A Brand New Day: My Thoughts the Keratin Smoothing Complex Therapy
There has been some technical difficulty around here lately, hasn’t there? My apologies for all of the downtime. I’m still working on getting everything back to 100%, so please bear with me in the meantime. I’ve missed posting, so rather than delay putting up new posts, I’m just going to keep it moving.
On to the good news, I’ve decided to take the dip and try the keratin smoothing complex therapy! I feel like I’m a bit late to jumping on the keratin bandwagon, but after a few months of research and mulling over the decision, I decided to try it out at least one time.
Before I went through with the treatment, I asked many, many questions different salons. Sometimes I’d call the same salon two or three times with follow-up questions. I was mostly worried about the fact that many keratin treatments still contain formaldehyde, and the products on the market don’t use formaldehyde still have aldehyde listed in their ingredients. Was it worth it?
I finally convinced myself to try the treatment just one time to see how it was. The salon that I went to, the lovely Noel Rose Hair Studio in Lincoln Park, assured me that I would be fine.
Overall, the application was applied in a little over three hours. First, my stylist washed my hair and blow dried my hair . She then applied the keratin treatment in small sections with a brush. My eyes didn’t become watery and I didn’t feel like I needed a gas mask as I’ve read on some reviews. I do agree that the smell was still strong overall.
After she applied the keratin treatment, she then blow dried my hair once again until it was silky smooth. She then flat ironed the hair at about 420 degrees to lock in the keratin. The results? Pin straight hair with no indication of frizz. In my opinion, it was probably the straightest that it’s ever been– and this includes even when I had a relaxer.
Currently, I’m on day 5 of “life with keratin” and I have had some time to gather my thoughts about the treatment. I’ve made a small lists of the pros and cons so far:
- I can blow dry my hair straight in less than half the time it usually takes.
- Fights all evil frizz and humidity.
- Salon-like results at home.
- Very, very little product needed.
- Shiny, shiny hair.
- I’m told that it can last about 3-5 months, especially if a sulfate-free shampoo is used.
Cons:
- You cannot wash your hair, pin it up, put it in a ponytail, sweat, or even attract any perspiration. In this hot Chicago weather, that is no small feat.
- It’s expensive. $200 was the special and it’s regularly $250. I hardly ever go to the salon anymore because of how expensive it was and the lack of natural hair stylists around, so I might be a little out of touch on this one. However, if you do go to the salon for regular services on a bi-weekly basis, I’m sure you can justify the cost.
- Formaldehyde. This is probably going to be the deal-breaker for me, because I just can’t see myself regularly and knowingly using a product with a sizable amount of formaldehyde. I have found another stylist since who says her product contains no formaldehyde, but it does contain aldehyde. She also commented that the results may not last as long.
And now for some before and after pictures:
to:
Overall, I do not regret trying out the keratin treatment. It’s a welcome relief to combat this frizz in this humid Chicago weather and the results have delivered as promised. What do you think? Have you tried the keratin treatment? Would you try it?
Channeling Corinne Bailey Rae
If you follow me on Twitter, then you might have noticed a couple of my tweets written about Corinne Bailey Rae’s latest album, The Sea. I admit, I was only a casual fan of her past music, liking a few songs here and there. I remember when the horrible news of her husband’s death broke and my heart went out to her.All was quiet for about a year after that, and then I heard she was coming out with a new album.I started reading a few of her interviews after she broke her silence and she sounded pretty upbeat, if not nervous.
I was apprehensive about checking out her new CD, because I wasn’t sure if it would be too dark–not that there is anything wrong with that– but it just isn’t what I’m looking for at the moment. However, I am pleasantly surprised. I believe I’ve listened to her new album almost three times without skipping a song. It’s not a dark album. There is a sense of intimacy and vagueness in many of her songs. A quote from her interview with the Telegraph is a very accurate way to describe the feelings:
“There are feelings that I found hard to explain; words are insufficient. Tenses I find really difficult. How do you refer to now? How do you refer to somebody that has been but you don’t want to put an end on it? That was difficult. Similarly, with Are You Here, it’s a question and a statement at the same time.”
