She always says, “Por qué, mija, no vuelves a Nueva York? No tendrás que hacer el pelo!”

Yeah, yeah…going back to NYC would be great. I could go to my stylist without an appointment; I could find all of my favorite products without effort; I did not have to spend the entire day working on my own head of hair. But, right now…moving back to the Big Apple isn’t in the cards.

Now, despite the efforts my mother puts into trying to coax me to come back home, she always hooks me up. She knew that I had been looking for a Creme of Nature Detangling Shampoo replacement and thought that I should try the companion to my current favorite conditioner. Um…why didn’t I think of this?!

So, the other day I get this little care package from Mami. No note, nothing, just a bottle of shampoo. Ya gotta love moms. On one hand they’re fussing because, we’re away and too far from home. On the other hand, they’re always looking out for us.

Ok, ok…enough blabbering. My mother sent a bottle of Halka Baba de Caracol Regenerative Shampoo. I hadn’t planned on shampooing that day, but you can believe that I cracked that bottle open with the speed of light.

Upon opening the bottle, I notice that it’s rich and thick, just like Creme of Nature. We’re off to a great start. I had tried various shampoos, including kiddie shampoos, which were too thin and watery.

First lather…pretty good.

Second lather…still pretty good and I can pass a comb through my hair.

Impressions? I like it! I like it! But, don’t get too excited yet. I decided a while back that any new product would have to pass the thrice-as-nice test. That means if I like it just as much after the 3rd time, it’s a keeper.

Stay tuned…and if you all have tried it and like it, let us know

Mil besos,

LaNegra

I am a HUGE fan of Humecto and UNA products, particularly the moisturizers. However, I may have to ditch everything in my closet for this one, special product.

I have lots very fine hair and that means lots very serious tangles. I always comb thoroughly before shampooing and avoid pulling my hair up in the shower (ya know that only looks good in the commercials right?). However, I am still left trying to work out tangles before I turn the water off.

Baba de Caracol (snail slime with silk) worked magic on my hair. I applied it after shampooing with my conditioner concoction. I used a quite generous amount, because when you have a lot of hair, like I do, it does no good to skimp on the goods. I’m sure that I used 1/3 of the jar with this first use. More hair, means you use more product, but it means that my hair remains healthy. But, for $9.99 a jar, that is only $3.33 per use and I’d pay three times that, if not more, in the salon. Get where I’m going with this?

Anyway, I applied that product and put my plastic cap on. I had nowhere to go…in case you all aren’t aware, most of us in PA are snowed in. I figured, no better time to pamper myself, like today. There are no directions on the jar, so I just figured that since it states it’s a deep conditioner I’d leave it on for a minimum of 20 minutes.

I got to yapping with my friend on the phone and the next thing you know, 35 minutes had passed.

Here’s the good part…

I turned on the water, grabbed my shower comb and expected to have to work the tangles out. Wouldn’t you know, the comb just glided through my hair, like skates on ice! I did not have to flex a muscle, didn’t have to section my hair, didn’t have pull or anything. My hair instantly felt like silk. Ahhhh!

I also noticed that I didn’t get the normal frizz. Typically, if I wait around and don’t put my rolos in right away, I start to frizz. Not this time. My hair felt a little straighter and a whole lot softer.

It gets better…

So, I put in my rolos and yapped some more on the phone. Another hour passed (yeah, yeah…I know…I chit-chat too much lol). I touched my hair to see how damp it was and was shocked at the feel. My hair felt softer than it has ever felt.

I cannot wait to take out my rolos. I’m under the dryer as I type. I’m sure that this is going to be a staple. Hmmmm….wonder if I can find Baba de Caracol by the gallon.

BioInfusion results are in…after little deliberation, my conclusion is that this shampoo really, really is bad. I first let mi hermanita try it because she’s my gineau pig (im sure i spelt that wrong ) . he normally soft coils and curls, were hard and crunchi even after conidtioner. It really stripped her hair it took almost 3 days to get the moisture back into her hair. Then i made a section in my hair (my hair is relaxed) and washed only a little section…gurl i took that bottle back to walgreen with a quickness.lol, and ran to my secrect beauty supply store, where there are the last 3 bottle of cream of nature that no one knows about, and bought some more of my good stuff. i don’t know what i’m going to do when i can’t find any.

