You can get pure shea butter on Ebay for a good price!  Fresh Skin UK do 100g for £2.40 and free P&P!  See Freshskin for more details.  They also do essential oils for a very good price too!  I have used them before, and they are very good.

You shouldn’t get a build up with shea butter, as there are no silicones in it.  Saying that, you don’t need to use too much of it; less is better!

HTH!

Emma.

Thanks for the recommendation! Last time, I bought shea butter from Fushi (via Amazon) and whilst it’s great quality, it was a tad pricey and p&p wasn’t free either.

Hmmm I’m not sure what was going on with my hair, maybe it just really didn’t like the buttercream I was using. I need to put it on the swap board I think!

Twists still looked and felt great this evening

Hair still twisted, still feels soft and moisturised! Usually by now they’d be looking frizzy and feeling dry so i’m quite pleased :D

You have really lovely hair mellonicoley!!

Thanks xxtinker I love your hair in that pic, looks fab!

My hair was worn in a twist-out last night for a party. I’m still to master 2nd day hair in this style…. ended up spraying with water and applying oils before pulling hair back into yet another ponytail.

Tomorrow is wash day. Also think I might need to give my ends another trim.

Did a DC last night, and omg my hair felt soooooo soft afterwards, I didn’t even follow it up with my usual co-wash. I was actually amazed. However I didn’t detangle like i should have, particularly in the back - my arms got tired lol plus I’m too impatient! - so I might co-wash & detangle later today (I’m off work and it’s all icy & snowy outside so I doubt I’m leaving the house today except to perhaps get some food).

This morning my hair felt a little dry but I just moisturised with a little water and oils, and it’s gone back to feeling really soft again.

Last night, at 10 past 10, I decided to wash my hair. VERY STUPID. Didn’t go to bed until after 1am. 4b/c hair ain’t no joke!

I used my Naked miracle worker leave-in conditioner for the first time in months, and OMG I LOVE IT. It didn’t seem to be working for me before, but maybe since I’ve started doing protein treatments and co-washing, my hair is a bit less resistant to it. I can see now that the giovanni leave-in was actually drying out my hair a little (there must be something in it my hair doesn’t like, as the giovanni SAS shampoo had a similar effect, but 10 times worse).

Anyway I might now be ditching the giovanni direct leave-in…. (note to self: must change sig).

I started twisting my hair, then realised half way through that they were way too small and that it would take me the entire night to finish it off. So I just twisted the front and have pulled the back up in a high puff. It sort of reminds me of Elizabeth Bennett’s hair in Pride & Prejudice (the BBC version, of course). Might post pics when I get home.

My hair still feels really soft and smells soo so nice thanks to the Naked condish

I have been having *such* a good hair week! Goes to show, you can’t underestimate the benefits of weekly deep conditioning. Also, I really think the Naked miracle worker leave-in also made a huge difference, but I’m resisting the urge to ditch the giovanni just yet.

On tues and weds, I rocked my new patented Elizabeth Bennett-wannabe style. Then on thursday I got a bit bored of it and pulled all my hair back into a bun (the front was still in small twists, the back was still loose). Thursday night, I twisted the back (about 14 in total) and then did larger twists at the front, and today I wore my hair back again.

All the twisting has really stretched my hair, it’s as if I grew a couple of extra inches overnight.

I’ve been moisturising just by misting with water and then applying olive & jojoba oils. I can’t believe how much my hair loves this simple moisturising regimen.

I’ve been trying not to play around too much with my hair this week because of my cima studies. Time spent playing with my hair could be better spent learning about the global business environment, ethics and audit (apparently).

Tomorrow is wash day, but I might put it off for a couple of days, just because things have been going so well, I’m afraid to ruin it lol.

Pics from earlier this week

So today was wash day! And I washed lol There was no way i was really going to put it off.

I shampooed and conditioned as usual with my aloe vera products. Yes i seem to shampoo weekly now lol. My hair doesn’t seem to mind it as the dr organic one I use is very gentle. My hair didn’t feel as soft after I washed as it did last week but I think that’s because I didn’t do a deep condition in the end. Will do one next weekend.

I squeezed out the excess water and then applied my naked leave-in (love it love it love it), shea butter and jojoba oils. Then twisted! My fave protective style. About 30 twists in total. My hair felt much softer after this and I didn’t get as much shrinkage as I usually get either. I think that’s down to the naked miracle worker. I can really see how much my hair has grown now compared to my first twists back in November! very pleased.

I wore my twists down whilst i went shopping with my sister as my hair was still quite wet. Was sorely tempted by the GFR&S condish I saw in Poundland - they didn’t have any last time I was in there - but decided it was an unnecessary purchase because I prefer my aloe vera condish anyway.

