30 Days Au Naturale: What's that styler looking like Sis?

So we are effectively halfway through the challenge and so far so good. We figured out washing and deep conditioning treatments, so the hard part is over, right?

Right! Or so I thought.... Coming up with a styling DIY is no simple task. Luckily with my adept research skills and ability to adapt in less than ideal conditions I was able to concot a solution that worked...well sort of.

Napptural Cherie is on the Job 😄

Honestly, once I put my thinking cap on and brought the process back to basics it wasn't so hard.

It really comes down to a few questions: 

1.What are you hoping for the product to achieve with your hair?

2. How long should the expected results last?

3. Which natural items currently work in your hair?

Personally, answering these questions made the decision process a bit easier. The only lingering query was related to question number 3. Would the products I had in mind actually mesh well together and garner the approval of my curls??? My answers below...

What I was hoping to achieve was simple, a moisturizing flexible hold, that added a bit of shine!

I typically style my hair once a week, so this concoction had to at the very least carry my braidout/twistout/knotout until the next wash day.

Now the answer to question 3 is a bit open ended. I'd be trying a few new natural ingredients along with some more familiar ones so I wasnt quite sure if everything would work, but in theory they did.

Shea butter was an ode back to my early napptural years and I figured it would be a good base since it was not only a thick consistency, but also easy to melt down and mix with other ingredients.

Kuza Naturals %100 percent Shea butter, available at your local Walgreens

To that I decided to add Olive oil, a little avocado oil, my DIY Flaxseed Gel, and some aloe vera gel. By the way, have you seen my video yet? I show you step by step how I make the gel and share how it got me out of a pretty sticky situation with a failed wash and go 😆!

Many recipies I saw for an all natural styler included coconut oil, however I wanted to consider those naturalistas who may have some sensitivity to coconut so I opted to leave it out. 

I mixed the butter and oils together first (once the Shea was melted), and then the two gels. I added all the ingredients together until they were incorporated well, this should leave quite a liquidy mixture which will harden or congeal if allowed to cool or you can speed up the process by placing the mixture in the refrigerator. After I few hours I popped it out and was left with the suspiciously Shea-looking solidified butter creme substance pictured below.

My DIY flaxseed gel pictured left, the results of the butter styler on the right.

😌


Next it as time for the true test; wash day was here!

You guys can imagine how thrilled I was to see that it no longer looked like a crazy oily weirdness! Next it was time for the true test; wash day was here and I needed a styling solution stat!

I used it in my favorite go to style, a braidout, and these were my day one results:

Moisture, shine, definition! Hello DIY styler👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

Well for the most part it was a success...since this is a journey of unknown proportions and a vlog I like to keep it all the way 💯 with you guys. 😉

Yes the styler worked, especially coupled with my all natural DIY leavin conditioner (post coming soon). The moisture and softness in my hair was unmatched to anything I had been using as of late! The consistency of the butter creme however,  was rather inconsistent 😌.

Upon using it to moisturize my braids for the braidout, I realized that the butters and gels had had a disagreement of sorts and decided to keep their distance from one another and so my mixture while moisturizing and holding was a butter watery mess instead of a butter creme. 

In my next styling session I resorted to applying one part of the mixture at a time and it worked out: I smoothed the butter into my strands first and then the gel afterwards. While this was not as convenient, I still achieved decent results which has sent me on a search for something to bring my butter and gel solution back together again... TO BE CONTINUED

While you're waiting, here is the quick rundown of the receipe I used, althouit is in the process of being perfected, you can still get amazing results!

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons shea butter 

½ Tablespoon avocado oil 

½ Tablespoon olive oil 

½ Tablespoon pure aloe vera gel (I made this straight from the leaves!)

½ Tablespoon pure flaxseed gel (see my DIY video)

A few drops of essential oil - I used 6-8drops of lavender oil

Instructions

Combine shea butter and olive oil in a small glass bowl. I created a makeshift double boiler by filling a larger bowl with boiled water and setting the glass container inside, until they both melted.

Add remaining ingredients and stir well to mix. Transfer to a small jar or some container you have with a lid.

Refrigerate for several hours or overnight until mixture is cooled and hardened.

 Remove from refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature before using.

I haven't added any preservative, but you could possibly use vitamin E oil to give it a bit of shelf life. If not, just leave it in the fridge to prevent it from going rancid later.

Checkout my latest video to see the amazing results I achieved using this styler on this braid and curl style!