Shea Growth And Retention Regimen 2019

What is the length barrier you would like to break through in 2019, with Shea butter's help?

  • Top of shoulder length

    Votes: 18 10.2%
  • Collar bone length

    Votes: 10 5.6%
  • Armpit length

    Votes: 18 10.2%
  • Between armpit and bra strap length

    Votes: 36 20.3%
  • Bra strap length

    Votes: 28 15.8%
  • Between bra strap and waist length

    Votes: 24 13.6%
  • Waist length

    Votes: 35 19.8%
  • Whip length

    Votes: 12 6.8%
  • Hip length

    Votes: 10 5.6%
  • Tailbone length

    Votes: 18 10.2%

  • Total voters
    177

caribeandiva

Human being
@wetline gel issues - please could you ladies explain what the difference is between the old and new formulations. Because people had been raving about it, I went and bought a huge tub on a recent US trip. Thanks.
I believe that the main difference is that the old one has more carbomer in it. It’s listed way higher up in the old version. That provided more hold and better curl definition. @Aggie was using the new one while I only used the old one and we both ended up having issues with it causing dryness leading to breakage. I trashed mine too. No more!
 

ajoke

Well-Known Member
I believe that the main difference is that the old one has more carbomer in it. It’s listed way higher up in the old version. That provided more hold and better curl definition. @Aggie was using the new one while I only used the old one and we both ended up having issues with it causing dryness leading to breakage. I trashed mine too. No more!


Thanks. So basically old, or new, your advice is to thrash or use sparingly.
 

Chicoro

5 Year Shea Anniversary: Started Dec 16th, 2016!
Natural Hair journey start date: 2014
Shea Butter usage start date: 2016
Style of Choice: Cornrows under wigs
Hair Length today: 22 inches



She mentions in one of her videos on her YouTube page that her mother started making natural products including a hair butter.


At around 8 minutes and 30 seconds she mentions her mother created a butter for her using Shea butter from Ghana. She states that she had been on her hair journey for 2 years. She states it wasn't until her mom started making up the organic products and until she started to use them that her hair started taking off in length and health.

From her mother's site:


Source Naturelle UK
Don’t panic, It’s Organic

ABOUT US
We are a home-based business, this venture started when my daughter decided not to use any store-bourght products, so I proceeded to make her some homemade products to use instead. As a Beauty Therapist and a Beauty Lecturer, my daughter thought it would be a good idea for me to join her new venture. I made Body Butter, Hair Butter, Face Butter and she made Roll-On, Body Scrubs and Toothpaste.


The products:
https://sourcenaturelle.co.uk/index.php/shop/

Organic butter and Whipped Shea butter based products!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@caribeandiva
come look!
 

PlanetCybertron

Well-Known Member
So I think I had another break through guys. Maybe two and a half weeks ago, I had yet another intense scalp flare up, but this time, my scalp showed me how serious it was. I had about 3-4 of these horrid things in random spots on my scalp. I managed to snap this one because my hair was allowing me to part it to really see what was wrong. All the other ones I couldn’t get to from my thickness at my roots.


you can also slightly see the few flakes scattered around the area. My worst fear was the follicles in these areas were damaged. For the longest I couldn’t really pinpoint what has been going on with my scalp because my scalp wasn’t giving me any visual evidence. No flaking, no dryness, slight redness that went away after a gentle wash, no weird smell, no nothing really. Until that day.

I hadn’t been scratching prior to this happening because I give all my willpower to not scratch my already sensitive scalp skin. But I think when I went to wash, the water lifted up the scabs that were probably trying to form over these small lesions because the instant I stepped out of the shower and air dried for maybe 30 mins, the surrounding air was managing to get into my roots and the exposed parts of the wounds were stinging like crazy.

Upon inspecting, that’s when I saw them. The one in the picture was on the left side a few inches above my ear, two were on either side in the middle of crown, and one on the far right side a few inches above my nape.

