WAHL Afro Styling Range By 5ive

"The power of professional styling in your hands"

Today I have a really exciting review guys, I will be reviewing WAHL's afro styling range by hair celebrity stylist and former afro stylist of the year- 5ive! I am sure I am not the only one who grew up using the WAHL hair dryer on the left in the picture below, in fact, I don't think I ever had a hair dryer from another brand. Therefor I was very excited an honoured to have WAHL send me these products to review. This styling range was created in order to give you the confidence to create salon worthy styles at home and is described as follows:

"Suitable for every hair type and texture, this range provides full styling control with a variable heat straightener, a powerful hairdryer for unlimited styling capabilities and a root styler to effortlessly smooth out frizz"

WAHL Afrostyling PowerPik 3000, £24.99

So the hair dryer I am reviewing, PowerPik 3000 is the one one the right in the picture below.

Description from WAHL's website (link above in title):

"The Powerpik 3000 delivers 1800 Watts of powerful performance for ulta-fast drying results. With 3 heat and 2 speed settings to provide maximum styling control and a cold shot to set your style. Includes a pik attachment designed for reaching hard to dry areas and 2 concentrator nozzles for precise styling. Fitted with a hanging loop, 3m salon length cable and removable air filter for easy cleaning"

In the box you will get the 1800W PowerPik 3000 hairdryer, pik attachment, two concentrator nozzles and an instruction booklet.

As I had an older version of the WAHL PowerPik hair dryer I thought it would be interesting to do a comparison between this and the older version. So the first thing you'll notice is the design which I personally think is an improvement with the PowerPik 3000 but I don't mind the previous designer either. The first noticeable thing when it comes to actually using the hair dryer is that the buttons are different and placed differently to before, as you can see in the image below. The PowerPik 3000 has two different speed settings and three heat setting for improved control- this is a feature that is missing in the previous model. The cold shot is present with both models and is definitely useful as I usually will use it once the section I am working on is completely dry or in between to prevent over heating. When using the old dryer, I've found myself pressing some buttons by accidents due to where they are placed- and I had less of this problem with the new PowerPik 3000 version.

WAHL Afrostyling Hair Straightener, £32.99

Description: "The Wahl Afro Hair Straightener which, endorsed by top Afro Stylist – 5ive, has variable heat temperature and ceramic coated plates which helps create a sleek and smooth finish"

Now I am not an expert when it comes to hair straighteners, I've always had one and I straighten my hair once in a while. My old one looked pretty rough so I was super excited to try this. Since I received this product I haven't straightened my whole hair but I tried a section for the sake of the review. The website described the ceramic plates as a technology which makes the straightener reach your ideal temperature quicker, maintains a constant heat which in turn allows even heat distribution throughout the length of your hair for a perfect finish! Also, as you can see it has rounded edges which in my experience is great if you want to use your straighteners to create curls/waves.

The design is super sleek with this digital display showing the temperature the straightener is set to. The minimum temperature you can use is 150°C and the maximum is 230°C. This is going to be really useful for the next time I straighten my hair, I've never had a straightener with different heat settings before.

WAHL Afro styling Root Styler, £29.99

This is a product type I've never tried nor really heard of before. I did a Google search and I can't find another product like these- so I think it's safe to say this is quite unique and innovative.

Description: "Designed to work close to the root, the styler will smooth out coarse and frizzy hair whilst adding volume and lift. The heat protectant double guide comb system provides a safe way to style by enabling you to get the ceramic coated barrel extremely close to the root. The variable temperature settings ensure this styler is suitable for afro and mixed textured hair"

So I think this was pretty forward to use (that is if I am actually using it correctly), but at least I was able to get it to work. When I first tried them I actually used them during a youtube video I was filming so I've included some stills which hopefully give you an idea of how the product is used and the results. I had blow dried my hair using the hair dryer and then tried the root styler on blow dried hair. The pieces I tried turned out really straight, very close to the root. I can see this being useful if you're doing a sleek bun or any style where you want sleek and straight edges.

I tried it two different ways but I think the way I did it below, putting the hair "on top" makes more sense and was more effective.

What styling tools do you use and how often do you use them?

Have you tried this range?

x

Instagram || Twitter  || Google+ || Baobella || Bloglovin || Facebook || Pinterest

(*) These products were sent to me to review

Read more »

Nylah Hair Care Products Review- Super Botanical's Conditioner, Strength and Shine Shampoo Cream, Magic Star Comb and Herbal Hair Tea Growth

Hi everyone!

