Did the Silicon Mix & Kanechom blend live up to its hype?

Just another visit to Youtube to kill some time....or so I thought.  Little did I know that I was about to stumble upon a video that would radically impact my current regimen.  Something inside me prompted me to click when I saw a thumbnail image of a woman swinging her honey colored tresses.  Once I clicked, her level of excitement and passion around her salon results at home intrigued me to keep watching.

Finally, after she calms down, she reveals the products which gave her such joy  The products shared were a combination of Silicon Mix and Kanechom conditioners.  The story behind this blend originates from another Youtuber who was fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of her stylist mixing these two products behind the scenes.  Y'all remember those days when stylists at the Dominican salons would whip up concoctions without letting us see what was going into the blends.  We are so fortunate to have been granted knowledge of this wonderful combination.

I already owned a large tub of Silicon Mix so all I needed to do was get my hands on the Kanechom.  One trip to Amazon easily took care of that for me.  Days later, my package arrived.  My first impression? I love the size of these Kamechon conditioners.  Nowadays, I opt to only purchase large sizes so I can conduct a proper strand ceremony.  Not being familiar with the brand, I didn't know which version of the Kanechom to buy so I got two!

The Goat Milk and the Karite Butter were my first purchases.  When I took the lid off and eye balled the conditioners, I knew something great was about to happen.  They had that glossy, smooth look to them that I like.  I knew, from that moment, that I found new staples.  I freakin' love nourishing conditioners and these are super nourishing.  Not too thick (WEN 613), not too watery.  This conditioner is just right.  Of the two, the Karite Butter was the more moisturizing.

(My new boyfriend, Kanechom Keratin & Shea Butter)

The Goat's Milk is good if you are looking a moisturizing conditioner with strengthening properties.  I'm glad I got both. They seem to balance each other out.   I love these conditioners so much that I went back for more.  In my Amazon cart, I add the Kanechom Ceramide Conditioner, the Intense Care Mega Hydration Karite Butter (different package from the one I have), and the Crystal Bath.  I wanted to stop there but the rave reviews on their Acai conditioner wouldn't let me.  I'm so happy I found this line.  I wish they didn't make so many varieties cause I'm sure I'll be tempted to try them all.

(Original Silicon Mix & Proteina De Perla)

Although the original Silicon Mix is the one recommended to create this conditioner fusion.  I opted to add in my wonderful Proteina de Perla (Pearl Protein) as well.  It's always been my favorite of the Silicon Mix line.  I thought that if the original worked well, then the Proteina would take it to the next level for me since my hair likes it so much.  Boy was I right.  So far I've experimented with the Kanemchom/ Silicon Mix twice.  The second time I added the Pearl Protein and loved my results much more.  The amount of slip I experienced while rinsing was unlike I've ever experienced.  I literally had to hold on to my shower door handle to make sure I didn't slip in the tub.  My hair hasn't felt as good in a long time.  It seems more resilient and better more deeply moisturized. I normally don't blow out and flat iron, but if I did, I have no doubt that it would be swinging like the girl in the video. I can't keep my hands out of it. 

Honestly, I can't see how anyone would try this combination in not fall in love.  The only thing to look out for would be eventual build up from the use of silicone.  That's why I'm keeping my Neutrogena Anti Residue clarifying shampoo near by.   Prior my Kanechom order, I also picked up some Inphenom products but I have absolutely no desire to use them. This currently sit unopened in my product closet.  That's how good this Kanechom Mix is.  Wash day is this weekend and I'm praying that my second order arrives before then so I can test out the Intense Hydrating Keratin Conditioner and the Ceramide version. 

I'll leave you with my final thoughts.  This conditioner combination is phenomenal.  You get a lot of product for the price.  I promise that you will not be disappointed.  Trust me.

{ETA}
Ingredients:  Water, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetrimonium Chloride, Parfum, Dimethicone, Shea Butter, Hydrolized Keratin, Citric Acid

Air Drying vs. Blow Drying. Guess which is most damaging.

Lately I've been looking back at the troublesome period in my hair journey. I started to wonder about some of the mistakes I made along the way and seeing how I can learn from them.  One "mistake" in my case was trying to incorporate air drying into my regimen again. Let me clarify that I'm only calling air drying a mistake because it just doesn't sit well with my hair.  Ever since I started textlaxing, my hair began to prefer other methods of drying.

The fact that my hair no longer responded well to air drying really bummed me out.  It's supposed to be one of the healthiest ways of styling the hair after a wash. Isn't it?  That's what I thought until I read some interesting information
that may give me some insight as to why air drying wasn't working for me.

