Butter-n-Braids

A couple of weeks ago I purchased Shea butter from the Organic Shea Butter Company at my local Walgreens. This is my first time buying Shea butter and making my own shea butter mix. Since I have 4 inches of NG I needed a moisturizer that will work both for my NG and relaxed ends. To start, I purchased the 4oz container, $9.99, simply because of the unknown. If the Shea butter works well on my hair I will invest in a bigger container.


Shea Butter Mix

These are the steps I used for my mix. After watching several you tube videos I gathered there is not a wrong way for mixing.

1. melted Shea butter in microwave, 2 minutes
2. added oils – grape seed, castor oil, EVCO, Shea butter oil, vitamin E
           a. at this point I moisturized my hair while the mix was still in liquid form
3. refrigerated overnight
4. let stand for a couple hours

Styling

The style of choice was a braid out on dry hair after cleansing my scalp. Unfortunately, I did not have the extra time for my normal wash day routine. For a leave in I used Neutrogena Triple Moisture and moisturized with my Shea butter mix. Then lightly saturated my hair with water and braided. Additional oils to seal in the moisture were not used because I simply did not feel a need for it at the time. The next day, a Friday, I wore my Tia lace front wig to work with my hair still braided for my Saturday event.

Results

Beautiful curls! The results were gorgeous and I loved my hair. Honestly, I planned to wear a pin up or curly pony tail because my braid outs have been off key lately. Instead I wore my hair down and Jeremy loved my hair as well (additional bonus). This is the first braid out since my mini chop which I believe contributed the success. The mini chop eliminated a lot of thin relax ends that allowed my curls to look more uniformed. Let’s talk about moisture. My hair was oh so moisturized that I did not need to add more Shea butter to my hair the next day. The curls lasted all day and night and the dull look was totally eliminated. Even though I’m thrilled with the results I plan to use Shea butter more before making it a staple product. The pictures below in my opinion are not very clear. Unfortunately, I could not find my digital camera for better results. Now I just need to learn how to get second, third, and fourth day hair with my braid outs while working out.