Natural Beauty Products: Burt's Hand Creme

G'day my fellow naturals. Today I've decided to take my site into a new direction. Every so often, I will try to post a review of any natural beauty products that I use. Burt's Bees is currently one of my favorite natural lines, and I am very fond of their lip balms. Since my hands are consistenly in water and harsh detergents and other cleaning agents at work and home, I decided that if I am still going to have fly little hands for my grad pictures (as well as forever!) I need to protect my little beloveds.

burt's shea butter hand repair creme is my new best friend!! A little goes a long way but its so addictive and buttery that I want to use alot, even though that make everything greasy. After I apply it to my oh-so-dry hands, my little digits thank me repeatedly by gracing me with their softness. My hands look good as new every singe time. I encourage everyone to try it but beware, its not cheap! This creme costs $12.99 at the drugstores and online. Another downside: the combination of essential oils and butters makes this heavenly concoction smell like hell. Well...more like noxema (remember that??).

Off to determine my next hairstyle, and study. Finals are coming!!

Later~

--PS...in case you don't want to or can't get to their site, here are the ingredients that are in the creme:

rosa damascena (rose) flower water, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, stearic acid, beeswax, glycerin, sesamum indicum (sesame) seed oil, butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), tocopherol, theobroma cacao (cocoa) seed butter, macadamia ternifolia (macadamia) seed oil, glucose, rosa canina (rosehip) seed oil, lavandula angustifolia (lavender) oil, salix nigra (willow) bark extract, calendula officinalis flower extract, plantago lanceolata (plantain) leaf extract, alchemilla vulgaris (lady’s mantle) extract, rosa damascena (rose) flower oil, citrus aurantium dulcis (orange/neroli) flower oil, borago officinalis (borage) seed oil, sucrose stearate, retinyl palmitate, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) extract, vegetable oil, beta carotene, xanthan gum, sodium borate, glucose oxidase, lactoperoxidase

New Month, New Regimen

Hola Naturals!

With the Fall semester swiftly approaching, I have been frantically trying to find cures for my ever troublesome skin. I thought my skin issues were diet related, you know--too much of one food group or an allergic reaction of some sort. But....my very observant hubby brought to my attention that it could be the shampoo or conditioner I had been using. Thinking back I do realize that my issues have gotten progressively worse since the addition of Herbal Essences Hello Hydration into my regimen. Prior to using this otherwise heavenly conditioner, my skin was just about flawless. I am now doing an experiment to figure out if this conditioner has caused an allergic reaction in the form of acne. I will discontinue the use of HH as well as the consumption of soy-protein laden foods [ie. my beloved Boca products :( ] Without my HH, I need a new condish right? Right!

Since I have the theory that my HH is causing my skin to spaz out, I have sought out hypo-allergenic hair products. When I went to the store earlier I didn't find what I was looking for (Free & Clear ring a bell to anyone?) but at the beauty supply I did happen upon some of Taliah Waajid's natural hair care products. The label on the Enhancing Herbal Conditioner sang to me lol ALL NATURAL INGREDIENTS :) Pure Distilled Water, Anisae, Capsioum Oil, Olive Oil, Wheat Germ, Bees Wax, Aloe Vera, Walnut Oil, Cherry Bark, Calendula, Tyme, Kiola, Quine Seed Complex, Vitamin E, Silk Protein, Apple Extract, Lavender Extract, Balsam Canada, Bay Laurel & Fruit. Doesn't all of that sound yummy?! Lol Well believe me, it is indeed a treat. It smells delicious and it worked wonders after one try.

I can tell the difference between using HH and using this new conditioner. Before my scalp woulod feel itchy in some spots (but that happened every once in a while beforehand b/c my thick head of hair makes it hard to reach my scalp well). I see now that it wasn't just poor rinsing habits and thick hair getting in the way.....something in the HH was making my scalp itch from time to time. I have no problems so far (just washed earlier and air-drying my noticably bigger pony-puff) and I'm loving that. I'm not going to go crazy and buy all of T.W.'s products but I will definitely be making this natural conditioner my new permanent friend given that I don't see/feel any signs of an allergic reaction or anything.

I'll keep you posted on my skin and hair as always,
Lena Jolie

Skin Crisis Averted

This stuff is the best!!!!!!

Hello natural night-owls!! lol I am rarely up at this hour (I likes my sleep, 8 hrs please...haha) and I have never blogged this late before either but everyone is alotted a few random moments every now and then. A few posts back (try last month....lol) I ranted about the issues I was having with my skin. I was trying everything. Neutrogena products, Clean & Clear, my tried and true Proactiv (worked wonders when I started having skin issues in 05-06), and anything else in-between. Well, my dear-sweet-fiance' was always raving about the Dudu Osun Black Soap that he uses. I never used it even though he kept telling me to (I'm so hard-headed lol) just like with Shea Butter; he always told me to use it because its 1) it's natural, 2) it has so many healing properties and skin/hair health benefits, and 3) its just the bomb! The thing is, you really shouldn't use things on your body that you wouldn't put into your body (i.e by eating)--I've always known that, and it's something that should just be like "well, duh!" but everyone doesn't see it like that. I finally gave in to the shea thing earlier this year and I loved it! Best thing ever! But....I didn't stick with using it on a daily basis, I only used it every so often and continued using commercial lotions by Jergens, Johnson & Johnson, etc. *Slaps hand* Bad, I know. But that is going to change.