Today I will be reviewing some hair care products from the UK brand Nylah: the Nylah Super Botanical's Conditioner, Nylah Strength and Shine Shampoo Cream, Nylah Magic Star Comb

and the Nylah Herbal Hair Tea Growth. 

Let's start with the obvious, the packaging! The packaging is amazing and that was actually the first thing that caught my attention when I first came across this brand, the name is nice, the logo and design looks luxurious and clean but with some nice patterns included which I think represents the heritage part beautifully(their tagline is Heritage, hair and science). 

Here is a little bit of information about the brand from their website: 

"Named for my beautiful daughter, for her wonderfully kinky, afro hair that delights and inspires me. For the people who need haircare products that are safe, gentle and effective. For people who believe that their hair says something about them and their backgrounds, their heritage their roots. For women who love to simply be ourselves: creative, inspirational, strong and beautiful."

So the brand is a UK brand which caters to afro hair and it is also a black owned business.

Nylah Super Botanical's Conditioner, £14

"Super Botanical's Conditioner Restore and protect your hair’s natural moisture with our rich and creamy double strength conditioner. Loaded with essential amino acids, and super botanicals, this fast-acting formulation softens and moisturises hair to help prevent breakage. Carefully formulated to a P.h 4.5 to help re-balance your hairs cuticles and lock in moisture."

So as you can see above, the key claims for this conditioner is that it is moisturising and strengthening. It contains humectants, some detangling agents and a lot of natural emollients such as Shea Butter, Jojoba Oil and Crambe Seed Oil. The latter is one which I had not heard of before (INCI Crambe Abyssinica Seed Oil) but the packaging says it is Ethiopean Crambe and after some quick research I found that it is known for its high Erucic Acid (omega 9 fatty acid) content and for being a very stable oil. It is definintely very creamy and softening and it smells of sweet orange oil, which is one of my favourites. I always detangle with my conditioner and my hair seems to be extra tangly compared to others, therefor it is very rare that I found a conditioner to have amazing slip. The first time I used this conditioner my hair was especially tangled and I after trying it a few times I found it to have medium slip, in other words I would prefer it to have a bit more slip for my particular hair type. In terms of the price point, I know smaller and start up brands have to have higher price points- it is understandable. However, I am personally a bargain queen when it comes to cosmetics so I would have liked it to be a bit lower. However, a lot of high quality ingredients are in the formulation- so you would definitely get your money's worth.

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you'd know that I always try to include the ingredient list as I myself find it quite annoying when it's not included. For some reason I took the picture of the product information and not the ingredient list (although you can see the ingredient list a little bit. I would refer to the website but the ingredients are not listed there. If you want to see the full ingredient list feel free to send me a dm on Instagram (@Yolandaas) or comment on this blog post and I will send it to you.

Nylah Strength and Shine Shampoo Cream, £12

The second product is the shampoo cream. I personally have never tried a product marketed as a Co-Wash, but I'd like to think such a product would be similar to this one- which is marketed as a Shampoo cream- in case anyone was wondering what the difference is. This is a really nice formulation which definitely is very creamy- and will still clean your hair properly. The cleansing agent, or surfactant is a mild syndet (synthetic detergent) called Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate. It has been shown to be more gentle to the skin barrier, than soap and other surfactants. I did get some lather the first time I tried it, and a little less the second time, which probably was due to how much product that was or wasn't in my hair at the time of washing it. The shampoo cream also contains humectants and emollients like Glycerin and Shea Butter which is great for natural hair. I believe the scent is the same as for the conditioner, sweet orange- but I could be wrong. Either way it is really pleasant and not overpowering.

Now to the Nylah Magic Star Comb and the Nylah Herbal Hair Tea Growth (both linked). Despite planning to quite a few times- I kept forgetting to use the herbal tea, which is a hair rinse. I was very excited to try it but I've been keeping it in my food cupboard with my regular teas, so when it's time for wash day I always forget. However, the herbs it contains (Nettle, Rosemary, Peppermint and Horsetail) are all known to have great benefits for hair. Nettle is said to naturally inhibit DHT (hair loss causing hormone), Peppermint and Rosemary are said to stimulate hair growth and Horsetail contains Silica which is supposed to strengthen hair strands. There is not that much to say about the wide tooth comb as I am sure you are all familiar with this hair tool. It is good for detangling tightly coiled afro hair. I see a lot of naturals with tightly coiled hair types mention different detangle tools as their favourites so make sure you try different ones to establish which one is the best for you. I have recently found a paddle brush to work well for me. I use this wide tooth comb if I have to detangle my hair slightly between washed, but for my wash-detangle session I need the paddle brush to make sure all tangles are removed.