After that I called my dermatologist, scheduled an appointment, and showed her my findings. I’m very thankful to have such an understanding and creative professional. She’s very sweet, and very knowledgeable. I wrote down the main components of my hair care routine, main products I use, etc. So she does know that I actively take care of myself, and both of us have been trying to steadily find solutions to my scalp issues. The last two visits, we were both under the assumption of it solely being microbial irritation, and contact dermatitis from my surrounding environments.

After talking and going over the picture we both now have agreed that I have some sort of Seborrheic Dermatitis. She stated that it’s kind of an odd case because I’m not showing typical signs of dermatitis. We talked for a bit more, and she then did her thing, and went exploring in my head.

She noted that I have very high sebum production which could be contributing to the lack of flaking, but in return it’s also catching and holding onto any and everything that manages to come into contact with it. Sweat, dirt, pollen, dust, products, etc. and in turn is causing frequent irritation. Which is what caused the scabs to form on my scalp, but due to how oily it is, dandruff or flaking doesn’t even have an opportunity to show itself. Even though I wasn’t scratching hardly at all, it didn’t really matter because my scalp was so irritated that it just did what does normally and tried to flake, and then heal itself.

She noted there’s no sign of fungal growth or overproduction of microbe/bacteria. So she suggested that my best bet now is to try and keep the quality of sebum as clean as possible. At first I thought she meant to try and remove excess sebum, but she said that would be a not so good idea, because then that brings about the opportunity for me to actually start flaking and scaling.

So after the visit I spent the next week just letting my scalp heal. I would shampoo just my roots, and then condition from the ears down. No leave ins, just a small bit of Shea on the last few inches of hair. I was so nervous to use leave ins or anything because I didn’t want anything touching my scalp. After about 7-8 days my scalp is completely healed, and no follicle damage.

I did a bit of chemistry and managed to formulate my own shampoo. Took me a while but I spent 3 whole days doing nothing but testing out various concentrations of ingredients. And I’ve chosen benzoyl peroxide as my main ingredient in my shampoo. I had to kind of really think this through because oxides tends to be very drying. But that’s their purpose, especially in cosmetics. So I really wanted to see how well Shea Butter came through and showed it’s versatility being mixed with a medical grade chemical. Today I officially tested out my shampoo, and to my surprise my hair felt great! I can’t really describe how it feels, but it feels different. My roots do, to be exact. They don’t feel coated whatsoever, and when wet actually feel rather dry, but upon completely air drying, my roots feel so soft and separate easily. My scalp still produces a bunch of sebum after showering, but now it has the ability to be a bit more sterile with the help of the benzoyl peroxide, and the Shea Butter has the ability to kind of block out the sweat, dust, and other debris from me going about my day. I’m wondering how well this will hold up, so I’ll see how long I can go before another wash is needed.

I’m just happy I learned something from all of this, and I’m happy to be using Shea Butter at the forefront of my regimen again.
 

Aggie

Well-Known Member
I believe that the main difference is that the old one has more carbomer in it. It’s listed way higher up in the old version. That provided more hold and better curl definition. @Aggie was using the new one while I only used the old one and we both ended up having issues with it causing dryness leading to breakage. I trashed mine too. No more!

Yes @caribeandiva, when I did use the original formula, there were absolutely no issues. I soon realized that the new formula with the carbomer listed lower on the ingredients list, was the one breaking off my ends.

It is the new formula that I had to trash since I had already used up all the original formula. I really miss the old formula :sad:
 
Last edited:

Aggie

Well-Known Member
So I think I had another break through guys. Maybe two and a half weeks ago, I had yet another intense scalp flare up, but this time, my scalp showed me how serious it was. I had about 3-4 of these horrid things in random spots on my scalp. I managed to snap this one because my hair was allowing me to part it to really see what was wrong. All the other ones I couldn’t get to from my thickness at my roots.


you can also slightly see the few flakes scattered around the area. My worst fear was the follicles in these areas were damaged. For the longest I couldn’t really pinpoint what has been going on with my scalp because my scalp wasn’t giving me any visual evidence. No flaking, no dryness, slight redness that went away after a gentle wash, no weird smell, no nothing really. Until that day.

