**REVIEW** Deluxe Botanicals Castor Oil

This 100% pure & organic castor oil by Deluxe Botanicals surprised me. Pleasantly.

It's not the first castor oil I've used, of course, but it's the first "clear" castor oil I've used since I was a kid and my Mom and one of the Grands would make us kids eat a spoonful everyday. Ick.

This one is not for ingesting. It's for the hair, skin and nails.

See?

When I got it, I noticed that unlike, the castor oils I've been buying locally (black ash oils), this one was in a bottle with a dropper. I love having a dropper for oils because they make it easier for dispensing and adding to other bottles.

Where this oil surprised me right off the bat is with how freaking thick is is!

The other castor oils I've used are not thin or watery, but this one is so thick that it reminds me of corn syrup. And that is part of the beauty of it.

Because the oil is thick, I thought it would be too heavy for using as a moisturizer. I don't want a thick, greasy mess left on my hands, and I really don't want to use anything like that on my face, right?

No worries. I did test it on my face (and neck) and it really didn't bother my pores. I just rubbed some water and a drop of the oil in my hands and patted it onto my face and neck before bedtime. I think it helped a lot because the house is really dry with the heat turned up for winter. Ugh!

Of course I mainly wanted to test this on my hands and nails. The Deluxe Botanicals goes on thick, but not too sticky and, after about 2 or 3 minutes (maybe less), it has absorbed completely. I mean completely. My hands (and nails) were very nourished without any sign of greasiness.

When I tested the oil on my body (legs and feet), I got the same results. I just let the castor oil absorb before I on clothing.

Because thisi is a 4-ounce bottle, I'm not going to waste it using it full-body. I added several dropperfuls to a bottle of the lotion I'm taking with me on vacation and left it at that. I'm saving the rest to use on my hair and nails (and my feet).

When I'm not sponge-curling my natural hair, I like to do a 2-strand twist of cornrows overnight. Tonight, I did my twist-rows, then used the castor oil on my scalp in between rows. I want to see how my scalp feels tomorrow when I take my hair down. I will let you know at the finish of this review.

My pre-bed look:

Looking like Celie! LOL

I just oiled my scalp bewtween the twist-rows

This oil is also supposed to be good for acne treatment, but I can't test for that. I do know that when I remembered to try it on my lips it felt great. (If your lips are currently chapped and peeling, apply the oil and let it set for a minute, then do a mild cloth or sugar scrub. I noticed that this worked excellent with some sugar for a scrubbing.) There isn't a strong taste to it, thank goodness. I'm going to try using it a few minutes before I apply lipstick because, for some reason, some lipsticks suck all the moisture right out of my smackers.

Finally, the $14.48 Prime price seems reasonable to me for the 4-ounce bottle because I will be adding this to other products and saving some for direct application. This works well enough to add to my oil purchases in the future and I'm glad that I got to try it out.Also there is a 30-day guarantee. If you don't see results, you get your money back. Good deal.

I checked out Deluxe Botanicals Facebook page and noticed that they share some nice tips and hints. I especially like the "Essential Oil Conversions" chart.

Peace
--Free

DISCLOSURE: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Let's Talk About Lipstick (Dark Ladies Editon)

I've threatened before to blog about lipsticks because I have such a hard time finding shades complimentary to my, um, deep shade of dark! I don't even want to think about the time I spend searching out foundation.

Next time, I will focus on foundation. For now, let's talk lipcolor.

Any woman who buys cosmetics know that prices aren't a great indication of quality. I've spent up to $20 for, say, lip color that was no better than the $2 and under selection at a beauty supply store. I think the main thing any of us want in our makeup is basic:

• A complimentary shade - or at least one that doesn't indicate we should be wearing a rubber nose and comic shoes.
• Something that sticks. To our lips or face and not to our teeth or clothing.
• A decent price.
• Availability.

I have the best luck finding good shades of lip and face color at those little neighborhood beauty supply stores. Unfortunately the neighborhood is usually in a zip code that requires I buy a plane ticket. The best blusher I ever found was in a shop right down the block from a niece of mine who lives in Arizona.

