Apple Cider Vinegar what is all the hub bub?

Hello to all of my lovely naturals,

I hope that everyone is getting ready to enjoy their New Years celebration because I know I am! You will hear a lot of naturals talk about ACV (apple cider vinegar) When we choose to co-wash our hair there will eventually be build up and it is suggested that an ACV rinse will get rid of any build up. ACV is also know to help with frizzes and make your hair shiny. I don't know about you all but when I first started out natural I had like 3 things in my regimen and now I am up to about 7 UGH but hey when you know better you do better. Anyhoo I have used ACV before and I just didn't see the results that the others are talking about. I mean I did not hate it some people say that afterwards their hair feels stripped but I am pretty sure that they are not diluting it. When you co-wash your hair with non-organic conditioners then you are placing silicone's in your hair which leads to build up (unless you have a silicone free conditioner) Check out my post on silicone's for more info. Since I co-wash my hair I know exactly the feeling when you have too much product on your hair and when that time comes I wash my hair with my homemade shampoo (check that post out its delightful and easy/cheap to make) and that usually does the trick. Now if you notice product buildup then you really need to rinse/wash the product out of your hair. So after I co-washed my hair I used 1/2 cup in about 3 cups of warm water and poured that over my hair and let it dry. No your hair does not smell like vinegar once it dries you can not smell it. At the time I did not have product build up but like I stated before I really did not notice any difference. I suggest that if you have product build up skip the co-wash and just rinse it with water and then apply the rinse. Give it a try and tell me if you noticed any difference....Oh and Happy New Years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Always,

Verano

Silicones,Sulfates and Oils what is a natural girl to do? part 1

Hello to all my lovely followers!

Today lets tackle the natural enemies of our curly hair. I am just joking of course! I will give you some information on these chemicals and my opinion and hopefully help you to come to an informative decision on the subject. Okay so I am pretty sure that you are hearing a lot of negative talk about silicone's and sulfates but sometimes its hard to get to the bottom of these opinions. Lets start at the top with sulfates. Sulfates can be found in shampoos they are a harsh cleaning agent that strips the hair of everything. Now if you are putting heavy products on your hair or using a conditioner with silicone's you will need to use a shampoo with sulfates in them because that is the only chemical that can get rid of silicone's. Sulfates cause the hair to be dry and brittle and will remove all oils from your hair natural and other wise. Now I don't suggest using products with sulfates because they strip your hair and I for one work too hard to keep my hair properly moisturized to have it stripped in one washing. Okay so now on to silicone's there are two types water soluble and non water soluble. For right now lets focus on non-water soluble. Silicone's can be found in conditioners and they coat the hair and like I stated before the only thing that can remove them are sulfates. In my personal opinion I don't want anything coating my hair because then it will not be able to absorb any of the oils that I put in my hair. At first silicone's make your hair look smooth and shiny but this is only temporary many people say that after awhile their hair looks dull. If you think back I am pretty sure that you can recall hearing some hair professional say that after awhile you need to change your shampoo and conditioner. This is because after time the silicone's will cause your hair to look dull and lifeless this happens because of product build up to be more specific silicone build up. Now some people use conditioners with silicone's and they don't have any problem. Non water soluble silicone's usually end in ane,cane,one,and cone. There are a lot of you who only co-wash (natural term for only washing with conditioner) if this is the case for you I don't recommend using a conditioner with silicone's. Water soluble silicone's have a PEG in front of them and they are safe to use in the co-washing process. I suggest before throwing away any of your products keep what works for you and your hair. Now that was a lot! I was going to cover oils but I think I will make that my next post because I have a lot of information on that as well. Please follow and comment and let me know what your take is on the whole silicone and sulfate debate.



Always,


Verano