"Put down the Eco Styler!" - Dangerous Ingredient

I'm doing my public service bit and have come to inform you all about an ingredient called TRIETHANOLAMINE. You'll find this mostly used in hair gels and it's used in Eco Styler and African Essence (I'm sorry to say when desparate I still use my African Essence). Please read extract below taken from Aromantic.co.uk (http://www.aromantic.co.uk/buy-organic-natural-emulsifiers-cosmetic-skin-care-uk.htm)

"Another Emulsifier to avoid is Triethanolamine. It is produced within the petroleum industry and has been used for several decades (and continues to be used) within the cosmetics industry to support emulsification. This chemical is severely irritating for the eyes and skin. It penetrates the skin and can cause liver damage. In addition to this, when combined with nitrate ions - normally found in drinking water and many meat products - it produces a carcinogenic substance, Nitrosamine. It should never be used in Skin Care products but is regrettably, common in the UK."

Click here for detailed break down, and you can look up other ingredients too!

PVPs and hair gel

See these websites for for information:
http://www.in-cosmetics.com/ExhibitorLibrary/39/Natural_Polymers_in_Cosmetic_and_Personal_Care_Applications.pdf
http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4922470_hair-gel-work.html

http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/curly-q-a/the-nitty-gritty-details-about-hair-gel

African Essence Hair Gel

So like i said previously I did fall of the wagon and used shop bought gel, but it made my hair hard and once I read the ingredients and wanted to wash it out right away. The key ingredient is PVP this is a polymer and it's what helps to clump the curls together and help define them. So my reaction was I found a natural silicone all I have to do is find a natural polymer or to be more specific a biopolymer. I found one that I could only source from China called Pullulan. But then after searching on the internet for hours I cam across Aubery Organics B5 Design Gel and Aubery Organics Moisturising Jelly.

I have purchased these products because they use Gum Tragacath and Gum Arabic, which should be good substitutes for PVPs. So once I try them I'll tell you how it goes, but I have also bought the aforementioned gums in a bid to create my own gel. I WILL NOT GIVE UP!

New growth

I don't seem to update this blog that often but when I'm not on here, I'm usually uploading to YouTube. I think if I commit to updating once a month that will do me.

Well I'm feeling so, so right now, I thought that I had perfected the recipe for my hair gel, but I can't seem to get the exact match the same as the batch that I loved so much. So I'm starting from scratch. I did make a new product that I kind of like and I used it to do my twists and twist out, it's a mango butter hair balm which has two different butters in it and three oils one of them being meadowfoam seed oil which is supposed to be good for shine a moisture I used this to do my twists and my hair was really soft when I did the twist out. I also moisturised every day with an oil and water spritz one of the oils was coconut.

I tried an experiment with my hair gel, I melted a small amount of my mango hair balm and mixed in with my gel, it has created hold that defined my curls so I may experiment some more. I also fell of the wagon for a day opting to use shop bought gel but I hated it so much, so like I said I only lasted a day

War on my TWA

Homemade Hair Gel

I'm going to make my own hair gel! Ordered the ingredients but they wont arrive until the new year so I'll keep you posted. I'M SO EXCITED!

To use ECO STYLER or not?

Okay so for the past week and half I've been using Eco Styler (with olive oil) gel, and I really like it for the simple fact that it defines my curls like no other product that I've tried up to now. My problem is that it leaves my hair feeling cruncy and I don't know what to do! This morning I co-washed and I used Curls quenched curls moisturizer and I put on some shea butter before using the Eco styler, I thought that this might soften it up a bit but no luck. I don't know what to do, please advise!