Overall I really loved using these products. They all contain a lot of strengthening and nourishing natural ingredients and none of the products contain Parabens, Mineral Oil, Synthetic Fragrance, Artificial Colours, Formaldehydes, SLS or SLES which is good if you are sensitive to any of these. I have to add as well the the founder is very nice and she has done a great job creating this brand!

Have you tried these products, and if not, will you be trying them out?

xx



Instagram || Twitter  || Google+ || Bloglovin || Facebook || Pinterest

(*) These products where sent to me to review

Read more »

Curls Blueberry Bliss Curl Collection Review- The Aloe and Blueberry Juice Curl Moisturizer, The Blueberry and Coconut Hair Milk and The Blueberry and Mint Tea Scalp Treatment

If you have been following my blog since I started years ago. You'd know that I initially was doing a relaxed-hair healthy hair journey. At this stage I loved going to the afro hair care store and testing new products. One of the products I tested and reviewed on my blog (read here) were the Curls Coconut Sublime Conditioner, Curls Curl Souffle and the Curlicious Curls- Cleansing Cream. These were all amazing and smelled like a mix of Coconut and Caramel. For the time it was, I found them to be very innovative with products like the cleansing cream, years before the Co-wash trend kicked off and brands started to realise.

Now onto the new products. They are all new additions to the Curls Blueberry Bliss Curl Collection and consist of a spray hair moisturiser, moisturising milk and scalp oil. All of them have the same scent which I supposed is supposed to be a "blueberry scent"- I love the scent personally but I think they more so smell of sweets or sort of fruity! In my review below, please find direct links to the products within each product title. Here you can view the full ingredient lists.

The Aloe and Blueberry Juice Curl Moisturizer, $13

Description:"Refresh, revive, and rejuvenate 2nd day curls with pure aloe and blueberries. Formulated with certified organic aloe leaf juice (strengthens hair, adds shine, combats frizz) and blueberry extract (repairs damage, prevents breakage, encourages hair growth). NO sulfates, silicones, parabens, artificial oils, or fragrances."

First off is the Aloe and Blueberry Juice Curl Moisturizer which comes in a spray bottle. In addition to moisturising and refreshing your hair I find it to be a good detangler. I currently only wash my hair bi-weekly, so I've used these products as a weekly refresher. I used this spray to re-wet and re-moisturise as well as to detangle it. The ingredient list doesn't disappoint with the second ingredient after water being Aloe Vera Leaf Juice followed by Glycerin.

The Blueberry and Coconut Hair Milk, $15

Description: "Blueberry & Coconut Hair Milk, formulated with certified organic coconut milk and blueberry extract guaranteed to moisturize the driest curl, condition overworked tresses and encourage hair growth all in one step! NO sulfates, silicones, parabens, artificial oils, or fragrances."

The second product I tried out was the The Blueberry and Coconut Hair Milk. Just like the other products, it smells like sweets and I used it as the next step after the Aloe and Blueberry Juice Curl Moisturizer. It is very moisturising but quite light weight. If you have looser curls, these two products might be good for using just after washing your hair. I personally would use products like this to re-moisturise my hair as I need a thicker/creamier product straight after washing my hair.

The Blueberry and Mint Tea Scalp Treatment, $12

Description: "Formulated with certified organic blueberry seed oil, corn mint and coconut oil proven to enhance hair growth, soothe and refresh dry, itchy scalp, and relieve itching. NO sulfates, silicones, parabens, artificial oils, or fragrances."

Last but not least, the Blueberry and Mint Tea Scalp Treatment. The oil comes in a dark glass bottle, which is the best way to store oils as it prevents them from oxidising. Inside there is a actually a dropper, something I haven't seen before for a hair oil. But when using it, it was actually very useful as it's very long and reaches your scalp easily. The only problem with the dropper is that it can spill quite a bit, which is a little bit annoying. Not everyone uses scalp oils but I am personally an avid user of them as I want to prevent scalp dryness and flakiness after shampooing and I always put peppermint oil in my oils mixes to give that tingling/soothing feeling (check out my blog posts on DIY oil mix here). I have tried quite a few scalp oils to review in the past and this is the first one that has actually replaced my home made mix. It is super light, smells of fruits mixed with mint, it gives the tingling feeling that I love as it contains Menthol (a constituent in Peppermint essential oil).