Online shopping is only an option for replenishing shades you've already tried. A shade that looks perfect on my computer screen is not always even close to what I get when USPS delivers the package.

Here are some of the lipsticks that I have used (or tried to). 

The shades are:

• Rose Desire #3229 (by Black Radiance Illusions)
• Amethyst #045 (Maybelline)
• Sultry Sable (Revlon)
• #61 Fatale (Chanel Rouge Allure)
• Jezebel (Pur Minerals)
• Dominatrix  lipstick & gloss (Lorac)
• Shame (Urban Decay)

 Black Radiance

 Chanel

 Pur Minerals

 Lorac (lipstick)

Lorac lipstick only

Lorac (gloss)

Lorac gloss only

Lorac lipstick and gloss

Maybelline

Revlon

Urban Decay

My fave!

See what I mean? All of those are great colors, but not all of them work with my skin hue. I lke to put on my liptick once I'm outside in whatever light there is. So far, my favorite is Urban Decay's "Shame". I like it for whatever time of day it is because it makes me feel fierce. Seriously, I just have a thing for very deep reds.

Though they look very similar by sight, Urban Decay's "Shame" is a much deeper red than the "Dominatrix" from Lorac. "Shame" is a deep color even when applied with the lightest touch. plus it stays on longer than any of the other shades. If I need to tone it down a bit, I can use just about any of the lighter glosses. (Too bad about the name of my fave shade!)

Because I just recently got the Urban Decay lipstick (and it's the first ever time I've tried a U. D. product), I will be checking that brand for other cosmetics. I like that it's great quality and will last me a while - cos I don't have to use so much to get an effect that lasts a long time. 

Like I said, this post is just for lipstick (mostly because I got tired halfway through taking the photos!), but we'll get to foundations one day. 

One last thing about the subject: In the case of lip color, you can sometimes tweak one shade by adding another shade or product. With foundation, that can be a disaster. You might get a better matching shade but usually you end up looking painted up rather than prettied up. I prefer wearing all-over color that looks and feels natural. If I didn't mind being plastered with goo, I could get a great look all the time.

Do other women struggle as much as I do with the whole makeup issue? I hope not. I mean, I've just written a whole blog post on the subject...

Peace

--Free

* I might not have purchased the items shown from the same sources.

Encouragement (in song)

This has been a very rough couple of months and my little vacation is still more than a week away.

I've been playing this on repeat and it's so much what my soul needed. So I thought I would share the video and lyrics. Somebody out there needs to hear this as much as I do.



Lyrics are from Metro Lyrics

God's On Your Side Lyrics

by Mississippi Mass Choir

Soloist:
Verse I:
Listen, Some Days are weary
Choir: Some Days you're weary
Soloist: And you can't see your way
Choir: And you can't see your way
Soloists: Some nights are lonely
Choir: Some nights are lonely
Soloist: With no one to say
Choir: With no one to say
Soloists: YOU CAN MAKE IT
Choir: YOU CAN MAKE IT
Soloist: It's Only a Test
Choir: This is Only a Test
Soloist: You can take it
Choir: You can take it
Soloist: And don't you think nothing less
Choir: And Don't you think nothing less
Sop & Altos: So wipe the tears from your eyes
Tenors: (wavering) Eyes
Sop: (Wavering) Eyes
Choir: God on your side

Chorus: 2x's
Choir: Hold On Don't quit, Gods on your side
Choir: He can handle it, Gods on your side
Verse I:
Choir: Some Days you're weary
And you can't see your way
Some nights are lonely
With no one to say
YOU CAN MAKE IT
This is only a test
You can take it
Don't you think nothing less
Sop & Altos: So wipe the tears from your eyes
Tenors: (wavering) Eyes
Sop: (Wavering) Eyes
Choir: God on your side
Chorus: 2x's
Choir: Hold On Don't quit,
Woman Soloist: Hold on don't quit
Choir: Gods on your side
Woman soloist: Gods on your side
Choir: He can handle it,
Woman Soloist: He will handle it
Choir: Gods on your side
Repeat Chorus: woman soloist adlib
Woman: He's on your side Listen
Choir:
Hold on
Woman Soloist: Hold on
Bridge:
Choir: Hold On
Hold On.. o.. on...
Hold on Don't, Quit, Gods On your side
Repeat 5 x's go up 5th -7th time
[Choir Repeat bridge while soloist adlibs]:
Soloist: Hold on to Gods unchanging hand
He'll never leave or forsake you
He will be there in the midnight hour
Look to the hills from whence comes your help
Your help comes from the Lord
Don't you get weary
He will
Can I tell you how to hold on
I'm a living witness that god will
Anybody know god will
I can do all things through Christ can anyone do all things through Christ
Look at your neighbor and say god will
Choir: Gods On your side (repeat till end)
Woman soloist adlib throughout

