and your hair responds badly to it you have you alternate to fall back on. Now please don't get product junkie on me ladies. =]
2. Try Natural Product Lines: Now I could be wrong as I don't use natural hair care products on a regular basis. But it seems like products in natural lines don't experience as much of an ingredient makeover like mainstream products do, and usually when they do get a makeover it's nothing major. This could also be a good one for an alternate product line.
3. And.... Yes I Will Say it... Run Quickly to Stock up on Your Faves! We all know that the joy of finally having a staple product staple product is fleeting. So savor it while you can, and if they do change the ingredients for the worst at least you will have a good amount of the original product left till you find something new.

So there you have it ladies and gents... Till next time HHJ =]

Wash Day and Neutrogena Triple Moisture Cream Lather Shampoo

I just wanted to start this blog post off by saying, I promise you I am not reverting back to product junkie ways. I am just tweaking my regimen and if I find something better than what I am using sticking to the new product. Anyways I am four months post so about 16 weeks post relaxer, and after finding out that the ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo is actually a clarifying shampoo I knew I had to look for something else. Now I was using V05 shampoos and yes that was working but after awhile of using that shampoo my hair started to feel dry no matter what I put on it and my scalp would itch. I had been looking at the Neutrogena shampoo for some time, but never had the guts to try it. I guess because it didn't seem like to be a lot of shampoo for the price. But a few days ago I decided to pick up a bottle and try it. So after deep conditioning with ORS Hair Mayo on dry hair, I did my once a month clarification with ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo, and shampooed with the Neutrogena Triple Moisture. And once again it was one of those things where I felt like a creamy shampoo...? Yeah right!! But this shampoo really did feel good on hair, it felt like I was lathering up with a conditioner! I really liked this shampoo, and when I rinsed it out of my hair it still felt soft! I will be trying this a few more times before I make a decision on it. I then deep conditioned with ORS Replenishing Conditioner (Yes please scold me now for the over protein usuage), rinsed and detangled, applied Herbal Essence LTR Leave in and GVP Silk Infusion. I then braided my hair in four cornrows and don't plan on taking them down till Sunday to rock a braidout. I plan on relaxing sometime next week. HHJ :]

On a ORS Kick

I want to start off by saying that I never really paid much attention to the Organic Root Stimulator line. Not because I didn't like it or anything, it was just something I always walked passed to other products. Now I have tried the ORS Replenishing Pak here and there, but never repurchased for some reason. Anyway a week or so ago I was in the store looking for a hair lotion that I could use on flat ironed hair, and considering that it is winter time I didn't much care if the lotion made my hair less straight. I picked up a bottle of ORS Moisturizing Hair Lotion and the Creamy Aloe Shampoo because I planned to wash my hair that week as well. The reviews on the products I tried are as follows:

1. ORS Olive Oil Moisturizing Lotion: This product worked really nicely on my flat ironed hair, it made it soft and shiny. However, when I washed my hair and use this product to moisturize and seal my hair felt dry and hard as hay. And no matter what I did to it, it just didn't seem to moisturize. I think this is due to the fact that Petroleum is in the ingredients list. Now for my hair I can get away with Mineral Oil but Petroleum is a no no.
2. ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo: I had been eyeballing this for some time, and I did not know this was a clarifying shampoo. So I used it two or three times in a row for a wash. When I seen it said Creamy and looked at the ingredients and saw sulfates in it I thought "How in the heck is this shampoo supposed to be creamy?" But believe or not it really was creamy and I couldn't tell their was a sulfate in it, nor did it give that squeaky squeak sound when I was done. This will be my new clarifying shampoo.
3. ORS Hair Mayonnaise: I've only used this once so I can't really give much or rather I like it or not. But I used this as my monthly protein treatment, I got tired of having to use raw eggs for protein so was on the look out for a protein conditioner. When I saw this I remember hearing rave reviews on different hair boards and decided to give it a try. I DC'ed with it on dry hair for 20 minutes. When I rinsed it out my hair felt really soft, but I will keep you all updated on how I like it.
4. ORS Replenishing Conditioner: I have used the Pak version of this conditioner before and remember liking it and wondering when a bottle form would be out. So while at Sallys I grabbed a bottle of this as well. I know there is some debate going on about the Pak being better than the bottle and if it's even the same ingredients. Right now I am not really sure how I feel about the bottle form and need to try it a few more times before I form an opinion on it. But is it me or does it seem like the Replenishing Conditioner is more protein-y than the Hair Mayo? I compared the ingredients of the two and Hydrolyzed Collagen is further up on the Replenishing Conditioner's list of ingredients and further down on the Hair Mayo ingredients. But I will let you know how the bottle form turns out for me.

So there you have it ladies and gents looks like I'm in ORS land for now... Till next time HHJ :]

Im.... BACK!!

Hey ladies and gentlemen sorry for my long hiatus I was having a computer problem. I can really tell you all that I missed you so much a missed blogging. I do have maxiglide picture results to load up, plus a couple of product reviews that I tried when I was away. So stay tuned! On another note how has everyone and their hair journey's been going?