Ah Hah! Say No To Head Buzz

Just recently I did a quick review of Miss Jessie's Baby Buttercream after shouting, "Wait a Minute Mr. Postman!" In that post I praised the results I got from the product and how much I liked it. At the end I did mention one Caveat - I kept feeling slightly light-headed.

Light-headed. Let's explore this sensation for a moment. Walk with me...

Light-headness - a common and often unpleasant sensation of dizziness and/or feeling that one may be about to faint...feeling as though his or her head is weightless. Wikipedia.

After applying the Baby Buttercreme this is how I felt but without the fainting spell. I constantly felt like I was withdrawing from caffeine. You know, that slightly buzzy feeling? Not a tingle ladies. A warm but bearable buzz. But that's just the tip of it. The skin on my forehead started to become inflamed. I also started noticing breakage and more shedding just from touching my locks. A small patch of my hair in the nape area is missing. Yep, just vanished! I know the trees were there because I have pictures and because there is STUBBLE!!! Stubble can only mean breakage. Breakage in an area that I touch a lot (at times I have recurring Hand-In-Fro disease. It's terminal). I haven't had breakage like this since I gave up the relaxer 3 years ago. Now mind you, my hair looked fabulous but at what cost? I had to research this. I also immediately stopped using the product.

The beginnings of my natural hair journey didn't start with the easing in of transitioning. No, I wanted the full trial by fire experience that only comes with the BC. Considering this, I had no problems chucking a product that kept my hair glossy and made my hair appear more acceptable to the masses. NO! But I digress.

After careful research I believe I found the problem. Acetylated Lanolin! Damn Damn Damn! WOOL!!! I'm allergic to pure wool!! **This is going to be a little exhaustive.**

Acetylated Lanolin, also called Sheep/Wool Alcohol or even Wool Oil, is a thick waxy sebum(oil) secreted by sheep to give there coats a glossy sheen and keep the skin underneath soft and supple. When the sheep are shorn the Lanolin is extracted from their coats, cleaned, and processed for use in all kinds of products. Like most other oils commonly used on hair, when applied after moisture, Lanolin will lock the moisture in making your hair feel softer and more moisturized. It's non-drying and the animal variety can be pretty anti-allergenic. You can find it in lotions, lipsticks, lip balms, shampoos and conditioners, and hair products et al.

So you say, "What gives? Lanolin is found in at least 1/3 of the beauty products out there." True, but it's usually found in smaller quantities closer to the end of the ingredients list and only used as filler or an emollient. Acetylated Lanolin is the second ingredient in this product which means there is a high concentration of it. Behind water it's mostly wool oil.

As stated earlier, Lanolin softens, soothes, and nourishes skin but coats and potentially suffocates hair because of it's thickness and binding properties. (The picture to the left is lanolin on a pole) It becomes wax and we all know what happens to wax after it has cooled. It becomes hard and non-porous which means no water escapes it but none gets in as well. Regular use of Lanolin rich products will ultimately cause build-up resulting in hair that drys in on itself because no moisture can enter in to replenish it. The wax attracts dirt and dust to each strand further clogging the hair follicles. Dryness, dirt, and dust are a proven recipe for tangling and hair breakage.


Another major problem. Acetylated Lanolin is slightly different than natural Lanolin in that to be acetylated certain natural molecular properties of the Lanolin are exchanged with Acetic Acid and LYE. Acetic Acid is a mild acid that is corrosive and prone to causing skin burns, eye damage, skin irritation, etc. It descales like Lime A-Way. Naturally found in vinegar it causes the pungent smell and sour taste we are all familiar with. In and of itself Acetic Acid is not really harmful when used in small doses but overtime regular use of it on your hair can be harmful. We all know what LYE is and what harm it can do.


Thirdly, Acetylated Lanolin is highly comedogenic. Meaning it clogs pores and has a tendency to produce or aggravate acne. When using products that contain this ingredient you must be careful to not allow the hair to hang in your face. Nuff said!


So I found my devil in the details. Wool in the form of Acetylated Lanolin. I can't wear pure wool without rashing so obviously the use of it in my hair is no different. My research explained the buzzing sensation and the hair loss I've been experiencing. Since I stopped using it 4 days ago the sensations have left. The remainder of the jar will be put in the "outbox" to be given away to those who are not allergic or trashed.

Baby Buttercream and it's sister Curly Buttercream are useful products, but I don't believe they are for me. I strongly suggest to anyone who may have wool sensitivities or allergies, avoid this product and any product for that matter that has Lanolin in it. If you are prone to acne or facial irritation, avoid using this near your face or placing your hands in your face after touching your hair. If you have found this to be one of your Holy Grail products, I highly recommend incorporating a regular clarifying treatment into your weekly hair regimen followed by a deep moisturizing treatment before reapplying this product. Oddly enough when I started using the product I was cowashing every day to every other day. Cowashing is not recommended with this product. You will only further add to the build-up on your tresses. You need to shampoo.


So there it is. Another Miss Jessie's product bites the dust for me. I'm truly not out to get them, I promise. I've just found that there product line doesn't work for me. I hope this review will be found helpful especially to the product junkies that are fiending to buy these cremes. I will try to find a comparable replacement and if I do I'll post it here. Currently I've gone back to using my Cantu Shea Butter Leave-In Conditioning Repair Creme. It has "Lanolin" in it but it's #14 on a list of about 22 ingredients. As soon as I'm done with this I think I may not purchase it again. Even though I like it a lot, there has got to be something out there that doesn't have Lanolin and a whole bunch of chemicals in it.