Good night, friends.

Peace

--Free

**REVIEW** Greens Plus Superfood Raw

When I mentioned that I was finally getting some energy back and would try catching up on reviews, this is something that I believe helped a little bit:

I got it because I want to get rid of some of this "sad weight" I've put on. I actually should calling it "saddage weight" since it is from mood and age! Ha!

Greens Plus Superfood Raw was a bit of an impulse buy. I was strolling through the local Carrs/Safeway store's health food section, trying to find something that would help with the whole "I seriously need energy" thing. When I saw the GPSR, I recalled reading something in a forum about such "superfood" blends helping with the immune system. Another benefit I could use. With a $25 dollar price tag, the GPSR should probably come with a blender and some utensils...

I googled to see where else the product might be available locally for cheaper, and... No such luck. Since I haven't really done anything frivolous with the recent PFD money I got, I went ahead and splurged. Because I will return for refund if something I buy doesn't work for me.

What almost made me return it was what it looks like.

Yuck, right?

What made me give the first taste a try was remembering how yucky my wheat grass powder also looks. It's not as yucky as it looks, so...

Let's check the label one more time to see if I might be able to use this stuff:

That's a lot of stuff - green and otherwise. Of course, I had to Google most of the ingredients.

• Barley grass
• Wheat grass
• Alfafa grass
• Oat grass
• Dandelion leaf
• Stevia leaf
• Red beet juice (potential benefits & second mention)
• Spirulina (warning: annoying pop up!)
• Chlorella (first link and second)
• Dunaliella salina algae (what it is vs possible benefits)
• Nova Scotia dulse (love that the blog is just unfinished!)
• AppleBoost (dehydrated apple peel powder)
• Sambuzon acai berry ('Sambuzon' is the brand, Acai info.)
• Acerola berry juice powder (thoughtful info & health info)
• 2 probiotic cultures (link 1, link 2, and link 3)

Whenever I read an ingredient list like this, I realize how little I have lived, travelled or hung out with people who read nature magazines. 

You can check out the links to the various ingredients - or at least the links I found interesting - but I can tell you about the taste of this blend. It is not bad. Not bad at all. 

I'm pretty relieved about the taste because I read some of the Amazon reviews and, boy, some people went in!

While the taste is not bad, I hate the slight grit. Maybe if I blended the powder into a smoothie, it would be better, but I don't really have my own kitchen so that's kind of a hassle. I simply add the powder to about 8 ounces of any juice with a strong flavor of its own. Apple cider works best, but I also use regular apple juice. Yesterday, I added some to one of those sugar-laden aloe drinks and that didn't work out so well. For one thing, the powder clumped up with the aloe pulp. For another thing, too much sweetness. Ick. I will stick with the apple ciders and juices.

I think that blending this would help with the grittiness. For now, I just add a touch more juice to thin out the dregs. The taste would be pleasant if not for the grit. 

The suggestion on the label is to do 1 scoop,3 times a day. The first couple of days I stuck to that, but I forgot the third scoop until late last night. There does seem to be a bit of an energy boost - or maybe that's psychosomatic? - so I didn't want to use the powder so close to bedtime. However real the energy boost is, I will say that I don't feel so hungry all the time. 

