Almost hair boo!

My Oyin products were shipped out yesterday! Woohooo! Can't wait to try them!
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Got it baby!

I can not wait to change my hairstyle. My hair got on my last nerve before I left the house today, it absolutely refused to cooperate with the headband. I took one look at it and was like "You wanna play the fool? I gotcha bro." There is nothing worse in the world than my hair acting like a straight fool RIGHT before I leave the house. I love my hair but before I take a scissors and cut it off, I'm going to slap some kinky twist in it. I picked up color 1B and 33 because my hair is no longer brown black due to the henna treatments and the color 33 looks like my current hair color. Should be a good combo. I can't wait! I also need to pick up some perm rods just incase I want to curl the ends.
In other news, after procastinating for two hours, I finally washed the deep treatment out of my hair. I must say that pre-pooing with the Vatika oil and adding two capfuls in my dt made my hair unbelievable soft. I think I'm going to take a trip to Curry Hill to pick up some more.
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Keeping it kinky...

With the summer just around the corner, I'm itching to do something different with my hair. I like the micros that I have in now, but I'm bored. So I decided to re-visit kinky twist.



Now the last time I had kinky twist, I travelled to Harlem to get them done, and I can honestly say it was NOT a pleasent experience overall. From stylist eating before touching my hair, and I mean eating with their HANDS, from the stylist to stop to EAT their food with their hands AGAIN, to the braider destroying my hair and scalp by twisting my hair too tight, I was turned off by the whole experience and never stepped foot in an African braiding salon again.

So to save myself, my scalp, and my hair, I decided to let my cousin do them for me.

I'll post some pictures of the products that I am going to use.

Random notes:

I am still loving the hell out of Vatika Oil! Last night I prepoo and woke up to the softest hair! I also put two capfuls in my DT, we will see what happen.

Adding to my arsenal....

This weekend I made a trip to my local Indian grocer to pick up some Vatika Oil.

Now what is Vatika Oil?


"Vatika Enriched Coconut Hair Oil
provides natural nourishment to your hair,
giving it body and radiance while taking
care of the critical balance of nutrients.
The new improved natural formulation of
Vatika Hair Oil -- a pure coconut oil enriched
with Lemon, Amla, Henna, Soya Extracts & six
other trusted herbs -- gives your hair & scalp
complete nourishment for that
problem free, healthy hair"

Ingredient breakdown:

"Henna - colorant, hair conditioner & restorative
Amla - hair nourishment, delays graying & hair fall
Harad - protects from UV rays, delays graying
Bahera - maintains hair color
Neem - anti-microbial, fights dandruff & hair fall.
Brahmi - hair vitalizer.
Kapur Kachari - antiseptic.
Lemon Oil - astringent, fights dandruff.
Coconut Oil - promotes hair growth & nourishment.
Cow's Milk - natural nourishment. "


Various uses of Vatika Oil:

"To get really healthy hair oil it a day before washing. The oil provides a protective coating and makes your hair shiny. A good oil massage also helps stimulate blood circulation and promotes hair growth."

" To maintain the oil and moisture balance of your hair, remember to do a conditioning treatment with oil at least thrice a week. "


I decided Sunday night to use it as a pre-poo treatment, and I really like it. The smell is kinda of strong, so if you have a sensitive nose, then this product isn't you. Anyway that night, I rubbed a good amount through my dry hair and slept left it in overnight. Now I didn't noticed any changes in my hair hair texture that morning because my hair is currently in braids so it's hard to tell you know? One thing I like about Vatika Oil is that it penetrates deep into the hair shaft and doesn't leave your hair greasy which is a plus. So this morning I finally washed my hair, and I don't know if it was the Vatika Oil or my poo bar, but my hair was amazingly soft as hell. I could not get over how soft my hair was, it was almost like my hair was invisible, it truly felt like the Vatika Oil added something to my washing experience.

And when I added my Aubrey Organics conditioner with some more Vatika Oil?

My hair felt beyond amazing! This oil is truly amazing, I can't get over how good my hair felt afterwards.

I think I am going to use this oil as a pre-poo, with my conditioner washes and my deep treatments.

This oil is worth it!

Now in other news, I am still waiting on my order from Hairveda and Oyin.
Which sucks! But now that I've fallen in love with Vatika Oil, what the hell am I going to do with the *2* bottles of the Shakakai Cocosta Oil I ordered from HairVeda?

Damn, lol.

Nappiness Leads to Happiness!

My grandma went natural!

She looks AMAZING!!!!!! I love her hair! She was a lot of breakage so she went to the barber and cut it off.

She looks great!

In other news, it was so damn hot today. The sun was unbearable and unforgiving today. My hair felt parched and in need of a spritz. I think I am going to have to start carrying a travel size bottle of my leave-in condish.

My ends however, are extremely moisturized! I baggied my whole head last night and boy did the back of my head itch! I don't know what was going on back there but goodness my scalp was itchy like crazy! It was driving me batty! And let's not even talk about how my hair smelled the next morning, yuck, lol. Next time I'm going to baggy my ends only.