My listening experience was very smooth and soothing. And there are definitely more upbeat tunes, but not “club dancing” upbeat. Instead, they are more for grooving in your chair or moving your head from side to side. Ms. Bailey Rae has turned me into a solid fan with this new album. I definitely see a long career for her and I hope she continues to churn out the good music–because Lord knows we all need it these days.
P.S. On a shallow note, I’m also in love with her hair. The big, poofy curly hair is my newest hair obsession. During my last trip to my hairstylist, we tried to duplicate the look. Usually, I just have her flat iron my hair straight, and I was ready to do it during this visit. Then I remembered Corinne’s style. I told her and we were racing on our Iphone and Blackberry trying to find pictures of exactly what it looks like, because she had not seen her lately. My stylist went to work, but unfortunately, it was too straight and whatever curls I had fell in the rain. I’ve passively tried channeling her style when I do my hair at home, but I don’t think I’ve really gotten it down:
What do you think? No? Yeah, me either.
My Thoughts: WEN by Chaz Dean
Trying out new hair products can be a harrowing experience for me. It’s only been recently that I have developed a regimen that I’m comfortable with. So when presented with the opportunity to try Chaz Dean’s hair products,I’ll admit, I was just a bit apprehensive. What eased my apprehensions? After doing rounds of research on the product line, I read that the cleansing conditioner is free of all traces of sodium laurel sulfate and detergents.
When I opened the package, I saw that I received the Tea Tree Cleansing Conditioner, Fig Re-Moist Hydrating Mask, Fig Styling Cream and the Tea Tree Oil.I decided to put my regular regimen to the side on Saturday and instead used these products to wash, condition and style my hair in my regular ‘fro. Here is what I thought of each product:
Tea Tree Cleansing Conditioner: There are no shampoo’s in the WEN product line, so you use this cleansing conditioner to clean your hair instead. I’ve been over using shampoo for awhile, so I was interested to see what this would do. There is no lather to the cleansing conditioner when you apply it to wet hair, but you don’t need lather to feel like your hair is squeaky clean. My curls were popping every which way and I was pretty happy with my outcome. Here is a shot right after I washed my hair:
Fig Re-Moist Hydrating Mask: I really loved this. In fact, I wish I could keep it on hand at all times. Normally when I deep condition, I usually use whatever is laying around the beauty cabinets. This mask really melted into my hair and made my curly Q’s feel hydrated and manageable. I used my trusted Denman brush to make sure I applied the product to my entire head and lounged around for 30-45 minutes while I waited for it to permeate.
Fig Styling Cream: This was the only product that didn’t work particularly well for me. I used it exactly as the directions specified, but I could tell that it wasn’t going to work out so well. I used a generous amount and applied it all over my hair, but it still felt too light for wearing my hair natural. I had to mix it up with my Kinky Curly Curling Custard to weight it down a bit (my hair is thick, so it likes some heft). However, I do think the product would work great if I decided to blow-dry my hair or if I wanted to use my Curlformers.
Tea Tree Oil: I’m a huge fan of tea tree oil and this isn’t any different. I love the way the oil tingles on your scalp.Very beneficial for these dry, winter months.
All in all, what did I think? I definitely liked the Cleansing Conditioner and Hydrating Mask and I could see incorporating them into my new regimen. How did my hair hold up? See a picture of my 2nd day hair that was taken while lounging on the couch and watching bad TV (yes, I know, I need a haircut!):
My Thoughts: Good Hair
Hello everyone and yes, I can say that I am still alive. I’ve been semi-active on Twitter lately, but I went MIA as far as writing on this blog goes.I tried,I’d sit down to write, I really would, but I’d become easily distracted. Things like the special edition Billy bookcases from IKEA would grab my attention and hold it. So I felt like I was out of gas. Yes, I know, this is a bad thing that a wannabe like myself should be telling readers. ÂSo this is all to say that I’m sorry for being MIA and I’ll try to be a better ClandestineChic.
I was slated to write a post about Chris Rock’s “Good Hair” documentary about a week ago,when I first saw the movie in the theaters. Then, I figured I’d scrap it since it’s no longer time sensitive in the world of insta-blogging, but something I saw a couple of days ago made me want to revive the post. Also, brace yourself because this is sort of a long one.
