ORS Olive Oil Hair Masque Review

I'm 7 weeks post and I'm one week overdue for a medium to heavy protein treatment so it was the perfect opportunity to try out the ORS Olive Oil Hair Masque. My first impression was that it had a very mild scent reminding me almost of a Jergens Lotion. It was also extremely thick, so much so that if you were to turn the jar upside down, it would not even budge.

I decided to try the product without adding any additional oils to it and applied it to hair that was 80% dry. It is very thick and spreads easily onto the hair. It didn't feel like it was easily absorbed into my hair; instead it felt as if it was coating my hair. I was happy that I didn't need a lot even though I parted my hair in small sections and applied the product from root to tip. After I put on a plastic cap and sat under the dryer for 15 minutes. I then went and prepared lunch so the conditioner stayed in my hair for several hours.

When I eventually removed my plastic cap, I noticed that my hair had really absorbed the conditioner. After washing out the conditioner, my new growth felt soft and fluffy and the length of my hair really moisturised. Although it has protein (keratin) in it and is not recommended for daily use, you would honestly believe it to be a moisturising conditioner. My hair felt that wonderful after using it. Detangling was a breeze, it just helped the comb to slide through my new growth.

ORS definitely has another winner here. I love the product without even adding extra oils to it. It is THAT good. I will definitely be adding it to my regimen and it is going to replace the Hair Mayonnaise. I will only be using it every 6 weeks and the week prior to and after my relaxer, so although it is expensive, it will last me a really long time.

Next weekend will be my light protein deep condition and I am going to try and determine whether I prefer the ORS Replenishing Conditioner or the ORS HAIRepair Nourishing Conditioner

I really want an EdgeStick

I've been going back on forth on this matter for quite some time now. My edges do not lay flat. My hair grows up and out and no matter what I try, I end up not only with fuzzy edges, but edges that coil into little balls. I have tried every method that I see working for other ladies, but for me they have all been failures. My hairline has the tightest coil when compared to the rest of my head so the scarf method, the ORS edge control and all the other products can control it but for only a short space of time--maybe an hour or two. The one product which did work ended up causing breakage in my temple area and so that was also a no-go. It caused my hair to fall out and I was left with small bald patches.

Now I have been thinking about the EdgeStick because I figure heat could lay down my edges pretty well, but therein lies the problem. I try to limit direct heat. I rarely flat iron my hair; usually only 4 times a year. I never use my blowdryer. It is there for emergency use, say one day I'm in the middle of my routine and I have to go out suddenly. Instead of roller setting, I would blow dry. That has happened only once in the 3 years I have been caring for my hair.

If I were to purchase an Edgestick, I would limit myself to using it twice a week, only after deep conditioning my hair and along with heat protectant yet I still am afraid of bi-weekly heat on such a delicate area. I have very fine hair which begins to get weighed down by product and my naturally oily scalp, so I can't do more than 3 days without washing my hair or it starts to get limp and oily. I also know if you are going to be using heat you should only do it on freshly washed, deep conditioned hair.

I know that heat is bad and does a number on hair. At the same time, could it also be that pre-hair journey, many of us used heat on a daily basis on hair that was dirty and rarely deep conditioned? Maybe that was  the cause of the hair woes when it came to heat usage.

All I know right now is that I am tired of the fuzzy hairline. I have rocked it for the past 3 years as I have never relaxed my hair sooner than 12 weeks, but of late I am really contemplating either getting an EdgeStick or reverting to my pre-hair journey days and relaxing every 8 weeks.

My question is, which is the lesser of the two evils?

Ah decisions, decisions.

ORS Crazy

I am a recovering product junkie and to avoid a relapse I tend to go shopping for hair supplies with a list in hand to ensure that I leave with only what I need. Unfortunately, sometimes even with the best of intentions one can be tempted. Am tempted I was indeed today.

My plan was to purchase another ORS HAIRepair as I wanted to deep condition half my hair with the Replenishing Conditioner and half with the HAIRepair to see which one I liked best. I meant to only pick that up, but what should I spy on the shelf just below? The ORS Hair Masque which I have been dying to try.

Now it is not cheap for only 11oz of product. I paid $81.95 in my currency which is almost US$13. It is sold on amazon.com for US$10.

