Never Never (Again) Land

I have been pretty fortunate when it comes to products. I haven't developed product junkie-ism *knock on wood* and the majority of the products I have tried work pretty well with my hair.

However, as I was looking through my little bag of hair goodies, I did notice some products tossed in that I know I'll never purchase again. I haven't thrown them out because... well that would be wasteful, considering they are all over half full. I mean, they must be good for something, right? Oh gosh, am I a product hoarder?!

I digress.

Here are the four items that I can do without. No product bashing here, but they just don't work on the fickle follicles atop my head.





1. Softsheen Carson Optimum Oil Therapy Hair & Scalp Quencher

Contrary to the name, it did not quench my scalp. I bought this product as a replacement to the Sulfur 8 that I used to use to oil my scalp after I got it done (during the relaxed days). I was basically shooting in the dark trying to find another product, but since I was already a fan of the Optimum Oil Therapy Shampoo & Moisture Creme, I figured I'd give it a shot. I didn't care for the consistency of this... product (I still don't know if I should call it grease or oil or what). It was really pretty watery and melted to the touch--not in the good way either. My scalp felt like there was nothing on it, still just as dry as before I put it on. Not sure why it didn't work for me, but I'm not planning to revisit that. I'll stick with the Sulfur 8. Never had an issue with it before (other than the smell, of course).

2. Miss Jessie's Stretch Silkening Creme

I basically told everything in this post. Tried it on soaking wet hair and completely dry hair. Didn't work either way. The one redeeming quality was that if I misted my hair and used this on the edges, it gave me decent waves for my puffs. But that's just not good enough for the $22 price tag.

3. We Rock Roots Rock Out Butter

My complaint with this is very similar to the issue with the Hair & Scalp Quencher. It was too light. Felt (and looked) like nothing was there. The rest of the We Rock Roots line was amazing to me, but this one fell short of my expectations. If I need butter, I'll stick with their Rock On butter.

4. Urban Therapy Twisted Sista Curl Activator

This gave my curls some definition, but no more than my Shea Moisture Curl & Style Milk. On top of that, it left my hair feeling... icky. It was stiff and kinda lifeless. After two tries with this one, I decided to count it as a loss and haven't used it since.

Have you purchased any products that didn't quite live up to the hype? Or tried something new with less-than-stellar results? What products have you vowed to never use again?

A Few of My Favorite Things (and some new products)

I'm feeling kinda Oprah-ish today (okay, not really, but it sounded good) so I want to share some of my favorite things with y'all. The inspiration for this post was my impromptu trip to Target on Sunday. Of course I wandered over to the health & beauty section and ended up finding something I've been looking for for a while (and got some new finds... more on that later). So I got to thinking about how much I love certain products/items for my hair & decided to let you in on them.

 I love these Goody bobby slides. They hold more hair than a regular bobby pin, and don't pull my hair out when I remove them. I bought some years ago but somehow managed to lose most of them. Now they are available in the color collection: blond (not pictured since they were out), brunette, & black. I am happy that I got my hands on these again, although I would have loved to find some straight up silver slides. My one complaint: Goody didn't use paint that would stand up to hair & hair products! After wearing one for half a day yesterday, the paint is already peeling. I experienced this before, though, so I knew what I was getting myself into. At least this time around the paint is black instead of light pink like last time... :-/ Anyway, a set of six will cost you about $3.49 at Target.

What are these, you ask? Cloth belts, the kind that come with tops from places like New York & Company. Now if you didn't know, these belts are the big girl's natural enemy. Here I am trying to find ways to minimize my tummy, and this belt comes along drawing attention to it! Hmph! These belts from old tops almost took a trip to the dump, but I realized they could serve another purpose: headbands. Yup, I use these babies as cute little headbands, especially when wearing a puff. It's a simple little way to add a bit of color, and I don't have to pay for new headbands, so yay! Ghetto? I guess. Cheap? You bet!


Although I'm just seriously getting into eyeshadow, I tend to get a ton of compliments when I use these eyeshadow palettes. As much as I love MAC eye shadows, $14 a pot is a bit pricey for me. Plus I have to sit there and figure out what colors to pair and I really suck at that. But for $4-$6 (depending on where I'm shopping) I can get Maybelline's Expert Wear Eyeshadow Quads or Rimmel's Colour Rush Trio Eyeshadow. (IDK why Rimmel's site only shows eight shades. The one in my hand is Dark Angel.) They have great pigmentation and last all day. Plus the Maybelline shadows have a little diagram on the back for slow folks like me who don't know where to apply what... LOL

 I got this super wide-tooth comb in a pack of like six combs for $2 at Big Lots years & years ago. Never had much use for it until I went natural. Unfortunately, I forgot about this comb until after I bought another comb, but hands down, this one is my fav! It gets rid of tangles like it's nothing. Unfortunately, I have no idea what brand it is, where you can find it, anything. Sorry.

This photo combines old and new. On the left is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Gunmetal. The right is Milani in Wild Violet. I picked it up at Target on Sunday (for $.99!) because I needed a purple polish. It wasn't quite the shade I was looking for, but it was cute so I figured what the heck. I got it on & loved it! Since I'm really feeling purple and gray/silver right now, I had to do both. The result:

I love it! In person, the purple is more of a metallic plum color :)

The only things I planned to buy were the bobby slides, but then I thought about the fact that I was out of leave-in conditioner, so I wandered up & down the isles looking for something new to try. I came across Shea Moisture Organic Coconut & Hibiscus Curl & Style Milk. I'd never heard of the Shea Moisture brand, but at $8.99, why not? My aunt told me that my cousin had been using Carol's Daughter Hair Milk and that she liked it, so I figured I'd try this. (Yes, I know it's not the same thing, but milk is milk is milk, right? IDK) So I've been using it since Sunday and I am in love!  I usually mist my hair with the water/coconut oil mix, then apply the hair milk. It has my hair feeling sooo soft! It doesn't dry out & get all stiff/crunchy feeling, but it's not oily. It gives my curls some nice definition, even in the spots that appear to be type 4b/c. Plus I get a nice natural looking shin and it smells great. Now I want to give some of their other products a try! And I will, once I run out of my current products. I'm trying to avoid becoming a product junkie! According to the Shea Moisture website, their hair care collection is only available through Target.

I also picked up the Twisted Sista Curl Activator by Urban Therapy. I realize now that I really could've done without this, seeing as how the hair milk says CURL & Style Milk right on the label... But whatever, I have it now. I must say, I could've done without this one. It doesn't do much as far as defining curls, and I find that my hair is a little stiffer than I'd like. Not a terrible product, but I don't think it's right for me. It was only $4.99 at Target, so I don't feel like it's too big of a loss.

So there you have it, a few of my favorite (hair) things... plus one not so favorite thing! Feel free to share yours!