A seven-year-old Clandestine Chic on Easter Sunday squinting my eyes at the camera. Yes, my mother loved to dress me in pink: pink dress, pink purse and those damned pink ribbons. However, what caught my eye about the picture was my hair (will explain later).
On Good Hair, some segments of the documentary stayed with me and were still clearly embedded while other parts of the documentary I thought were forgettable. One segment that stuck out to me the most was the discussion of young girls getting relaxers and going through the pains of having perfectly groomed hair. Not to give away any spoilers, but there was one very young girl with a relaxer, at one point she made a remark that it was what “you were supposed to do”. Mind you, we’re talking about a 3-year-old young girl here. Although I wasn’t that young when I got my first relaxer, I was still subjected to the frequent press n’ curls that always left me susceptible to a burn, because I was so jumpy. Well groomed hair was always a necessity, and that meant enduring weekly presses. I can’t even count how many times I had to remain inside instead of playing with the other kids because my hair was newly pressed.
Another segment of “Good Hair” that was interesting and left me fuming at the same time,was a group of 5 high school girls that were talking about their hair. All of these girls, except one young lady with a nice shaped Afro had relaxers. They told the girl with the fro that without wearing her hair relaxed, she probably wouldn’t get a job with her and that a wearing a suit and a fro to work would be a contradiction. I was furiously shaking my head and I felt so horrible after seeing this girl’s face. I was 19 when I went natural after about 7 years of wearing my hair relaxed. And I had no idea where I was going to begin. I just knew that I was over sitting in salons for 5-6 hours at a time , increasingly thinning hair without much growth, and being admonished for not being able to take the burn of a relaxer for very long. Slowly, one by one, my friends were starting to go natural as well and we were all looking for resources to help us learn how to deal with our hair. Most of these resources were found online and were a big help during those first few months. I learned how to rock twists, twist-outs, braid-outs and how to just let my hair be free.
Image Source: Jezebel.com
All in all, I’d say the movie was very interesting. Yes, there were some segments I didn’t really care for, and I thought there could be a bit more of a discussion about natural hair instead of so much emphasis being placed on weaves and relaxers. I went went to see this movie, because I knew that there would be many aspects of the documentary to that I would be able to relate.And when I saw the picture of me when I was younger, with my newly pressed hair, I can still remember everything that went into achieving my hairstyle. The sacrifices I had to make all of these years, that I don’t consider these days, because I’m not going to let my hair dictate anything anymore. As for the movie, whether it was a good or bad documentary in anyone’s eyes,I am just happy that it was able to open up more changes for dialogue in the future.
The Hair Diaries
It seems like the articles on the subject of black hair have been coming out of the woodwork in the past few days. First, this article in the New York times titled “Skin Deep: Black Hair, Still Tangled in Politics” and then this article from Time magazine “Why Michelle’s Hair Matters”.  There are also some wonderful summaries of these articles over at Jezebel and Afrobella.
For me, these articles couldn’t have come at a better time. Not that there was any new information in the articles that I haven’t read before, but it was more about reinforcement.  I’ve been self-reflecting as I’ve been going through what can only be called a “hair slump” this summer. I’ve gone from wearing my hair in it’s natural state to having it straightened and back again, but truthfully, I don’t want to deal with it at all.   Right now, my hair is in it’s natural state, but I’m leaning towards going back to straightening it. See what I mean? And now I’m at the point where I woudn’t even mind doing a Solange and starting all over.
Learning to love every part of your of yourself can be difficult; and I’ve found that learning to love my hair unconditionally can be even more difficult.  I’m getting there, slowly but surely. And now, I no longer become upset when my hair doesn’t cooperate with me.  Looking at the picture above (this is before I “tamed” it a bit) , I’m starting to appreciate the thickness and the different textures. I’ve grown confident in wearing my hair in it’s natural state to work, fancy restaurants and during walks and not caring less if I get passing looks and glances on the street. I’ve stopped caring if my natural curl pattern isn’t as “defined” as I wanted it to be and I’ve stopped trying to find the miracle product to make it so. And I’ve stopped caring about what it means if I go back to straightening my hair vs. wearing it natural and what that might imply to others. It’s my own choice.