The products are available to buy at www.curls.biz and I have linked each product in the title if you want to have a look and see the full ingredient lists.

Overall I really enjoyed using this range. I am so impressed by the scalp oil- I actually haven't used my own scalp oil mix since I got it. The products all smell yummy and worked really well to re-moisturise my hair. As I mentioned previously, I would recommend these as main moisturisers for looser curls or as a refresher-re-moisturiser for tighter curl types like my own.

Have you tried this range, or the Curls brand in general?

xx

Instagram || Twitter  || Google+ Bloglovin || Facebook || Pinterest

Read more »

L.O.G Cosmetics Hair Care Review- Heads Up Shampoo, Hair She Goes Leave in Conditioner & Tickle Tickle Deep Conditioning Pumpkin Spice Puree

L.O.G Cosmetics Hair Care Review- Heads Up Shampoo, Hair She Goes Leave in Conditioner & Tickle Tickle Deep Conditioning Pumpkin Spice Puree

Hi Everyone! I am so excited to share this review of L.O.G Cosmetics hair care products. It's a brand I have been trying out for a few months and I have just posted my video review/demo which you can watch below. If you do, please show some love and like & share the video!


Now, L.O.G Cosmetics is a brand which uses a lot of high quality natural ingredients. They do makeup and hair care products but I will only be reviewing their hair care range today. I mentioned in my video that a lot of the hair care products have Aloe Vera Juice as the first ingredient (the ingredient with the highest concentration) instead of water which definitely shows that they use high quality ingredients.

£16.99 Tickle Tickle Deep Conditioning Pumpkin Spice Puree

"Our Pumpkin Spice Protein Puree is a creamy conditioner that is designed to strengthen weak hair cuticles, prevent damage, and tantalize the senses. It is guaranteed to repair brittle hair textures with its amazing blend of pumpkin extract, cinnamon, nutmeg and organic pumpkin seed oil."

First up is this deep conditioning treatment. I was so impressed by this as a lot of fully natural conditioners tend to have little to no slip (in my experience), and I have tried a lot of products! You can even see in the picture how creamy it is. It has a subtle vanilla scent and contain a lot of amazing ingredients like Aloe Vera Juice, Shea Butter,  Natural extracts (Yucca, Horsetail & Nettle), Natural Oils, Vitamins, Hydrolysed Keratin. I do suggest you watch the video so that you can see  how shiny my hair looked after I had used this and also how easily it spread when I applied it. With any conditioner I always have to use a ton, but I really didn't with this one. It's not a massive jar and despite that, I got 4 uses out of it.

£15.99 Hair She Goes Cocoa Latte Leave in Conditioner  

"Say no to dry brittle hair! HAIR SHE GOES is guaranteed to nourish your curly or dry brittle hair.Its made from coconut milk and moisturizing cocoa butter, very light weight leave-in and promises to rehydrate even the driest of hair types leaving your hair soft and manageable."

Now to the leave in conditioner, called "Hair She Goes". This too contains Aloe Vera Juice as the first ingredient, followed by Coconut Oil then Behentrimonium Methosulfate which is used to give the product more slip. Overall this didn't give me too much slip as in I would use it to detangle, this wasn't a problem though as I applied it onto already detangled hair as you can see in the video. It made my hair soft and I actually blow dried my hair with this in as I was just about to put braids in.

£15.99  Heads Up Shampoo

"Heads up for Our 100% natural shampoo is enriched with a soothing blend of organic peppermint and sweet essence of dark chocolate. Got naturally kinky hair? We’ve got you covered with our 100% natural conditioning shampoo your hair will be cleansed, revitalized and ultimately moisturised."

This actually isn't a shampoo as it doesn't contain any synthetic cleansing agents like Sulfates. It is a castile soap but it is so rich and creamy that I would say it pretty much looks like it could be a conditioner, until it comes in contact with water and starts to lather (if you want to see exactly how much it lathers please check out the video). I guess another way you could describe the formulation is more of a cleansing cream or Co-wash. It reminds me a little bit of the Curls cleansing cream that I used years ago when I was relaxed/transitioning. I way very impressed by this product because it really did cleanse and condition my hair at the same time, if you watch my video review you can see that after I rinsed the product out, my hair actually looked not only conditioned but also had a healthy sheen to it- something I don't see a lot with the bleached parts of my hair. Sometimes I do detangle with Shampoo and you can see in the video that due to this shampoo being so creamy it was very easy to detangle.

