Banana Drama!

A week after my Mayo Oil disaster, I decided to try another DIY hair treatment. This time with an even stranger ingredient: Bananas.

Bananas are high in Vitamins A and E and antioxidants, which foster healthy hair. This mask is apparently perfect for dry, over-processed or coloured hair.

 

 

Basically you have to liquidize (or mush up) one banana, 1 teaspoon of honey and ¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil. Massage into your hair, wrap with plastic or a shower cap, and leave for 30 minutes. Rinse with warm water, followed by shampoo and conditioner. If your banana mixture was chunky you’re going to have a hard time washing it out, so please blend well!

 

 

 

Verdict: I could probably post my mayo results word for word here. This did not help my hair in any way whatsoever! It didn’t feel as horrific as the mayo mask but it was pretty bad. The smell was much worse in comparison haha. I was happy I got the banana out of my hair because some people said it didn’t come out of theirs for weeks.

 

The next day my hair did feel quite glossy BUT it’s probably because I slathered my locks in Charles Worthington hair oil after I showered. The only positive thing I can say is the after effects of this on my hair weren’t as bad as the after effects of the Mayo Oil.

I am sworn off these home remedies and have now bought a L’Oréal Hair mask to accompany my favourite L’Oréal shampoos.

Just so you know I have been oiling my hair with a mixture of coconut and castor oil before and between all of these disasters. It’s just not helping, which is why I gave these a try. But this weekend some of my friends mentioned their hair is also feeling dry and brittle and they all think it’s a water problem in the city. I wonder if this could be the reason for my hair disasters. I still wouldn’t recommend using mayo or bananas in your hair though!

Here's hoping for happy hair days!

♡, Sana xx

My Mayonnaise Mistake!!!

As you know I'm in a love hate relationship with my hair at the moment. It’s dry and knotty and not at all what it used to be. I did some online searching and came across several posts recommending using mayonnaise for soft hair. The concept of mayo as a treatment isn’t new to me, in fact one of my sisters did this to her hair when we were younger (although I don’t remember the outcome, just the laughs). So I decided to give it a go. After all these years surely there had to be some legitimacy to it.

So the idea is that the oils, eggs and fats in mayonnaise help repair and rejuvenate hair.

Benefits of Mayonnaise for Hair (from stylecraze.com)

1. Hair Growth

Mayonnaise contains egg yolks, vinegar, and oils that work together to nourish and moisturize your hair. The presence of L-cysteine, an amino acid, in mayonnaise helps it nourish your scalp to promote healthy hair growth.

2. Removes Hair Lice

Mayonnaise is one of the most popular treatments when it comes to dealing with hair lice. Covering your scalp and hair with large quantities of mayo helps suffocate and kill lice.

3. Hair Straightening

With regular use, it can smoothen frizzy hair and make it appear straighter.

4. Conditioning Treatment

Because of its rich content of amino acids and nourishing oils, mayonnaise is one of the best ingredients you could use to condition your hair.

5. Defines Curly Hair

Using mayo helps define curls by treating dryness and frizz.

6. Protects Coloured Hair

Coloured and processed hair often tends to have damaged cuticles. Cuticles that are damaged and not sealed shut tends to bleed out the colour a lot quicker than healthy cuticles. Mayonnaise helps smooth the cuticles and seal in colour.

7. Treats Dandruff

Mayonnaise contains vinegar which is an effective ingredient for balancing the scalp’s pH levels and oil production. Excessive oil production is one of the leading causes for dandruff. Using mayonnaise soothes the scalp while unclogging and tightening the follicles. This helps curb dandruff.

How to use Mayonnaise as a Hair Treatment?

Most of the posts suggested mixing the mayo with olive oil which is what I did. I brushed out my hair, divided it into sections and on went the mixture!

The second this went on my hair, alarm bells began ringing in my mind. I was expecting it to feel like bottle conditioner on my strands but it immediately hardened and made my hair feel brittle.

 

Nevertheless, I took a deep breath and finished the application. Next I had to cover my head with a hot towel. This felt divine. The easiest way to do this is to put a damp towel in the microwave. Please DO NOT walk away from the microwave because this is a fire hazard! Mine heated up in less than a minute.

Instructions said to leave it on for half an hour. I was excited to wash it off; imagining soft, luscious, fat-infused locks waiting for me under this hard layer of Mayo Oil. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. My hair felt like steel wool (totally crying right now) and worse than before!

After I rinsed it off, I put on as much of my normal conditioner as I could manage but the damage was done. I was left with hard, dehydrated hair.

Suffice to say I will never be doing this again. And I do not recommend it. I would rather try something with completely natural products because clearly the chemicals in the Mayonnaise did not do me any favours!

