April 21, 2019 by Shamara Lee
Hello my beautiful curly friends!
It’s Keziah and I am reporting to you live, at the time, from Cape Town, South Africa! My family and I love traveling abroad and I thought it would be great to bring my Swirly Curlies along for the journey! It has always been a dream of mine to work and travel abroad. The team will be working and traveling to several amazing cities over the next two months. With that being said, this video will give you an idea as to how I prepare for such a long excursion and make my natural hair products last. Can’t wait to share the experience, press play to watch this video now!
1. I recommend bringing your favorite full sized products because they’ll last longer, and they may not sell that product in the city you’re traveling to. Never take that for granted, especially overseas. Having natural hair requires more preparation in terms of washing, styling and maintaining. I chose to bring Dessert Essence Shampoo & Conditioner because it’s affordable and I like the ingredients. Water is the first active ingredient in their shampoo, and I’ve found the results after to be amazing! The shampoo also has shea butter and coconut oil in it, which a lot of natural hair products do, and that’s ok as long as it doesn’t produce negative effects. You may not find Dessert Essence in drug stores because it’s mainly sold at health food stores like Whole Foods. I purchased one of them for only $10 and it’s organic!
2. Next, I brought the SwirlyCurly Styling Cream and Deva Curl Ultra Defining Gel. The super cream acts as a leave-in or styling cream and the gel is used to enhance curl definition. I forgot to bring my deep conditioner, but I plan to deep condition with the Dessert Essence conditioner. I’m going to wait until we arrive at our next location to do that because Cape Town is experiencing a drought and I did not want to use any more water than necessary.
3. Moving on to accessories. I couldn’t forget my Be-Bop Denman Brush which is great for scalp stimulation and promotes hair growth. I also brought my Snappee Hair Ties for quick hair pull ups and styling efforts. Bobby pins are a staple. I brought my Swirly Curly Bonnet and I love the thick band on it! The band snaps securely around your head, protecting your edges, and works to prevent sliding throughout the night. I borrowed a blow dryer from a friend. I like to have one to create hair volume and make sure my hair dries completely. If you’re going to blow dry your hair, I would consider doing it on a low heat or cool air setting to prevent any possible heat damage from occurring. This will depend on several factors such as how often you blow dry, if you’re stretching the hair while doing it or how dry you like your hair to be before you stop. If you’re not trying to get your hair bone straight, consider one of the two options on air temperature because either temperature will get the job done. Lastly, I brought my pic to create volume as well, and I’m going to release a video about how to create more volume in your natural hair using this tool.
That is it ladies! To recap, I brought four main products and reused them for different purposes; as well as, small but necessary accessories. I know, in the natural community, we have so many products and steps to our hair routine, but I’m here to tell you that it is possible to achieve great hair results with just a few products! Take some time to re-evaluate the products you have, the ones you use and the ones that give you the best results.
Sending love from Cape Town,
Keziah Dhamma