These three products can be bought separately and I have included the price and direct link if you want to check them out on the website. You can also buy them in a set called "Itchy Scalp Trio" for £47. Overall I was very impressed by the quality of these products, they are all quite pricey but you literally get what you pay for. I do get quite a few Nigerian ladies on Instagram (@Yolandaas) asking me about natural hair products so I am happy that I finally have some products I can recommend for my naija sisters, as these are available in Nigeria. To purchase in Nigerian you can contact them via telephone 09084991140 or check out their Nigerian Instagram page.

Hope you enjoyed this review guys and if you are interested here is where you can find L.o.g Cosmetics online: 

Website, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Nigerian Instagram


What is your favourite natural hair care products?

xx

Instagram || Twitter  || Google+ || Baobella || Bloglovin || Facebook || Pinterest


(*) These products were sent to me to review. This is not a sponsored blog post, but it includes a sponsored video.

Read more »

African Fashion Week London 2015 WITH MOTIONS UK VLOG || EXCLUSIVE BACKSTAGE FOOTAGE~ RUNWAY FOOTAGE ~ Outfit & Hair Style ~ UK Bloggers

African Fashion Week London 2015 WITH MOTIONS UK VLOG || EXCLUSIVE BACKSTAGE FOOTAGE~ RUNWAY FOOTAGE ~ Outfit & Hair Style ~ UK Bloggers 

Last week I attended African Fashion Week in London 2015 at Olympia in West London. I was there with Motions and the rest of the brand ambassadors as Motions were the sponsors. I was so excited to attend because I hadn't been to African fashion week or London fashion week either before. 

Check out my African Fashion Week vlog below, it's my first ever vlog so I'd love if you watched and gave some feedback. If you don't want to watch the whole thing, feel free to skip to the part that interests you the most :)

Exhibitors mentioned; Motions, Fashion Fair, Chikizia Luitu, Ekamu brands, Primavera fitness, Chairs by Naddine, JEKKAH, TOTE

• 1. My Motions outfit for the day and how I wore my hair (Afro puff)
• 2. The venue and footage of the Motion stand where I was working and all of my fellow blogger friends
• 3. Some of my favourite pieces by the African Fashion week in London 2015 exhibitors (see list below)
• 4. Exclusive backstage footage, see what the models and makeup artists get up to backstage / Fashion Fair makeup shown by head makeup artist @AbbieMayMUA
• 5. Footage from the show during the first day of African fashion week in London 2015.

Me @Yolandaas, @EyeDahFineMe @TheLondonCurls

Left: Aicha @Blackhairvelvet, Motions France brand ambassador

As I am new to vlogging, I focused so much on getting video footage that I kind of forgot to take pictures. I did take a couple with my camera and the rest are phone pictures either taken by me or sent to me from the person in the picture in question.

The Motions area. Hair styling going on

My hair style of the day was the afro puff! I actually love this hair style because it's like a mix between wearing a bun (which I love) but still showing off your fro/curls. Since my hair is a little bit longer it get's too tangled though and I can't wear this style more than a couple of days. By the way, my hair is 3 years and 4 months post relaxer :)

Look of the day: Afro Puff

Guys, my I didn't do my eyebrows uneven, they just aren't levelled naturally. It's really annoying but hey what can I do lol. I'm wearing my every day makeup which is Maybelline mascara (the cheap pink & green one, £5), 2True eyeliner (£2.99 superdrug), Collection concealer £2.99 and blusher and highlighter. What do you think of this look?

Have you been to African Fashion Week in London or London fashion week?

What do you think of the vlog?

xx

Instagram || Twitter  || Google+ || Baobella || Bloglovin || Facebook || Pinterest

* Background music for my Youtube video provided by http://chunkdoutbeats.com/

*I am a brand ambassador for Motions. However this is not a sponsored video and I am not affiliated with any of the other brands.

Read more »

Natural Afro Hair Tutorial: How to style Ankara/African Print Scarf || Side Swept Flat Twist Out with Scarf & Nefertiti Earrings

Natural Afro Hair Tutorial: How to style Ankara/African Print Scarf || Side Swept Flat Twist Out with Scarf & Nefertiti Earrings

Hello everyone! My laptop keyboard was broken for ages and now it's finally fixed, I have a lot of posts coming up, this one being the first one. The African print/Ankara print scarf (and clothes in general with African prints) can be seen everywhere at the moment. A lot of my fellow UK natural hair blogger friends wear them and it really inspired me to try one out. Instagram is also a great source of inspiration for African print scarves!  

