Mahoghany Naturals Review and Giveaway

TheFoundationDirectory; Mahogany Naturals

 If you follow me on twitter and Instagram you may already be aware that I am now a Brand Ambassador for Mahogany Naturals. Mahoghany Naturals is a brownbeauty owned brand, created by Tope Beesley in 2012, Tope is an award winning curly hair stylist and certified aromatherapist and created this brand to address the needs of Curly and Afro textured hair. The brand has recently gone thorough a re-branding and is expanding it's product range to address hair, face and body with an adult and kids range. This brand creates spa quality natural and organic products that are cruelty free and vegetarian friendly, they are hand made in small batches to maintain freshness.

TheFoundationDirectory; Mahogany Naturals

I was sent my first batch of items from the brand that included the Apple Cider Vinegar Shampoo, Brazilian Butter Damage Reverse Treatment and the Luscious Hair Milk. The Damage Reverse Treatment is an amazing strengthening treatment, if your hair loves protein it will love this deep treatment, my hair instantly felt stronger after the first use and it smells absolutely amazing. This treatment is for those with dry, damaged and colour treated hair and it is a pre-shampoo treatment applied on damp hair. It contains an array of Butters including Brazilian Nut Butter, Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter to name a few as well as Aloe Vera, Avocado Oil, Emu Oil (see full list of ingredients on the website).

I follow this treatment with the Apple Cider Vinegar Shampoo that is full of happy scalp ingredients to gently, but thoroughly cleanse your hair without stripping it, a very difficult combination to achieve. This shampoo will clean your hair, balance your scalp, smooth your cuticle and remove buildup. It contains Apple Cider Vinegar as the first ingredient, which will help maintain the hair and scalps PH level, remove buildup without stripping the hair of it's natural oils.
It also seals the hair cuticle, making hair smoother, softer and shinier helping hair maintain moisture and prevent split ends, it also treats dandruff and itchy scalp, works as a natural detangler and encourages hair growth. Need I say more, if you struggle with the smell of Apple Cider Vinegar, this maybe a great alternative. It also contains Avena Sativa Oats, Shea Butter and Argan Oil to name a few, I was worried this wouldn't lather up, but it creates a beautiful gentle lather, while being sulfate free.

And next is the Luscious Hair Milk a daily leave in conditioner and moisturiser, great for dry damaged hair in need of intense moisture, it reduces breakage, detangles, moisturises and defines curls. It can be applied to damp or dry hair and is great for use before blow drying, which is how I like to use it. It contains Sweet Almond oil, Mango Oil, Vitamin E among other things and also smells great.

This is a great truly organic natural luxury brand, that creates great products that work without all the nasty's we all want to try and avoid. The Damage Reverse Treatment is £40, the Shampoo is £20 and the Luscious Hair Milk is £25 all are 250ml and if you head over to my instagram now, there's a giveaway to win this amazing Apple Cider Vinegar Shampoo. To check out the rest of the range head over to Mahoganynaturals.co.uk, you can also find her products here and here as well as in Xsandy's Hair & Beauty Shop in Lewisham Shopping Center.

Have you tried anything from this brand? Any recommendations of what I should try next?

Grow Gorgeous; Back Into The Roots 10 Minute Stimulating Scalp Mask

If you've seen this post, then it won't come as a surprise to you that I like most things that come out of the Deciem umbrella, and I'm yet to not like anything from Grow Gorgeous. So when I saw this Stimulating Scalp Mask I bought it without hesitation, I've used up an entire bottle of the Grow Gorgeous Serum, and will definitely repurchase it.

I love a good scalp tingling product, I was using Lush's Roots, but realised after a got a brazilian Blowdry that it contains SLS. This is now my happy replacement, you apply this to your scalp, wait 10 minutes and rinse. It helps promotes scalp circulation, stimulate hair follicles, lifts hair at the roots to give the appearance of thicker, fuller hair. It has a blend of vitamins, caffeine, biotin and low-molecular weight hyaluronic acid!!!

I apply this to my dry scalp, apply a deep conditioner to the rest of my hair, put on a shower cap and wait at least 20minutes before continuing with the rest of my wash day routine. It's £24 for 240ml, but if you sign up to the website's newsletter they often send out discount codes, I got 20% off this.

It's here, I've also just noticed they have an intense version of the hair serum, that's definitely on my wishlist!!!

