Resident Chemist - CurlyNikki

Jan 27

Understanding Hair Butters and Oils- Natural Hair

By CURLYNIKKI Curly Nikki One Comment

Tonya McKay writes; Butters, oils, and waxes all come from fats that are derived from plants or animals, and have two basic components; fatty acids and alcohols. The difference between butters and oils is primarily whether or not they are solid at room and/or body temperature. Although they are both composed of groups of fatty acids, there are differences in…

Sep 12

The Buzz About Honey

By CURLYNIKKI Curly Nikki No Comments

CurlChemist Tonya McKay writes;If you peruse the CurlTalk discussions, you’ll see honey mentioned on numerous threads. This should come as no surprise, given honey’s long history as a health and beauty ingredient. The use of honey has been documented throughout human history, with mention found as far back as in various Sumerian tablets. The practice of cultivating bees for the…

Jan 27

What’s the Scoop on Silicones?

By CURLYNIKKI Curly Nikki One Comment

CurlChemist Tonya McKay of NaturallyCurly writes; We always get lots of questions about silicones, as they are in so many products and are of ongoing concern to many curly-haired consumers. I thought this month we could tackle a couple of those questions in a quick, practical manner (hopefully) to aid in the seemingly never-ending process of ingredient scrutiny and product…

Jan 27

What is pH and What Does it Have to do With Hair?

By CURLYNIKKI Curly Nikki 3 Comments

“pH” is an abbreviation for “potential hydrogen” and is a scale used for ranking the relative acidity or alkalinity of a liquid solution. The precise mathematical definition of pH is the negative logarithmic value of hydrogen ion (H+) concentration in the solution. pH = – log A scale of zero to fourteen is used for pH, with 7.0 being a…

Sep 12

The Truth About….

By Nikki Walton Curly Nikki 12 Comments

Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate- the cleansing agent in many commercial shampoos.I ran across this article in a thread on Naturallycurly.com and asked JC to do her thang! The article claims that "soaps and shampoos containing sodium laureth sulfate can lead to direct damage to the hair follicle, skin damage, permanent eye damage in children and even liver toxicity". Find her response…