I had high hopes, but I guess that bubble was just bursth

Thanks for the review mija!

Your blower has to meet certain criteria. It needs to have the right amount of power, preferably 4 speeds and it must get HOT. I know some will disagree with the “heat” aspect of it, but for me, this is an absolute.

So, during my trip home to NYC I decided that I would try a new blower. No, there’s nothing wrong with my current blower, but ya never know, right? Besides, when it comes to hair tools, a good blower is the equivalent of me having the best rims on my car…see where my priorities are, right?

Anyway, I stopped in all of the beauty supply stores on the east side, inquiring about the turbos, specifically something with the ionic and tourmaline technologies. The Megaturbo 4000 seemed to be the only ones that had both technologies in one package, unless I wanted to order something online.

Wouldn’t you know, just as I was about to pay for the blower at the first store, I happen to inquire about the return policy and was told, “Store cwedit! No re-fun! Store cwedit onry!”

What the PUCK?! I’m going to spend $90 – $149 on a gadget only to have someone tell me that I cannot return it? THAT STINKS! It’s not like I live in NYC anymore. I even showed my driver’s license and was told, “Sowwy, store cwedit onry!”

So, I kept it moving until I found a store that was willing to let me buy and return within an hour. That’s what I did. I was giddy when I left the store with my Pibbs made MegaTurbo 4000.

I damn near ran home! Quickly opened the box *let’s pause a moment to reflect on the ohhh and ahhhh moment of shininess of the new blower*

I plugged it in, put my setting on Hi and proceeded to blow.

I shut it off. Looked at the buttons, read the instructions *um…how difficult is it to turn on a blower, right?*
Turned it back on and….
nothing.

Oh, it turned on and it blew out some air, but I was completely and utterly disappointed with the results.

I intentionally wanted to try the blower on that particular day, because it was HUMID AS HELL! My hair was one giganormous puff and if a blower was going to prove its worthiness, it would have to be done on that particular day.

My hair laughed at the heat that the Megaturbo 4000 was trying to give off. I think I even offended a few follicles by tempting to tame the frizz with the, dare I say, less than qualified blower.

Needless to say, I packed that baby back up with the quickness and ran back to the store before anyone could say, “deep conditioner.”

I am still a turbo fan, but will have to keep trying to pick out one that is just right for my needs.

So…in the meantime, I’ll just embrace my loyal blower and thank God it still works .

Hello Ladies,
Sorry for the delay. I have been busy, busy, busy. Wanted to let you know about a new product I recently tried, Hask Straight Solution. First off, I love Hask products and when I was looking for something to assist my thick curly hair getting even straighter with a rollerset, I figured I would give it a try.

So, I washed and deep conditioned as usual, then towel dried. I applied the Hask, liberally, because my hair is extra thick and gets extra bushy! I combed it through with a rattail comb and immediately I could tell this product was going to be fabulous. I could feel my wet hair actually straightening as I combed it. The rollers went on easier, and my usual stray hairs actually stayed in place.

After setting my hair and sitting under the dryer for what seemed like forever, I took the rollers out and couldn’t believe the results. My hair was extra straight at the roots, which is great because I don’t perm, shiny and much more manageable than usual.

What I really liked was that even after a few days of wrapping my hair AND working out, the roots stayed fairly straight. Now I say fairly, because like I mentioned, I don’t perm. With all my activities, I don’t expect my blowouts to last very long. However, I know for sure the Hask extended my blowout. And even though my roots were a little bushy, the rest of my hair stayed straight. Hask has yet another satisfied customer.