Have you tried anything from Growgorgeous?

Thanks for visiting the blog today

Alex

Sensationnel UK Bare and Natural Brazilian Lace Wig

So I attended my first Keziah Connections event in July that teamed up with Fashion Fair and Sensationnel UK. I happened to win one of the prize draws, which was for a Sensationnel UK Bare and Natural Brazilian Virgin Remi Lace Wig in the natural wavy style and a 1B colour. I love the box packaging, but it doesn't say what length the hair is or how many bundles it's made up of, guessing I'd say 18-20inches. It doesn't have a lace closure as you're suppose to cut it and leave a bit of your own hair out.

Sensationnel UK Bare and Natural Brazilian Lace Wig

I had this wig sitting gathering dust for a while, as it didn't quite meet my requirements, since I won it I had no say it what it looked liked. Firstly the bare and natural range is for those who want a very natural looking finish, also as my hair is natural I didn't want to constantly have to apply heat to blend my leave out with the wig. Also I currently had a wig I wore daily that met my requirements, but I was in the market for a shorter, ombre coloured style. 

Sensationnel UK Wig Transformation Before and After

Eventually I got the idea to adapt the wig to my specifications, rather than buy a new one and leave this one gathering dust. First thing I did was add some extra tracks to give the wig more volume, using some braziliain hair I had around the house from previous weaves. Then I cut it to shoulder length, dyed it to a blonde ombre and tweezed the parting a little so I didn't have to cut it and leave any hair out.

I absoultey love this as it now gives me variation and I'm slowly building up my wig collection to offer me a nice variety. Sensationnel UK don't sell the wigs online, but you can go on the website to find your nearest stockist, and obviously buy a wig more suited to your requirements, so no adaptations needed. I would definately look at purchasing a Sensationnel UK wig, I've got my eye on the Empress Lace wig collection, as some of them can be worn in a ponytail or an updo. There are no prices on the website, but at the event we were told these wigs are very affordable, they also sell bundles of hair if you prefer a weave.

Check out the website sensationnel.com, check out my instagram (Aallexxy) for pictures of me rocking this unit.

Thank you for visiting the blog today

Alex

Ojon Rare Blend Moisture-rich Cleansing Conditioner.

Here's a review I wrote for brownbeautytalk.com, enjoy.

Co-washing, the art of using conditioner as shampoo, has gone commercial and is no longer reserved for the natural haired girls. With all the talk of sulphates being bad for your locs, companies have not only been churning out sulphate free alternatives, but are now dipping their toes into the idea of using conditioner as shampoo.

 

 

Ojon have released their take with the Rare Blend Moisture-rich Cleansing Conditioner, the founder of the company discovered the native Ojon tree in the tropical rainforest in Central America. In one year each tree produces less than 8,000 nuts, which only produce 3 cups of ojon oil. As you can imagine it is not cheap (£18.50 for a 250ml bottle), but not that expensive either, considering the oil is extracted using traditional eco-friendly methods and referred to as nature’s golden elixir. It is said that this potent and pure oil have a natural affinity with hair, restoring radiance, suppleness, bounce, body and volume to even the most damaged hair.

As you can imagine I was intrigued to see how it would work on my kinky, natural and dry hair. To start with it smells amazing and contains a blend of 7 oils including pure ojon oil, palm kernel oil, kukui seed oil, coconut oil to name just a few.  It’s sulphate and glycerin free and is geared towards those with curly, wavy, dry breakage prone hair. I was surprised at the gentle lather this produced, despite containing so many oils. This walked the fine line between cleaning my hair without stripping it, despite it being overloaded with product come wash day, but not weighing it down. Ojon also state there is no need to use a separate conditioner when using this, so great if you’re short on time, washing in between wash days or washing more frequently than usual.

As my first dip into the Ojon brand I was definitely impressed with how my hair felt even after only one use, my hair felt clean, hydrated and nourished. I have definitely incorporated this into my hair care routine, and am intrigued now to try other products from the range. I will of course still be including sulphate free clarifying and hydrating  shampoo’s intermittently to prevent product build up, especially on the scalp.

Have you tried anything from Ojon? Are you happy that co-washing is going commercial and no longer reserved for brownbeauties with natural hair?

 

The post Ojon Rare Blend Moisture-rich Cleansing Conditioner appeared first on Brownbeauty.