The study, published in 2011, looked at the changes in the hair structure and moisture content of the hair strand after air drying and blow drying at various temperatures.  Then the hair shaft was examined to determine if damage was sustained and what type of damage occurred (if any).

Using differing temperatures, they took freshly washed hair samples and proceeded dry it using a dryer.  With each sample they utilized a different temperatures and held the dryer at various lengths.

Here's a breakdown of what they did:
Sample 01. Received no treatment {controlled group}
Sample 02: Shampooed and air dried (68 degrees F)
Sample 03: Shampooed and blow dried for 60 seconds while holding the dryer 6 inches from hair at  116.6 degrees F (cool air)
Sample 04: Shampooed and blow dried for 30 seconds while holding the dryer 4 inches from hair at 142 degrees F
Sample 05: Shampooed an blow dried for 15 seconds while holding the dryer 2 inches from hair at 203 degrees F

What were the results?  After drying all the samples, they looked closely at the hair using various measuring devises to determine the impact of their actions on the hair.  Here's what they found out:

Hair Surface Damage : There was no hair surface damage on the samples that were air dried.  In the blow dried group, surface damage was evident. Cracks on the cuticle were observed in Sample 03 "but more obvious lifting and cracks were" seen in Sample 04 and the most damage was evident in the sample dried at the highest temperature and shortest distance.

Hair Cuticle & Cortex:  The study showed no changed to the cuticle & cortex of the hair that was air dried and Sample 02 dried using cool air.  But more severe damage to the cuticle was observed in Sample 05.The good news was that no damage to the cortex (the inner structure of the hair) could be seen in any of the samples.

Cell Membrane Complex (CMC): Here's where it get's interesting.  Only the air dried group exhibited damage to the CMC layer of the hair.  In all of the blow dried groups, "the CMC was well preserved with no signs of damage."  I'm sure you're wondering what this CMC layer is and why is it important.  Basically, it's the lipid layer that acts like a glue, holding the cuticle layer to the shaft. Sound familiar?  The folks leading the study seem to believe that air drying may impact our precious CMC layer because of the pro-longed exposure to "wet stage".  We know that water expands the size of the follicle, perhaps it's not a good thing to keep the hair in that expanded state for an extended period of time.

The Lesser of Two Evils?
Blow drying can damage the cuticle, air drying can damage the CMC layer. What's a girl to do?  The folks did suggest that using a blow dryer at 6 inches from hair at lower temperatures may cause less damage structurally than air drying.  Based on what I read, I began to play around with ideas on how to minimize damage to the air no matter which method I use.  If I air dried, I would use ceramide rich products to aid in the air drying process.  Perhaps I might even blow dry some of the moisture off (cool temperatures) to lessen the drying time.  If I blow dried, I'd always use the cool setting whenever possible. And if higher temperatures are required, I'd extend the distance of the dryer so it's not directly on the strand.

And of course there would be ample heat protectant usage throughout the entire process.  I'm a little snobby when it comes to heat protectants. I like the ones that also offer up healthy hair qualities and well as heat protecting power.  Kerastase Ciment Thermique is a water based creamy leave-in that protects the hair from heat while rebuilding and strengthening the hair fiber with the power of ceramides.

I also got my hands on two products from the Inphenom line that may be able to deal with both issues.  One is Cuticle Coat, to protect the cuticle layer damage that may occur from blow drying. The other is Cuticle CMC (Cement-CMC) for those air drying woes.  I bought these babies a while back after learning about Japanese straightening from this unicorn.  Inphenom is a Japanese hair product line that developed treatments that deal with damaged hair after color, straightening or other chemical services.  After reading about the results of this study, these Inphenom products have been reintroduced to my rotation.

I should also mention that, for the study, they used virgin hair and they repeated the wash and blow dry step once a day for 30 days.  Hopefully none of us are blow drying our hair daily.  But I still want you to be always diligent whenever you dry your hair.  No matter how you do it.

Check out the full study here. 

Optimum Amla Billion Hair Potion Review

The good folks at Optimum Care were gracious enough to send me samples from their new Amla Legend line.  I'd like to talk a little about one of those products today, the Billion Hair Potion serum. I'm pretty familiar with Amla oil.  For years it was one of my staple oils for pre-poo treatments.  Aside from the oil sold at my local indian grocer,  I never seen many commercial products on the market containing this wonderful ingredient until now.

Optimum brand came up with a serum that is meant to "promote visibly thicker, fuller hair." According to the package, Billion Hair Potion is "a formula with Amla oil, Arginine & strengthening ceramide that intensely conditions and wraps the strand to promote thicker, fuller hair.