I hadn’t been scratching prior to this happening because I give all my willpower to not scratch my already sensitive scalp skin. But I think when I went to wash, the water lifted up the scabs that were probably trying to form over these small lesions because the instant I stepped out of the shower and air dried for maybe 30 mins, the surrounding air was managing to get into my roots and the exposed parts of the wounds were stinging like crazy.

Upon inspecting, that’s when I saw them. The one in the picture was on the left side a few inches above my ear, two were on either side in the middle of crown, and one on the far right side a few inches above my nape.

After that I called my dermatologist, scheduled an appointment, and showed her my findings. I’m very thankful to have such an understanding and creative professional. She’s very sweet, and very knowledgeable. I wrote down the main components of my hair care routine, main products I use, etc. So she does know that I actively take care of myself, and both of us have been trying to steadily find solutions to my scalp issues. The last two visits, we were both under the assumption of it solely being microbial irritation, and contact dermatitis from my surrounding environments.

After talking and going over the picture we both now have agreed that I have some sort of Seborrheic Dermatitis. She stated that it’s kind of an odd case because I’m not showing typical signs of dermatitis. We talked for a bit more, and she then did her thing, and went exploring in my head.

She noted that I have very high sebum production which could be contributing to the lack of flaking, but in return it’s also catching and holding onto any and everything that manages to come into contact with it. Sweat, dirt, pollen, dust, products, etc. and in turn is causing frequent irritation. Which is what caused the scabs to form on my scalp, but due to how oily it is, dandruff or flaking doesn’t even have an opportunity to show itself. Even though I wasn’t scratching hardly at all, it didn’t really matter because my scalp was so irritated that it just did what does normally and tried to flake, and then heal itself.

She noted there’s no sign of fungal growth or overproduction of microbe/bacteria. So she suggested that my best bet now is to try and keep the quality of sebum as clean as possible. At first I thought she meant to try and remove excess sebum, but she said that would be a not so good idea, because then that brings about the opportunity for me to actually start flaking and scaling.

So after the visit I spent the next week just letting my scalp heal. I would shampoo just my roots, and then condition from the ears down. No leave ins, just a small bit of Shea on the last few inches of hair. I was so nervous to use leave ins or anything because I didn’t want anything touching my scalp. After about 7-8 days my scalp is completely healed, and no follicle damage.

I did a bit of chemistry and managed to formulate my own shampoo. Took me a while but I spent 3 whole days doing nothing but testing out various concentrations of ingredients. And I’ve chosen benzoyl peroxide as my main ingredient in my shampoo. I had to kind of really think this through because oxides tends to be very drying. But that’s their purpose, especially in cosmetics. So I really wanted to see how well Shea Butter came through and showed it’s versatility being mixed with a medical grade chemical. Today I officially tested out my shampoo, and to my surprise my hair felt great! I can’t really describe how it feels, but it feels different. My roots do, to be exact. They don’t feel coated whatsoever, and when wet actually feel rather dry, but upon completely air drying, my roots feel so soft and separate easily. My scalp still produces a bunch of sebum after showering, but now it has the ability to be a bit more sterile with the help of the benzoyl peroxide, and the Shea Butter has the ability to kind of block out the sweat, dust, and other debris from me going about my day. I’m wondering how well this will hold up, so I’ll see how long I can go before another wash is needed.

