Well, there are several moisturizers that I keep in rotation depending on what my hair is craving and my desired style at the time. But I’d have to say, one of my favourite moisturizers of all time would be Scurl No Drip Curl Activator and lately I've been using Keracare Essential oils instead of Jojoba oil to seal. Don't get me wrong, I still love and use Jojoba oil to seal but Scurl with Keracare Essential oil is a Bomb combo!

An intense deep penetrating conditioner for dry, damaged and color treated hair. This luxurious deep conditioner contains raw honey for softer, shinier tresses and jojoba and olive oils, which nourish and heal strands in need of repair. The result is hair that never looked so good.

How to Use: After shampooing with TGIN Moisture Rich Shampoo, and conditioning with TGIN Triple Moisture Replenishing Conditioner, apply a generous amount of TGIN Honey Miracle Hair Mask to hair and comb through to ensure thorough distribution from roots to ends. Place a plastic cap over hair and sit under dryer for 10-15 minutes or leave on the hair for 35 minutes to 1 hour without heat. Rinse thoroughly with warm water, followed by cool water.

Ingredients: Water, Raw Honey, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice, Stearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Glutamic Acid, Fragrance, Benzyl Alcohol, EDTA, Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone.
Truth: Okay so, I’ve had a love hate relationship with this conditioner. Let's go way back! December 25, 2017, my sister gifted me this deep conditioner as a Christmas gift and I was super excited because I heard rave reviews about it. Of course, I dove right in and tested it out for myself. I deep conditioned with it in various ways ie. on dry hair with heat, wet hair with heat, clarified and then deep conditioned with heat etc. until the jar was done. I wasn’t impressed to say the least! Too, I didn’t bother to restock either. I really wanted my hair to like it. My hair didn’t feel detangled and there was no slip while rinsing it out = huge deal breaker! My hair felt “blah” as though I never deep conditioned.

Moving forward, approximately 3-4 weeks ago, my sis was purging her product stash and offered me whatever was left in her TGIN Honey Hair Mask jar. Being optimistic, I took it, shampooed, applied it to my hair and immediately noticed instant softness on my strands. This time around, I did exactly as the directions stated.  I didn’t bother to go under heat but instead I used a heat process cap (see pic above) and left the conditioner on for 1 hour - NO Heat! Let me tell youuu! Upon rinsing out the deep conditioner, my hair was like BUTTER. The slip was crazy, my tangles were melting away while rinsing out the conditioner, and the scent was so good it reminds me of cherry’s. After rinsing, I t-shirt dried my hair, air dried and I couldn’t get over the softness and how easy it was to detangle. The smoothness of my strands was a total shock that lasted a good 2-3 days. Like what? How was I missing out on this?! So, because I was in total denial, I had to repeat my exact same steps the following wash day, just to make sure it wasn’t a "fluke". Fortunately, it wasn’t! The following wash day, I experienced the exact same results = softness, smoothness, moisture and more manageable hair!

You see, the trick that made my hair adore this deep conditioner was using it WITHOUT heat (using the heat processing cap). The heat cap allowed my natural body heat to warm up the conditioner to penetrate into my strands. Don't get me wrong, I love using my steamer and hooded dryer for deep conditioning, but using this heat cap was a win for me. I was able to get things done around the house while running behind my 13 month old who loves to run, not walk, everywhere and get into everything LOL. The TGIN Honey Miracle Mask combined with the Heat Processing Cap is LIFE!! Girl, my results were so good I repurchased my own jar! And I’m savoring it until I re-stock! Yes, it's that good.

I highly recommend this protein-free DC for dry thirsty hair whether you are relaxed or natural!


Pros:

Little goes a long way
Slippy
Instant moisture and lasting hydration
Softens hair and new growth
Detangles well
Smells good

Cons:

Expensive!
Small jar

Price: $18.99 CAD 12 fl oz.

Hairlicious Rating:     (5/5) Excellent

1. Using a light protein treatment on a consistent basis (followed by a moisturizing deep conditioner for balance).
2. Using a protein based leave-in conditioner on wash day and then layering it with a moisturizing leave-in for balance - when needed.
3. Moisturize your hair with a water based moisturizer that contains hydrolyzed proteins for added strength - when needed. 
4. Using a hardcore protein treatment every 6-8 weeks to strengthen the hair from the inside out.