The Hair potion comes in a 1.9 oz bottle equipped with a dropper.  Unlike other serums, this is more of a liquid than the typical silicone laden serums we're used to. Water is the first ingredient so I will take the liberty of classifying this product as a moisturizing product although I wouldn't go as far as calling it a moisturizer.  I say this because (in my experience) after the liquid evaporates my hair feels like it needs another layer of moisturizer and oil to complete the routine.

Where this product worked well for me was when I applied it to my scalp. When I rubbed a few drops in, my scalp received some much needed moisture.  Not only did my scalp benefit but the new growth as well.  I actually really liked the way the Billion Hair Potion handles my edges and new growth.  One thing that I don't have in my stash is a decent product that manages my edges and new growth. I think I may just have found a winner.

When I posted a sneak peak of the Billion Hair potion on the Facebook Fan Page, many of you shared that you have tried the product and like it.  I predict that Billion Hair Potion will be used regularly (especially when I'm stretching).  When the product runs out, I'm going to experiment by adding an oil/essential oil blend to the empty bottle and using the dropper as an applicator tool for my scalp.  Have you tried this yet? What do you think?

Penetrating Oils vs. Non-Penetrating. Which ones are better?

I received a really great question the other day from someone inquiring about penetrating oils versus non-penetrating oils and which ones I thought were better.   The question was so good that I decided to address via a blog post.  So lets talk about this for the next few minutes shall we?

First off, when we talk about penetrating oils, what we mean is how great the oil's ability to penetrate the hair shaft and permeate into the cuticle layer.  I wrote on this subject long ago in this post.  Basically, the individuals who studied this phenomena were looking to determine how much of the oil was absorbed into the strand after time elapsed and through the use of heat.  Based on their findings it was determined that coconut oil and other mono saturated oils performed (or absorbed) better into the hair shaft than their poly saturated counterparts.

Once the news got out, everyone and their momma went clamoring for coconut and other penetrating oils (rightfully so) but in the process, other oils that penetrated more slowly (or not as deeply) were shunned.  In the case of my friend who asked me the original question, she mentioned that she was dealing with some breakage and thought it would be best to focus on penetrating oils like coconut to help nurse her hair back to health.  I completely agreed.

As a matter of fact, whenever my hair starts miss behaving, I often will reach for coconut oil as an overnight pre-poo remedy.  This way I know that my fragile strands are receiving beneficial proteins all the way down to it's deepest core.  Doing this definitely makes a world of difference for me.

But let's talk about the other side of things.  The oils that don't get as much love because because they don't penetrate as quickly or as deeply.  Should we shun them away completely?  I say no.  The topic of conversation came up because she was in the midst of deciding whether to purchase Gleau or opt for coconut oil instead.  My response was that this was not an either or scenario but one where she should choose both.

Reason being is because plant oils all have various God given attributes.  Just because it doesn't penetrate as quickly as coconut doesn't mean there aren't any benefits.  There is a time and place for oils that penetrate a bit more slowly especially if the oil will be used for sealing purposes.  I'm not sure if coconut oil is the best oil for sealing in moisturizer because, as time elapses, the oil moves inside the strand.  What about oils like wheat germ which contain the all wonderful ceramides that our cuticle layers need so dearly?  Let's not forget about jojoba oil which mimics sebum so closely that it protects our hair strand with lubrication like our very own scalp produced it.  Then there are oils like meadowfoam which partially penetrates so some of the goodness enters the strand and some is left to protect it.

Moral of the story is that it's best to be in a position where we can have our cake and eat it too. There is a place for oils that fully penetrate deep down and there's also room to invite others that will also take care of the outer strand.  Although I don't experience really cold winters, I do sometimes travel to cities where the cold weather can be brutal.  Luckily, for me, those trips are short lived but if I had to endure cold, brisk winds, I would certainly opt to incorporate thicker, heavier oils into my regimen during winter time.  I would want a layer of protection against the drying winds at all times.  Long story short, I advise everyone to freely incorporate penetrating oils like coconut, avocado, and olive oil.  Use them to treat the hair and to battle against breakage but don't forget that to incorporate other oils into your routine that can also be beneficial to your strands as well.

Be blessed. 

How to keep the sun from destroying the most valuable part of your hair

Summer is upon us once again. What I love about summer are the extended daylight hours and the warm bright sun.  I'm a July baby so the heated temperatures don't bother me at all. One only thing that bums me out about summer is this, the potential damage that can be caused by the sun.

