Savvy Sammy

A few months back I was in Target picking up some household items and somehow ended up in the Hair and Beauty Isle. I swear I had no intention of purchasing yet another hair product. I just wanted to browse (LiesToldOnSavvySammy.com)

But this product caught my eye and had me at Hellurrrrr! I think the creator known as BlackOnyx on YouTube is a marketing genius just off the product packaging alone!! It was just so darn beautiful and then I did the proverbial sniff-sniff and knew I had found a new baby for my stash.

Purchase: Target.com or Alikaynaturals.com

Price: $12.99 for 8oz or $19.99 for 16oz

Alikay's Claims: "The PERFECT moisture solution for ALL HAIR TYPES A lightweight leave in conditioner that penetrates deep into hair cortex to lock in moisture, soften, strengthen and condition each strand. Infused with Essential oils, Aloe Vera and Silk Amino Acid that repair dry damaged hair to promote moisture from the inside the cuticle. The lemon zest scent is yummy and refreshing. Hair will feel silky soft and ready to be styled pretty"

Key Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice(Aloe Vera Juice) , Cetearyl Alcohol(Coconut derived), Stearalkonium Chloride(Coconut derived), Silk Amino Acids(Natural protein), Vegetable Glycerin, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ Oil, Cymbopogon Flexosus ( Lemongrass) Oil Extract, Behentrimonium Methosulfate (Natural Detangling Agent), Sorbic Acid(Food Grade Preservative), Fragrance (Parfum), Color Additives, Botanical Blend

Stand-Out Ingredients: 1. Silk Amino Acid: Natural water soluble protein source, penetrates deep into hair to strengthen, nourish and rebuild damaged hair cuticle. Moisture binding properties repair and protect hair.2. Aloe Vera Juice: Moisturizes and conditions, Smoothes hair cuticle, seals moisture in, Strengthens cortex of damaged hair 3. Lemongrass Oil : Strengthens hair follicles, reduces hair shedding, Promotes shine and volume

Directions: When using as a leave in- After washing hair, Spray on wet hair. Be sure to saturate each strand of hair, to ensure proper coverage. Style as usual. Can also be used as a daily moisturizing spray, simply spray onto hair then style as usual.

Savvy's Claims:

This has been my staple leave-in for the past 8 months. I just ordered my 3rd bottle. If I had to use one word to describe how I feel about this product it will have to be supercalifragilisticexpialidocious but that would not be fair to you guys!

This product appealed to my sense of sight, smell and touch from the jump!

I LOVE the product packaging - I feel like if I stare at it long enough I'll be transported to a tropical Island laying up in a Cabana sipping on some Mai Tais.

It comes in the spray pump bottle and distributes evenly throughout the hair.

The consistency is perfect. It's light and runny but not watery- it definitely has some level of viscosity to it due to the Shea Butter.

I've use this leave- in on wet hair after my wash as well as dry hair for a refresher and each time it leaves my hair soft and very moisturized. It really does hydrate my strands and makes detangling a whole lot easier. I also use this on my daughter's natural hair especially after the pool because the chlorine leaves her hair so dry and rough and it just melts into her hair as well. I can spray my hair with this every single day but there's no product build up or tacky feel. Most importantly it does not weigh my hair down and provides moderate shine.

The only critique I can possibly have for this product is that the lemon-y smell is on fleek so if you're averse to strong scents you may not dig it. I promise you it's not overpowering though. It eventually fades away. If you love citrus-y scents you're going to adore this product because not only does it smell like a lemon Meringue pie....it performs as claimed.

Thus far the best Leave-In conditioner I've used and my absolute favorite on wash days. It's attained Holy grail status and I will continue to purchase as long as they make it.

Who amongst you have tried this Leave-In?

Chime in below and let me know.

Love Out Loud

Sammy

Hello again. I'm treating myself and hopefully everyone else reading to two posts in one day. Yay!!

So based on my pics info on my phone my last wash day was 5/9. It was short and sweet by design because my boo and I had tickets to Kevin Hart at the Miami Airlines Arena.

Pre-poo(Friday night) : So what I thought was going to be an overnight pre poo turned into a co-wash and DC all in one step. I used my absolutely favorite co-wash conditioner and mixed it with an old time staple from back in the day. Errr-Maaaa-Gawd!!!!! I'm calling them my Dynamic Duo.
Talk about soft, slippery, silky hair. Yes Lawd!!! My Double D's (see what I did there?) allowed me to detangle in-shower without ANY issues.

