Reddit reviews NOW Solutions, Apricot Kernel Oil, Hair Moisturizer, Rejuventaing Skin Oil, Softens Fine Lines, 16-Ounce

You sound like you're having the same problem that I had and what I've found is - the less product I use on my hair, the better my hair behaves.

I know you've mentioned having 3c hair, my hair has several textures 3c-4b, maybe 4c; however, I recently stopped using the "hair-typing" for product/style suggestions because my hair doesn't behave the way most people's hair behaves who appear to have a similar texture as me.

Now, I say you sound like me because if I hadn't figured all of this out sooner, I would have been on a medicated dandruff shampoo.

You know how there's the myth that our hair is more dry than that of "white-textured" hair? Well, that's not necessarily true. What I've noticed is this, my hair is kinky - and springy/coily in the back - yet, my scalp does in fact produce oil. That is why I cannot use the same products most people in the 4s can. My daughter, who isn't really considered black other than me being her mother, has 3a hair, and she cannot use any hair product meant for black hair either - it makes her hair frizzy.

I already knew this about my daughter's hair - she's 14 now and doesn't use any product on her hair at all, save for a Garnier Fructis Sleek and Shine leave in - because it makes her hair worse. She only had to start using Garnier Fructis a couple of months ago because she bleached and dyed her hair blue, and the length of her hair goes to the top of her butt, so it gets dry at the ends. Now me, I went through different brands of creams etc because we are "supposed to "infuse" moisture into our hair, and "lock" it in so that it doesn't dry it. However, my hair always ended up frizzy and I ended up with dandruff. That's when I looked into what dandruffs actually were - my natural oils were being sort of "clogged" on my scalp by my product.

Now, I wash/condition my hair with either Ogx shampoo and conditions or recently I started using Garnier's new Whole blends line shampoo and conditioner. After washing my hair and wringing it out to dry in the shower, I use this She Moisture conditioner as a leave in, and this apricot oil I ordered from Amazon - that's all the product I use.

I don't use any combs in my hair - finger combing/detangling both in the shower and while I'm setting it. And I mostly set it in twist - about 8-ish or so all over my head. By finger combing it, I don't disturb my natural curl pattern, and I've learned that my curls stretch and/or loosen really easily. Just pulling my hair back into a hair tie can sort of "straighten" my hair - and remember, my hair has the appearance of most 4s, with 3c from the middle of my ear down.

Now, if during the week I get lazy and don't twist my hair one night and/or sleep without tying it down, I'll rejuvenate my curls with aloe vera gel and twisting it back in larger chunks - no more than five this time. This is something I discovered by chance. If my hair feels "dry", I'll use a tad bit of the same Shea Moisture leave in, or I'll use this one, but since this one has more of an "oily" feel, I tend to not use it as often. For the aloe vera gel, I'm using the rest of my TJ's aloe vera I have left over from the summer from getting burned.

My hair looks as professional as I want it to. When I take my twists out the next morning, my curls are well defined, bouncy, pliable, and soft to the touch. However, if I get lazy and/or have those days in which I don't want to deal with my curls - like an extremely humid day - I part my hair like I do when i'm setting it for twist - one in the front where my "bangs" are, two sections behind both ears, and two - four sections in the back. After twisting those sections, I'll twist them into bigger "twists" and pin them in the middle of my hair and pinning my bangs up to the side behind my ear. EVERYONE thinks I've done something fancy, when in fact, it's the easiest hairstyle I wear.

Everything i do to my hair is easy, low maintenance and pretty health - I know it's health because I bleached my hair a year ago, touched the bleach up at my scalp in August, and dyed the top of my head pink and blue.

This may or may not work for you, but I suspect that with you having dandruff, your issues are similar to mine and you produce more oil on your scalp than you realize.

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Edit: Added link

Edit 2: Apparently TJ's have changed their formula, which I didn't know. The bottle of aloe vera I have is different and unscented; I'm not sure if you can still find it because I haven't actually looked for it :(

This is from the perspective of a woman who enjoys giving sensual massages to her boyfriend. There are many different oils which can be used, I'm presently using Apricot Kernel Oil. This manufacturer also makes Jojoba, Almond, Avocado, and Grape seed oils which I haven't tried. https://www.amazon.com/NOW-Foods-Apricot-Kernel-Liquid/dp/B00028MLG6?th=1


The Apricot Kernel Oil has no scent, isn't greasy, but is very nice to work with. I prefer no scent, but all the oils are fantastic carrier oils if you would like to customize scents by adding essential oils.