I'm not only talking about damage to the skin from ultraviolet rays. It's even worse than that. Hopefully by now, each one of us is applying a decent sunscreen to protect our skin on a daily basis.  But what about the part of our bodies that comes in contact with the sun first...our hair.

Did you know of the potential dangers of ultraviolet rays to our hair?  It turns out photoaging which is normally a term we use to describe the leathery skin created by excessive sun, can also happen to our hair as well. There was a study done on a couple years ago on this topic.  They studied changes to the hair after exposure to UV rays.  Particularly they were looking for shifts in the amount of hair lipid present in the cuticle.  Now, if you read my post on 18-MEA, you already know that this compound is a lipid (fat) present on the cuticle layer. It provides a level of protection against damage, creates shine, and helps promote a smoother cuticle which lessens the impact of mechanical damages and makes combing much easier.

Not only are we destroying our blessed 18-MEA when we relax or color our hair,   we're also impacting this precious compound by exposing our hair to UV radiation.  Basically, our hair is being damaged by the sun.   So now that we know this. What are we going to do about it?

Hopefully everyone reading this has scarf they normally wear to bed.  But do you have any scarves that are cute enough to wear outside?  There's are park near my house and, from time to time, I like to take a morning walk.  The difference in my hair on the days I wear my scarf vs. when I don't is undeniable.  I'm not just talking about the humidity-induced frizz, I'm talking about dry crinkly hair.  My hair looked and felt like the sun took it's toll on it. From that moment on, I began to feel really uncomfortable whenever I would spend long amounts of time (hours) in the morning or mid-day sun without some sort of protection.

If covering your hair with fashionable scarves outdoors isn't your thing, consider picking up a couple of products meant to help provide UV protection for the hair.  Aveda has a line of products for this purpose and so does Kerastase.  Neutrogena silk to touch leave in cream also contains UV filters to protect the hair from dryness caused by the sun.  These are just some of the few. ApHogee's gloss polisher has UV filters as well.  Feel like going the natural route?  You can opt to include some natural plant oils in your regimen before you head out for a day of fun and sun.  Oils like macadamia nut, hemp seed, sesame seed, shea butter and coconut oil all provide low levels (under SPF 10)  of UV protection.  So if you know you will be outside for the day, bring a little bit of a sun protecting oil with you to so you can reapply if needed.


Finally, even with the sun protection, I suggest you still have on hand products that contain 18-MEA to replenish the stored lipids that are brutally taken away from you.  I've been using MEA containing conditioners for the last couple of weeks and my hair has been very pleased. I still thought it would be a good idea to pick up a leave-in with this amazing ingredient so I can give my hair this treat between washes.  My next move was to adopt a bottle of Kerastase Chroma Thermique (Thermo-radiance protecting milk).  Meant for color treated hair, Thermo Milk contains both ceramides and the valuable 18-MEA ingredient.

Those two work together to create a fabulously healthy cuticle layer.  The lipids help provide elasticity and shine while the ceramides keep the cuticle layer sealed from damage. Oh, and I learned from the Kerastase site that Chroma Thermique also contains UV filters and can also be used to protect hair from heat styling.  Although it does contains silicones, it's first ingredient is water which technically can classify Chroma Thermique protecting milk as a moisturizer.  So far, my hair is loving this hot pink hair restorer.  Yes, it's a little pricey, but for all the benefits I get, I would say this is probably the most valuable Kerastase product I own.  Let's recap this product's value shall we:

• Heat protector
• UV filters
• Light,water based moisturizer
• Ceramides
• 18-MEA
• Color protector

It's like Kerastase was thinking of me when they created this product.  O.k. I'll stop gushing about the Chroma Thermique and move on.

 The bottom line to all if this is to raise your awareness of the need for sun protection throughout the summer (and pretty much every day).  If you relax, your already depleted levels of 18-MEA (from relaxing) is stripped away even further from sun exposure.  Even if you're natural, the sun will still damage your hair.  Color treated girls, you're part of this too!  Bottom line is that no one is safe.  We all have to protect ourselves one way or another.  When I re-read the details of the study mentioned earlier, I learned that the cuticle damage to the hair was greater in UVB (outdoor sun) vs UVA radiation (indoor sun like in the picture above).  This means that our hair is more susceptible to damage when we're outside vs indoors.   So even those of us who don't go outdoors much are still being exposed to UVA radiation and still must take precaution to protect our skin and hair. I hope we all learned something today and from this learning, I pray that all you will take some type of action to protect our hair and skin from accelerated aging caused by the sun.  Enjoy your summer!