Aloe Vera Juice for Natural Hair

Happy New Year to all you curly mamas! Woo hoo! Hope that everyone fulfills their hair goals this year as well as their other goals.

I wanted to talk about aloe vera juice and how I've been using it on my hair for the past two weeks or so. I've been using it only on wash day, after I wash, condition, and rinse. I apply AVJ on my sections, squeeze out the excess liquid, then apply my usual oil mixture to my hair and scalp. Then I proceed with de-tangling, whether or not I use a leave in moisturizer, then braid/twist it up.
First and foremost, I wanted to try using AVJ on my hair because I have heard a ton of great things about it. I always want to go as natural as possible with my hair and body health, so I wanted to give it a try. The day I bought the AVJ from Walmart, there was only one kind left... the one that had extra berry juices in it. Apparently, other people have caught onto the benefits of it and bought out the plain one. I scanned the ingredients for anything foreign, saw nothing, then bought it, the Fruit of the Earth brand.
Aloe vera juice is great for a lot of things, one being balancing the pH in our hair, just like apple cider vinegar does. Here's one article about the benefits of AVJ: http://blackgirllonghair.com/2012/01/4-hair-benefits-of-aloe-vera/
So I am doing it the way I mentioned above, for the last two weeks. I've already seen a difference in my hair. It's mega soft with my oil mixture on top. Now AVJ is an astringent, so it is used as a cleanser as well as other things like skin care, so it has a really squeaky feeling when you smooth it in your hair. It's kind of like the feeling that you get if you totally strip your hair of all dirt and grime and are left with a squeaky clean head. But it moisturizes at the same time. It also feels good because AVJ has to be refrigerated, so when I pour it into my hair with my dispenser bottle, the coldness feels awesome on my scalp lol!
I don't rinse the AVJ out; I leave it in, massage it into my scalp and my whole head. My oil mixture (see here http://curlsofinnocence.blogspot.com/p/my-hair-regimen.html) goes on top and then I de-tangle, then twist and braid the sections. For stretch, I put the twists into one big fat bun, and even though it takes longer for my hair to air dry that way, my hair is stretched and extra soft when it does dry.
Last night, I deep conditioned my hair, rinsed it out after two hours, and then tried using the AVJ the same way. Awesome results again! My hair is softer because of the DC/light protein treatment that I use. Don't even have to use a moisturizer with this stuff. I've seen a change... my hair appears a little stronger and silkier.
So, I will be sticking to this for as long as it works. ;)
How do you guys use AVJ if you do use it? What changes have you seen?

Peace out and Happy New Year again!

~Epic Realist~

New Year and New Homemade Deodorant!

Happy New Year, guys! So thankful to be alive to see 2013. No more drama about the December 12, 2012 'Doomsday', eh? Yay for that.
Well, today, I am starting off the new year with something new... something that does not pertain to hair. I will use this blog for all of my homemade concoctions. I believe in being resourceful and making what we can with natural products and our own two hands.
That being said, I browsed YouTube for natural deodorant videos. I have been meaning to do this for months anyway, but I put it off because I kept ordering an all natural deodorant online or buying it from Walmart (Toms of Maine), but I trust nothing. They say that it's organic, but it might not be. You've got to be really careful with so-called organic products. Yeah, so they take out aluminum, but what else still lies within it? Besides, the prices of these things are beyond ridiculous sometimes. I'm tired of buying something that can easily be created and has the same, if not better, results.

So I found a video about making homemade deodorant and finally tried it. I had all the ingredients already on hand. Yay for me!

Here's a video of where I got the idea and recipe. She also has a blog post about it. http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2010/02/homemade-all-natural-deodorant.html

 So I followed the recipe with the above products.

Ingredients:

6-8 Tbsp Coconut oil (solid state)
1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup arrowroot powder or cornstarch (arrowroot is preferred)

Directions:

1. Combine equal portions of baking soda & arrowroot powder/cornstarch.
2. Slowly add coconut oil and work it in with a spoon or hand blender until it maintains a firm but pliable texture. It should be about the same texture as commercial deodorant, solid but able to be applied easily. If it is too wet, add further arrowroot powder/cornstarch to thicken.
3. You can either scoop this recipe into your old deodorant dispensers or place in a small container with lid and apply with fingers with each use. Makes about 1 cup. This recipe lasts about 3 months for two people with regular daily use.

When I finished mixing this, it was more runny than I wanted it to be. So I added more cornstarch. That was because my coconut wasn't in it's fully hard state; it was slightly soft when I used it. But I didn't want it as hard as hers was, anyway. Looked like it was hard as hell to mash down. I added cornstarch until I got a consistency that I liked.
Then I tried it on my underarms. It felt good... not sticky or slimy. A tad bit oily, no white residue, overall awesome feeling. Oh, and I added a few drops of my favorite lavender oil for smell. So far, no stinky armpits! I will keep testing this out. If it works, then I'm never buying commercial deodorants again, and not even the ones online that claim to not have any chemicals. This homemade method is cheap as dirt and effective for a lot of people. I am eliminating chemicals and costs one by one.
My next goal is to create home made toothpaste. There are ways. Keep trying me. Hehe. >:-)
I need to research using cornstarch on hair... if that is a good idea or not. I know that baking soda isn't good to be left on hair; it's a cleaning agent. I liked the consistency that it created in the deodorant that I made... perfect for a hair product. I doubt it, but you never know. When you go natural, you should truly go natural... with everything!
It's a great lifestyle change, but it's so worth not depending on companies for everything, thus saving tons of money.

Hope you guys enjoyed this post. Let me know if you have tried this or something similar, or would like to try it. Peace out till later, curly mamas! Stay natural!

~Epic Realist~