House of Bren: It's All About the Curl; The Mighty, Fabulous Curl

Don’t mind my somber look in that pic! I was having a moment. But, I am over the moon excited with the progress I’ve accomplished with reclaiming my curls! Oh, yes I am! *insert a lean back and upward thrust* That’s how excited I am. I can’t really show you unless I did a vine… I didn’t think of that in time. But maybe next time.

So, as you know from having read this and this post on chronicling my journey to going all natural in a super serious effort to regrow, restrengthen, thicken, and revive my hair, most of which I started losing in mid-2012, you know it’s been a rough one trying to figure out what caused it (hello, stress!) and finding the perfect regiment.

And I did. I’ve spent loads of money and sacrificed going blonde again, all for the love of my hair. The hair God gave me. It’s been amazing but trying at times watching it do right most days or act shady, others.

This whole process isn’t over and while I’m mostly still sticking to 100% natural products, there are moments, especially when I’m traveling, that I need to rely on super products dedicated to the mighty curl. And in my high and low search for safe and promising prods, I came across John Frieda‘s newly released Frizz Ease curl collection.

On a recent trip to Mexico, where the weather was perfect, I didn’t have time to spend on my strict hair “diet.” So I packed up some of the new prods with me. See the pic above? That’s the look after 11 hours of traveling with 2 layovers, wearing a hat, and an hour car ride to my hotel. And still, my curls looked decent, without much effort.

There’s history with JF. There was a time I took my beautiful silky curls for granted, assuming they required no real love. After all, they were just natural. During that time, I had every product out there that just made my hair look pretty any given moment: freshly washed, dirty, flat, needed shine, needing definition, etc… I found something for every need. And, John Frieda was my go-to for shine and frizz control. They were at hand’s reach when I lived in Atlanta. And made it to every suitcase when traveling.

Until I moved back to DC and hair just started going.

Now that I can confidently say I’m at 75% full recovery, I casually, but cautiously go to Frieda for some pretty curls when I can’t stick to my strict hair diet. The collection’s quite extensive, but I only stick to the leave-in, elixir, which is simply divine for shine and frizz control (as in print copy-worthy), creme control, and serum, which is fantastic for application as soon as I wash and condition. That’s best to apply when hair is wet. And, if you’re not letting loose every day and want to pick your hair up, the calming creme is it.

If you’re on a natural hair journey, eliminating most major and affordable commercial products but need a safe break when in a pinch, this is what you want to try. Curls will be in place and I can attest to no regress in progress achieved otherwise! Don’t abandon your sure fire plan to re-nourishing your curls, but if you’re not going through what I’m going through and simply want something good to keep your curls sexy, here you go!

Now if only I can bathe in the elixir oil! Love, love it.

* good on all hair types.