Your welcome. Good luck!

Hello ladies,

I love talking about hair products! Let's see, I've used the Organic Root Stimulator products, mainly the carrot oil. It worked very well. It is kinda expensive (I know it's like $6-7 but I'm a broke college student http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/tongue.gif), so right now I'm using the Motions moisturizing cream. It also works well. Smells really good too http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif If you're looking for a GREAT, blow-dry lotion, try TCB HeatSense. I LOVE that stuff! It's wonderful! I don't know about anyone else, but I've tried other products to put in my hair before blowdrying, only to find that my hair was still kinda dry afterwards. HeatSense is the bomb! It leaves my hair full of moisture and it's nice and shiny.
As far as perms, I use Dark & Lovely (my friend puts it in cuz I am not that skilled http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif). I also use the Dark & Lovely shampoo. I love that stuff too! I've used Pantene as well which was really good too (even though it's not really for us, I thought it worked well).
With the Copa products, just say no! My soror bought it and did a patch test in the back of her hair. Thank God she did cuz it turned her hair blonde! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/eek.gif So beware of that stuff. Do a patch test before using it.
But that's all the stuff I'm using now. Can anyone suggest a good oil sheen to use? Thanks!

ZChi

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A Radiant Lady of
Zeta Sigma Chi Multicultural Sorority, Inc.
http://www.umich.edu/~zchi

ZChi,
Her hair turned BLONDE?! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/eek.gif
Wow, that is serious.

I was thinking about COPA also because I want to ease away from the perm thing. Thanks for sharing that... Why is it that these "natural, herbal" alternatives to relaxers are the products that give people more problems than results?

THIS COMES COMPLIMENTS OF SONGSTRESS21...-------------------------------------------------- WANAKEE HAIR PRODUCTS:------------------------------
Has anyone tried them. She has some good hair care tips but I would like to hear from someone who has acutally used her products. Her website is www.wanakee.com

I haven't used any of her products (they're too expensive for a college student), but I'm a member of Your Hair Care Plus.com , and I've heard testimony from women who have used her products. From what I gather, the only items worth the high price is the hairline cream, and the serum (or cream?) for your ends. For the most part, her tips, not the products will make you hair more manageable, and healthy.

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"I am not yet the author of my life; I am still it's unenlightened protagonist"
---Unknown

I used Wanakee wayyyyy back in 1995-96, and at that time I was not using a relaxer. It made my hair softer, I had less breakage and split ends, and overall my hair appearance looked better.

I don't know if the formula has changed since then.

I belong to about 3 online hair clubs/chats and what we discovered is that it does nothing for the hair. You ccan try it but it's not very good.

***** WARNING WARNING WARNING*****
I tried COPA. It does not act as a relaxer. It just loosens the curl in our hair, but the hair can be blown straight. My hair in the beginning appeared to be more healthy and manageable as well as a considerable amount of new growth. I used the product for 3 months. However, when I stopped using it my hair began to break off and fall out. I eventually had to have it cut to the newgrowth that was not treated with COPA. After some investigation, I was told by the better business bureau that COPA is a copy cat of RIO and that they were both harmful to customers.

I had a friend who went literally BALD from using Rio, but last night was the first time I'd seen the infomercial for Copa. The first makeover thing they did was pretty amazing. Or either I'm easily impressed, which is more likely the case. Anyway, after seeing her, I was like, "I gotta have that!" But then the makeovers got worse and worse. Like somebody said in the beginning, Debbie Allen was the spokesperson. Her hair had been treated with Copa, and basically it just looked nappy. "Releasing the curl" didn't seem worth it.

Good evening Sorors and sisterfriends,

Thanks for the info and sharing about Copa, Rio, Wanakee, et al.
I'd seen the Copa infomercials and was tempted to order the product. However, the idea of my hair discoloring or falling out gives me pause.
I just had my relaxer retouch, at a beauty school, no less and it turned out fine. For those who have or are going to beauty schools, pay attention. I learned the hard way about five years ago, when my neck was severely burned.

http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/rolleyes.gif

First of all, how did you come to the conclusion that the makeovers got worse? Of course in the infomercial everyone is going to get exactly what they want, but I could have sworn the other two women said that they did not want their hair super straight. If that's what they wanted it, then how was the makeover bad? Not everyone wants every nap, kink, and curl burned out of their hair. Some people like the texterized look and that's the whole point of the product. It was created for people to decided just how much kink is removed from the hair instead of having to decided between totally natural or mega-straight. Besides, I remember Debbie saying that she liked the semi-natural (or as you said 'nappy') look.


Secondly, you didn't know what her hair was like before so how can you judge what it looks like now? Her hair was a 3c in the infomercial. If it was a 4a/b before Copa then it made an "improvement". Obviously it 'released' her hair enough because she likes it that way.

If you don't know what I'm talking about with the 3c/4a stuff then go here:
www.naturallycurly.com/Ha...types.html

And to all the people that don't mind looking nappy, here is a site on BP dedicated to nappy hair:
http://www.blackplanet.com/Members/BPNappyHeads

Peace!

What is wrong with being "nappy"??

Poplife, I see you are also aware of Andre's hair system!! It's not the best, but I use it to describe my hair type. I have 4A hair, and you know, I love every "nap" and "kink" God gave me http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif As a matter of fact, I'm Happy2BNappy.. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/cool.gif

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"I am not yet the author of my life; I am still it's unenlightened protagonist"
---Unknown

[This message has been edited by jali0004 (edited May 15, 2001).]

I often wonder that myself!

Quote:

Poplife, I see you are also aware of Andre's hair system!! It's not the best, but I use it to describe my hair type. I have 4A hair, and you know, I love every "nap" and "kink" God gave me http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif As a matter of fact, I'm Happy2BNappy.. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/cool.gif

You're right, the system is not the best since most Black Americans have multi-textured hair. I am a 4a as well with a small patch of 3c on the very front part of my head. Be sure to check out check out my BP page (BPNappyHeads).

Peace and Blessings!

Okay, I'm going to ignore the rude overtones and try to clarify. I was under the impression that Copa was supposed to be something like Rio. If you're wearing a natural style (which is NOT what I meant by nappy), then I suppose "releasing the curl" might be helpful to you. However, only a few women on the infomercial ended up with straight hair - who's to say what will happen on an individual basis? It just seemed to me that the results were too varying. I didn't like the way some of their hair looked. If they did, wonderful. But there's no need to rehash this "why-some-black-women-hate-natural-styles" topic, because that's not what it is. All I'm going to say about this is that just as you are entitled to your own opinion, I am entitled to mine. I wasn't attempting to start anything with my post, simply stating my opinion.

Like I said before, the point of Copa was to open up options. It's NOT supposed to be like Rio. Only one woman wanted perfectly straight hair so she was the only woman to leave the cream in long enough to get it. They wanted the results to be varied to demonstrate the versatility of the product.


Leave the product in for a short time = slightly less kink


Leave the product in for a longer time = much less kink


It's not being marketed as a perm so they are not going to show women getting a permed effect.

As far as actually Copa in concerned I wouldn't try it. I really don't see the point. If I wanted a 'gradual curl release' I'd go to my old hairdresser and just ask for a texturizer or buy a kiddie perm and leave it in for a few minutes. We don't have to get all fancy.