Leave- Ins:

Applied L.C.O style.

Style: Flat Ironed hair on 310 degrees . Two passes to NG and one pass on rest of hair. Guys my hair did not stand a chance against this Florida heat. Add the fact that I was rushing and the humidity, I was sweating a lot and my hair again started to revert before I even left the house. Grrrrrrrrrrrr!!! I've had enough direct heat on my hair for 2015 though. So far I've flat ironed my hair 4 times this year.

Flat ironing has become my safe haven for taming my new growth especially when am in a time crunch. But no more. Time for a no heat challenge. And definitely time for some Protective styling in the form of Senagaleese twist!

I couldn't even take pics at the show BC there were Camera Police every where and they were kicking people out for being on their phones. I did mange to get a few in the car on the way there.

I was definitely feeling my hurr!!

So my wash day was a win!! But my hair started to revert again so I wore it like this for the week

I plan to clarify this weekend and do an Ayurvedic strengthening treatment and install my twists.

Hope each and every one of you are staying blessed and definitely staying hydrated.

Love Out Loud
Sammy

Hello everyone! So I've pretty much come to terms with my posting sporadically! I wanted to check in to provide an update on my hurr!

The castor oil challenge 1/25 - 4/25:

I initially entered at the intermediate level applying to scalp 2x weekly and adding to deep conditioner but after the first month I saw such awesome results I amped it up to the Extreme level, applying every other day to scalp, adding to my DC's and even sealing with it. I used regular castor oil from Heritage store. you can purchase here.

How it affected my hair:

Pros:

-Softened my hair especially my NG
-allowed my hair to hold on to moisture longer
-thickened my hair (my NG is extremely bulky). As a general rule our NG is always thicker than the texlaxed/relaxed strands but with the castor oil, my NG is a monster.
- my hair feels silkier and smoother. Imagine the results you'd achieve from your staple DC but on 10. It's hard to explain but like many of us on hair journeys we've gotten to know our hair and my hair feels different but in a much improved way.
-lessened my shedding. Now I'm not a huge shedder by nature but I believe castor oil kept my hair so moisturized and my scalp so healthy that shedding and breakage had to mind their own damn business.

Cons:
- in the beginning I experienced some itchy scalp. I was not alarmed because I was not a heavy user of this oil before the challenge so my scalp had to get used to it and I've read reviews that that was normal because of the detoxification of the scalp.

CAUTION!!!!:

-UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should this oil be used by itself. It's extremely thick and will do more harm than good if applied alone.
-You'd get better results when diluted with a carrier oil. During this challenge I rotated my carrier oils between coconut, olive and avocado oil, and I always added some stimulant/essential oils like tea tree, rosemary and peppermint. These are great to ward off the itches and stimulate your scalp
-You may or may not need to clarify your scalp more than once a month.

I am a huge advocate of castor oil. Of course it may not work for everyone but I believe most can benefit in some way from using castor oil in their regimen even if it's just adding a Tbsp to your weekly deep conditioning treatment. I'd advise to start small and increase usage if desired.

Now for some pics:

Lenght check at start of challenge

Lenght check (sorta) at end of challenge. Due to humidity of this Florida weather and the fact that it rained the same day I flat ironed, my hair reverted at the roots by days end.

Looking at the pics it appears I had more thickness at the start but I promise you the weather totally rained on my hair parade. Due to reversion of my NG the ends ended up looking uneven and my roots looked like I didn't even flat iron it.

My air dried hair. The right side (your left) looks a little more tamed because I attempted to dry using tension method but I gave up and let the left side air dry.

New growth stretched after air drying

Look at my Curlies! Lots of NG!!

Shot of my New Growth wet

New growth after I air dried.

So there it is. It's been a wonderful challenge. My hair has responded beautifully and I cannot wait to see my "actual" results when I touch up in October. I'm currently 8 months post. Pray for me y'all.

Hope each and every one of you are staying blessed. Thanks for reading.

Love Out Loud

Sammy

Hello Beauties. Warm regards and greetings to you all. Although I haven't been posting much I've been deligently washing my hair every two weeks. Then mini twisting it into a top bun. Pretty boring stuff. Plus I've been super busy with work, school and taking care of my sick baby girl so as the saying goes No rest for the willing.