This product straightens the hair as well as protects from heating appliances. I believe it may be geared more to those who flat iron, but in my opinion it works just as well with rollersets.
If any you have tried this product, please let me know about your experience! You can contact me at anitra@dominicanblowout.com

When I first received my Silk Amino Acid, I didn’t know what to think or how to use it. Eventually, it occurred to me that one of my favorite products, CHI Silk Infusion, contained…silk! Here’s the thing. Silk Amino Acid comes in a liquid form, so I received a bottle and wasn’t too sure how much would work.

After experimenting, I wanted to get my testing down to a more “scientic” routine. I wanted to be able to repeat the results, not just get a hit-or-miss recipe. With this in mind, I used a bowl that hair stylist uses for hair dye, or other products that need to be measured. These bowls are pretty inexpensive; you can get one at Sally’s.

1. I poured a bowl full of my Humecto in and the added a cap full of Silk Amino Acid.
2. I left this mix on for about 30 minutes (was unpacking more boxes, lost track of time).
3. Rinsed out.

My hair felt like…SILK!!! I absolutely love the way my hair felt. It was moist, supple and easy to comb.

Now you all know that I have hair products stashed away for every occasion, so I don’t even know why I was feigning like it was a state of emergency, but I digress.

Anyway, I pulled out my rarely-used-jar of UNA Protein Treatment. I used to swear by this product, but because it’s increasingly more difficult for me to find it, I wanted to salvage what I had for such an emergency, as today. There was about 1/4 of a large jar of UNA left and about a 1/4 cup of Aphogee left, so I just poured the remaining Aphogee in the UNA jar and stirred. Then I added a cap full of silk amino acids that I recently purchased online at lotioncrafter.com into the mix and applied to my hair.

I left my protein “shake” on for about 10-15 minutes, rinsed thoroughly and then applied KeraCare Humecto to my hair. I left that on for about 20 minutes and braced myself for the worse. I expect to have to fight my tangles. However, that wasn’t the case. My hair was relatively easy to comb and that comes as a huge shock, because I haven’t done a relaxer in a very, long time.

When I looked at the ingredients in Aphogee, I realized that the first ingredient is hydrolyzed collagen and most of the protein conditioners that disagree with my hair are keratin based.

Suddenly, I recalled seeing hydrolyzed collagen somewhere, but it’s slipping my memory right now. I’m wondering if I can get this in liquid form, like the silk amino acid that I purchased from lotioncrafter…again, I digress.

The point of this is to say that I think that the silk amino acid really left my hair soft, supple and easy to comb. I’m not experiencing breakage, but combing is a little tough these days and I have to decide whether or not I am going to go natural, or relax again, but for the moment, I think that my hair is thanking me (and Ayanna) for this protein shake.

The silk amino acid is definitely a keeper!

ADDENDUM: As soon as I touched my dry hair, still wrapped around the rolos, I knew it was going to be a good experience.

My hair felt soft, smooth and silky. In fact, it felt like I had just done a desrizado, a relaxer. My “don’t know how long it’s been since a touchup” roots were even soft and easy to comb.

Now, the only thing to do is figure out exactly what worked for me – was it the mixture of UNA with Aphogee,  the added silk amino acids, or the combination. We will investigate.

I took a couple of pics, but my batteries died, so I’ll add them later.

First, let me start out by mentioning that I followed directions, by applying Apretadora to my hair prior to washing it. I emptied the two small jars on my hair and noticed a few minutes into the treatment, that my hair was not enjoying the treatment very much.

My hair seemed to be rebelling, stiffening up and I knew that it was not going to be much fun trying to comb my hair once I shampooed.

Sure enough, my hair was one, big, matted mess! But, I was in too deep, had to remain focused and figured that I’d follow up with Faviola Carrect. Surely, that would losen up some of the knots. NOT!

I don’t know what I was thinking. Faviola Carrect states right on the label that it’s for breaking, or “falling” hair. I should have taken that as my clue. It was a protein treatment and although, there are times when we may need a little stronger protein treatment. This was not the case.

My hair is in pretty good shape, had a number of inches cut off and keep it conditioned. When I do need a protein treatment, I rely on Aphogee (gotta thank the white girl in Sally’s who put me on to this product).

