natural hair care

Awesome Product Alert (APA) – Kay Vel Creme Press

~ naturallycurvaceous ~ Leave a comment

It is very rare that I find products that I MUST blog about but low and behold I have found the ONE! Kay Vel Creme Press is one of the BEST products that I have ever purchased for my hair since I have been natural – Let me tell you all about it.

Disclaimer: My hair is 4C – I call it 4Z on the natural hair scale – so this product may be too heavy for a looser curl pattern.

Kay Vel Creme Press is for straightening hair using heated tools such as flat irons or curling irons. I recently had my hair dyed purple and when I was in the salon, I noticed a stylist in the salon using a light blue product to put amazing curls into a client’s hair using a flat iron – I mean, those curls were popping! The client also had natural hair – so I paid close attention but did not want to ask what she was using because she was not the person doing my hair. So you know what I did, right – GOOGLED it! Yes, I Googled “light blue product used for straightening natural hair” and BOOM – Kay Vel appeared on my screen – it was like an AHHHH HAAAA moment:

Kay Vel

So, as I read reviews and watched videos on Kay Vel it seemed almost too good to be true! I was thinking that maybe it was one of those products only sold to a licensed stylist. I decided to take a trip to my local beauty supply store and asked if they carried Kay Vel and was happily surpised when the store sales person pointed me in the direction of the Kay Vel nicely sitting on the shelf just waiting for me to come along to purchase it. So I did and for only $14!

Still skeptical about the results that I would personally have with Kay Vel, I took it home and thought about when I try it out. I opted for the next evening as I was excited but I was also ready to be disappointed if it did not work for me.

So now, my first use of Kay Vel was on my hair when it had already been straightened at the salon but needed to be freshened up since I had picked the most humid 2 weeks of the year in the DC area to get my hair straightened – really smart!  Anyway – Can I just tell you that I was amazed at how the Kay Vel made using my flat iron so much easier. I did not have to use them on such a high setting and I only had to do one pass of the flat iron on each section of hair. I was impressed but the real challenge would be the result on my freshly washed ultra natural state of hair – Would the Kay Vel still impress?

YES IT DID! I decided to bite the bullet and wash my hair over the past weekend. I did the normal wash, color treated replenish pack and conditioner and then blow dried my hair on medium heat (I did place a little bit of Kay Vel on my damp hair prior to blow drying)…. here are the blow out pics – And YES, I am a Redskins Fan #HTTR!:

Next comes the flat iron – I use a Babyliss Pro Titanium flat iron that I purchased from Bed Bath & Beyond last year for approximately $140.00 – great flat iron! So this begins the real test – could my hair really get as straight as it was when I left the salon? Yes, Yes, Yes it can and it DID! I only used  very small amount of Kay Vel on each section of hair that I was flat ironing.

I am AMZED at the results!

The Final Results:

Here is what Kay Vel looks like opened:

More of the final look:

I cannot say how much I love this product and how impressed I am that a $14 jar of creme that will last a very long time is the TRUTH when it comes to straightening natural hair! Thank you, Kay Vel for making my straight hair life easier!

What do y’all think of my results? Have you used Kay Vel before? Let me know what you thought of it.

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Natural Hair: To straighten or not to straighten?

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Since going natural I have learned that there is a great debate going on – To straighten or not to straighten natural hair.

I had to try it for myself to find out what all the fuss was about.

Straightened

The first time I went to a Dominican salon. They used high heat blow drying and a flat iron and my hair was “laid for the gods” BUT it also had a burnt smell that took me a week to get rid of. About 6 months later I tried again, this time going to a salon that was recommended to me by a friend. At the salon, the stylist used a hot comb and a flat iron. Again, my hair was very straight but again had a slight burnt smell. Each time, my hair reverted right back to my “4Z” coily pattern – so no damage was done to my hair.

I vowed I was not going to straighten my hair again just due to the smell alone, but one thing made me try again – my fiance’ loves it when I straighten my hair – so…..this time I decided I would flat iron it myself, and get the best flat iron so that I would not have that nasty burnt smell in my hair. I went out and bought the Babyliss Nano Titanium flat iron that many people on social media sites raved about.

OH THE PROCESS….. yall have NO IDEA! It is the most tedious, time consuming process ever! The first time I tried it, my hair was straight, bouncing and behaving but again that doggone burnt smell again – EWWWW! I tried it again with the flat iron on a lower setting but that did not get my hair straight at all.

At this point, I am throwing in the towel… I will do it again, maybe once a year but I cannot go through this process of small, tiny sections and using heat protectants, and trying to figure out which heat setting to use all for the style to last 2 days – nope, no thank you!

So the answer for me is – NO STRAIGHTENING! I have come to love my “4Z” coily texture and learned many hair styles to rock so that is what I am going to continue to do – but I will straighten it for him once a year.

Straightened 2

What is your process for getting your natural hair straight? What products do you use? Do tell!

Natural Hair: My GO TO Style – TWIST OUT

~ naturallycurvaceous ~ 2 Comments

Ever since going natural, 3 years ago, my favorite hair style has always been the TWIST OUT!For me, it is simple and easy to twist my hair and I like that the twisting out actually gives my “4Z” hair some great texture!

I only use Cantu shea butter leave in conditioning repair cream to do my twists.

Cantu

Sometimes I twist my hair while it is damp but the shrinkage is REAL. To me, it is better when I do my twists on dry hair.

Some days I will wear my twists in and take them out after a few days. This allows me to work out at the gym without wrecking my hair!

What is your favorite go to natural hair style?

Cannot forget my twist out selfie:

Twist out selfie

Random Rant: Wash N Go – OH NO!

~ naturallycurvaceous ~ Leave a comment

My texture is to be considered 4C, I like to call is “4Z” because it is sooooo coily that every time I attempt a wash n go it looks great when wet but then just dries into an afro with no curly pattern to be seen. Does anyone else have this problem? Are there better products to use on my 4Z hair for the ultimate wash n go? HELP ME, PLEASE!!!!!