Review: Shea Moisture Conditioning Curl & Style Milk

Shea Moisture's Curl & Style Milk
for Thick, Curly Hair

I've been hearing so much about the Shea Moisture line and have been wanting to try it out.  All of the products are made from natural ingredients which is a plus.  The haircare items seem to be targeted mostly at people with curly or even kinky hair.  Since they carry it at my local Target store I thought I would finally give it a whirl.

Now remember, my guidelines are the following:

• It has to be affordable (the amount vs. the price)
• It needs to be easily accessible (if I can get it locally this is a plus)
• It has to work for my hair (kinky, curly), my husbands' straight hair (in most cases) and our kids' 3b/3c curly hair

I most recently purchased the Organic Coconut & Hibiscus Conditioning Curl & Style Milk.  I paid $9.99 USD for an 8 oz./237 ml. size bottle.  The texture is a lightweight, creamy consistency and, in my opinion, has a strong pina colada fragrance.  Since this line is geared towards curly hair, I'm not expecting my husband to rave about it but he has been known to dabble in my products.  As for me and my kids, it worked differently for all of us.  My twins have fluffy, big curls that have a satiny feel (3b).  This product weighed their hair down and made it look a tiny bit greasy.  (I normally use Giovanni Direct Leave-In to moisturize their hair and will continue to do so once this runs out.)  My oldest son has longer (3b/3c) hair and, while this made his hair soft and easier to manage, it did not provide enough hold for his curls to last all day.  His hair tends to get really puffy without something to weigh the curls down. 

For my hair which is a 4a/4b texture, I was really happy with how soft my hair felt after using it.  My hair definitely felt moisturized and more manageable.  Another plus was how much softer my hair felt when I used it under my Olive Oil Eco Styler Gel.  The only thing I didn't like is how fast I was going through the product.  We were already halfway through the bottle after a little over 1 week.  Once I saw this, I started to reach for my Palmers Coconut Oil Replinishing Hair Milk instead in order to save on this product.

Overall, I think the Shea Moisture Curl & Style Milk is great as a leave-in type moisturizer that makes the hair soft and manageable.  However, I have achieved similar results by using my Aloe Vera/ Leave-in Conditioner spray and sealing with oil.  Follow that with the Palmer's to make the curls pop and I'm good to go.  I probably won't purchase this product again based on the little amount you get for the price.  I'm happiest with products that work for all of us and our different textures so getting more for less is a huge factor.  Still it's worth a try if you're looking for a good water based moisturizer and the price falls within your budget.

1400 YouTube Subscribers!

Many of my friends and family are amused when I tell them about my YouTube videos.  Most of the time I don't even want them to watch because I feel a little silly.  All I talk about is hair so I figure they won't really get why I do them anyway.  As for my YouTube family, there is still so much I want to share. 

My first video was just to show others how I transitioned from Relaxed to Natural Hair.  I was so happy to see all of the positive comments and decided to do update videos to show my progress.  With each video, I received questions which ended up leading to another episode. 





The first time I saw that I had subscribers on my YouTube channel I was shocked.  I didn't really think that I had much more to offer than any other Natural on YouTube.  This is what sort of kept me going though.  Ever since those first two subbies, I've been posting more and more content on my hair journey.  I checked to see how many I was up to today and saw that I have a little over 1400 subscribers!  I know that there are "Hair Gurus" out there who have waaay more but I am blown away by that number.  These are all people who for one reason or another genuinely would like to see more content from lil' ole me! 

I wish that I could post more often but my dinosaur of a computer is a real drag when it comes to video editing.  Hopefully I'll be able to push out a couple of vids here soon to feed the masses.  In the meantime, I just hope that my place in YouTubia is a help to someone out there who is looking for more information on how to go natural.


CLICK HERE to see my Channel, "mitchellzee", on YouTube

Gettin' My Natural Back

One of my favorite places to stock up on
products for my Natural hair care

I have finally decided what my hair goals are for 2011.  I've been thinking about this quite a bit because I wanted to come up with something that I can go after without burning out.  My main goal is to retain as much length as possible this year.  Healthy hair grows.  So I am updating my regimen to coincide with my new attitude towards my hair. 

Many of my YouTube subscribers are aware that I flat iron my hair at least one time each month.  I even did a few videos on how I get my hair bone straight.  After trimming away heat damaged ends earlier this month, I can see that this routine has taken its' toll.  I'm not saying that I won't straighten my hair again but, I definitely want to start using a lot less heat from now on.  Which brings me to my next goal which is to use little to no heat.  This means wearing my hair up in protective styles or curly with wash n' go's.  I also have rollersets and my newly revamped braidout method to play with so I can still be fabulous without the straight look. 

This new attitude is making me reconsider some of the products I have been playing with for the past few months.  Something keeps bringing me back to my old stand-bys like unrefined shea butter, apple cider vinegar rinses and Dr. Bronner's Liquid Castille Soap for my homemade shampoo mix.  I'm even thinking about making up some Flax Seed Gel for the first time so that I can finally set aside my Eco Styler gel.  So today I'm going to stop by my favorite natural grocery store and stock up on the things I need to get back to Natural.  I'll probably head over to T.J. Maxx too just to see if they have those liter bottles of Giovanni products in stock.  My adventures in silicones & sulfates land are coming to an end and I think I'm gonna just stick to what I know for right now.  My hair just responds best to things that have natural ingredients.  Why did I ever stray?

New Year, New Trim



My new Stainless Steel Sheers by Conair

I was looking at my hair for the past few months and noticing that my curl pattern had gotten looser.  I knew that henna can have this effect so I added amla powder to my last few applications to prevent this from happening any further.  After wearing my hair straight twice in December, I was pretty sure that I was experiencing some heat damage.  My hair texture is thinner in the front so it always happens there first.  The rest of my hair was still curly but not as thick as before.  After using my Aubrey Organics GPB conditioner for a couple of light protein treatments, I knew that my hair, although it looked better, still needed a trim. 



My stretched hair just before
trimming the first section



I was due for a trim this month anyway so I figured why not invest in some new sheers.  I bought the stainless steel hair sheers by Conair.  I was surprised to find them in a kit that also came with a cape...COOL!  Instead of flat ironing my hair again, I decided to do the trim on stretched hair.  This method showed me that it is possible to do a trim without using heat.  I decided to go for it and take off a little more than the usual 1/8" to 1/4".  I cut a full 1/2" off of each section!  That is a whole months' growth for me but it was definitely worth it. 

Front View
Thicker, Curlier Hair with Shape

The result...MY CURLS ARE BACK!  I'm so excited because my hair has not been this thick and curly for so long.  The bangs are still pretty loose but I'm okay with that.  The other thing that decided to join the party is my crazy shrinkage.  My hair looks really short since the trim even though it's still past my shoulders in the back.  This is exciting because I didn't actually have to cut very much in order to get back where I wanted to be.  I'm still serious about achieving great lengths with my hair this year.  Now, with the trim, I have the healthy ends I need to start things off right.  







Back View
Looks short but it's still
past shoulder length