I’m just happy I learned something from all of this, and I’m happy to be using Shea Butter at the forefront of my regimen again.
So beautifully detailed about your scalp issue., I do pray that you find the best solution for your contact dermatitis. You appear to be on the right track @PlanetCybertron
 

nyeredzi

Well-Known Member
So I think I had another break through guys. Maybe two and a half weeks ago, I had yet another intense scalp flare up, but this time, my scalp showed me how serious it was. I had about 3-4 of these horrid things in random spots on my scalp. I managed to snap this one because my hair was allowing me to part it to really see what was wrong. All the other ones I couldn’t get to from my thickness at my roots.


you can also slightly see the few flakes scattered around the area. My worst fear was the follicles in these areas were damaged. For the longest I couldn’t really pinpoint what has been going on with my scalp because my scalp wasn’t giving me any visual evidence. No flaking, no dryness, slight redness that went away after a gentle wash, no weird smell, no nothing really. Until that day.

I hadn’t been scratching prior to this happening because I give all my willpower to not scratch my already sensitive scalp skin. But I think when I went to wash, the water lifted up the scabs that were probably trying to form over these small lesions because the instant I stepped out of the shower and air dried for maybe 30 mins, the surrounding air was managing to get into my roots and the exposed parts of the wounds were stinging like crazy.

Upon inspecting, that’s when I saw them. The one in the picture was on the left side a few inches above my ear, two were on either side in the middle of crown, and one on the far right side a few inches above my nape.

After that I called my dermatologist, scheduled an appointment, and showed her my findings. I’m very thankful to have such an understanding and creative professional. She’s very sweet, and very knowledgeable. I wrote down the main components of my hair care routine, main products I use, etc. So she does know that I actively take care of myself, and both of us have been trying to steadily find solutions to my scalp issues. The last two visits, we were both under the assumption of it solely being microbial irritation, and contact dermatitis from my surrounding environments.

After talking and going over the picture we both now have agreed that I have some sort of Seborrheic Dermatitis. She stated that it’s kind of an odd case because I’m not showing typical signs of dermatitis. We talked for a bit more, and she then did her thing, and went exploring in my head.

She noted that I have very high sebum production which could be contributing to the lack of flaking, but in return it’s also catching and holding onto any and everything that manages to come into contact with it. Sweat, dirt, pollen, dust, products, etc. and in turn is causing frequent irritation. Which is what caused the scabs to form on my scalp, but due to how oily it is, dandruff or flaking doesn’t even have an opportunity to show itself. Even though I wasn’t scratching hardly at all, it didn’t really matter because my scalp was so irritated that it just did what does normally and tried to flake, and then heal itself.

She noted there’s no sign of fungal growth or overproduction of microbe/bacteria. So she suggested that my best bet now is to try and keep the quality of sebum as clean as possible. At first I thought she meant to try and remove excess sebum, but she said that would be a not so good idea, because then that brings about the opportunity for me to actually start flaking and scaling.

So after the visit I spent the next week just letting my scalp heal. I would shampoo just my roots, and then condition from the ears down. No leave ins, just a small bit of Shea on the last few inches of hair. I was so nervous to use leave ins or anything because I didn’t want anything touching my scalp. After about 7-8 days my scalp is completely healed, and no follicle damage.

I did a bit of chemistry and managed to formulate my own shampoo. Took me a while but I spent 3 whole days doing nothing but testing out various concentrations of ingredients. And I’ve chosen benzoyl peroxide as my main ingredient in my shampoo. I had to kind of really think this through because oxides tends to be very drying. But that’s their purpose, especially in cosmetics. So I really wanted to see how well Shea Butter came through and showed it’s versatility being mixed with a medical grade chemical. Today I officially tested out my shampoo, and to my surprise my hair felt great! I can’t really describe how it feels, but it feels different. My roots do, to be exact. They don’t feel coated whatsoever, and when wet actually feel rather dry, but upon completely air drying, my roots feel so soft and separate easily. My scalp still produces a bunch of sebum after showering, but now it has the ability to be a bit more sterile with the help of the benzoyl peroxide, and the Shea Butter has the ability to kind of block out the sweat, dust, and other debris from me going about my day. I’m wondering how well this will hold up, so I’ll see how long I can go before another wash is needed.