I tend to use the ORS Hair Mayonnaise as my medium protein treatment, once every 6 weeks and then the week prior to and after a relaxer. The Mayonnaise has hydrolyzed collagen as its protein and the Hair Masque has hydrolyzed keratin so I believe the Hair Masque is a stronger protein treatment. The label warns that the product is not for daily use.

I will be trying this out this weekend. I am going to chelate my hair with my ORS Aloe Shampoo and will follow up with the ORS Hair Masque. I also wanted to do a length check, so given that I will be doing a heavier protein treatment, I feel okay about flat ironing my hair.

5 weeks post--trying to hold out for 7 weeks more

New growth shot: I am texlaxed to about 70-80% straight so my chemically treated hair has definite texture to it. You can tell the new growth as it has less of a sheen to it in the photo.

I made it to 5 weeks post and I am beginning to struggle. Usually I stretch anywhere from 12 weeks to 24 weeks, with Week 10 being the week when I am ready to throw in the towel. I tend to barely have any visible new growth until week 6.

Since I've been on my carrot experiment my growth rate has increased by leaps and bounds. It's beginning to get difficult and I am not sure if I can hold out for the next 7 weeks. I would really hate to have to texlax sooner than 12 weeks, but at the same time I am happy for the increased growth. I am paying particular attention to my ends to ensure that I retain my length so that my growth spurt will translate to an increase in length.

How would you achieve this style?

I came across this photo of a half wig and I found it to be a pretty cute hairstyle which I wouldn't mind rocking. What I am wondering is how to achieve it? Do you think one could do it with the smallest size of magnetic rollers or would large perm rods be better? I don't have very small rollers so I will have to run out and get. I think I will be trying this style on Wednesday, my next wash day. I really prefer having curls to wearing my hair straight.

My ORS HAIRepair Nourishing Conditioner Review

I purchased the ORS HAIRepair Nourishing Conditioner yesterday and tested it out today. I have to say I love it. I was really pleased with the results.

My first impression of the product was that it had a distinct banana scent. It's not an overpowering scent but if you are not a fan of the smell of bananas, which is my case, then it can turn you off a bit. That being said you can't really smell it once it is in your hair. I only got the scent because I took a good whiff of it when I emptied the contents into a bowl. In terms of consistency, the product is moderately thick and is very much like a pudding. It's not a liquid as the ORS Replenishing Conditioner.

I mixed my conditioner with my regular amla, coconut and olive oils and what I found strange was that the oils would not mix in thoroughly and seemed to separate if left standing for more than a minute. Given that I am pretty heavy handed when it comes to products and I apply my conditioner like a relaxer, I would have preferred a little bit more product. In any case, I made do with what I had and separated my hair into 10 sections and applied the product to each section, concentrating on my new growth and my ends. After I combed it through with my rake comb. The conditioner had a lot of slip and I really felt like it was just enough to be evenly distributed throughout my hair.

After applying the conditioner, I put a plastic cap on and sat under my hooded dryer for 10 minutes. I didn't wash it out immediately as I had to prepare dinner. When I finally washed it out, it was about 2 hours after I had first applied it.

My hair felt wonderful after I washed out the conditioner. It was soft and felt moisturised but I could still tell that it definitely had protein in it. I cannot truthfully say it helped me with detangling because the way I wash my hair prevents any tangling from occurring. What I can say is that my new growth felt light and fluffy and my comb went through my new growth very easily. I roller set my hair in small rollers and after I took them out, I could definitely say the product

works for my hair. I got the results I wanted; my hair was soft, shiny and bouncy. 


Now would I use it again? I would love to use it again, but the cost is a bit prohibitive for me. It was almost double the price of the ORS Replenishing Pak. If I were to make it a staple in my regimen, I would definitely need to use 1 1/2 packs because at the end I was really scraping the bowl to get the remaining product. I use a light protein once a week so double the price of the Replenishing Conditioner (which I love) doesn't really appeal to me. What I would like to do next week is part my hair down the middle and on one half do the Replenishing Conditioner and on the other, the Nourishing Conditioner and then see which one I prefer. If the Nourishing one wins, then I will put out the extra cash. It's a pity I didn't think of that earlier.

Update: I did a side by side test of the Replenishing Conditioner and the HAIRepair Nourishing Conditioner. You can view it here.