This wash day was quite laborious but I needed to give my hair much needed TLC as a way of saying thanks for being so well behaved even when I haven't even been doing the bare minimum.

Now for the deets on my wash day:

PREPOO - Ayuvedic Herbs powder mix of Shikakai, Brahmi, Binghraj, Hibiscus, Fenugreek and Marshmallow root. I wanted to also do a coffee rinse but did not feel like adding an extra step so I threw some grounded coffee in the mix then boiled everything in 2 cups of filtered water. Applied to my hair is 10 sections then braided and left in overnight.

COWASH- Because I used a lot of Shikakai powder in the Pre-poo stage I didn't feel compelled to use a shampoo this week. Shikakai has natural cleansing properties. So the next morning I used Carol's Daughter Hair Milk Cleansing conditioner to co-wash all the gunk out. My strands were in slip city!

DEEP CONDITIONER - Alikay Naturals Honey and Sage DC + SM Manuka Honey & Marula oil DC with 2 Tbs. Castor oil + peppermint oil. Left in for approx 4 hours.

FINAL RINSE - Apple Cider Vinegar + Aloe Vera juice. I poured this straight from the fridge. Oh MY Freezing Gawd. NEVER AGAIN!!!! I was shaking like a frigging leaf in my shower!

T-shirt wrapped my hair to get out excess water. I had a bummed wash day 2 weeks ago and was complaining about the tangles and brittleness Suave clarifying shampoo did to my hair. My coworker recommended I try the Creme of Nature Argan oil Perfect 7 leave in . It sounded eerily similar to the It's a 10 leave in which I heart!!! sans the price of course :( so I went out and got it for this wash as I planned to flat Iron my hair for an event.

LEAVE-INS - Lotion - CON Argan oil Perfect 7.

Cream- Cantu Shea butter conditioning leave in and Carols daughter Hair milk moisturizing lotion.

Oil - Garnier Fructise Sleek & Shine Anti-frizz Serum.

This smells so delicious. I cannot stop burying my face in my hair. lol
As far as product performance I was definitely impressed. It left my hair feeling soft; fluffed & moisturized and detangling was easy peasy! It's also a heat protectant and has some proteins.

Flat ironed my hair on 310 degrees. Maintained it by cross wrapping.

Castor oil has definitely been doing my hair a whole lot of good. Even with flat ironed hair I still maintain thickness. I'll be using it religiously even after the 3 month period is over.

I hope you ladies had much success with your wash day. And join in on the link up party #washDayExperience

By the Way - Happy Birthday to the #WashdayExperience. Time goes by fast when you're having fun. lol
Congrats to KLP and Jen for such a successful link up!

until next time

LOVE OUT LOUD

Sammy

My last wash day was over week ago. At the moment due to hectic schedules and deadlines am experimenting with bi-weekly washes. This is a pictorial kinda' post.

Castor oil, coconut oil and Honey Am Strong DC

Shea Moisture Manuka Honey and Marfrula Oil DC

Lemongrass leave in, Cantu Shea butter conditioning cream and ORG coconut milk Serum

This is how I've been wearing my hair lately. I twisted my own hair and wear it in a top bun. This gives be quicker access to castor-oil my scalp and moisturize and seal throughout the week with very little manipulation.

Hope everyone's hair is thriving. Happy V Day!

LOL

Sammy

**Breathes easy** This past wash day was a lot less dramatic.

In preparation for the Hairlista Castor oil challenge 1/25 - 4/25 I flat ironed my hair to get a sense of where I am lenght-wise.

Let me Explain:

PREPOO - Mix of Organics Best Hair Mayonaise, honey + coconut oil. I needed the protein to strenghten my strands to handle the heat from flat ironing

SHAMPOO- Dr. Bronners Honey Hemp liquid soap...am not sure how this ended up in my stash or how long it's been there but I LOVE the way it made my hair feel. It cleansed without stripping AND it moisturized my hair.

DEEP CONDITIONER - Silk Dreams Wheatgerm Butter DC. I thought this was really good as a leave it. But I used it for the first time to deep condition then steamed for 30 minutes layered with some Hemp oil.