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Bath and body

Recently, I ordered two Rhassoul Clay body bars and a lotion tint from Chagrin Valley and I must say I really like them.

Now I am very fond of using Rhassoul clay on my body, my hair? Notsomuch.
Anyway, this body bar packs a punch! It leaves my skin unbelievably soft and when I moisturize afterwards with my Shea butter mix? This combo is a winner! My skin feels soft to touch and silky smooth. I like to leave a little lather on my face for a few minutes and my skin glows when I'm done. Thank goodness I ordered two bars of this!

I also really like their lotion bars as well. It was kinda hard to figure out as it was a solid bar and trying to get it out with my fingers led to me cutting the skin under my nail, ouch! Once I figure out that you have to use the whole bar to moistuize, it was a breeze. I really like it, not sure if I will re-purchase this will be the last time I order from Chagrin Valley, I have enough soaps/poo bars for the next year or two. So no more until I run out of EVERYTHING!
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Ok ok ok

So my newly formulated spritz is working like a charm.

I filled a 8oz bottle with 50/50 of filtered water/aloe vera juice
3 teaspoons of Audrey Organics Honey Rose Suckle
Capful of castor oil
10-15 drops of Lavendar/Peppermint eo's


I think I'm going to keep this up and maybe add Oyin's Honey Hemp Conditioner in conjunction with my Audrey's.

If my ends still feel crappy when I detangle my hair after takedown, then I will trim them.


On another note, I WAS going to do another henna treatment, keyword: WAS. I was not in the mood to do another treatment, so I just mixed, let it sit for 8hrs, then put it in the freezer.

I'll do it when I get in the mood.

Nappiness Leads to Happiness!

These ends.....

I finally made my way through my poo bar samples from Chagrin Valley and last night I went back to the poo bar that worked the best: coconut milk poo bar. My hair thanked me profusely. I wasn't too sold on the Honey butter as a condish so that I might have to revisit at another time.



Last night I also noticed that when I use a herbal rinse(after I let it infuse for more than a day) it irritates the skin under my eyes. I'm going to have to find a remedy for this.



Now onto my ends and my daily spritzes.



First thing first, I think I need to tweak my daily spritz formula as my hair was extremely dry yesterday, its a little baffling as to why though.



Braids are a hard indicator of whether my hair is soft or not so I decided to take down a braid and twisted it instead to use as my indicator. Now yesterday after I sprtiz my hair I noticed an hour later that my hair dry and my ends felt fragile.



That's not going to work for me.



So I think I'm going to switch things up until my honey hemp conditioner arrives from Oyin, I am going to use AOHRS condish instead of my Suave humectant condish and also increase the amount I use, then I am going to replace olive oil with castor oil as my hair reacts better to castor oil( I was trying to use up all the EVOO I have). I also decided to baggy my entire head at least once a week between washing to combat the dryness. I will either use castor oil or Cococsta Shakakai Oil from Hairveda to seal. I also decided to add more aloe vera juice since my hair responds well to it. I think my hair needs moisture and I'm not doing enough plus the weather in NY sucks so that definitely plays a role.



Now onto my "ends" problem. I think its time for a trim. I was going to wait until July to trim, but I think next month will be better. They feel raggedly and just stringy, I don't know if its because its been in a protective style, but for my sake and sanity I'm going to trim them next month.

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Aww hell....

I have NO shame, no f**** shame.

I should go sit in the corner somewhere because OBVIOUSLY I have no effin shame.

None.

My two new new purchases after I said I was DONE SHOPPING FOR MY HAIR???



ANOTHER deep conditioner, this time Hairveda.net StiriNillah Moisturizing Deep conditioner, which is their number one selling conditioner....

and....

another hair oil, but dammit this was on SALE for $6.50. You have to understand, I am a bargain WHORE, you have NO idea.

CoCosta Shikakai Oil, look at the ingredients...damn how could I NOT?



Holy hell, I am going to LOVE this oil. I'm thinking about rotating this oil with my Oyin Burnt Sugar Pomade for my braids, we'll see.

I need help.....


Nappiness Leads to Happiness!

Forgotten Anniversary

My 3 month nappiversary passed and I didn't even realize it.



It was not too long ago, I was reading BCU's post about caring for her natural hair and becoming inspired to take care of my hair. I did research, took notes, stalked other people fotki's, comparing hair textures, growth, and how long it took them to get there.



Now my main focus is retaining length and maintaining the health of my hair.



So happy anniversary to me!



Random notes:



- I need to start taking my vitamins again, I've gotten lazy and haven't taken them in 3 weeks. That's not good.

- I made another homemade spritz and my hair thanked me. I will never forget to sprtiz my hair again.

- I'm on my way to kick boxing with my homemade dt(aohsr, castor oil, lustrasilk, honey) in my hair. Can't wait to wash this baby out.

- I want to do some bantu knots, but I don't want to deal with my hair.

- I'm almost out of my beloved Qhemet's BRBC, I have another full sized jar though, but I need another one. That's one product that will always be in my rotation....LOVES IT!