I'm so excited

It is here! It is finally here! Today I went to replenish my stock of staple products and came across the pack version of the ORS HAIRepair Nourishing Conditioner. I was so excited it finally made it to Trinidad. I paid $13.95 in local currency (a little more than US$2) which I must admit is a bit on the pricey side for one use. That being said, I cannot wait until tomorrow to wash my hair to try it out--sounds a bit weird but oh well, hahaha. I'm due for a light protein on Saturday. I will swap out my regular ORS Replenishing Conditioner and see what I think.

I am thinking it might be a bit heavy on the protein side as it contains hydrolyzed collagen pretty high up in the ingredient listing. It also has dimethicone which scares me a bit due to my product build-up hair breakage experience throughout 2011 but at least it is in the middle of the ingredient listing and I use a sulphate shampoo now, so I should be fine in any case.

Can't wait to try the product. A review will be coming tomorrow or tonight, in case I succumb to the temptation and wash and deep condition my hair tonight. After all, the last time I washed it was on Tuesday and today is Friday. I think my hair could do with a wash *big grin*

My inspiration shot

I came across this photo today and was instantly in love with the length of this girl's hair. I doubt very much that is not a weave, but it is the length what got me. This is my dream length of hair. It is what I am working towards and even though I experienced a drastic set back which put me back at my 2009 length, I know it is possible. I believe that one day I'll be posting a shot of me and my hair looking like this!

Lots of new growth and less than 1 month post

I am currently 3 weeks post and my new growth is coming in fast and furious. I have been doing my eat 1-2 carrots a day experiment ever since my relaxer and I can see a definite change in my growth rate. I have been eating carrots every day since November of last year to give my adult acne-prone skin a boost of internal Vitamin A. A pleasant side effect of my increased carrot, and therefore beta carotene, intake has been an increase in my growth rate. I decided to up the ante and instead of eating half a carrot a day, I was going to aim for 1 or 2 carrots. This is the most I would dare to eat, any more and I risk the soles of my feet and the palm of my hands turning temporarily orange.

It definitely works though. At 3 weeks post I usually do not have any major new growth. At 3 weeks post while eating 1-2 carrots a day and I have so much new growth it is beginning to coil up and this normally happens when I am anywhere past 8 weeks post. I can no longer even wear my bangs as they have begun to grow out and the only way to have them lay flat would be to flat iron the new growth and I'm not a fan of using lots of direct heat. I am going to continue my experiment and hopefully I will be able to stretch to 14 weeks to relax just in time for my birthday.

It's not necessarily carrots that grow your hair. It is the beta carotene. I would even go so far as to say that you could eat other foods with the orange/yellow pigment and also dark green and have the same benefits. Beta carotene is converted in the body to Vitamin A which is essential for bone and tooth development and healthy hair, skin and nails.

I would also like to add that I have a very healthy diet. I do not eat any processed foods nor any added sugars. My growth rate had increased since I began eating more peas, beans, fruits and vegetables in an effort to clear my skin. The extra beta carotene has just taken it a step further and has perhaps helped my hair to grow at its optimum rate.

Beware of gradual breakage

I follow quite a few hair blogs and because of that I come across girls lamenting that their hair is not progressing as quickly as they wish it would. I was also one of those girls. My hair was stuck at APL for months and would not get longer. I figured it was due to slow growth, to dusting my hair too often and at one point, I even thought I had reached my terminal length. In the end I realised my problem was slow but steady breakage of my ends. In my case it was due to heavy product build up. At first I was unable to identify the problem because my hair felt as if it was in protein overload. I therefore stopped using protein and tried to increase moisture in my hair but continued using the products which were causing the problem in the 1st place. In the end I lost a lot of hair.

I would caution anyone, if your hair is still stuck at a certain length after 6 months and is not due to any major setback, then it is time to reassess your regimen. It is time to do a 6 month comparison length check, placing your photos side by side to figure out what is going on. You might be surprised that you are not retaining your length.

My hair in October 2009: The successful days of my journey. Went from NL/SL in January 2009 to past APL in October

The problems begin to show in 2010 and I cannot figure out what is happening. I moisturise and seal daily, I protective style and I deep condition twice a week.

July 2011: I am now convinced I am suffering from breakage. Longest, thin sections are now shorter than APL.