First ACV Rinse and LENGTH CHECK!

Heya, curlies! Today is Halloween, but I don't really celebrate that, so sorry; I don't have any Halloween hair ideas or anything. lol
I want to talk about my first ACV rinse that I did in my hair, and my length check!
Video is self explanatory... wish I could embed the YouTube one here but for some reason, that never works out for me in blogger... no clue why. Enjoy, though! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc2lVD8IzvY

ACV is an abbreviation for apple cider vinegar, commonly used by naturals for cleansing the hair of everything in a natural way. ACV also balances the pH of your hair, which in turn makes your curls 'pop'. It closes your cuticles as well... I'm honestly not sure how good that is for your scalp, but that's one of the attributes. ACV is gaining popularity because of the extremely clean feeling it leaves your hair with.
Now don't get me wrong, the stuff stinks to high heavens. When I first heard of it, I was like, apple cider vinegar? I didn't think vinegar belonged in hair! But there are studies that say that vinegar itself is awesome for a total clean.
So I went to Walmart and found the cheapest bottle of ACV I could find. I don't remember the price (I bought it last month), but it was between 5-7 bucks in the salad dressing aisle. I just used it for the first time this Sunday, and it was amazing!
First, I washed my hair with a cheap (VO5) sulfate shampoo to get the last two weeks of gunk out of my hair. I did this over the kitchen sink because I didn't feel like hopping in the shower at the time. Then I mixed the ACV in a small dispenser bottle with less ACV than water, then shook it up. I hated the smell; it smelled like rotten apples that had been sitting in a dumpster for months! >_< Then little by little, I squirted the mixture onto my my whole head, scalp and all. I massaged it in for about five minutes, then rinsed it out. The smell was barely there anymore after rinsing, and my hair felt amazing!

The curls were seriously popping, and I was able to see every hair texture in my head! I have several hair textures. My new red color was popping, too. My scalp felt a little dry, but overall super CLEAN! I love the feeling that the ACV left me with.

Now of course, I wasn't going to leave my hair like this, so I applied my oil mixture to my hair (EVOO, peppermint oil, castor oil) rubbed that in, then applied my Shea Moisture Deep Treatment Masque. I love this stuff; it's so buttery and soft. I like to use it as a leave in. My hair stays incredibly soft when I do that. SO I just twisted and did bantu knots around my head, de-tangling each section while doing so.

Hardly NO hair came out in the detangling process. I was amazed! My hair shed way more than this last week when I washed. I don't know if it was the ACV that prevented the shedding or what, but it's now part of my monthly routine. Probably instead of using a sulfate shampoo monthly to cleanse my hair, I'll use the ACV instead. Hooray for more discoveries! ;)

Hope you guys enjoyed this post! What are your experiences with ACV? How does your hair like it? Tell meh here or on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Curls-of-Innocence/256662627753918?ref=hl

Until next time, curly mamas! Peace!

~Epic Realist~

Third Time Around: KCCM Challenge, WEEK 4

So, I'm doing the KCCM challenge yet again. Looks like I'm going to be continuously doing these until I win (hehe), so I might as well same some of my answers here to copy and paste for the future. If there are any changes, I will make them on the challenge page. 

1. There are so many products on the market, what are your favorites for washing? What are your favorites for moisturizing/styling? What qualities does a product have to have in order to become one of your favorites?

I LOVE all Shea Moisture shampoos. They are a staple for me until I actually feel like trying something else. I also love anything Shea Moisture... their conditioners, their deep conditioners, everything. I tend to use their deep conditioners as a leave in, especially the deep treatment masque in the tan packaging. A product has to be at least 90% natural for me to even consider it. No mineral oil, no waxes, sulfates, or parabens, and especially no odd colors.

2. Since using the castor oil, has your hair seen any of the benefits listed in the list above? Which ones?

Oh, yes. I have had lots of growth as usual, as well as baby soft hair. Since the last two challenges I've participated in, I have grown in my baby hairs very well, and dandruff is a thing of the past.

3. How did you use Castor Oil in your hair last week (week 3). Did you find yourself losing momentum or are you still going hard?

I never lose momentum. LOL! I am still going hard, using castor oil on my scalp every other day, on my edges, and on my ends.

4. (optional) Share a pic of your natural hair in one of your favorite styles!

Done! I LOVE braid outs.

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I hope that you guys are getting great results as well with this. I love castor oil!

~Epic Realist~

Clarifying Shampoo With LCO Method

Hola, guys! Last week, I got a new shampoo. Yes, I actually got something other than Shea Moisture. I didn't have the money to spend on getting their black soap shampoo, and I desperately needed something to clean my scalp raw because I hadn't done that in... over a year. -__-

I initially wanted to use apple cider vinegar for that, but I couldn't find any to save my life. So, instead of breaking the bank, I got something cheap from Dollar Tree. I haven't used any VO5 products in years, and I mean since I was a teenager. I got a shampoo and a cheap conditioner to go along with it. I didn't care. Hey, it was a dollar and it had sulfates. I just needed something to make my scalp and hair squeaky clean.

It worked, all right. My hair was smelling good, and it squeaked like mad. It felt so weird because I hadn't used a sulfate shampoo in over two years now, and my hair felt completely stripped. But that's how it needed to feel. I read  a lot of hair advice still, and products can get built up on your scalp and hair and nothing but sulfates will be able to remove them. I've known this for a long time, but I was never serious about implementing it.

So now I finally have something. My hair was as dry as ever afterwards, though! LOL! I was laughing and freaking out at the same time. I used both of them, and when I came out of the shower, I immediately threw some of my SM Deep Treatment Masque in my hair as a leave in and put castor oil on top of each section and de-tangled with my paddle brush. Then I braided them up.

I have been experimenting with the LCO (liquid, cream, oil) method rather than the LOC (liquid, oil, cream) method. Some people say that the LCO works better for them. I'm beginning to think that my hair likes the LCO method better as well, because with the oil on top, it really penetrates my hair better than it being put on before the cream. Still playing around with it so I can know for sure.

My hair still wasn't as soft as it used to be when I took the braids out two days later, so I did a deep condition with SM Anti Breakage Masque... for about six hours. Loved the results. My hair was back to normal softness and fluffiness. Panic attack was over. Haha!

I've decided that I'm going to use this shampoo once a month only just to clarify my hair from crap. It's an addition to my hair regimen. My hair is in a good place right now, and I'm super happy with it. Growing a lot, no more major shedding, very minimal breakage and split ends, no heat usage, no comb usage (except parting and wash day) protective styling, soft, fluffy, and... being grabbed by my almost one year old daughter. :-) My hair nowadays reminds me of Naptural85's hair. She's one of my favorite hair bloggers. Yay for hair health!

Here's some recent pics of my hair in a braid out. Yesterday was my anniversary, and that's the pic of me in the blue shirt. <3 

Check out what I've been homeschooling meh kids! uncagedlearning.blogspot.com

Personal blog http://epicrealist.blogspot.com/

Peace out, curly mamas!