After stretching my relaxer for a total of 14 weeks, your girl is happily relaxed and loving it! Yes, you read that right - 14 weeks! I normally don't stretch this long, but I did for two(2) reasons:

REASON #1: I was participating in the Castor Oil Challenge from October 14, 2018 - January 14, 2019; therefore, I wanted to maximize on all of my growth achieved during the challenge and relax once the challenge was over.

REASON #2: I had a pretty bad cold towards the end of January 2019 and relaxing my hair was on the back burner. I had a fever, cough, runny & stuffy nose, aches etc.  I had zero energy for anything, much less my hair.

As soon as I got over my cold and finally able to breathe, I ran to the beauty supply store, stocked up on a few relaxer day items (gloves, hair grease, neutralizing shampoo etc.) and relaxed!! As always, I used the ORS Olive Oil relaxer in Normal Strength - Lye version.


First things first, the #HairliciousCastorOilChallenge really gave my hair life! No seriously. After applying JBCO for 3 months straight, my new growth was so incredibly thick, healthy and well nourished. My scalp was happy and so was my hair. I kind of miss playing with my new growth and feeling my roots throughout the day *sigh*.


Participating in the Ultimate Level (applying Castor oil to your scalp 2-3x/week and using 1 tsp in my deep conditioners) made me and my hair fall in love with Jamaican Black Castor Oil all over again. I feel a difference in the texture, fullness, length and health of my hair, especially after my postpartum shedding. The Castor Oil Challenge was a success and JBCO will continue to be a part of my hair regimen (wash day only), moving forward.

A trim was definitely in order! My ends are blunt girl!!!! My stylist did something a little different from the norm. I didn't ask for a "blunt trim" but whatever....it is what it is. As long as the dead old ends are gone I'm okay with that LOL. But as for my personal preference, I'd much rather a U-shape.  Overall, I'm very happy with how my ends look and feel.


Now, on to the new product I used on relaxer day....Olaplex No.3!! Yes, that's right.  What better time to use a bond rebuilder than on relaxer day when the disulfide bonds are broken down to create new straighter bonds!! Ha!

Luckily, I was able to get one (1) more application from the 1st bottle I purchased - making that a total of 3 uses from the bottle. I saved a tad bit just so I could use it on relaxer day to wrap up my full review of the Olaplex No. 3 Hair Perfector. Boy, was my hair in for a treat!

So, I relaxed like normal (application and smoothing 20-23 mins), then I neutralized. Right after neutralizing, I towel dried my wet hair for a bit and then I applied Olaplex No. 3 all throughout my hair, in sections, focusing more so on my roots (since it was just relaxed). I applied my plastic shower cap and left it on my strands for about 10-15 mins (no heat).

As I was rinsing out my hair, I immediately noticed a difference. Typically after a relaxer, your cuticles still remain raised/open due to the high pH of the relaxer. This will make your hair feel a little rough, tangly and slightly dry. It's not until the deep conditioning phase that you notice the pH level of your hair goes down and you'll notice smoother hair as a result. Right after using Olaplex No.3, my cuticles were left smooth, flat, strong and any tangles; that I did have, quickly melted away with little manipulation. I literally had an "ah ha!" moment in the shower LOL. After rinsing out Olaplex No. 3, I proceeded with my sulfate free shampoo and deep conditioned as normal.

My freshly relaxed hair behaved so well and remained smooth, strong yet soft even after flat ironing. I would definitely use Olaplex No. 3 again on relaxer day to build back up the broken disulfide bonds that were broken down during the relaxing process! Olaplex on relaxer day was definitely a treat that I'm anxious to experience again.

So to wrap things up, I'm happy with my relaxer! My hair has definitely bounced back from my postpartum shedding and thinning. I feel as though the Castor Oil Challenge improved the overall health of my hair and I'm super excited that Olaplex was a hit during my relaxer process. Next time around I'm only stretching my relaxer to 12 weeks maximum - nothing more! :)