I’ll admit, it’s been a long journey so far and I still have a long way to go. I think for me, the most important thing is that I’ve learned acceptance.
Good Hair
For the first time in almost a year, I went to the salon and got a blow out for a special occasion. I’ve been wearing my hair in it’s naturally curly state and just wearing low maintenance styles. I arrived at the salon and braced for the pain that was about to ensue. Since I didn’t have a steady stylist at this salon, I was fair game to anyone. That is, if they wanted me. I watched for a good two minutes as stylists were fighting over who would have to do my hair. A nice man relented and two hours later, I left the salon with nice, bouncy curls and small burn on the back of my neck.
So I was pleasantly surprised to see the trailer for Chris Rock’s documentary “Good Hair”. This documentary is high on my list for movies coming out this year. I’m not really a big Chris Rock fan, but I’m more interested in what the documentary is going to cover: what women of color go through in order to achieve “good” hair.
Check out the trailer below:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A68UVn0nMvo]
A Few Words from a Product Junkie
Sofia Coppola’s medicine cabinet. Source: TFS
I’ve always been interested in the contents of one’s medicine or beauty cabinet.  I’m always curious to know what products someone uses on their hair, skin, and face.  When I first saw this picture of Sofia Coppola’s medicine cabinet in French Vogue, I thought, “Whoa”. But then again, who am I to talk?
I took this picture after cleaning out my my drawer of hair products. Mind you, these are just the styling/leave-in products. The shampoo and washing conditioner stay next to my shower.  For some reason, I couldn’t bare to throw any of these products away. For myself, and probably plenty of other women, a product promises dramatic results if you use it and you are automatically stuck on the idea. Even if it doesn’t initially work, you still keep it around in hopes of what might happen someday. That is the true essence of successful advertising and the reason why the hair/beauty industry–especially for women of color–is booming. Here I am, keeping it alive and well.
Do I really need all of these products? Nope. I should only be keeping about 3-4 at the most. Most of the products have the same functions, but on any given day, I might decide to switch it up with another product. I kept them because they are so far my “tried and true” items, but I’m thinking I can still stand to lose a few if I’m not in love with them.
And I’m not even going to start on my beauty/makeup case…
Exploring Ayurvedic Hair Care
I haven’t done a hair post in awhile, so I figured I was due. I’ve dabbled in ayurvedic hair care in the past, but I hadn’t really used it consistently enough to see any real results. I’d wash with shikakai shampoo once and then I’d go back to using my regular old shampoo.  Lately, I’ve been trying to produce healthier hair and I’ve been paying attention to the ingredients in everything I use.  What I’ve found is that while many commercial products may have 1 or 2 ingredients that benefit the hair, the rest of the ingredients add nothing beneficial and many times, you end up with hair feeling bogged down by product.  So I’ve gone back into exploring ayurvedic hair care and I’ve found that many of the ingredients listed are actually beneficial and have a purpose for being added in.
My main beef has always been finding a nice oil to apply to my hair and scalp.  My hair would either feel too greasy, limp and lifeless or as if I hadn’t used anything at all. Also, many of the oils contained silicone (a no-no for me) and that made it even harder in my search for a light oil.  Now, I’ve started using two well-known ayurvedic products: Dabur Amla oil and Vatika oil.
This is the box for the Dabur Amla oil. I got a 500ml bottle for $5.50, which definitely goes a long way. The ingredients include Mineral Oil, Veg Oil (Sesame Oil, Canola Oil, Peanut Oil, Cotton seed Oil, Palmolein Oil), oil extract of Goosberry. What worries me is the mineral oil since that’s something I usually don’t like , but overall, the ingredients aren’t too bad.  I apply the oil and massage it in my hair and scalp and leave it on overnight. In the morning, I do my regular wash and shampoo routine.  I won’t apply it if I’m going outdoors and I’m not going to wash my hair, because this oil has a pretty strong and…distinct smell.