♡, Sana xx

Logan

Rating: ●●●◐○

Certification: Strong brutal violence and language throughout

Genre: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

Stars: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen

Director: James Mangold

Running time: 2h 17min

Alert: TINY SPOILER

Synopsis: In the near future, a weary Logan cares for an ailing Professor X somewhere on the Mexican border. However, Logan's attempts to hide from the world and his legacy are upended when a young mutant arrives, pursued by dark forces.

Review: Firstly, I wouldn’t exactly call them dark forces... they are just bad men and cyborgs. Dark forces makes it seem a little more sinister and thrilling. Secondly, if you’re expecting anything like the previous 2 Wolverine films, you’re going to be disappointed. Lastly, you’re not going to understand what the hell is going on if you haven’t read the comic this movie was based on. I didn’t, and was waiting for some sort of flashback explanation in the movie which didn’t happen.

I’m going to brief you on what I think you should know before watching it, but will leave that for the end (so you have the option not to read it).

Logan is an action packed movie that’s quite gory in its violence. I don’t remember seeing anything like this in the other Wolverine or XMen films. Especially didn’t expect to see such brutality in the scenes with the “young mutant”. I’m sure some fans found it great. After the first time though, it was unnecessary. Sometimes, less is more. However if you can look past all that, Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart’s acting were superb. Our beloved Wolverine has aged though (Old Man Logan) and so has Professor X and it’s heartsore to see them this way. Also upsetting is to see Logan so bitter? X24 kind of fulfilled my Wolverine expectations (you'll see what I mean).

Dafne Keen does a great job too. There are bits I find dumb (the language thing- you’ll see) but can only blame poor script for that. She was bad ass!

You will definitely be entertained but not in the usual popcorn superhero movie kinda way. This is your fave superhero deconstructed… Prepare yourself for many tears too.

Verdict: I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I wasn’t trying to figure out how the hell they got to where they were and where the hell everyone else was…

Side Note: Some sad news, after 17 years Hugh Jackman is hanging up his claws and won’t be playing the role of Wolverine again.

Some background info before you watch:

The timeline is a follow up to XMen: Days of Future Past (reset timeline). The end credit scene of XMen Apocalypse shows a vial of blood titled “Weapon-X” being taken by Essex-Corp. That’s a hint that somewhere clones are being made…  

Its 50 years later, 2029.

XMen are no more and almost all mutants have been wiped out. Logan, Charles and Caliban are hiding out on the Mexican border.

Professor X is 90 and has a degenerative brain disease and has hurt hundreds of people during his seizures (he’s psychic and amazing but now dangerous) and has to be sedated and take regular shots and pills to control them. He has something to do with the XMen being dead but the screenwriter decided to purposely cut out the explanation from the movie so fans can come up with their own theories. I thought it may be explained in the next XMen movie but I’m not sure it will be.

The theory that makes most sense to me is based from the Old Man Logan comics. There’s a story with a similar incident in which Wolverine was tricked into massacring the XMen. But in the movie the blame falls squarely on Professor Xavier. The theory is that the “Westchester incident” was the first time that Charles suffered a seizure, as seen in the film. His mental powers hurt or even killed the XMen. Logan stays with Professor X out of a sense of loyalty or because he may be the only one who can live through his multiple seizures. Or maybe because he’s not going to kill Charles but then he needs to control his seizures or the world will die!

Enjoy!

♡, Sana xx

Blonde Ambition

When I changed the colour of my hair last year (natural black to blonde), I was scared the texture and overall health of my hair would weaken. Thankfully it didn’t until last month! I used the right products and the only difference I noticed is that my hair takes over 12 hours to dry naturally. This is a real pain as I hate using a blow-dryer and before this my hair used to dry in under 2 hours. Nevertheless, I’d take this small problem over the many other complications people have after dyeing their hair.

I was really confused about what products to buy especially when it came to shampoos and conditioners because everyone had a different opinion and different advice. So here’s a list of what I used and what I do and don’t recommend.

L’Oréal Pure Colour and Volume Shampoo and Conditioner (R139.95* each at Clicks)

 

The shampoo has juniper oil that protects hair from damage. The conditioner has rosemary and mint oil that nourishes and protects coloured hair. Both are enriched with botanical oils and use a non-sulphate system, which leaves your hair healthy and volumized.

 

I loved this set especially because of the non-sulphate element. If you haven’t already heard about the hazards of using products with sulphates please read this great article: What are Sulphates? In a nutshell they strip your hair of the good natural oils and damage the cuticles. This worked well on my hair and I used it in combination with:

Paul Mitchell Platinum Blonde Shampoo (approx. R285.00* online or at any high-end salon)

 

 

Contains cool violet pigments to brighten and enhance blonde, grey or white hair while neutralising yellow tones, diminishing that brassy blonde effect.