When I attended Natural Hair Week 2015 I came across this brand called Anaisarts, it's run by a lovely lady who not only sells a ton of amazing African print scarves, but also Afrocentric type jewellery. I bought three scarves and these brown, wooden Nefertiti earrings- check out my video below to see all of them and for more information.

If you have followed me for a while you'd know that the side swept flat twist out used to be one of my favourite hair styles, especially during my transitioning days (check out my transitioning posts here) so I decided to revisit this hair style, but with a twist (literally lol).

Please watch the video to see how I got this hair style or follow this short tutorial in writing:

• Make a side parting, and either cainrow, flat twist or just tuck in the remainder of your hair.
• Try on the scarf to make sure it looks right with the parting
• Remove the scarf, and start flat twisting the hair that you have left out
• You can either twirl the ends, put perm rods & do a hanging bantu knot
• Put your night time scarf on and leave at least 12 hours to dry

Please let me know what you think about this hair style and how would you, or have you styled the African print/Ankara print scarf?

xx

Instagram || Twitter  || Google+ || Baobella || Bloglovin || Facebook || Pinterest

Read more »

Motions For Natural Textures; Deep Conditioning Masque & Smoothing Conditioner and Motions Weightless Conditioning Shampoo Review & Demo Video

 Motions For Natural Textures; Deep Conditioning Masque & Smoothing Conditioner and Motions Weightless Conditioning Shampoo Review & Demo Video

Very excited to share with you my first review as a Motions Brand Ambassador. If you haven't already, please check out my post about our first brand ambassador meet up (link)which is when we received these goodies. The Deep Conditioning Masque & Smoothing Conditioner are both from the Motions "For Natural Textures" range which has got loads of products especially made for us naturals!


Motions Natural Textures Deep Conditioning Masque

So, let's start with my favourite. 

Claim & Results: "Motions deep conditioning masque is an intensive weekly treatment, with Shea Butter, Coconut and Avocado Oils that bounces back dry, parched curls to the manageable ringlets you desire". I will definitely say that it leaves your hair very moisturising. Bare in mind that this is a conditioning/moisturising deep treatment and not necessarily a strengthening one. If you are looking for a protein deep treatment I would suggest trying out the conditioner which I am reviewing as well.

Formula: The first thing I noticed about this deep conditioner is that the formula is pretty thin, and runny. However, as soon as I started applying the product I noticed two things, the first is that despite the runny formula it felt very rich and nourishing and the other thing is that the spreadability was very, very good and you really did not have to use much at all! I am a person who always has to use a ton of conditioner to cover all parts of my hair so believe me when I say you did not have to use a lot! This of course means that the slip was very good as well which made it easy to detangle.

Ingredients: As mentioned in the claim, it contains Coconut Oil, Avocado Oil & Shea Butter (in that order, Coconut Oil being the 9th ingredient after Dimethicone).  This explains why it feels very rich & nourishing! Other nice ingredients are Panthenol (Provitamin B5) & Chamomile flower extract.

Ingredient Check:

• Mineral Oil [/]
• Silicones [x]
• Parabens [/]
• Sulfates [/]
• Butylene/Propylene Glycol [x]

Motions Weightless Conditioning Shampoo

Claim & Results: "Go from flat to full volume with Motions Weightless Conditioning Shampoo. The formula cleanses to remove dirt and residue, while the conditioning agents give your hair incredible body and bouncy. Great for fine hair". This is definitely a clarifying shampoo which will give your hair a thorough cleanse. It contains sulfates so some of you might prefer to use a more gentle cleanser, or to just use it occasionally when you're hair needs a proper shampoo. I personally do not mind sulfate shampoos as I feel like I want to properly cleanse my hair every week making sure I get rid of any dirt and product residue. As I mentioned (quite a few times lol) in the video review, I had gone one extra week without washing my hair so I had a lot of product in my hair. This means that the shampoo will lather less, and seem a little more gentle because there is so much product in the way. When I rinsed, all the old product build up had been removed and my hair didn't feel dry.

Formula: The formula is clear, like most clarifying shampoos. I am writing this before I am editing the video but there should be a picture of the formula in the video. As I mentioned before I had a lot of product in my hair already so I did have to use quite a lot of shampoo to make it lather, but I would say it lathers well, or like any sulfate shampoo.

