African Pride Shea Butter Miracle Buttery creme

I di not have high hopes for this product. I had used Beautiful Textures Curl Control Defining Pudding and  HATED it. So since i found out these very may well be the SAME product (Click the link for more info) CLICK ME TO FIND OUT THE TRUTH. THE RED OR THE BLUE PILL?

I was mad. Anyway i was messing around on the weekend and decided to give this product a whirl. I was looking really for a hair moisturiser and something thick and heavy, not really a styler since i don't wear wash and go's and hairstyles of that nature.  I also do not mess with my hair when wet so all pictures are of DRY hair.


Lets go!

 Ingredients: ( i spy a cone.)

( if you can't see the pics and want the full ingredient list, leave a comment or go to the contact me section of the blog and ask me on twitter or email me and I'll write it out for you )


Anyway on hair that had been moisturised with rosewater glycerine, i applied the buttery creme. My hair was dry and just taken out of a braid

Before

 After ( sorry about the pic quality)

I then was bored and put it all over my head in a bantu knot for maybe half an hour.

If you already have a curl pattern blah blah blah it does define it. Here's another random pic

Sorry my other pictures are all really BAD.

The product does not elongate like it claims, but it does define hair when added and also when used for  twist outs( my twist out pics were worse than these!) I don't wear my hair out like these pictures but if somebody does wear  wash and go style i would probably use this and then maybe some sort of gel on top. It is quite good. I think it would be fab on a nice short cut.

I however wanted it for its moisturising properties and its just OK. I feel like it leaves a residue/film and my hair does not feel properly moisturised if you get  what I'm saying. It has a nice smell.

Its claims:

African Pride®’s Shea Butter Miracle™ Butter Créme gives amazing manageability, softness and shine to naturally Curly, Wavy, Kinky-Coily Mixed Textures, plus perfect for Transitioners.

Benefits:

• Nourish & Soften Curls, Coils and Waves
• Stretch & Elongate Curls and Kinky-Coils
• Smooth and Tame Frizz

I would say it does smooth and tame frizz but any elongation properties are temporary. 

It was £2.79 for a 6oz jar and i think its very good for the price considering its performance and the ingredients( apart from that cone) don't seem to be bad at all.


Thumbs up as a styler but since i wear my hair in "in styles" i may not repurchase.

Seeing Double AKA The curious case of African pride, beautiful textures, nice and curly AND III sisters of nature.

My Sherlock Holmes Icon is warranted. Over the past couple of months I've seen curl products pop up in the Afro hair shop. Dr Miracles have come out with a line ( yeah really, after the curls are yuck, straight is good advertising line they've been peddling for the past couple of years) ORS curls unleashed, sofnfree nothing but curls, III sisters of nature, beautiful textures and I'm sure many more will reach our shores.

Well last week i spied that African Pride have come out with a "back to natural" range for mixed textures. I opened the bottles and immediately the smell and texture of the products harkened back to the beautiful textures products i had used. ( with not great results)

Today i spied the "nice and curly" range and the gel of that range smelt suspiciously like the III sisters of nature products. Which i used to disastrous results!

Well silly me bought them anyway. I bought the Shea butter miracle moisture intense buttery creme from African pride and the Nice and curly same day repair creme conditioner.


At the shop i was convinced that maybe the products that smelt and felt the same were perhaps using the same base ingredients, so when  i got home some internet sleuthing was needed.  The results are turned up made me realise what an idiot i had been!

The African pride back to natural range and the Beautiful textures range have the same product design! The only difference is the African pride packaging is made up of orange yellow and green and the beautiful textures is red orange and yellow. They even have the same circular flourishes and language.
DUH!!!!

Anyway they are both produced by strength of nature. The only difference is African pride products are cheaper than beautiful textures. Even the photography and makeup of the models is the same! Oh more fool me.


Now onto III sisters of nature who i found out fall under the umbrella of the rastagroup. They make the Jamaican mango and lime stuff amongst others. Well nice and curly is made by them too! Again i don't know whats going on in terms of performance and I'm not sure about the price point either. The products had just come into the shop today and the guy just made up a price for me.

