Mixed Silk Curly Gel- A Closer Look; You will be surprised!

Good evening ladies and gents! I have been on a rampage! The last few days I have released my inner PJ and purchased so many hair products! In all honesty it was my birthday treat to myself lol because I have not indulged in quite some time. It felt good to release and just buy want I want!!! But I’ll get back to that later and let you know what I picked up 🙂 But it was one product in particular that I was sooo anxious to try. MIXED SILK CURLY GEL!!!  I love the deep conditioner with all of my heart and soul! So it was the icing on the cake to see they add a gel! There is also the shampoo and leave-in I’m not 100% sold on the leave-in just yet.

 

 

So while patrolling the hair sites I decided to visit TightlyCurly.com I came across this site ages ago but never really visited too often. I really like the ingredient list she provides. She THOROUGHLY breaks down the ingredient and whether it’s harmful for your hair or not. Anyway I sat here thinking, hmmmm let me check out this gel….and look what I found…..

 

Water

 

Hydroxyethylcellulose   
Okay
Thickener made from plants, often used as an emulsifier. This is known to be very mild, even in high concentrations [Hunting (Conditioning) pgs 239-240].
Source(s): Hunting http://www.cosmeticscop.com/

Pectin

Her website didn’t list the ingredient. But this link here talks about how it’s found in KCCC and it’s used in a lot of homemade gels.

 

Fragrance

 

Diazolidinyl urea   
Caution
Preservative that has had some controversy for being a formaldehyde-releasing preservative. Often used as a pesticide in the cotton industry, and to kill microbes for cosmetics. The CIR Expert Panel found it to be safe for use in cosmetics so long as its concentration is below 0.5 percent of the product. May cause skin irritation (as all preservatives can to some degree). [Winter pg 197].

Diazolidinyl urea is a fine white powder that’s soluble in water. Works best against molds and yeasts, and it’s known to be stable over many pHs. It needs to be used with other preservatives, such as parabens, to insure that all types of fungi are killed [Hunting (Conditioning) pg 179].
See also: Preservative Formaldehyde-releasing preservative
Source(s): Winter Hunting

Disodium EDTA   
Okay
Chelating ingredient that attracts the minerals away from the hair shaft and helps them rinse away. Good to use after swimming.
See also: Chelating agent
Source(s): Begoun

Benzyl benzoate   
Okay
Often added to make a hard product more flexible, such as in nail polishes. Benzyl benzoate occurs naturally in Balsam Peru and Balsam Tolu, as well as other oils from flowers. It’s a clear oily liquid, or can be in white crystals. It has a light floral scent [Winter pg 103-104].
Source(s): Winter

Alright everything appears to be ok BUT the Diazolidinyl urea??? A formaldehyde-releasing preservative??? What in the world?

 

I found an article via safecosmetics.org (for the full article click here) explaining the history behind the ingredient. It has been more commonly found in hair smoothing products. hmmm…..the article then goes on to say it’s found in a wide variety of hair products, body washes, and cosmetics. After time the low levels have been linked to skin irritation and maybe cancer. I’m no scientist and I have not conducted a THOROUGH research. I’m not so sure about this now. This accidental post turned out to be pretty informative. I hope it was helpful to you as well. As most products marketed towards natural, the ingredients are everything BUT natural!

 

*Disclaimer*

If you have serious concerns about this ingredient please do your research. This post was to raise awarness of what is in the gel.

 

All information has been provided from TightlyCurly.com and safecosmetics.org

 

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Soho Makeup Brushes *First Impression* and French Twist Updo

Happy MLK Day!

I’ve used a couple of the Soho Brushes from Walmart twice already. So far I can tell a major difference between them and the E.L.F. brushes I purchased from Target. I’m not knocking E.L.F. it’s a great starter brush/eye palette for beginners like myself. I used the eyeshadow brush,smudger, and foundation brush. First the Soho brushes are noticelably softer. I used the same eye primer by E.L.F. but for some reason the color POPPED a lot more! I forgot to take pics from both days. But I do have some.  I think the Soho brushes picked up the pigment better and the entire look came together even more with the smudge brush. Foundation by L’oreal True Match, mascara by NYC. What ya think?

I’ve been wanting to try CurlyNikki’s look, the french twist. I used a banana clip and bobby pins to achieve the “twist” and the scarf from Dollar Tree.

Product Review-Hairveda Vatika Frosting

Hey curlies! I wanted to do a quick review of two products. Hairveda’s Vatika Frosting and Gold N Hot  Jet Bonnet Dryer Attachment. I’m just about done with the VF maybe one or two applications left. The dryer attachment I used only once for my first flexi rod set.

The vatika frosting is basically coconut oil infused with ayurvedic herbs (as the jar clearly states). Don’t order this and look for a new miracle oil. Folks I’m keeping it funky here! It’s coconut oil LOL no way around it. Now don’t get me wrong I’m not saying it’s a bad product BUT I want my readers to know what they’re getting into….if you love EVCO you will more than likely enjoy VF. The smell is sooooo darngood!! Everytime I smell this stuff I want to stick my tongue in the jar! (dont judge me). It’s like vanilla cake frosting,sugary goodness 🙂 Anyway back to the review…..when the package FINALLY came in the mail (not the best shipping time btw) I was so pumped!! I order a few other products from Hairveda. Here’s the lowdown…

Price $10.99 8oz.

Ingredients: Pure unrefined coconut oil, amla extract,henna extract, argentinian lemon extract, and fragrance.

Will I repurchase? No

The next product or should I say hair tool, is my blow dryer bonnet attachment. There isn’t too much to say about this. It did what it was supposed to. The downside is that it was hard for all my flexi rods to fit under the bonnet. The hot air did circulate nicely. It’s convenient for those who have limited space or travel a lot. It can also be used for conditioning. I purchased mine from Sally Beauty Supply. I definitely would recommend this product.

Price $11.69 (Beauty club price $10.49)

 

 

Product Review-Jane Carter Nourish & Shine

Ingredients: Shea butter, Kokum butter, Illippe butter, Mango butter, Vitamins A, D, & E, pear and grapefruit essential oils.

Price:$22 (4oz.)

I know what you’re thinking….$22 for that little thang! LOL Yes but it was worth my money. It did last me a long time. Will I repurchase, probably. Unless I can find a better pomade. I reviewed JC wrap and roll before so as you can see JC is a winner in my house! All of her products smell the same. A clean fresh lemon scent. I always get great sheen whenever I use her products. I have also tried the Revitalizing Leave-In Conditioner. I plan on revisiting the spray again so I’ll review that later. The rest of the line is resonably priced minus a few things. I used the NS to add sheen and softness to my hair. A little goes a long way. You can use it to scrunch out the crunchy from a wng or unravel twist or braids to preven frizz. I’m all about saving a buck so if you don’t want to invest try making your own! For me the Jane Carter Nourish & Shine gets two thumbs up!