Homemade Refresher Spritz -- 5 out of 5

For my first of many product reviews, I will discuss my own amazing hair recipe, which I now swear by over any product you can pick up in a store. Plus it's cheap!

Ingredients:
-- Distilled Water (I usually am lazy and use tap)
-- 100% pure vegetable glycerin
-- Essential Oil of your choice
-- Spray bottle (any size)

Recipe:
1) Rinse out your spray bottle. It can be any size. This recipe will work for any size spray bottle because the key to a successful spray is the ratio of water to glycerine. This ratio is based on what works for your hair. Many recommend that you start at 20% glycerin to 80% water and increase percentage of glycerin as necessary. My perfect ratio is 40% glycerin and 60% water.
2) Add glycerin up to whatever level of the bottle will give you the percentage of glycerin that you've decided to use.
3) Add water up to whatever level of the bottle will give you the percentage of water that you've decided to use.
4) Shake vigorously. Vegetable glycerin is completely soluble with water, so the glycerin should "disappear" into the water.
5) Add 15 drops of the essential oil of your choice. Personally, I like lavender, but many other scents rock!

Usage: I use this spritz as an awesome morning refresher to fluff and fix my coils and curls. After I wake (I sleep in a satin bonnet), I spritz my curls and fluff with my fingers. My coils last 7 days now, but only with the regimen of refreshing with this spray. Using this, there is nothing else that I need to do. Not even "sealing" with other creams and butters, and my ends are healthy.

Mixology: Chlorine Buster

Tiffany @ LiveCurlyLiveFree has a great home remedy for chlorine/chlorine damage removal on her lovely site! I just had to share -- Tiff is a guru on Naturallycurly.com and the new weekly contributing blogger @ the CurlyNikki Blog. Thanks Tiffany! Read below or Go here.

Chlorine Buster

It is always a good idea to rinse your hair with plain water prior to entering any swimming pool to prevent chlorine water from penetrating into your hair shaft; however, this remedy will help reverse any chlorine damage to unprotected hair.

Combine:

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup pureed, peeled cucumber

Massage well into hair from scalp to ends, then cover with a plastic processing cap. Process for 30 minutes hour at room temperature, then cleanse hair with a non-sulfate cleanser.

Haven't tried it yet, but will post a review if and when I do. Bring on the summer pools!

Caramel Deep Treatment

I got this from velvethalo's fotki. And she got it from Aine @ Long Hair Care Forum... and so the knowledge is paid forward! Many people swear by this, so I thought I would post without even trying it first. I do believe in the power of the multiple testimony, ya know. Will post a product review update later...

You can find the thread @:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=65854&;highlight=caramel+treatment

Ingredients:

coconut oil
olive oil
wheatgerm oil
shea butter
honey
molasses
Apple cider vinegar
Two overripe bananas
water

From Velvethalo:

I just throw this all in a blender. It freezes rather well, so you won't have to keep making mini-batches every time you wanna use it, just thaw out. It should be a caramel cream look and consistency. Once you coat it on your hair, leave on for a couple hours. If your hair is longer than BSL, it may be easier to put your hair in a ponytail and just do that ponytail portion and loose baggy it to keep it from getting messy. Do not try to manipulate your hair during this time, it is very sticky. Rinse out in the shower. If you have fine hair, this may be all you need, but if you have coarse hair, you may want to follow up with a reconstructor and/or deep conditioner. It doesn't matter how kinky/curly/frizzy your hair is... it will shine like you've never ever seen it do before. I am now a big believer in this and will tell anyone who will listen. It really works!


From Dluvlylox: Thanks ladies, and we'll be sure to try it!

Rluvlylox's Avocado & Honey Hair Mask -- 2 out of 5

This one is from my brother's fiancee, who I will call Rluvlylox (she probably got it from somewhere else online, so no offense or plagiarism intended)...

Ingredients:
- 1 medium avocado, mashed
- 2 tbsp honey
- 4 oz. castor oil
- 4 oz. olive oil
- 2 eggs
* you can also add 1/2 a small can of coconut milk for softness!

Mix, paint onto hair (I used the "shingling" method of application), cover with plastic shower cap. Sit under hood dryer for 15-20 minutes or wear around the house for 45 minutes to let body heat do the work. Rinse with warm water, and then shock with cold water. All done!

While I enjoyed what amounted to playing with green slime in the sink, I wasn't overly impressed with this one. To be fair, I left out the castor and coconut oil because I didn't have any in the house, so if you want to discount the review, fine with me. Try it for yourself and see... Note: make sure the avocado you buy is ripe.

Here's my take: the avocado didn't rinse out well. I didn't make my hair gleam or moisturize as well as I expected. I'm willing to try again, because I took too many recipe liberties with this to really post a review, and will update again in the future, promise!

Organic Yogurt, Oatmeal & Honey Face Mask -- 5 out of 5

I tried this after starting a routine of applying a coat of honey to my freshly washed face for 10 minutes before bed each night. Just honey alone was a 5 out of 5, but the additional ingredients had such great results that I thought I would share. I learned it from a youtube tutorial -- thanx bubzbeauty!

Ingredients:

- 2 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp Bio yogurt
- 1 fistful oatmeal (I used Quaker Rolled Oats)
Mix into a bowl -- consistency should be a lumpy pulp. Paint on face and scrub around to allow oatmeal to exfoliate. Leave on face 10 minutes. I lay down on a towel for this one, people.

Voila, instantly moisturized, exfoliated, pore-refined, glowing skin!

Baking Soda (added to conditioner to clarify) -- 4 out of 5 stars

I decided to try baking soda because ACV has some cons (see the review). I liked this better because it is less stinky and messy, but I discerned very little difference in effect, i.e. it still clarified my hair and stripped product well. I may have gotten more shine with ACV though. I did like this method better, as baking soda is an even cheaper and more ubiquitous household ingredient with just as many uses as ACV.

I'll continue to experiment with baking soda vs. ACV and post any updates.

Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse -- 4 out of 5

So... I tried an apple cider vinegar rinse.
Mix 1 tbsp for every 1 cup water. Warning: THIS DOES NOT LATHER.

Let's get the cons out of the way first:

It stinks.
It stings your eyes.
It's hard to deal with because it's watery.
No lather.

Now for the pros:

It cleans your hair really well and gets rid of build up with the advantage of restoring pH balance. It also makes my hair noticeably shinier. It's cheap and easy to obtain. A little goes a long way, and it has many uses, from cleaning windows and tile to being a great product to settle the stomach and aid digestion. There are even some weight loss claims! (I drank what I didn't use in my hair...it's not that bad diluted). As for the smell, it fades in mere minutes.

I'm liking it so far for clarifying purposes. Once or twice a month is not too much to ask me to deal with this, although I am also intrigued by a method I read about on http://www.curlynikki.com that clarifies by adding baking soda to conditioner. More on that later.

*Note: I did not use this Katz brand of ACV for my rinse. I used the regular old generic out of the grocery store -- I actually had some in the house that I use for other reasons... but the pic is so pretty and appetizing looking, that I couldn't resist!