I also picked up Dabur Vatika oil, which is something I use more frequently. The 300ml bottle was $7.50, and once again, a little really goes a long way for me.  The ingredients in this oil includ Pure Coconut Oil ,Lemon, Amla, Neem leaves, and Henna.  I apply this Vatika oil 2-3 nights a week and I really make sure to massage my scalp since the oil is very beneficial to a dry and itchy scalp. Plus, it’s not as heavy and the smell isn’t as strong as the Amla oil, so I’ve found I can actually style my hair as usual and go in the morning.
Next on my ayuvedic hair care list? I’d love to try henna.  There are so many benefits such as strengthening hair and less shedding overall. Plus, it is a great alternative to commercial hair coloring. The downside? It can be messy and it’s very time consuming.  I’ve been reading Wes at Honey Brown Sugar’s accounts of her henna applications and it has really tempted me to jump on in after seeing the results.  I believe a box of henna at my local Indian grocery store was about $2.99, so it’s definitely worth trying.
Natural Inspiration
Sometimes we all need a little inspiration. Whether it’s writing, fashion or photography, imagery or examples are necessary for helping us trudge through  For me, I am always looking for hair inspirations. Yes, for my hair. When I became natural during my Sophomore year of college, I was happy that I was done with my harsh relaxer and I was determined to embark on a new adventure. I was going to stop depending on salons and I was going to see what my natural hair texture was really like. Well, let’s just say that those first few months were a bit awkward. Here I was, liberated from my relaxer, but now what? I had no points of reference for being natural and didn’t really understand all of the work that went into maintaining natural hair. Most of the pictures of celebrities and models (looking at you, Naomi), I saw were of models with stick-straight hair or contrived Afro-wigs that never looked quite real.
In the past four and a half years, I’ve sought out many inspiring images or celebs that portray natural hair. I have also found blogs like Mane and Chic, Honey Brown Sugar and Afrobella. I’ve also perused communities like NaturallyCurly.com. These sites have helped me immensely in feeling uplifted when I decide to wear my hair natural with their tips and stories.
Also, here are some fabulous natural celebs (models and singers) that I’ve found. This by no means covers all of the fabulous and natural public figures.
Tracee Ellis Ross
Janelle Monae
Erykah Badu
Wakeema Hollis
Bre
Jordan Richardson
Amel Larrieux
Jill Scott
Lets talk about conditioners
So I’ve been thinking about my holiday hair and what style I’m looking to achieve.  I’m thinking of wearing it down with some bouncy curls after a nice roller set. I’ve also gone conditioner crazy these past few weeks as well. But no matter what a conditioner promises to do to my hair and how strong and bouncy they promise my hair will feel, nothing has made my hair feel its best more than Devacurl One Condition.
My hair is always manageable and soft when I use it on my hair . Whatever tangles I have are instantly melted away once I use the One Condition.
Here are the other conditioners that I’ve bought in the past couple of weeks and my thoughts:
Biolage Ultra Hydrating Balm. Eh, I thought it was okay. I think I wanted it to have the same moisturizing effect as the Deva Curl One Condition, but it didn’t quite do it for me. It was moisturizing, but it wasn’t something that I’m going to run out and buy again when I’m low.
L’Oreal Vive Pro Hydra Gloss Conditioner. The big sell for me on this conditioner was the fact that it was pretty cheap at $2.99 at Ulta, and I heard the Royal Jelly is supposedly very beneficial to your hair. However, look at the ingredients and you see that the royal jelly is at the bottom. I mean, toward the Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 ingredients.  It wasn’t bad, per se, but I wasn’t completely sold. This might be good for a co-wash.
Miss Key 10 en 1 Super Conditioner.   This conditioner required that I order it online and I hate ordering products online, because…I’m that impatient. However, I’ve been using Dominican products more and more, starting with Lacio Lacio Leave-In and I’ve heard such good things about Miss Key. I haven’t tried it yet, I’m going to wait until the end of this week before I do so.
And last, but not least, AphogeeKeratin 2 Minute Reconstructer. Ah yes, a protein-based conditioner. I knew I needed to work one into my routine and I heard so many good things about Aphogee. Overall I like it. My hair was soft and it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.  I think I will be using this every other week or so.
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