Everyone told me to get a silver shampoo. I actually wanted the L’Oréal Professionnel Série Expert Silver Shampoo but couldn’t find it so settled for this one. Silver shampoos are actually purple in colour (why do you have to be so confusing fam?) and basically tone your blonde or silver hair and neutralize unwanted warm tones. You will only understand the importance of this when you have blonde hair! This shampoo was fine. It didn’t do much in terms of nourishing my hair. I didn’t like the bristly feeling after I rinsed it off but my L’Oréal Conditioner fixed that right up. I basically used it as 5 minute leave in treatment every second hair wash. But to be honest my Gentian trick did the same job and is way more affordable! When you’re travelling though, it’s better to take silver shampoo because Gentian is quite delicate and if it messes in your bag you’re screwed!

 

Charles Worthington Colour Enhancer Blonde Shampoo and Conditioner (coming to Clicks)

 

 

 

Enriched with lemon, honey and chamomile, it lifts dull blonde tones whilst visibly boosting shine. With UV filter and colour protection technology, this keeps hair looking radiant and feeling silky soft.

I think the hardest part of having dyed hair is ensuring you cart your products around with you when you travel. I still can’t get used to this and find it very inconvenient. So instead of taking my products with me on my trip to London, I bought these at Boots. They smell amazing!!! The conditioner isn’t as great as the L’Oréal one but I still love it. 

L’Oréal Elvive Colour-Protect Shampoo and Conditioner (R60.00* each at Dischem or Clicks)

 

Colour-Seal Elixir™ helps protect colour from fading and preserves its intensity. UVA/UVB Filters protects coloured hair from external aggressions. Concentrated Nourishment intensely nurtures the hair and smooths its surface.

 

 

 

On my second trip to the UK, I had changed my hair from full blonde to ombre. So I bought this shampoo and conditioner which targets all coloured hair in general not just blonde. I've seen these around for ages. They’re quite basic and affordable. I wasn’t looking for anything exceptional and this was on special so I bought it. And it’s my absolute favourite!!! I like everything about it. I like that it’s inexpensive, it smells good and it makes my hair feel great. No wonder it’s been around for ages, it obviously works! When I moved back to SA, I bought these two again. Whenever I travel I just squeeze some into a mini bottle.

 

Tigi Bed Head Dumb Blonde Shampoo and Reconstructor (DON’T BUY)

 

 

Battles breakage and lifeless colour. This rich lather is packed with tons of nourishing treats to strengthen bleached and multi-processed hair. Let this shampoo fight to work its magic to give you vibrancy and healthy looking hair. A perfect, moisturizing reconstructing blend of nourishing elements, balance bleached and multi-processed hair to get blondes back to looking their brilliant best.

About a month ago, I decided to splurge on some new shampoo and conditioner just to give my hair a treat. I had dyed my hair silver in November, which had now faded away so it was time for some pampering. I came across these products and they had great reviews online so I purchased them.

Well… I regret it with every fibre of my being!! Not only do they smell horrible, they absolutely do NOT make your hair feel good or healthy in any way. My hair feels like straw. It’s terrible. I continued to use it thinking it may take time to work but my hair just got worse. It’s dehydrated and no matter what I do, nothing seems to be helping. I feel like it chemically changed the texture of my hair. I don’t know how and I don’t know if that really happened but that’s the way it feels.

Even a change of shampoos doesn’t seem to be helping. I’m trying different things I find online (I’ll be sharing these experiments) and also oiling it before every wash. I hope it comes right. I will most definitely be leaving a review of my experience on their website. I don’t know how it works for other people it’s nightmare in a bottle… Please don’t buy it.

I hope this has helped my fellow “blondeys” out there.

Watch this space, next week I’ll be trying mayo on my hair!

♡, Sana xx

*All prices and details are correct at time of publication and are subject to change.

Maybelline Express Remover

 

I actually thought I did a post on this product ages ago! I probably checked my blog and Instagram 50 times because I am so sure I already reviewed it… I can’t find it though, so perhaps I did the prep for the post but never ended up putting it online.

If you love nail polish as much as I do, you would agree that removing it is an absolute pain. This product will take away all the struggle and inconvenience and it works super quickly.

I bought the Maybelline Express Remover thinking it was your standard liquid nail polish remover. So imagine my surprise when I opened it to find a spongey looking thing staring back at me.

 

 

In my head I already started planning when I can go back to the store and return it but then I decided to read the bottle.

 

 

It claimed to remove nail polish in one dip! I had to give it a try!... And it was like magic! I couldn’t believe how well it worked. I cleaned all 10 fingers in a minute. No mess, no fuss, no more wasting cotton pads!

 

The smell is quite potent but all acetone removers are the same in that aspect. The sponge feels squishy and nice. As with all removers, definitely wash and moisturise your hands and nails after use.

I bought mine in Perth but I see its available online here in South Africa. Prices range from R90 to R110* on various websites.

Go get one, I promise you’ll thank me!

*Update* The blank space above is actually supposed to be a video showing you how the remover works. It plays on my laptop but for some reason doesn't show on anyone else's device. Not sure how to fix this. I may just replace the video with stills...

♡, Sana xx

*All prices and details are correct at time of publication and are subject to change.