I’m just happy I learned something from all of this, and I’m happy to be using Shea Butter at the forefront of my regimen again.
To clarify about how you allowed your scalp to heal, are you saying that leave-ins were causing the issues, with you putting them on your scalp, and once you stopped putting them on your scalp, it just healed itself?
 

PlanetCybertron

Well-Known Member
To clarify about how you allowed your scalp to heal, are you saying that leave-ins were causing the issues, with you putting them on your scalp, and once you stopped putting them on your scalp, it just healed itself?

Oh for that I meant I didn’t really put leave ins on because despite my best efforts to moisturize near my roots, they would’ve probably gotten on my scalp. They usually do anyways, but since I was dealing with compromised areas of my head I didn’t want anything touching it.

Products, including leave-ins were contributing to the issue, but they weren’t the sole issues in and of themselves. Its a combination of an oily scalp, environmental irritants, and anything else (products included), that make their way near the scalp.

apologies for any confusion
 

nyeredzi

Well-Known Member
Natural Hair journey start date: 2014
Shea Butter usage start date: 2016
Style of Choice: Cornrows under wigs
Hair Length today: 22 inches



Her hair is beautiful, both before and after. I wish she hadn't put that down thumbs over the natural hair side. My daughter was walking around me and I quickly hid the screen so she didn't see it.

On another shea butter note, I actually do not have a hair shea butter product. I have a body butter with it, shealoe, but it's quite thick, too thick and pasty for my hair, leaves a white coating that takes too long to go away. I was thinking of trying Melanin Hair Care. I actually wanted to try the oil, since I'm out of my hair oil. But since I was going to order the oil, I thought about ordering the style cream, which has water as first ingredient and shea butter as second. Have you guys tried it and if so, what do you think of it?
https://melaninhaircare.com/collections/all-products/products/twist-elongating-style-cream
 

sunflora

Flowah Powah
Her hair is beautiful, both before and after. I wish she hadn't put that down thumbs over the natural hair side. My daughter was walking around me and I quickly hid the screen so she didn't see it.

On another shea butter note, I actually do not have a hair shea butter product. I have a body butter with it, shealoe, but it's quite thick, too thick and pasty for my hair, leaves a white coating that takes too long to go away. I was thinking of trying Melanin Hair Care. I actually wanted to try the oil, since I'm out of my hair oil. But since I was going to order the oil, I thought about ordering the style cream, which has water as first ingredient and shea butter as second. Have you guys tried it and if so, what do you think of it?
https://melaninhaircare.com/collections/all-products/products/twist-elongating-style-cream

Agreed about the thumbs down thing. I mean all that health and length... I'm sure she didn't get it by constantly silk pressing her hair. It's nice to do a reveal, and boy is it gorgeous, but it kind of sends mixed messages since they are both the same head of hair.

Melanin hair cream works a bit for me, but it just doesn't compare to shea butter mixed with an oil. When I do my braid outs, my hair feels less oily if I use the melanin hair cream, but it frizzes up a lot quicker. When I use shea and sunflower oil, my hair comes out silky, shiny and soft. It doesn't frizz up as quickly. If I'm careful, it doesn't come out too oily/greasy feeling either. Plus it is exponentially cheaper and I can use it on my skin as well. I'll continue using the melanin cream to use it all up, but I don't think I'll repurchase.
 

caribeandiva

Human being
Natural Hair journey start date: 2014
Shea Butter usage start date: 2016
Style of Choice: Cornrows under wigs
Hair Length today: 22 inches



She mentions in one of her videos on her YouTube page that her mother started making natural products including a hair butter.


At around 8 minutes and 30 seconds she mentions her mother created a butter for her using Shea butter from Ghana. She states that she had been on her hair journey for 2 years. She states it wasn't until her mom started making up the organic products and until she started to use them that her hair started taking off in length and health.