- I was this close to cheating on my Qhemet's BRBC, but soon realized, it works really well on my hair. Why rock the boat?

- I think I'm loving the AOHRS+ Lustrasilk DT+ Castor Oil+ Honey deep treatment

- I think after my last CV order this week, I don't think I'm going to need any poo/body bars for the YEAR!

- I just realized I'm a textbook Cnapp(I will post about that later)





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Heehehe

So I broke my "No more hair products rule" and purchased two new products for my hair. I ordered the Burnt Sugar Pomade and the Honey Hemp conditioner for Oyin Handmade. Why did I order those two? To be honest, the summer is almost here, and I really want my hair to SHINE and from all the reviews I've read the BSP gives your hair amazing shine annnnnd its made with castor oil which my hair loves!

Burnt Sugar pomade and ingredients:



"Similar in texture to an old school 'hair grease,' This blend of oils, butters, and veggie waxes acts as a humectant and protectant for hair, increasing shine to a high glossy sheen and locking in moisture. It's packed with essential fatty acids to nourish scalp, and actually sinks into your hair and skin for a long lasting, non-greasy feeling. It's great for braids, imparts shine and moisture to loose hair, brushes nicely into the hairline for a glossy finish, and adds luster to locks!"

I NEED THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is nothing worse than dry looking braids, gross! AND my hair is going to be out for the summer? Oh helllll no, I neeeeed this! I want my braids to shine like diamonds dammit!

Keep reading...

"Contains virgin coconut cream, mango oil, and hempseed oil in a base of nourishing castor oil. Lightly fragranced with a subtly sweet fragrance"

Um whose hair loves castor oil???? MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously now, what's NOT to love? So how am I going to use this?

Well, after I spritz my hair with my homemade spritzer, I am going to take a small amount and slide it through my hair. This method helps lock in moisture which is a major plus!

Now onto my second purchase:

Now do I need another conditioner? NO, I have about four good conditioners that I use, but, a natural girl can nevah have too many conditioners. Besides, I wanted to see what the fuss was about:



"Oyin's Honey Hemp Conditioner: Oh, Honey. It's a natural humectant... nature's gift for glowing, supple hair. Ah, Hemp Oil. With a rich array of Fatty Acids to ensure well-nourished tresses. Oh! Ah! Oyin's Honey-Hemp Conditioner! How could it possibly be improved? Perhaps by adding Silk Protein and Aloe Vera Gel... just to take the succulence over the top. ;o)

A creamy rinse-out conditioner has been an often-requested product at Oyin. We are very proud of the Honey-Hemp Conditioner - a light, penetrating, silky blend enriched with aloe vera gel, hemp oil, honey, and hydrolyzed silk protein, it's got nice detangling slip and serious moisturizing power. It rinses cleanly and also makes a nice pre-shampoo deep conditioning treatment. It can even be used as a creamy, nourishing leave-in!"

What's not to love? I plan on using this as an ingredient in my homemade daily spritzes, I can't wait!

Now the other night, I made a homemade spritz with:

Rosehips
Fenugreek tea
Conditioner
Castor oil

and I hated it! That shit clogged my damn pump bottle. I am sooo going back to my regular conditioner, water, eo's mix. I tried it, hated it, next!


Nappiness Leads to Happiness!

I got photos!

Wow I can't believe how fast time flies! I've had these micro-braids for 1 month and I didn't even realize it, lol. They seriously need to be re-braided.

This is my hair after it's been washed, conditioned, and moisturized.











Nappiness Leads to Happiness!

I got this....

Deep Conditioner- Aubrey Organic Honey Suckle Rose + Lustrasilk Shea Butter and Mango Deep Conditioner + Castor Oil + Honey

Detangling- Herbal Essence Hello Hydration

Regular Conditioner- Karen's Body Beautiful

Yeah, I got this, lol.


Nappiness Leads to Happiness!

Hair takedown tips

Pre-poo your hair overnight(I'm going to use castor oil)
Detangle with your favorite conditioner(I'm thinking of combining Karen's Conditioner with AOHSR)
Deep condition(AOHSR, Castor oil, honey)
Then wa-la!

Nappiness Leads to Happiness!

My very own Longterm Protective Challenge

I was recently told that because I was planning on taking down my braids that somehow I couldn't take part in the challenge, well not until next year.

er,ok, screw you.

and people wonder why most natural women stay far away from that site.

Whatever.

I am going to do my OWN longterm protective style challenge.

The rules:

1. Re braid/retwist every two months
2. Moisturize daily
3. Baggy ends at least twice a week
4. Deep treatment once a week
5. Take daily vitamins
6. Trim ends if needed
7. Track growth every six months

I decided on a longterm challenge because frankly I hate doing my hair, and my hair acts a straight fool if it's not in a protective style, so a longterm style is the way to go! I am going to take this challenge into next year God willing.

Wish me luck!

Nappiness Leads to Happiness!

Damn...

I just realized that I have to start taking down my braids next week...oh joy.
I think I'm going to start on Monday.



Nappiness Leads to Happiness!