I’ve given our housemate my giovanni smooth as silk shampoo to try. There was no way I was using it again, didn’t want to risk my sister using it either lol, and my housemate’s hair is so different from mine - low density, straight and blonde - I’m sure it will work better for her!

In other product news, I also picked up some original source chocolate & mint shower gel from Boots :D it smells divine and actually does have cocoa extract in it (unlike the new choccomania line from the Body Shop - avoid!). As I’m trying to be money-savvy for the rest of this month, I paid for it using some of my Boots points. I am so looking forward to having a shower with it tomorrow, you wouldn’t believe it! lol

Anyway, got home, had a doughnut from Greggs, moisturised my hair and tied it up with my satin scarf, and started sorting out my pigsty of a room… took me a few hours. I’ve taken to wearing my scarf or bonnet when I’m in the house to protect it from the ever-changing climate in our house (some rooms are freezing cold, some can get fairly warm), and also dust, the cat, cat hairs, etc :D

This is definitely going to sound odd, but bear with me…

I watch a lot of youtube videos of course, for tips on natural hairstyles and regimens.

WHY CAN’T I PART MY HAIR LIKE THEY DO?!

Maybe my hair is just more densely packed then theirs? I do a part in the front and you can barely see it. It’s driving me up the wall lol!

Last week teh sis commented on my hair growth, so it’s nice to see it’s not all in my head :D

Have decided my goal is to grow my hair until it passes my shoulders, without having been stretched. I still have several inches to go…. I get about 75% shrinkage in the front and sides, and 50% in the back. I know a lot of natural ladies aim to go longer than that, but I think I’d just find it too unmanageable, plus I’d wear it up most of the the time anyway, so what would be the point?!

My hair has not been feeling as soft as it did the other week. I suspect it’s not been getting enough moisture. I did a DC on sunday and co-washed on Monday. I might try saturating my hair with water each night for a few nights and also try one of the other conditioners I bought from Poundland a few weeks ago. Maybe my hair needs a change of product? This hair stuff is confusing. Fortunately I don’t seem to be experiencing extra breakage or shedding… *touches wood*

I’m currently on the look out for a good clarifying shampoo/conditioner, as I’m pretty sure I have hard water build-up (unsurprising since I live in London). The Daily Fix seems to have good reviews but the price makes me shudder a little.

Also just grabbed 2 bottles of garnier fructis repair & shine condish at Boots for £1.52 each! I had stopped using it a while back in favour of the Dr organic aloe vera products from H&B, but I’m running out of those and they’re a bit pricey, and I’m trying to stick to a tight budget for next month (for debt-busting purposes), so this Boots offer came along at just the right time!

Ok… the Boots offer didn’t really matter as I have 3 other conditioners at home that I’m yet to try… is there a product junkie support thread? :D

Tonight I’m going to do a pre-poo with my shea butter mix and organics olive & clove oil therapy (I don’t use this often as it has PARABENS in it. eek! but my hair seems to love it), and tomorrow morning a thorough co-wash with the garnier fructis. I’m going to go back to washing my hair in sections now as my hair gets more tangled if I don’t. Also need to do a trim…

Decided to wash my hair this morning with some sulfate shampoo :O to see if it would help with whatever build-up i have on my hair. It did a great job but naturally left my hair feeling quite stripped (but it would’ve been a lot worse if I hadn’t pre-poo’d!).

I followed the shampoo with some deep conditioner and left that one for a little over an hour. Then I did a rinse out with the garnier fructis. lastly I applied my naked miracle worker leave-in, shea butter mix, and olive & jojoba oil.

My hair feels lovely and has a high sheen now, although it’s still not as soft as that great hair week I had a while back. Maybe once the leave-in and moisturiser gets properly soaked in….

Put in some shea butter last night and re-twisted my hair before bed… this morning OMG MY HAIR LOOKS SO SHEEN-Y! :D

very pleased… almost makes me consider going back to sulfates :O

OR maybe I’ll look into getting a hard water filter for the shower and see if it makes any difference.

If you are in a hard water area, you will probably need a sulphate shampoo occasionally, as the impurities in the water will build up in your hair.  I use a shower filter; although not as good as a water softener, it does make a difference to my hair, and may help you with yours.

Glad you are liking the shea butter!  Oh, if you do need to use sulphate shampoo’s every now and again, try putting some conditioner on the ends of your hair before shampooing; it will help stop your ends drying out.  I actually use Hairveda Whipped Cream Ends Hydration for this purpose, and love it!  Got a sample with a previous Emporium order, and have just ordered a full bottle   I find it much too heavy for my fine hair to use as a leave in (which I think it is designed to be!), but great for a pre-poo.

Emma.