From her mother's site:


Source Naturelle UK
Don’t panic, It’s Organic

ABOUT US
We are a home-based business, this venture started when my daughter decided not to use any store-bourght products, so I proceeded to make her some homemade products to use instead. As a Beauty Therapist and a Beauty Lecturer, my daughter thought it would be a good idea for me to join her new venture. I made Body Butter, Hair Butter, Face Butter and she made Roll-On, Body Scrubs and Toothpaste.


The products:
https://sourcenaturelle.co.uk/index.php/shop/

Organic butter and Whipped Shea butter based products!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@caribeandiva
come look!
Ooohhh wee!!! I was all over her YouTube! I agree that her struggle with dryness is very relatable to me. I’ll be wigging it too and keep my hair moisturized and sealed with Shea butter! Even though we don’t have the same hair texture this regimen will work for me too!
 

LavenderMint

Well-Known Member
I’ve been using the Shea Nilotica from Shea Terra with s-curl as my leave-in & my hair feels different. I think the Shea nilotica, no matter where from, will be my go to from now on. It’s so easy to make sure my hair is coated from root to tip when the the Shea melts so readily and doesn’t leave a cast but also doesn’t get runny & waste. I think that making sure I am using enough of the Shea is what will make the difference for my hair.
 

water_n_oil

Well-Known Member
Anyone notice a difference between the yellow and the ivory? (Besides the color). I always purchase ivory shea butter, but I am curious if the yellow offers something the ivory doesn't? Or are they mostly the same?
Yellow just has borututu root added which is said to have antibacterial properties as far as topical use. Useful if you're treating wounds or something but not necessary if you aren't.
 

Virtuosa

Well-Known Member
I did! My cousin took me out to P.F. Chang’s after work. I had some amazing deserts! They had this coconut pineapple ice cream (my favorite!) that was ah-mazing! We wanted to buy a tub of it but they don’t sell it. Boo!
View attachment 452301


Mehhhhssssyyeh ti femme!!! Ou belle belle! :clap:

Are you using Shea on your skin as well? Your glow is so beautiful!


P.S. I am also waiting for 3cayg to restock the Nilotica but I am excited to try the Ivory variety from Benin as well. The texture is truly unique. Every Sunday I exfoliate and go super heavy handed with the Shea afterwards. I start with a huge glob that I smear over my tummy and I go wild. I don’t know if it’s just in my head but I am certain this is helping with muscle recovery from my strength training because after about 15 minutes I notice a considerable reduction in soreness and this only occurs when I am heavy handed after exfoliating. Has anyone else noticed this?
 

Aggie

Well-Known Member
I did! My cousin took me out to P.F. Chang’s after work. I had some amazing deserts! They had this coconut pineapple ice cream (my favorite!) that was ah-mazing! We wanted to buy a tub of it but they don’t sell it. Boo!
View attachment 452301
@caribeandiva

Looks like you had an amazing time on your birthday. Beautiful and that restaurant looks like it makes dining enjoyable too.
 

Aggie

Well-Known Member
My hair ends have been breaking off, so I decided to up the ante and do more deep conditioning of my ends, more moisturizing and sealing with a really good moisturizer and sealed in good old tried and true, Shea Butter.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I just got me some Amika Triple Rx Mask which has in it, guess what? You guessed right - Shea Butter. Y'all know I am indeed a happy camper :happydance:.


Amika - Triple RX Mask (For Dry, Damaged Hair)

Product Details

Brand from Amika. An intensive, highly concentrated treatment mask Contains Sea Buckthorn Berry Oil, Borage Oil and West African Raw Shea Butter Helps repair, restore and revitalize dry, damaged and overstressed hair Delivers exceptional moisture and enhances hair resistance to breakage Unveils softer, shinier, stronger, more manageable and healthier looking Free of parabens and artificial colors
 
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