Moving right along, I conditoned, rinsed and even my most reliable products did nothing to soften up the heavily coated folicals. My already thick hair seemed to be twice as dense and was very difficult to comb, even after my roller set.

I really don’t like giving products negative reviews, because what works for some, may not work for others, but neither of these made my hair happy. While my experience was horrible, perhaps someone else, particularly with damaged hair will benefit from it. If you have had a positive experience, I’d love to hear from you.

I need to be kicked, because I have a lot of products that I haven’t touched in months. Some have not even been opened yet: Apretadora, Silicon Mix, Aciete de Moska. I feel like I hit won the lottery.

I forgot all about my beloved apretadora! Mi madre lo me compró Apretadora cuando visitó DR. My mother picked up one jar in DR and I used it a few times, trying to ration it, because I couldn’t get any when I was in school, so I used it sparingly.

She rarely goes to DR, so this stuff had to last me until…well, until I could get to NYC, or afford to buy some online (on a student’s budget – NOT!).

Entonces, I ended up finding a jar of apretadora from DR and another jar made in Jersey, which was just a medicating – yes, it’s the junky in me; what can I say?

Apretadora was my best friend during the summers. I used to put it on about half an hour before I washed my hair. When I was done, my hair felt so soft.

Faviola Carrect – I cannot remember the last time I used this one either, but I used this after I washed my hair and if memory serves me well, my hair thanked me for it.

I used to swear by Silicon Mix when my hair was in bad shape, but I think that I prefer Aphogee now. Una blanca in Sally’s told me about Aphogee. I thought to myself, “What does this white girl know about kinky hair?” Pero, when my friend, who is mixed and has a mini-salon set up in her house said that she used religiously, the week before relaxing, I decided to give it a shot. I’m glad I did.

I’m going to try Silicon Mix next time I intend to relax, as well as Alter Ego – I like to give a product at least 3 tries before deciding to stash it, or trash it.

There are a few more things that I pulled out, but I didn’t have time to take pics. There are also some products that I’d like to try, such as whale sperm. Yep, that’s what I wrote, “w-h-a-l-e  s-p-e-r-m.”

If you have tried  product, I’d love to hear your thoughts. In fact, if you have trash-it or stash-it experience, I’d love to hear about them, regardless to whether or not it’s a dominican product. I know I’m not the only addicted to buying hair care products!

So, I was in Sally’s the other day and they have Smooth Away on the counter. I asked the clerk if she had tried it. She said that she hadn’t, but a coworker had and thought that it worked well.

I decided to give it a shot. It was only $9.99 and I definitely have purchased hair products that cost more, only to find out that they weren’t working for me.

Right out of the package, the first thing I notice is that the little sheets that come in the package look like…well…sandpaper. That’s right. Your average, garden variety, sand paper.

I’m still curious, so I attach the sheet to the “applicator” and then I’m faced with a tough decision. Which body part do I want to try first? I opted for my underarms. This is the area that I wax. I can’t shave there, because I have sensitive skin.

I follow the directions, make circular motions and notice that some of the hair was gone. A few more swipes and it was clean, but my skin felt a little raw. I’ll go back to waxing.

I packed up everything and was debating returning it. Instead, I had an idea. I actually did forget to bring my razor into the shower, so the next morning I decided to try Smooth Away on my legs.

It does work, but I’ll tell you that shaving is quicker and smoother to me. Rather than a one swipe technique, like you get with a razor, you may have to swirl your Smooth Away around a few times. Then of course, since it’s very fine sandpaper, you do get some exfoliation benefits, but why not just buy sandpaper?

I also have to add that the hair under my arms had already started to grow back in a couple of days; waxing lasts so much longer.

Pros: It exfoliates and you don’t have to take a shower to use it, because it has to be used on dry skin.

Cons: It’s not good on sensitive skin. It left my underarms irritated; I definitely wouldn’t use it on my face, or any other sensitive areas .

Would I buy Smooth Away again? Nope. I could get an entire pack of sandpaper for a lot less at Home Depot.