My feeling is that this adds a lot of nutrients that I'm not getting (when I let my eating habits go downhill) so my body is not craving as much. Basically what I have been doing the past week is fixing a pot of pinto beans with seasoned ground beef and, throughout the day, eating four or five small servings with corn bread. Beans are fiber (filling), meat is good protein (and flavorful), and cornbread is, well... cornbread is just delicious.

I have just about 10 days before I travel. I'd like to not look like a half opened can of biscuits. My bloating is down (in spite of the beans) and I stay full longer.

So, if you are wondering about this product, I can tell you that it's really doesn't taste bad. It's probably yummy in simple smooties. Matter of fact, this might be great for when you only have some liquid and one fruit but want a smoothie as a meal replacement. ~shrug~

Finally, there is one HUGE negative I  see with this (other than the grit) is that it's sold by weight. I was  very disappointed at the cost when I opened the container and saw that almost  a third of it was just air. I mean, why the deception with the too-big container? That's something that will make me look around for a different brand next time.

Peace
--Free

P.S.: I didn't link to this brand because I am put off by the packaging. When I see a can that big, I expect more product for the money and the brands know that!

**REVIEW** Dr Sleepwell SnoreStoppers

This is probably the most fun I have had reviewing a product that I didn't actually use for myself.

First of all, I am trying not to call out the family member who snores so loud that the rest of us feel like we are sleeping around a giant boombox set to extreme BASS!!! Seriously, we love him to death, but I'm sure that his snores rattle the windows.

When I told Mister Snore's wife that I could apply to try these...

Those simple-looking little things in that photo are Dr Sleepwell Snore Stoppers.

She almost logged into my account to order them on the spot. Of course, I was really hoping that "Dr Sleepwell" and his 'Snore Stoppers' would work. I don't mind when I try something that I don't like, but the last time Mister Snore's wife tried a product with me, we both lost some hair. True story.

Anyway, there's not much process to figuring out if these little silicone (medical grade silicone) wonders would work. You insert them as instructed and go to sleep.

Mister Snore had to try the different ones in the pack to find the ones that felt most comfortable, but he had choices. This is what comes in the kit:

• 1 pair of LARGE SIZE SnoreStoppers with rings for extra stability 
• 1 pair of SMALL SIZE SnoreStoppers with rings for extra stability 
• 1 regular pair of LARGE SIZE SnoreStoppers for extra comfort 
• 1 regular pair of SMALL SIZE SnoreStoppers for extra comfort 
• a TRAVEL & STORAGE box 
• an INSTRUCTION MANUAL about HOW to use and clean the SnoreStoppers properly

To be honest, I didn't inspect the different sizes, but Mister Snore did and all I care is that they work. His wife is happy, I'm happy, the neighbors up to three houses down are happy... (Kidding. He's not that bad. Not quite.)

One of the things I didn't notice until after I'd given these to Mister Snore is that, wearing these Snore Stoppers, the user gets more airflow and oxygen with each breath. That sounds healthier to my layperson mind. More oxygen should mean better for the user all around, right? The product info does discuss this, along with the relief from sleep apnea.

The biggest thing about this giving everyone in the house some nighttime relief (especially Mister Snore's wifey) is that there are no medicines or supplements involved. Such a simple idea for amazing results.

These are a great bargain (especially at the Prime price, which is less than lunch for two) but, if you aren't happy with them, you will be happy with the guarantee:

"100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEE: Since Satisfaction of our customers is our main priority we offer you a Hassle Free Money Back Guarantee."

That is straight from the horse's, um product page.

Peace
--Free

I received this product via Giveaway Service in exchange for providing a fair and honest review.

**REVIEW** Feeling Fluffy Handmade 100% Premium Organic Wool XL Dryer Balls

I've heard about people using dryer balls as an alternative to dryer sheets, but this was my first chance to dry such a product.

This is what the Premium Organic Wool Dyer Balls from Feeling Fluffy look like:

These are the 100% Organic Wool XL Dryer Balls and are 3 inches in diameter - but not heavy.

Nice touch!