Back to the soap...........

So by a twist of fate--if you will--a very generous and kind friend of ours gave me a bar of the Dudu Osun soap and some Chinese Ginger Tea when I got sick a few weeks ago. My face was still breaking out like crazy (this was way after my 1st skin crisis post) so it only meant that I needed to try this famous black soap. Ladies.....(and Gents if you're there.....) this Dudu Osun is the TRUTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol I kid you not. Using this soap, you won't need to worry about that dry after-feeling you get from processed, chemical-laced soaps. I won't lie, I love Dove to death---why I didn't wanna let go and use my new find---but even the Sensitive Skin formula left my face dry a lot of the time. With the black soap, I can wash my face and not have to worry about putting on lotion, moisturizer, etc. Even without using Shea after washing with Dudu, my skin felt amazing and has a brilliantly healthy and natural glow. I saw my blemishes fade and the dark spots began to disappear. I figure in a few more weeks, my face will be flawless once again. And I owe it all to my newfound loves: Dudu Osun Black Soap and Shea Butter :) I just bought a 32.oz container of dark yellow shea butter (I hear the darker, the better (ie more vitamins, etc)) and two boxes of Dudu Osun from a vendor at the African World Festival in Downtown Detroit, all for $15--2 for $5 soap and $10 for the large shea container, not bad at all)

I can't wait to see how my skin progresses! I'm also going to modify my vegetarian diet to make sure I get all the nutrients I'm supposed to get

Buenos Noches Amigos!

P.S: Below I am going to list the ingredients in the all-natural Dudu Osun Black Soap and the benefits of Shea Butter.

***Everything as listed on the box/label***

Tropical Naturals Dudu Osun Black Soap:

Ingredients-Pure Honey, Shea Butter, Osun (camwood), Palmkernal oil, Cocoa pod ash, Palm bunch ash, Glycerine, Aloe Vera Juice, Lime juice & oil, Lemon juice & oil, Water & Fragrance.

Dudu Osun is the age-long African black soap made the traditional way by hand from PURE NATURAL INGREDIENTS AND HERBS from the tropical rain forest and savannah regions.

No artificial colors; no preservatives; Bio degradable. Product of Nigeria

http://www.tropical-naturals.com/

African Shea Butter:

100% Natural

African Shea Butter is made from the nut of the African Shea Tree. It contains a rich amount of unremovable fatty acid which renders it far superior to Cocoa Butter an other natural vegetabl butters. This fatty acid is crucial to rejuvenating and moisturizing the skin. Shea Butter provides all the essential vitamins needed to make skin look and feel smoother, softer and most importantly, healthier. Its theraputic properties protect the skin from wind, cold, sun, and it helps heal wounds faster. Shea Butter stimulates cellular activity, fights the effects of aging and repairs rough, damaged skin.

Usage:

1. Treatment of dry skin, eczema, and minor burns.

2. Pain relief from swelling and arthritis.

3. Improves muscle relaxation and stiffness.

4. Sunscreen, due to its rich content of vitamins E & F

5. Treats dark spots, skin discolorations, stretch marks, wrinkles, and blemishes

6. Massages, diaper rash, and as a hair conditioner.

Shea Butter does not expire. Store in a cool place.

Product of Ghana

Hair Danger Zone

Hola natural world, I have returned. School has kept me busy, busy, busy and Spring Break last week made me lazy, lazy, lazy. The last time I posted, I was rocking those sexay kinky twists courtesy of my homegirls at Abass Braiding. I got them done January 17th and kept them in until March 14th. I wanted to keep them longer and probably would have if I hadn't realized that keeping those things in my head would do more harm than good in the long run. Most of you ladies out there already know that with braids and extensions, the risk of getting a receding hairline run high. Having to worry about braids/twists falling out is also an issue some of us worry about. As my second month of having twisted extensions approached, I began to feel like my hair was screaming to be set free lol. My scalp itched like crazy at first and I think it was because my hair wasn't 100% keen on having foreign hair intertwined with it (I've only had twists one other time and different hair was used that time--same for the zillions I had). After the first wash, I was set; oiling my scalp afterward helped too. I mostly wore my hair up or back in a ponytail; eventually the weight of the hair started irritating me and started to make me paranoid thinking of possible breakage and falling out--so I switched up between that and wearing it down. During my last month I decided to wear my hair down with some of the twists from the front pulled back and tied together--and that didn't help my paranoia at all.
I finally decided to take my twists out (March 15th) and let my natural hair be free. I thought I had a significant amount of growth and could not wait to see the stretched out (pressed/flat-ironed) version of my hair. Before I could do that, I washed my hair with Burt's Bees natural shampoo and conditioner in More Moisture Raspberry and Brazil Nut. I wasn't sure how exactly my hair should have felt after using the shampoo (it didn't feel "moisturized", it felt weird lol) and it wasn't supposed to lather since it was natural shampoo, so I didn't know if it was working or not. I conditioned with both the Burts conditioner and my Neutrogena deep conditioner and air dried. I love my hair. Part II coming soon....