Ingredients:  

• Cleansers: Now, the primary surfactant (the main cleansing agent) in this shampoo is Sodium Lauryl Sulfate.  This is known as the strongest and "harshest" sulfate (Sodium Laureth Sulfate is the more gentle version but this is also considered harsh) and isn't widely used anymore. However, the secondary surfactant is Cocamidopropyl Betaine which makes the overall formula a lot more gentle. I didn't feel like my hair was too stripped or too dry after using this, so this ingredient isn't a problem for me!
• Conditioning agents: Mango Butter, PEG-12 Dimethicone, Polyquaternium 10, Panthenol (Provitamin B5) and Tocopheryl Acetate (form of Vitamin E). Other interesting ingredients which both promote hair growth are: Niacinamide (Vitamin B3) and Biotin (Vitamin B7 or Vitamin H). It also contains Sunflower, Chamomile, Black Elderflower and Cowslip flower extracts.

Ingredient Check:

• Mineral Oil [/]
• Silicones [x]
• Parabens [/]
• Sulfates [x]
• Butylene/Propylene Glycol [/]

Claim & Results: "Motions Smoothing Conditioner, made with Shea Butter, Coconut and Avocado Oils, detangles and softens unruly curls to lock in moisture and manageability". This conditioner has a ton of great and nourishing ingredients. It definitely moisturised my hair, however, compared to the Motions Deep Conditioning Masque, the slip wasn't as good. The masque definitely left my hair easier to detangle.

Formula: The formula is quite thick and creamy, more so what I would expect of a deep conditioner. However it felt great in my hair and left it soft and moisturised. I would recommend this if you've got damaged hair, for example from straightening, blow drying or dying your hair because it contains Hydrolyzed Keratin which is strengthening. 

Ingredients:  This conditioner has got some great conditioning agents.. here are some of them (not full ingredient list, but in order) ; Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone, Coconut Oil, Shea Butter, Avocado Oil, Panthenol (Provitamin B5), Tocopheryl Acetate, (Form of Vitamin E),  Hydrolyzed Keratin, Honey Extract

Ingredient Check:

• Mineral Oil [/]
• Silicones [x]
• Parabens [/]
• Sulfates [/]
• Butylene/Propylene Glycol [/]

What do you think of Motions hair products?
Have you tried any of these?

xx


Instagram || Twitter  || Google+ || Baobella || Bloglovin || Facebook || Pinterest

* Products given to me to test & review

Read more »

Braidout Video Tutorial For Natural 3C/4A/4B/4C Hair || UK Blogger || #MotionsBA

Braidout Video Tutorial For Natural 3C/4A/4B/4C Hair || UK Blogger || #MotionsBA

I am back with another Youtube video guys. I actually filmed it over a month ago but because I was still stupidly playing music in the background while filming, it kept getting copyrighted and I re-edited and re-uploaded three times. Anyway it is finally up. I would love some feedback on how I can improve my videos and or video suggestions! :)

I didn't mention any specific products for this tutorial only because I use different products all the time at the moment. I still don't really have a favourite combination and I have been reviewing a lot of different products. However, as you can see in the video I do use Eco Styler gel for my edges (I took the pictures before I did my edges, I forgot lol) and Dove Serum to prevent frizz while taking the plaits down.

Do you remember my first ever braid out post from last year (here)? My hair almost looks shorter & tbh I think I prefer my results from last year. I mean we all know what shrinkage is but I can't fully understand how my hair actually looks shorter even though it's grown a lot, oh well!

Thanks So Much For Reading 
& Watching

xx

Instagram || Twitter  || Google+ || Baobella || Bloglovin || Facebook || Pinterest

Read more »

Announcement: Motions Brand Ambassador/ Brand Ambassador Dinner Meet Up

Announcement: Motions Brand Ambassador/ Brand Ambassador Dinner Meet Up

Hi Everyone! I am glad to announce that my blog is back again after the long break I've had. What's even more exciting is that I am now a brand ambassador for Motions, this was confirmed a few weeks ago and I wen't to a dinner with Motions and the three other lovely brand ambassadors.


THE MEET UP

A week or so after I was contacted by Motions asking me if I was interested in joining their Brand Ambassador Programme, they arranged a meet up so that all of the Brand Ambassadors and the brand manager could meet. The meet up was at the Thai restaurant Busaba Eathai in West London and the food was amazing! During the amazing dinner we were given some Motions hair products, a brand ambassador booklet and some updates and general information about Motions and why we were chosen as the brand ambassadors. Like Davina from the London Curls said, we are all opinionated girls with a passion for hair care, but I like how we are all pretty different and some of us are natural, some wear weave etc because hopefully together we will be able to represent all types of women and hair styles.