Let me get something out of the way right off the bat (or ball, heh heh): While I do like using natural food and beauty products, I'm not always as picky about my laundry products. All I really care about with that is whether or not the product works and is affordable. However, I know that some people do care about things being natural and organic - maybe for health reasons. So, for those with those concerns, here are some benefits of this product:

• Chemical-free
• Hypoallergenic
• PVC-free
• No synthetic fibers
• Eco-friendly

These dryer balls are made of 100% New Zealand wool.

The first thing that struck me about these is the size. Even though the dryer balls are not heavy, I was curious as to how much noise they would make in the dryer. And that's when I was still assuming I'd be using only one ball at a time. When I read the instructions to use all 6 dryer balls, I was sure that, no matter how light weight, they would bang around the dryer like a pair of tennis shoes.

The second thing I wondered about was whether or not I'd really need to use all 6 balls for a load of clothes.

So, how'd my product tryout go?

I washed a mixed load of 4 pairs of jeans, 3 light poly-knit shirts, a pullover, a pair of knit track pants, 6 panties, a pair of tights and a light hoodie. That's a heavier load of clothes than I usually do, but I wanted to see how the dryer balls would work on that many items.

(Oh - and are they noisy in the dryer? Nope, not at all. I tested that by running the dryer for a just a moment with only the jeans to see if the dryer balls would be noisy with a small load of clothes.)

By the way, since I dried the clothes on a timer, I can't tell you whether my drying time was improved or not. My bad. However, I can tell you that I set the timer for 30 minutes on a medium-low temp and didn't get back to the dryer for at least an hour after it went off. I'll get back to that in a minute.

My results? The clothes were super, super soft. Even my jeans came out softer and feeling great. 

There was no static and - this kind of surprised me - the dryer balls didn't pick up the lint and coloring that dryer sheets sometimes do. But the softness was the biggest benefit that I liked.

Okay, remember I had left the clothes untended for a while after the dryer went off? When I've done that with a dryer sheet, I've had to re-tumble the clothes (or, sometimes, even toss in an ice-cube or wet towel) to remove wrinkling. I didn't have that problem with the dryer balls. I think it must be because they left my clothes so much softer.

Can't say enough how I love the way my clothes felt (especially my jeans). I can't wait to do a load of bed clothes now.

I almost didn't think to do a comparison but, because my niece does so much laundry that we tease her about it, I had some of her just-washed clothing to check mine against. There was a huge difference in the feel of the clothes. 

My niece uses a well-known brand of dryer sheet. Of course, she has to buy them from a club store because she goes through them at a phenomenal rate... (This woman's washer and dryer are almost never at rest. I'm not kidding, I think we are going to need to do an intervention one day!)

Now, like I said, I don't really care about how organic my dryer sheets are, but I do care about saving money. 

For myself, I do the bulk of my laundry around once every other week. I will hand-launder underwear about twice a week if I need to. It's not easy catching the machines empty! Still, that's using up a dryer sheet for every load of laundry. With my niece, you can see how the cost of dryer sheets adds up. Even with the amount of laundry I do, I will save quite a bit by not having to buy dryer sheets.

My personal preferences aside, I'm glad that there is something available for people who do have to worry about allergies and other health issues. I'm also glad that when a product is re-usable. And that leads me to probably the only questions I have:

• How often will I need to replace these (if ever)?
• Can I use fewer dryer balls with smaller loads of laundry?
• Do I need to wash the dryer balls every now and then?

I'd like to see basic information like this just printed on the product label. The label that came with my item didn't have the 24-hour phone number for questions.

To get some of the information I wanted, I checked answers to questions submitted by other users via the Amazon product page (answers are from Brijati Products Co.)

• For the best results we recommend using all 6 dryer balls at the same time. This allows less fabric to fabric rubbing while drying (which ensures no static buildup), a quicker drying process, and softer feeling clothes.
•  You will need to replace them once you see their size begin to diminish. After several thousand loads they will get smaller and this will not allow them to be as efficient. (my underline)

This product is excellent and new so I'm sure that the company will probably work on improving the labeling that comes with their item. That's just my picky 2-cents' worth. 

Speaking of money...  A large box of dryer sheets from Walmart up here can run 5 bucks - or more. For someone like my niece - with an active little boy (who goes through clothes like we own Old Navy) and her husband (who has to be kept in clean business shirts and pants) - getting even 6 months' use out of the dryer balls would save her a fortune.