Depending on my mood, I may or may not restrain my partners hands, but leave his ankles free b/c I need to bend his legs to work them and his feet. We are both completely naked. I straddle him and start from the top down. With a blindfold or hood with an opening for the mouth on him, I tease by leaning in for a kiss but barely touch his lips. Maybe bite them gently or lick them.

Holding the bottle of oil a good distance from his chest, I allow it to fall in a thin stream. During the massage I change up the pressure and the parts off my hands I use, and the speed. With both hands barely touching him, almost floating over his skin, I skim the oil. Then, slowly add a bit of pressure from the palms. I circle the areolas and pinch the nipples. From his chest I move to his arms, which are out of reach unless I lean my body into his and my breasts make contact with him. I am in the position to kiss/bite his neck or whisper in his ear, as my hands stretch to work his arms.

As I move down between his legs, I make sure I make light contact with his cock. I work on his upper thigh getting closer to his most sensitive areas and accidentally graze them as I move to the other thigh. He knows when I go in and kiss the tip of his cock, that area will get only the most necessary attention. I'm a woman with a mission to massage and turn on. I pay gentle lip and mouth service to his cock and balls and use the oil to treat them the way they deserve to be treated. Never forget the perineal and anal areas.

I massage his lower leg and foot and move to the other one. During the whole process, I will occasionally go back to his mouth, neck, ears, nipples, cock and balls to show I haven't forgotten them.

I have him turn over and begin all over from the top of his sexy body, down his perfect ass, to his legs.

I'm a total novice and have just experimented to find things that work for me based on stuff I've read here, so please take this all with a huge grain of salt. Ymmv, etc.

Anyway. Yes, I started with just plain mineral oil - I had to go to Amazon to find just straight mineral oil, everything local had fragrance or something else, so I found a food-safe mineral oil there, figuring if it was high enough grade to ingest then it was high enough grade for my face. (Not saying, "anything you can eat, you can put on your face!" I just mean if it's a thing you would put on your face and it is high enough grade of that thing that it is food-safe, then it's also probably face-safe, even if they're not marketing it for that purpose. Please anyone feel free to correct me if I'm making a dangerous error!)

I'm currently using a mix of oils I make using that mineral oil and apricot kernel oil 50/50 for the base, and then adding a little rosehip oil and tea tree oil.

When I wear makeup, I double-cleanse and use micellar water in addition to oil. I just use Simple brand stuff I found at Kroger or Walmart.

OCM helped, but I struggled to stay moisturized all day, especially under makeup. CeraVe and Pond's broke me out, I had a hard time finding anything at the store that didn't have a lot of ingredient overlap with them and I wasn't willing to shell out $20+ on moisturizer I wasn't sure would work. I found this weird Egyptian Magic stuff at Walmart and thought the simplicity of the ingredients was promising (olive oil, beeswax, honey, bee pollen, royal jelly, and propolis), so I tried it out and fell in love. Before I found out Amazon has it too, my Walmart ran out and didn't get any back for a week, and my skin really suffered - it sounds silly but it was almost painful to not have it soothed and hydrated all the time, it just felt so sensitive and uncomfortable. This stuff has become my Holy Grail, can't-live-without-it item.

Edit - jfc that got long, sorry. Hope that was informative and helpful for you or someone, thank you all for coming to my very shitty TED talk ❤️

Serum is probably the easiest thing to make, especially for dry skin because it will all be oil based. You can pre mix everything in a bottle if you have a lot of ingredients, or if you just use two you can rub them together in your hands!

For dry skin, the best serum will have a lot of fatty acids from the oils so avocado oil, jojoba oil, and apricot kernel are especially good, just a small layer of one of those alone could make a big difference on how well your creams work too.

If you want to get fancy, essential oils are great additions:

• carrot oil for dryness,
  
  
• chamomile, calendula, or rose for calming,
  
  
• citrus like lemon or orange or a lavender are great astringents (but better for oily skin)
  
  I tend to think less is more though. I get my oils from NOW Foods, I'm guessing they should ship internationally.
  
  

Coconut oil gets really "creamy" sometimes especially if it's a little colder (weather). I've been using food grade apricot oil (from Amazon.com). And it's AMAZING. Has more of a neutral smell compared to coconut oil too.

Edited to add link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00028MLG6?pc_redir=1411841337&robot_redir=1