Anyway I'm not sure why this whole same product in different packaging shenanigans is going on for, but I'll tr out both products this week.

Clarins Rouge Prodige 110 Litchi Lipstick review/swatch

I really like this lipstick. Its a pinky brown lip colour that glides on smoothly is very moisturising and smells lovely. In terms of packaging and texture the revlon lip butters look like  a direct rip off to me , however for someone like me with naturally dark pigmented lips the colour pay off of the clarins is better.

Its a lovely shade and a great pink for darker complexions if you don't want to go bright or neon, but understated and pretty.

Does it last? It claims to, but in my opinion all lipsticks have to be reapplied and to be honest I'm always eating when i go out so i can't really gauge its long lasting claims.

Dominican Blow out in London. Dominican hair republic salon review

Sorry i've been away. Moving plus stomach problems plus losing camera= madness.

So lets start this review off.  For the past couple of years the Dominican blow out and Dominican hair products have been popular on various internet channels. From websites to blogs to forums. The Dominican blow out has been praised by some and damned by others. Its either a affordable way to get straight hair or  damaging to hair and a  physically painful experience.
In the part of London i live in there is a huge Latin American contingent, however very few from the Spanish Caribbean, therefore you may find south American hairdressers but not specifically Dominican. 
However i spotted Dominican hair republic, and after researching  found out that its been open for over two years!
Now i had been scared off by reports from the US. That natural hair is frowned upon, you'll be pressurised to  a perm, they will hit you with a broom and tell you to exit their establishment if you dare to show up with natural Afro hair and so forth. ( I'm just kidding on the last one!)
But i was going to  take one for the team.

I went in a couple of days before and talked to the owner about getting a blow out. To be honest due to the language constraints i wasn't sure if we fully understood each other, but i think we both got the gist.

I went in on a Saturday and there was only one hairdresser( not the owner). The other 3 people were also Spanish speakers so there was a little awkwardness at the beginning as we were all 

But with the offering of a celebrity gossip magazine all Ice was broken! They were lovely, warm and very hospitable. Soon we were getting on fabulously.

So the actually salon is very clean and nicely decorated. It reminds me of a nice living room, very warm and welcoming and spacious. It was very light and airy as well.

I was offered a coffee and i got down to waiting. It took AGES! So if you are in a hurry, please do not expect to get down soon. There was only one hairdresser and she's thorough so go on a day where you don't have anything and go early. ( They open 10:am). I'm used to waiting in hairdressers so I'm just warning you. ( its a black thing)

The clientele and their hair was diverse. Naturally straight/wavy, relaxed, me a natural and a  greedy weave*.  There were Spanish and non Spanish speakers and all ethnicities so don't fell no way about going there whoever you are and whatever your hair type.

So anyway. I got a wash, deep condition, roller-set, blown out and flat iron. The roller-set itself gets your ends straight so if i had a looser hair type or a relaxer , a light blow out is all you need after that.

I totally forgot to see what products she was using. But they smelt nice. 

 I have natural Afro type 4 hair and the hairdresser was gentle, i had no pain and the heat was not too hot at all. I was expecting hot hot heat, the type known only in the underworld. But it was nothing! No burnt ears, no burnt neck, the dryer wasn't that hot either. It was kinda a let down lol.

Now i know what your here for. The pictures *insert glorai swanson in sunset boulevard photo*

My hair is quite thin and flyaway, that's just genetics mayne, and I'm mad I'm STILL shoulder length like really? My hair grows sooo slowly its ridiculous. Anyway its weird having straight hair but its fuzzified now and i like wearing it up and experimenting with hairstyles.  Its been good actually. I feel like such a bad natural. All for only £20. ( at time of going to print)

So in conclusion

Pros
Gentle handling
Welcoming and polite
Thorough and precise and great hairdresser
Can deal with ALL hair types
Affordable
Cons
Wait time
Language barrier- I used my tiny Spanish knowledge 


Will I go back again. YES. Do i highly recommend them. YES

Their website, including address and contact info
http://www.dominicanhr.com/aboutus.html

*Greedy weave- a weave excessively long and thick. Hence the name greedy. "You're already getting a weave girl, don't be greedy."