A one-time purchase of the dryer balls matches the cost of 3 boxes of those dryer sheets - dryer sheets that you will throw away after using once. And the dryer balls come minus the chemicals and synthetic fibers - but with a 100% money-back guarantee. You can get a refund with no questions asked. Period.

I mentioned in my review on Amazon that, as much as I like some of the products I get to try out, I don't always end up purchasing or using them regularly. This is going to be one of those items that my family and I will continue to use. I like the dryer balls that much.

I'm just so happy with how soft my clothes are. This is one case of the whole "natural" and "organic" thing is just a plus. I'm all about my soft jeans right now! When I do another load of clothes, I will test out using just a few of the dryer balls. Then I will update this review to let you know what my results were...

Peace

--Free

DISCLOSURE: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

**REVIEW** Kuuk Professional 48 Blade Meat Tenderizer

You have to love the name of this product:

That's a 48 blade meat tenderizer by Kuuk

This is a great kitchen tool to have around. My niece had been wanting a tenderizer for a while and I was going to just get her something from Kohl's or Target's, but I never did! I would always forget that it was something she wanted until we were getting ready to prep some food... Yeah. Anyway, when I saw this, I jumped at the chance to get it. (Thought my niece would be just thrilled, but I actually ended up using it before she got around to it. Cos she's always like that.)

As I have said in another review of this item, it's not my mama's kitchen gadget. Of course, my mama used what her mama used...

 Talking 'bout "old school"! 

I took after my mama too, but I eventually got a little more modern. For a long time I had something like this:

Or, I went totally off the grid and just used one of these:

All of those tools will get the job done, but there are some problems. Safety is a big issue (especially for someone with my iffy motor skills) and, even if you don't end up stabbing or hammering a finger, there quality of the finished product. Who wants meat that has been ripped up with a fork or beaten into a ragged mess with one of the old-fashioned tenderizers? 

I'm depressing the handle to expose the blades here

The Kuuk tenderizer takes care of the safety issue and it does more than just tenderize whatever cut of meat you're prepping. Notice the "teeth" on the Kuuk. 

In the above photo, I have the handle depressed so you can see the blades (that I call "teeth"!). But those teeth are kept completely - and safely - stored away when they aren't in use. 

Now the blades are safely stored

I actually like "thinning out" those thicker cuts of meat (which I usually only buy when they are priced better than other cuts), but I could never keep control of the old-fashioned type tenderizer. I'd mostly end up with, say a pork chop, that was either beat all to hell or not well tenderized. 

With the Kuuk's tenderizer, you are basically depressing those blades into the meat evenly and consistently. Because the blades all depress at once when you push on the handle, you can't mess up and mangle a cut of meat the way you can with a standard tool.

Before I forget, here's a little tip that I learned after using the Kuuk a few times: if you want to get tenderize near the bone in a cut of meat,  just place the tool close to the bone and, while you are depressing the blades, kind of move the tool around. It helps "stretch" the meat out and then you can get the blades nearer the area.

In addition to this being such a useful kitchen tool, I'm happy that it cleans up easily. Though it's dishwasher-safe, I literally just swish it around in a shallow dish of hot and soapy bleach water, then rinse - cos, um, meat, germs, bacteria... Once it's clean and dry, the tenderizer tucks back into the clear plastic cover. The whole thing is small enough to fit into a kitchen drawer, but I leave ours on the counter next to the knife rack because it barely takes up any space. 

In summary: Simple to use, simple to clean, simple to store. Also, right now, the cost is under $12 with Amazon Prime or via this site that is also selling the item.

Peace

--Free

DISCLOSURE: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

**REVIEW** Afrofy Afro Twister

I. Cannot. Stop. Raving. About. This....

This.... - over there to the right →→→

It's a sponge. For your hair. Well, for naturally kinky/curly hair anyway. If you want twists, coils, dreads, curls, locks, This is so the thing.

Who ever would have thought that you could style your natural hair with a sponge? (I'm too lazy to look up the info but, to whoever did invent this: THANK YOU!)

