Kickin’ It: #SoBeautifulInJamaica Strength of Nature Beauty Recap
Last Thursday I was invited by the wonderful team at Strength of Nature® brands to spend a few days in paradise. The brand sent a group of us bloggers and editors off to the sunny shores of Montego Bay, Jamaica for an indulgent Caribbean getaway complete with fun, excitement and (my favorite) – new hair products!
Strength of Nature is the powerhouse behind brands like African Pride, Beautiful Textures, MegaGrowth Profectiv, Elasta QP and Soft & Beautiful. They have an incredible roster of hair brands and we were able to preview new products from the various lines as well as find out a little more about the existing products.
On the first official day of our trip, we had breakfast with the brand and were introduced to their stylist and brand consultant Pamela Hogan (also an educator and salon owner) as well as celebrity stylist Felicia Leatherwood. Felicia is behind some of your favorite natural celebrities – she’s touched everyone from Jill Scott to newcomer Teyonah Parris and Selma film director Ava Duvernay.
The two hair experts gave us a live styling tutorial complete with proper usage of the products and tips. Felicia pointed out that using the correct amount of product is really important. She demonstrated for us on a live model that you simply need a dime size to quarter amount of the Beautiful Textures Moisture Butter to moisturize sections of your hair before styling.
Pamela did a wash & go on her model using the Beautiful Textures Curl Defining Mousse which is my personal favorite. A few of you asked me on Instagram how exactly to use the product without it weighing down your hair and the answer is simple – less is more!
I use the Curl Defining Mousse when I have curly extensions in with a looser curl than my own natural curl. I have a 4a/4b curl and I find this mousse works really well for 3b/3c hair for wash & go’s and works well for wet rod & twist sets on Type 4 curls. It helps lock in the curls, eliminates frizz and keeps the curls defined even in Jamaica humidity. It’s pretty awesome. Also smells good.
At breakfast with the brand, I learned about their product line Soft & Beautiful that now includes brand new products. I grew up seeing Soft & Beautiful relaxers on the shelves but this trip was my first time getting to actually use some of their new products. I tried their Soft & Beautiful Botanicals Ultra Nourishing Deep Conditioner after swimming to restore moisture to my curls and it worked great.
Shop The Products:
While the primary purpose of the trip was to learn more about Strength of Nature’s hair product lines, the majority of our time was spent having an AMAZING time with the entire group and soaking up all the activities Montego Bay, Jamaica has to offer.
Right after breakfast, we were treated to a fun catamaran ride off the shores of Montego Bay via tour company Island Routes.
I highly recommend Island Routes if you’re planning any Caribbean excursions. They offer tours at most of the highly-touristed islands and they showed us SUCH a good time in Jamaica!
Clockwise from top left: 1. Island Routes bartender pouring rum punch, 2. Crystal Tate of Styleblazer, Lexi Felder of LexiWithTheCurls, Brande Victorian of Madame Noire, 3. Strength of Nature Marketing Manager Camila Crews, 4. Ty Alexander of Gorgeous in Grey, Christen Rochon of Divas and Dorks and producer Kimberly Walker
I was able to reconnect with old friends and make a few new friends as well. The catamaran ride was definitely one of our trip highlights. I may or may not have had too much rum punch. Ha!
The next day we headed out for a full day of excursions with Island Routes at the River Bumpkin Farm in Trelawny, Jamaica. We had a packed day of river tubing, biking, hiking and everything in between. I chose to do the river tubing and had such a blast.
Our tour ended with blissfully with fresh coconut water and a limestone foot massage by our tour guide.
After the River Bumpkin excursion, I skipped over to the private beach at our hotel – the Royalton White Sands – for a little photoshoot fun with my girls Jessica and Lexi. I threw on my Swimsuits For All x Gabifresh collection bathing suit because all black everything was the moment.
By far, the best part of this trip was taking my little munchkin along with me. She had such a good time on her first international trip, soaking up sun. We also spent a day on the countryside of Trelawny, Jamaica where my Dad is from. Cadence got to meet some of my family in Jamaica for the first time including her uncle, great-uncle and great grandma.
Check BabyBrownSugar.com for a full post about Cadence’s fun time.
Huge thanks to Strength of Nature for this amazing #SoBeautifulInJamaica experience! I had a blast and will never forget how much fun this was. A much-needed departure from the cold & snow. As we’re gearing up for the spring/summer seasons, I’ll definitely be keeping some of these products in mind for styling and maintaing my curls. If any of you are planning to Visit Jamaica anytime in the near future, check out my review posts:
10 Things to Do In Montego Bay Jamaica
Royalton White Sands Resort in Jamaica
Check out some of the other #SoBeautifulInJamaica Recaps: Glamazons Blog | LexiWithTheCurls | Gorgeous in Grey | Madame Noire | Kela’s Kloset | CultureBlaze
Disclosure: My flight and accommodations to Jamaica as well as the products used in this post were sponsored by Strength of Nature®. All opinions expressed here are my own and not those of the company.
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