ERR-MAH-GAWDDDDD!!!

FINAL RINSE - Apple Cider Vinegar + Rosewater mix with avocado oil. Whenever I have to use direct heat on my hair I always try to incorporate avocado oil as a heat protective barrier due to it's high smoke point (up to 500 + degrees). This simply means it can withstand up to 500+ degrees of heat. I flat iron my hair on 310 degrees so I feel confident that I am truly protecting my strands from heat damage.

LEAVE-INS - Alikay Naturals Lemongrass Leave in + Nexxus PRO-MEND split end binding straightening lotion and 1 pump each of Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine anti-frizz serum and OGX Coconut milk anti-breakage serum. Listen it was like Fort Knox all up and through my hair. LOL

I air-dried then flat ironed in sections on 310 degrees using my Remington S5500 Anti-Static Digital Ceramic 1" flat iron.

Below Pre-trim

After a mini trim to clean up my hemline. I trimmed in a U-shape. The outer sites of the U are at the #5 line and the middle is at line #6.

My hair is doing so much better. It's thickened up a lot this past year. The middle still needs some TLC so that will be my primary focus in this castor oil challenge.

Are any of you taking part in the Hairlista Castor oil challenge? read about it here.

Check out all the other beautiful ladies sharing their #WashDayExperience

and as Always LOL = Love Out Loud

Sammy

Have you ever had a wash day that was so BOMB.COM that you just wanna twirl around the house, throw confetti and compel everyone you come in contact with to "play" in your hair?
No? Me either..lol

My wash day was a WINNER. I attribute this to a new technique (washing in small twist) I introduced and new products (Alikay Naturals).

Let me Explain:

PREPOO - Applied warmed Amla, Castor and Rosemary oils blend for about an hour

SHAMPOO- Nexxus Humectress Moisture shampoo

DEEP CONDITIONER - Alikay Naturals Honey and Sage DC.

I then layered the DC with some Vatika coconut oil and left in overnight. In the morning I jumped in the shower and did a ...........

FINAL RINSE - Apple Cider Vinegar

T-shirt wrapped my hair for about an hour. Let me tell you before I even got to applying leave-ins and detangle my hair it was already so smooth and soft and moisturized and fluffy. I could not tell by touching my hair that I'm 4 months post already :)

LEAVE-INS - Lotion - Alikay Naturals Lemon grass, Oil -Alikay Shea yogurt moisturizer and Cream- Silk dreams wheat germ conditioner

Now because my wash process went So, Tso, Sew well. I decided to be a little adventurous and step out of the bun zone. I decided on Bantu Knot outs. I just knew my knot outs were going to be my best set EVER! I mean just look at this:

Boy was my ego bruised when I took it down and it looked like this -

I was dressed and ready for work. Like how in the Hectagon did I get such drastically different results? My back half was so beautifully curled and spirally and the front half was just dead weight. At first I thought the front was still wet. But Nerp it was dried properly.

I just knotted it back up and went to work like this

Yup I sure did. I had every intention of taking it down sometime during the work day but I got so many compliments drizzled in with some weird stares of course but I could care less. I am me! I am unique! I am Sammy!

You would think by the time I went home that evening that all was well in the Bantu knot Out World again but still a big fat WHAMI !!!!! It wasn't until I went to bed that night that I remembered I started bantu-ing the back half with just the Lemongrass Leave-in and Shea moisture Yogurt Moisturizer... NO WHEAT GERM BUTTER!!!!!!

The front halves was where I started the L.O.C method with wheat germ butter !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now I love this product so much that in my zest to achieve the most moisturized hair I can, I seemed to have forgotten this is actually a DC marketed for naturals but also can be used as a leave in. That totally explains why my front was so heavy and did not take the Bantus ~~properly.~~ AT ALL! either that or I was too heavy handed with the application.

I got served but It's okay. You live and you learn. That's what Journeys are about anyways - Figuring out the What, When, where and Why's of products and techniques!

Now I am not one to back down. I promised myself a Banging Bantu Knot out and I will have the most awesome-est BKO's at some point. Just not this week. I was over it. So ended up with this

And sure enough it ended up in a bun later on. Le-sigh. I won the wash day battle but lost the styling War.

Thanks for reading about my wash day adventures.

see you in the next post

LOL - truly laughing Out loud this week

Sammy

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