Nidasii Beauty: Apple Cider Vinegar DIY For Curlista's

Beauties for the past few two months I've been suffering from really dry hair and it took a while for me to finally figure out why. I immediately blamed it on the recent change in temperature. Here in NYC the weather became cold and dry rather quickly this year....at least it did to me.  I couldn't figure out why this was happening. Then it dawned on me. I spent the entire summer in wash in go styles. As most of you may know I'm a Curlista and I have a kinky curly hair texture. During summer months I always gravitate towards wash and go styles. I just wet it in the shower apply moisturizer and either let it air dry or I let it semi dry then let take all my curls and brush them up into a messy yet chic top bun. Like most women I don't have a lot of time to fuss over my hair so I always go with simple routines that don't require much time and attention. Unfortunately I neglected to ensure my hairs PH.

When I finally figured it out I realized that my hairs PH balance was totally out of whack and I needed to restore the balance. So I went back to my tried and true DIY solution of apple cider vinegar and water. This is a common DIY remedy that many of you may be familiar with. It's most often used or noted as a natural hair clarifying cleanser that does not strip hair of moisture, however, many curlistas use it to cleanse and restore PH balance to their hair. Unfortunately, many of us curlistas suffer from dry and frizzy hair because our  curly hair pattern often prevents our hair's natural oils from traveling down the entire length of our hair to the ends. As a result this can create dry brittle hair.

If some of you are wondering why PH balance is so important for Curlistas here's why. Beware this is were I get Geeky as I give a step by step break down of PH. For starters the acronym PH stands for Potential of Hydrogen and it measures how acidic or alkali a substance is. PH has a range of 0 to 14. Any substance that falls into the range of 0 to 6.9 is acidic and anything that falls in the range of 7.1 to 14 is alkali. If a substance has a PH of 7 that means it's neutral.

Now here's why knowing proper PH is essential for curlistas. If you had to take a guess which environment would you think is ideal for curly hair...acidic or alkali? If you chose alkali your wrong! Curly hair needs an acidic environment. Did you know that sebum, the oil produced by our scalp and skin, is acidic? Sebum like our Nidasii products is a multipurpose substance. Not only does it lubricate our hair shafts with oil, that same oil due to its acidic nature prevents bacteria and fungus from finding a warm and cozy home in our hair.

The ideal PH range for most curlistas is 4.5 to 5.5. That's also the range for sebum. When a curlistas hair is at it's proper PH balance it seals the hairs cuticle allowing it to retain its moisture. When hair is alkali its dry, dull and maybe even brittle because the cuticle is open. So, although we apply moisturizers to our hair if its in an alkali state it won't retain much moisture. The appearance of hair that is PH balanced looks very different from hair that's not. The best way I can describe the appearance of  curly hair that's PH balanced is that it appears to be smoother with better defined curls. Where as curly hair in an alkali state appears to be frizzy with less defined curls when dried.

So needless to say after I washed my hair with the apple cider vinegar and water solution my hair immediately felt much softer and smoother. It was like it breathed a sigh of relief after taking a long sip of water. If your hair seems to be dry and dull try cleansing with apple cider vinegar and water. I like to use a 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar to 1 cup of water.

Have you ever tried cleansing your hair with an apple cider vinegar and water solution? How was your experience?

Hot oil Beauty Re-mix

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Hey Beauties,

It’s been FREEEEEZING in NYC this week. All week long I’ve been awaking to temps of 10 and 7 degrees! Those temps don't exactly make a girl want to jump out of bed in the morning. So needless to say I’ve been blasting the heat all week drying out my skin. This weekend I decided to give my skin the treat it needs. A hot oil treatment! Yes, you read it correctly, I gave my skin a hot oil treatment. Who says hot oil treatments are only for hair. In fact, I actually re-mixed this Beauty DIY with one of our products. Here’s how you can benefit from this special treatment.

As always my moisturizing process begins after a shower on moist skin.  It’s truly the best way to deeply moisturize because it penetrates beneath the skins surface and this is how you maintain all day moisture.

Before you go into the shower take your favorite oil ( this weekend I used a blend of  coconut oil and avocado oil) and place it into a heat safe container. Next, place the heat safe container into a hot water bath to allow the oil to warm. I usually take the oil in the hot water bath into the bathroom with me and have it heat up while I’m in the shower. After the shower I slightly blot my skin  making sure  to leave it moist.

Now, here’s where the fun begins. I would normally apply the hot oil treatment to my damp skin. But, this is how I re-mixed this beauty DIY. I first applied the hot oil treatment to my skin. Oh  my goodness!!  It  feels and smells amazing. After I applied the hot oil treatment I massaged our Cocoa Commotion Body Butter into my skin to provide an additional layer of moisture to my dry skin, as well as seal in moisture. My skin literally drinks in the moisture and I have luminous, glowing skin.

Want to give this Beauty DIY a try? Here’s what you will need.

·      Your favorite oil or blend of oils

·      Heat safe container

·      Hot water bath

If you give this beauty DIY a try stop by and let us know how it worked for you.

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Nidasii Spa: Papaya & Banana D.I.Y Mask

 

Hey Beauties! It's been a while but we're back with another D.I.Y. beauty recipe. I love do it your self beauty recipes because there's no exact science to them and you can tweak them to your specific skin needs. Today's beauty recipe is a Papaya & Banana mask that can be re-mixed into a body scrub. But, we'll talk more about that in our beauty remix section below.

Here are the ingredients needed for today's beauty mask:

1/2  Ripe Papaya
1 Whole Banana
1/4 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
Blender

Take a spoon and scoop out the seeds from the center of the papaya and place them on a paper towel to dry. I'll tell what to do with those in our beauty remix below.  Next, take a spoon and begin to scoop out the the flesh of the papaya into the blender. Next, place the peeled banana into the blender and begin to blend until you achieve a pureed consistency. Next, add 1/4 of a cup or 4 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream to the papaya & banana puree and blend for 2 minutes. The heavy whipping cream will help thicken the mixture allowing for a better application. Plus the lactic acid in the cream is a natural exfoliant. When done apply the mixture to face and relax for twenty minutes to let all the natural nutrients absorb into the skin. Be sure to place the remaining mixture in an air tight container and store in the refrigerator. I can usually get three applications from this recipe. This recipe also will last up to one week if stored in the refrigerator.

Beauty Benefits of This Mask:

This mask exfoliates, moisturizes and provides the skin with essential minerals and antioxidants.

The papapya contains papain an enzyme that acts as an anti-inflammatory agent and natural exfoliant that has the ability to melt away the outer most layer of dead dry skin. Because the ezyme papain has anti-inflammatory properties its ideal for acne prone skin types.

In this beauty recipe the banana acts as a natural moisturizer with a host of essential vitamins and minerals.

The heavy whipping cream has many functions in this beauty recipe. It serves as an emulsifier, thickening the papaya & banana mixture allowing for a rich, decadent application. The lactic acid in the cream also provides gentle exfoliation. And, last, but certainly not the least, it provides tons and tons of moisture.

Papaya Beauty Re-mix:

Earlier in this post I told you I would get back to you  on what to do with the papaya seeds I instructed you to place on a paper towel to dry. So, here it is!

Now that the seeds are dry. I need you to crush them. This can be done a number of ways. You can use a rolling pin to roll over them a few times for a rough chop consistency, coffee grinder or mini chopper....you get the idea. Next pour the crushed seeds into the papaya and banana mixture and mix well. I like to pour them into what's left after I apply my facial mask. This makes the most awesome body scrub that will leave your skin looking, feeling & smelling AMAZING!!!

Be sure to look out for more papaya goodness in part II of this post Wednesday!