As you can see, the sponge I am now loving for twisting/coiling my hair is the AFROFY Afro Twister.


First of all, what a simple concept. But one that I never would have thought of. I wasn't even convinced that it was going to work.


The trick to using the sponge to achieve twists and coils is in the design.



There are holes in the sponge. And that's the genius of this product.

To use the product, you dampen your hair very lightly, then rotate the sponge over your hair in a circular motion. It doesn't take a lot of pressure - in fact, I've noticed that the less pressure the better. The way that I have been using it (with great results) is to use a light but constant touch.

By the way, this works on hair as short as 1/8 inch and as long as 7 inches.

I have heard that some users will use the sponge to achieve the start of twist/coiling, then apply a little styling gel as they continue. I have not used styling gel yet because I get really good results without it.

Let me share some photos that I got the first time I used this.

The pic right below is the un-styled state of my hair. The photo is taken about 4 days after a shampoo and condition. I just moisturized my scalp, then combed out the hair so that you could see what it looks like without styling.

The next photo is of my hair coiled lightly with the Afrofy sponge. I only had about 5 minutes to get ready to go somewhere, so I spent very little time with the sponge. 

The results were so good after such minimal efforts, I had to do another set of "After" photos when I had more time to spend using the sponge. I took 15 minutes to work on my hair for the following photos. I took photos at different stages. Sorry that they are out of order, but you can see progress in the tightness of the twists and coils.

near crown of head. I loosened some coils for styling

along my side edges. I could have continued, added gel and gotten
a really nice pattern of elongated twists

was still working
on my hair that was drying out

not sure at what stage I was at here
but I really like those coils!

a collage for Instagram and such

Now that I have used this a few times, I can tell you that I'm learning some tricks for styling. While I like that I can get such nice twists in a little time, I really like the idea of putting more time into this. After all, when I do my twists manually, I'm putting in a lot of effort without promised results. I hate when I spend all that time the night before twisting my hair and tying it into place only to wake up with a bad style. Sometimes that's because the twists loosened (or, more embarrasing, I slept the scarf right off my head!) - or just that I did a rushed or bad job and the twists are impossible to style... The struggle, as they say, is real. Here are my personal suggestions:

• Work in sections. I separated my hair into sections of 4, then worked on halves of those.
• Use light pressure and go in the same direction for each section of hair
• Make sure not to over-dampen your hair with water or other products. 
• Well-maintained hair gets better results. Trim your split ends and make sure your hair is well-moisturized/conditioned. This will result in a nice shine. (Notice that the hair closer to my roots look better than my raggedy ends? Yeh. I'ma work on that!)
• I got away with wearing my sponge twists for at least a couple days the last time. That's without tying on a scarf at night (though I should). I just re-styled my hair with my fingers.

Another issue I have with manually twisting my hair is the damage to my already fragile tresses. My medications have damaged and thinned my hair. I really don't like making matters worse. I thought that might be a concern in using the Afro Sponge, but after using it a few times already, I can see that I'm still not loosing hair to the process.

You can see from this photo of the sponge that there's not a lot of hair collected. And I don't notice any tugging at all when I am actually using the sponge. Thank goodness. I don't need to lose any of this hair!

I mentioned to my niece today that, if I wanted, I could sponge for a longer period of time on smaller sections of hair and get a super-styled look. If you notice, in one of the photos, I had some really cute, small lines of twists going. I could have gone on for that look all over.

This sponge is BIG. I was worried at first that it was going to be tough to grip. No problem there. It's actually designed the way it is for a good grip. The sponge itself is pretty flexible while the lavender and orange bottom piece allows you to hold and control it easily.

I didn't have anything else handy to show size comparison, so I used a standard toothpaste tube to give you an idea of size and width.

Finally, I just want to say that I love this product SO much. I don't never, ever, ever want to be without one. At the time I ordered this (using Prime), it was priced at just under $15. Un.beat,able.  Also, there is a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee of a replacement or refund.

Now. Go get your coil on!

Peace
--Free

DISCLOSURE: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.