Less than Thrilled

...with Kinky Curly's deliver time, that is. I ordered two products from their website: the spiral spritz and the gloss pomade. I placed my order on January 21 at 1:30 pm and UPS tracking tells me that the scheduled delivery date is February 2. That's a whopping 13 days! Nearly two weeks for delivery seems extraordinary. This is consistent with negative reviews I read online. I'll be sure to let you all know if the products were worth the wait.

READ the instructions, goofy Stacy!

Here is my first official product review. All products will be given CURLS instead of STARS (idea borrowed from curlymart.com) on a 1 to 5 curl scale with 5 curls being the best:

1. Kinky Curly "Come Clean" shampoo 8 oz $12.00: 5 curls! Reason: All of their products are organic, cruelty free, and made in the USA. This shampoo really gets the hair super clean and I recommend using it no more than once per week. If you require more washings, use a conditioner to wash your hair in between uses. Yes, I said use a CONDITIONER to wash your hair if you desire to cleanse but not STRIP your curls in between washings with Come Clean. This still sounds like a weird concept to me but my hair is LOVING it! (Product is clear and smells grapefruity - feel free to steal that word).
   
2. Kinky Curly "Knot Today" leave-in conditioner/detangler 8 oz $12.00: 5 curls! This detangled my hair so well that I was honestly shocked. First, can I testify and admit that I did not know that SHORT hair could get tangled!!! "What the heck is THIS madness" is all I kept thinking. LOL! This is a wonderful detangler - the comb will literally GLIDE through your hair. (product is white and smells like pina colada)
   
3. Kinky Curly "Curling Custard" styling gel 16oz $30.00: 6 curls! "But Stacy, I thought you said that a product could only get FIVE curls!?" This product is so amazing that I not only gave it 5 curls but I gave it some EXTRA CREDIT too! LOL! Honestly, I could not rave about it until my third try. The first two times I had towel dried my hair and then applied the product. I didn't love it at first because, well, frankly my hair looked the same. In my frustration I had a thought: "READ THE INSTRUCTIONS, GOOFY STACY!" Eureka! The container states plainly, "Apply to WET HAIR. USING A TOWEL WILL CAUSE FRIZZ." Reading is SO fundamental. It defines my curls and is not greasy AT ALL. It dries clean and does not flake. Noteworthy: depending on your hair thickness it can take a few hours to dry. (product is opaque white and smells like pina colada) *please check youtube for application videos.
   
4. Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding: 3.5 curls! I was shocked at how TINY the 2 oz. jar is. $7 for 2 oz. is kinda crazy. LOL! Made in the USA. Intended to give shiny, stretched out curls. I put this product on my wet hair and did itty bitty spiral curls all over my head. Honestly, it was time-consuming and I hated how long and laborious the task was. Ugh! I don't mind hard work but this was more than a notion! My curls were pretty and defined but this is a job that will FOREVERMORE be outsourced to my stylist. :0) Big drawback: When dry, this stuff FLAKES in your hair like fine dandruff (product is purple and heavily scented with some sort of miscellaneous fruit - I like the smell but may be too much for some)

I hope you can clearly see my hair in the before and after pictures. Before is on the left and after is on the right. The only products I used in the after picture are the Kinky Curly products reviewed in this post. I think it's hilarious that my ears are hidden by my fro in the first photo!

Quote of the day comes from my teenager: "The before picture looks like a close-up of a microphone."

Flow with it,

Natural Ramblings

Lady-in-waiting

Okay people...I ordered PRODUCTS. I have spent the past year investigating which hair care products are all the rave for naturally curly/kinky hair. Here is the general progression that most women go through: they begin with Carol's Daughter products, then they transition to Miss Jessie's, and eventually end up using Kinky Curly. And THEN they may go back to Miss Jessie's because Kinky Curly products can be difficult to find due to high demand.

Me? After scouring the net for a website or physical store where I could purchase two or more Kinky Curly products in one place, I found http://www.curlmart.com/ . After talking to people who have transitioned from relaxed to natural hair, I was convinced that I needed at least two important Kinky Curly products: "Knot today" leave-in conditioner and "Curling Custard" styling gel. I also opted to purchase Kinky Curly's shampoo. And last of all: Miss Jessie's curly pudding to help elongate and define my curls after a double-twist heat set. In case you lost track, that's four products. I spent $62 and received free shipping through a promotion of "free shipping if you spend $60 or more".

Whew! All of these organic/mineral oil free/paraben free/protein free/free free free stuff sure did cost me a lot of money! LOL! That's more than a notion! Especially when I consider the one beautiful sista with a gorgeous fro who told me "Honestly, I just use plain old OLIVE OIL in my pantry now." W-o-w.

According to UPS tracking, my box will be here on Thursday. I'll be sure to post before and after pictures.

Oh yeah...at http://www.naturallycurly.com/ I learned that my hair type is 4a. Go see what your's is and let me know.

Flow with it,

Natural Ramblings aka Stacy aka Rockstar

The dreaded "R" word!!! Mwahahahahah!

R-E-G-R-E-T!!!

Just joking. LOL! But seriously, I had to stop and ask myself this morning: "Self" "Yes, Stacy" "Are y0u having second thoughts about this fro thing?" "Um, are you serious?' "(sigh) YES, I'm serious" "(Self picks up cell phone and begins dialing)" "Who are you calling?! I just asked you a question!" "I'm calling Kenya to see if she threw our hair away yet. Maybe she can weave it back in. You always say that HUMAN hair is better than synthetic." "Stacy thumps Self on the head."

Okay, so I'm embellishing. But here's my conclusion: I have officially learned that I can make a decision, not like the immediate results of the decision, but still be grateful for the decision. So THERE. Sort of like trading in your SUV for a Prius: you may HATE the confined space initially but you're so grateful the first time you go to fill up your tank - four months later! LOL!

Quote of the day:

"You look BEE-U-TEE-FUL! Just always wear your wedding ring so
nobody thinks you're gay."

Uuuummmm....don't married/committed gay people wear wedding rings also? Too funny!

Hair care of the day: rinsed hair with plain water in shower and applied "kizzi's stay put pomade" to wet hair. The fro is thick and healthy.

Gotta love it.

Flow with it,

Natural Ramblings

Day 1 TWA (teeny weeny afro)

Soooo, Kenya cut my shoulder-length hair off late last night. Frankly, I was tired of the transition and wanted to be rid of all chemically processed hair - once and for all. I did let it grow for approx. three months - so I have about 2 inches of length.

It was scary and exhilarating all at once! I looked in the mirror and did not love what I saw - but I'm still happy with my decision. Weird, huh? I think that I look like a cute boy (low on "cute" and high on "boy"). LOL! Willis' response was "I hope it grows back." Awww. Isn't he just SO optimistic and cheerful??? That's my boo. He's honest and I love him for it. I'm just grateful that my non-violent husband didn't wake up in the middle of the night and start punching me in the head because he thought a man had climbed into bed with him! My baby boy keeps stopping in his tracks and stating "I'm so not used to seeing your hair so short!" Bless his heart: he's only ever seen Mommy with shoulder-length or longer hair.

My teenager's response was "Oh. It's not as bad as I thought it would be." Yes, son, my thought exactly. :0)

Hair product used today: Carol's Daughter Kizzi "Stay-Put" Hair Pomade. Staying away from ALL products that contain mineral oil or petroleum

Flow with it,

Natural Ramblings

P.S. I'm about to go workout and looking forward to not being concerned with tying my hair up!