Kamika Inspector #32

Wait A Minute Mr. Postman!

I've been doing a lot of online shopping lately to satisfy my spending jones. I've been creeping into boutiques IR as well but I don't feel like taking pictures of that stuff. Check out my online scores:

The new Double Stitch - Designs For The Crochet Fashionista book by Erika & Monica Simmons. I preordered this one through Amazon back in April and have been patiently waiting for it up until yesterday. Below are a few items I will be queing up to make. Get yours in the sidebar -->



The book is full of colorful fun knits. Some for rocking around town and others for the sophisticates. I fall into the latter category and as such many are too bohemian for me. The sisters do no disappoint on inspiration though. I think that with a little creativity and a keen study of their designs on their MySpace page you can come up with all sorts of renditions on their already great designs. I really enjoy their stylish departure from the norm of cardigans, sweaters, socks, and pullovers. The stitch is simple but very detailed and decorative at the same time. I am happy to support the Queen's of Crochet Haute Fashion!

The Inaugural Issue of Verena Knitting by Burda (actually store bought). This magazine is really popular in Europe. On the cover it tauts itself as "Europe's top knit magazine." I'm really a sucker for good fashion styling. I try not to succumb to it but I don't think I'll ever change. Good styling is good styling. I guess that's why they do it that way. The magazine is sort of a mix between Rowan and Knit1 - classic designs mixed with the quirky. It's fun and for $6.99 you get 50+ patterns. Below are my faves.




On to hair!! Afrobella announced that Miss Jessie's was having their annual Mothers' Day Sale so I had to check it out. Normally I'm cool on all things Miss Jessies. I tried the Curly Pudding in the past and got a grape scented mess. Plus the price to me was prohibitive for a product I wasn't sure was going to be useful to me. I remember at the time it was $58 for 8oz. The devil is a liar! But, they were offering their Curly Buttercreme at $32 for 8oz AND you got a sampler pack of all of their other products (6 in total) thrown in for free. I figured I had to try it. I bought the Baby Buttercreme and got my order within the week.

I really like the Baby Buttercreme. It really helps with the knots and gives me a silky finish without feeling greasy. I didn't follow the instructions on the website or I would have had a hot greasy mess. You only need a little of this product for it to be effective not globs as the site instructs nor do you need to rake it through your hair with a baby doll size comb. My hair is so fluffy and full after applying just a little to each section and twisting.

Three days later I condish washed and twisted with the Curly Meringue. Meh! I'm not as sold on it. It did give me boingy springy curls but they were not as soft as when I used the Baby Buttercreme. I haven't gotten to the other products yet. All in all I'm very satisfied with the products. I'm happy that I didn't stop with just the Curly Pudding as I would have never tried the Baby Buttercreme. It's about trial and error. The only drawback I'm finding with the line is that there is an ingredient within these products that makes me slightly light-headed. I have to figure out what that is before I continue using. If any of you have experienced the same please do share your thoughts.

In my next few posts I'll post hair pics as well as pics of Oz which is 99% complete. Hopefully I'll have the pattern written up for you as well.

Love

Kamika

Miss Jessie Miss Jessie

So since this blog is about HAIR and k&c, i should probably tell you's all about some of my hair exploits. LOL. I was lucky enough to get in on the "Ms. Jessie's Giveaway" sponsored by Motown Girl. She was giving away 2oz samples of select Ms. Jessie's products. I chose the Curly Pudding.

For years I have been hearing rave reviews, opinions of styling costs and ownership quirks aside, about how good the products were. How they really defined and softened nappy curls/coils, and how effective they are at turning our "kinks into curls," yadda yadda yadda. Oh, the mystique surrounding these products is heavy. Over the years (2 years fully natural in August, 4 years contemplating in November) I have wanted to try these products but I just couldn't stomach paying $58 and now $38 for them. I'm not cheap by no means. I just didn't want to be disappointed nor did I want to become a product junkie AND be out half a c-note.

I paid the shipping for the product last week and got it in about 4 days. Kudos to Motown Girl for such fast shipping. I condish washed on Wednesday and then put some Curly Pudding in while wet. Since I use Giovanni Direct-Leave In as my staple, I didn't see a noticeable difference in the definition of my tiny coils. I wasn't deterred though. That evening I decided to do some dry medium-fat twists and rolled them on sponge rollers to set overnight. The next morning I unrolled and untwisted and this is what I got:

... a puffy frizzy mess. My hair was shiny and defined when I took the rollers down. But baby! When I went outside to take these pics, my hair pouffed and became crispy-like. I can't say that my hair was dried out, but it did become crispy, as if I had too much gel on it.

That night I retwisted it (without adding more pudding) and wore it up in a twist pull back. The twists seemed to expand and separate. It also was shiny but not silky. Which is what I'm normally used to with my twists. To sum it up, I think I may give the remainder of my sample to a friend who is considering the natural life. She has curlier hair than mine and it may work well for her. A couple of kudos though. It sure smelled good and the consistency was nice. I'm sure it works great for some, but it's just not for me.

Kamika