April 18, 2010

Contest Winner, Pics and Nail Update

Okay the Winner of the Boutique De Fleurzty's Hydrating Hair Butter and Curls Nurture Creme (by random.org selection) is Loclove.

Congrats LocLove!!

Now for my nail update - well one of them broke - the night I was going to polish them too - so I just cut them all down low :o( I'll let them grow out again - still taking the hair vitamins too - and I'll update again.

Pic of broken nail.

Below I made a picture video of me using Boutique de Fleurzty's products on my box braids (and my step-daughter's). I also used the Curls Nurture Creme to achieve curly braids as well. Enjoy :o)

Peace and Blessings...

April 05, 2010

Product Review and Giveaway!

Okay time for another Giveaway :o) Not too long ago I had the opportunity to meet and have lunch with a fellow natural hair blogger - Fleurzty of Textured Playground (which is one of my favorite blogs by the way :o). I was so excited to get to meet her and see her beautiful hair live and in-person so much so that I forgot to bring my camera along - but not to worry Fleurzty was fully prepared - check out our picture taken by The Cheesecake Factory waiter.

Again - me sporting my lazy hairstyle - pulled back bun and my Thank God I'm Natural Tee - I'm really going to have to collect some more natural hair t-shirts - lol. Also, I'm sure you'll recognize my step daughter in the picture - when she heard 'Cheesecake Factory' she was more than eager to tag along.

Not only did we have a wonderful time - talking about all things natural hair and a wonderful lunch including cheesecake of course, Fleurzty shared some of her new products with me from her Boutique De Fleurzty . Being the recovering product junkie that I am - and one who loves products that actually do what they say they'll do and tend to share them - I've emptied one, reordered more and purchased the rest of her line.

All of the Boutique De Fleurzty products are made with natural ingredients. My personal favorite is the Hair and Scalp Serum. I like the fact that is comes with a dropper and can be easily distributed on your scalp. It is made with jojoba oil, castor oil, essential oils of peppermint, ylang ylang, rosemary, lemon, patchouli, frankincense and tangerine.

I've used it on one of my little clients who has suffered severe hair breakage due to 'kiddie perms' and her hair is growing back wonderfully. I've also used it to massage a few spots in the mid-back of my own hair that tends to break-off at a certain point and always felt 'rough' no matter how much moisture I would put on it and after using the Hair and Scalp Serum for less than a week - the hair in those spots started to feel smooth and softer.

Boutique De Fleurzty's Nurturing Treatment Oil made with sweet almond oil, apricot kernel oil, jojoba oil, avocado oil, grapeseed oil, essential oils of lavender and jasmine, reminds me of those Hot Six Oils - you can use it for everything - hot oil treatments, pre-poo, mixing with conditioner, scalp massages etc... I've used it on twists, braids, and loose hair to seal in moisture, and added it to my leave-in conditioner. And just like her product descriptions say a little really goes a long way.

Giveaway!!!!!

Okay before I go on and on about the other products, let me get to the giveaway. Of course, I have to give the back story (which will make this post even longer - lol) But anyway, at our lunch meeting, Fleurzty and I talked about doing a dual product giveaway - my shampoo bars and her moisturizing products. Due to the fact that she does an excellent job of keeping her blog current and up-to-date she posted her giveaway a few days after our meeting - see her post here - and just about a month later I'm posting mine :o)

But it's coming right on time since I got to try and even re-order more of her products and come up with a theme for the giveaway. The 'theme' is in conjunction with a new article I wrote for Clutch published today (check out my timeliness) called Get Your Hair Ready For Summer (check out my aheadoftimeness summer is not even here yet - lol). Within the article I list a few tips on getting your hair ready for the summer elements, wind, heat, sand, swimming, and sweat.

One of the main tips is moisturize, moisturize, moisturize - and that's how the giveaway comes into play :o) Along with my summer hair tips, I would like to know what summer hair tips/advice you have to protect your hair from the summer elements. Just share your tip(s) here and the winner will be chosen from the comments - that's it.

The winner will receive two great moisturizing products from Fleurzty's - Boutique De Fleurzty line Hydrating Hair Butter and Curls Nurture Creme.

Hydrating Hair Butter (HHB)


I love the smooth texture and smell of the Hydrating Butter - Again a little goes a long way but most times I am heavy-handed with products and even when I pile this on along with the oil my hair soaks it up and doesn't feel greasy at all, which is another thing I like about the products you can use them in conjunction with one another without that heavy build-up feel, and I like that you can use the butter on wet hair.

I've tried lots of butters on freshly washed hair and they did not mix well with water - this one does. The Hydrating Hair Butter comes in Lemon/Ylang Ylang and Lavender/Jasmine.

Lemon/Ylang Ylang Ingredients: Coconut oil, mango butter, kokum butter, shea butter, sweet almond oil, lemon and ylang ylang essential oils.
Lavender/Jasmine Ingredients: Coconut oil, mango butter, kokum butter, shea butter, sweet almond oil, lavender and jasmine essential oils.

Curls Nurture Creme (CNC)


When I saw Fleurzty's video tutorial on how she uses HHB and the CNC I had to get this cream. In her tutorial you can see the dramatic difference both products have on her hair - less frizz, moisture and shine. Now of course, my hair texture is not the same as Fleurzty's so the curls she achieved were soft waves in my hair in some places and just over all easy to detangle, well moisturized hair in others.

And her site instructions clearly state - It brings out your natural curl definition while moisturizing your hair and is not a curl definer product, and will not create curl that does not exist in your hair. So, like I said I achieved overall moisture, softness and shine. I've used this on puffs and twists and even braids with great results. I plan on using both products for a twist-out in the coming months and I will post pictures as well.

The Curls Nurture Creme is made with water, aloe vera juice, shea butter, avocado butter, coconut oil, horsetail extract, emulsifying wax, palm stearic acid, nettle extract, neem extract, fragrance, tinosan, potassium sorbate.

Be sure to check out Fleurzty's site Textured Playground if you do not already follow and check out her Boutique De Fleurzty products and reviews. She is also doing a giveaway for a set of Curlformers - be sure to enter:o)

Don't forget to leave your Summer Hair Tips to enter in the Giveaway - one of the Clutch readers did not like my suggestion of wigs/weaves for protective styles what do you think? Also check out the more info links where I listed links from The Natural Hair Haven, Newly Natural and Chocolate Orchid for more summer hair tips.

Peace and Blessings