Please check out these lovely ladies websites & channels;

• Andrée Marie, Hair Stylist, http://www.andreemarie.com/
• Osa, Youtuber, https://www.youtube.com/user/SincerelyOghosa
• Davina, Youtuber/Blogger http://www.londoncurls.com/ https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLondonCurls

ABOUT MOTIONS

I am so glad to be able to work together with one of the biggest afro hair care brands, especially now that it is a part of Unilever! I am sure you all know the brand, whether you've been using it recently, or like me you remember it as one of the first brands you used during your childhood. However Motions have given their brand a little make over with new packaging and a variety of products that cater to all types of women and different hair styles/preferences. If you know me personally you know that I am obsessed with the colour purple and even more the combination of gold & purple so I absolutely love the new packaging. Their product line includes products for natural hair, relaxed hair and products for straightening natural hair. Check out all of their products here (selected Motions products are now available at Superdrug, yay!)

About the brand ambassador programme (information from the booklet:

• To start with, we were all chosen because of our passion for hair care, fashion or beauty and our social media following.
• Part of the brand ambassador role is to attend events, debates, meet ups on behalf of Motions.
• We will regularly try out and review Motions products on our Youtube channels or blogs.
• At the end of the programme we will receive an Official Unilever/Motions Hair certificate.

Thank you so much for reading and stay tuned for my updated wash day routine featuring these Motion products and even sooner- my first braid out tutorial video!

https://www.youtube.com/user/YolandaasY/videos

xx

Read more »

Straightening Natural Hair: Frizz Free & Smooth Results Using Chill- A Smooth Operator Oil Serum by Ed Lush

Straightening Natural Hair: Frizz Free & Smooth Results Using Chill- A Smooth Operator Oil Serum by Ed Lush

How to straighten natural afro hair and get long lasting, smooth and frizz free results? I recently straightened my natural hair, and this time I used a product I hadn't used before: Chill Oil Serum by Ed Lush. I received it a while ago to review but I tend to use serums for straightening my hair, as a heat protectant so I wanted to wait until I straightened it. Ingredient wise, it mainly contains silicones as a serum usually does, but for you guys who want to stay away from mineral oil- this isn't for you as it does contain mineral oil. I must say I didn't "notice" it tho, the formula is actually very smooth and quite runny, and absolutely not sticky.

Now I have reviewed quite a few serums on my blog before one from Mixed Chicks, one from Dove and one from John Frieda (all linked) and this is actually my favourite! Firstly, this one smells so nice.. I love it! Especially as I am straightening my hair with it, which tends to make my hair smell a bit burnt lol. 

Check out my video to see how I used this product. The picture above is actually when I re straightened my hair a week later because I forgot to take a picture the first time, so if you check out my initial results at the end of the video below you'll notice how straight and smooth my hair looked! :) I definitely noticed a difference when using this serum from the other times I straightened my hair- my results were also longer lasting!

What do you use when you straighten your hair and what do you think of my results?

xx

Instagram || Twitter  || Google+ || Baobella || Bloglovin || Facebook || Pinterest

Read more »

28 Months/ 2 Years and 4 Months Post Relaxer Wash & Go & Texture Shot- Mixed Roots Curl Custard

26 Months/ 2 Years and 2 Months Post Relaxer Wash & Go & Texture Shot- Mixed Roots Curl Custard

I actually posted a picture of this look before on my Instagram, I took the pics when I had just tried out a wash and go using the Mixed Roots Curl Custard- I think the results are great. Also, now that I have done more wash and go's using other products- I must say I think this product gave the best curl definition out of all the products I tried (review coming soon).  Check out my Youtube video when I am using the product here.

Also, here is a little texture shot for those who are interested to know my curl pattern. In my youtube videos I usually say "3c/4a/4b/4c hair" because I have such a mix of curl patterns. In my Instagram selfies (follow me here), you usually see my hair at the front and my curls are looser there. In this picture you can see that they are pretty tight. What would you say my hair type is?

What's your favourite product for a wash and go?

Have you tried Mixed Roots hair products?

xx



Instagram || Twitter  || Google+ || Baobella || Bloglovin || Facebook || Pinterest

Read more »