Who knew?

I was finally able to wash my braids today and boy was it a runny mess.

Next time I'm going to do it in the shower instead of in front of my mirror.

Anyway, moving on...

Now to make the tea rinse, I just added a teaspoon of each powder to a glass jar, then I poured about 2 cups of boiling water over the powders and let that steep for about an hour.

Then I strained the mixture into a spray bottle and then proceeded to wash my braids in sections.

Now I don't know if it was because I had a lot of buildup or if the tea wasn't strained properly, but I had the hardest time getting my scalp squeaky clean. My scalp failed the fingernail test, a very first for me. So I had to use baking soda to get my scalp clean, THEN use my tea rinse afterwards.

I think the next time I'm going to use a cheesecloth to strain the tea instead of my metal strainer and I'm going to let the rinse sit in my hair while I'm in the shower.

So all in all, I will definitely use Auyverdic powders to wash my hair.

As long as my scalp is happy and clean, I'm good.
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Smells soooo good!

Last night I made my very own body oil! It smells delicious! I ordered the Vanilla fragrance and bottle from New Direction Aromatics and I made the trip to my local health food store for the Jojoba oil, and oh crap! 24.99 for a 16floz???? They don't even charge THAT much on-line. So you know I put that stuff back. I decide to buy the Lavender Almond oil which has all the ingredients that I was looking for: sweet almond oil, extra virgin oil, grapeseed oil, organic lavender oil, liquid lanolin, and vitamins E, A, and D.

I came out great! I will be using this concoction for the summer and beyond.
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Mission accomplished....

Yesterday morning, I woke up with a mission in mind....to get my Auyverdic powders.

And I did!

I got Shakakai, Amla, Neem, Aritha, and Hisbicus petal powder. I am soooo stoked! The only one I didn't get was Brahmi, but I'm going to see if I can find it elsewhere. I went to the famous Kaluystans in the city and was pleasantly surprised to see that each powder was 3.99 as opposed to 6.99, the price they charged on-line.

I can't wait to use them, I think I'm going to prepoo Thursday night then wash and curl my hair Friday.

Oh yeah...
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Its been awhile...

Hola!

I haven't done a product review since getting kinky twist extensions, which are looking fab by the way.

So I figured let's do a review of Oyin's Juice & Berries and Frank Juice.

My review is going to be short sweet and simple:

I like them, but I don't love them.

I MUCH rather prefer my homemade spritz which is all types of awesome(I added some Hairveda's CoCosta Shakakai oil in the mix). So I'm not going to repurchase.
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New-do update

I love my new do, I can definitely see myself rocking this hair style until the fall. Its convenient and not to mention, cute.

With that said, even though I love my new do, it has one major disadvantage. One being that some of my curls becomes straight during the night, especially towards the front and sides. Now normally this wouldn't bug me, but since this is happening to the curls in front, its an issue because I want my hair to look neat. So yesterday evening I used perm rods to curl my hair and left them on overnight.

This morning I woke up to tightly coiled curls which I love!

ETA: after kickboxing, some curls are loose, oy vey, this is a work in progress lol. I'm going to have to leave the perm rods for days when I'm not kickboxing.

Also, I picked up some baking soda to clean my hair, which I'll probably do sometime next week.

Toodles!
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The Randomness

You would think since I love buying stuff for my hair, my hair basket would be bigger? Yes?

That would be a big, fat, NO.

Exhibit A:



Now this little basket holds everything(save for a few items sitting in my shower caddy)for my hair. I was really shocked to see that I'm not *that* bad when it comes to my ProductJunkie alter ego, Laquisha Sallie Mae.

I feel pretty good about myself and my spending habits, lol.

Next up is a my prepoo, daily scalp moisturizer oil mix, which smells divine by the way:

I mixed some Dabur Vatika oil with Hairveda CoCosta Shakakai herbal oil. I plan on using this every other day to grease my scalp since synthetic hair can soak up moisture.

What's next?

Oh yeah, I decided to add Ayurveda powders to my herbal rinses to clean my scalp. I'm going to make another trip to Curry Hill to pick up: Shakakai, Amla, Bhrami, Aritha, and maybe some Hisbicus petals.

Properties of each

Shikakai Powder: Hesh Shikakai Powder acts as a natural astringent for hair enhancing its binding properties. It clears dandruff and cleans the dirt accumulated on the scalp. Being a natural conditioner for hair, SHIKAKAI strengthens hair roots and promotes luxuriant growth. Hesh Shikakai powder has certain vital properties that act as coolants for the scalp. This powder has to be mixed with water and used as a paste on the hair instead of shampoo.


Amla: The paste of this powder helps promote luxuriant hair. Even as it controls hair loss. It stimulates hair roots and promote hair growth. This apart, it prevents scalp infection and controls premature graying of hair

Bhrami: Brahmi powder is a remedy for people with chronic hair problems. Brahmi can make hair dark, dense, and lustrous. It strengthens hair roots, thus controlling hair thinning and hair loss. Regular use control premature graying and massaging it into the scalp clears dandruff.

Aritha: Excellent as a natural shampoo and gives hair natural floss and bounce

I'm really interested to see how these powders work. When I wore extensions in the past, my biggest problem was the dirt and buildup that gathered at the root of the braid. Because of this, my hair was is in very bad shape and I lost a lot of hair. Now that I am more informed nappy girl, I'm going to purchase some baking soda to remove buildup and dirt, and follow up with Auyverdic powders to clean my hair.

I hope this works!




Nappiness Leads to Happiness!

Its here!!!!

My stuff from Hairveda is here and they smell great! I can't wait to use them! The hair masque is ample in size, I LOVE that. I'm going to use the hair oil next week!
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My new hair, hotness!

I love my hair, LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It looks so f'ing adorable! I can't wait to rock my new hair accessories with my fabulous hair! This has to be the best hairstyle I have ever had!
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Oh yeah its done, wohhoo

My hair is finally done and looking oh soooooooooooooooo fly! This has to be my favorite hairstyle to date. I look like a black Curly Sue, which is exactly what I wanted. Oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah baby.

I need to get some good photos of this style.
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Reason 630,541 why I hate loose hair.

I'm on day 3 of a bantu knotout and my hair is one unhappy camper. This is why I love protective styles, it saves me from this headache.

When I started my hair journey I couldn't WAIT to wear a funky twist out or a fro hawk, but now? I'm going to have to put those funky styles on hold until I can get a grip on how to maintain my hair when its lose.

It seems that my hair retains moisture when its in a protective style. When it's out, it becomes dry, matted, and loses its luster. It doesn't help that I workout four days out of a week and I sweat in my head, so yeah.

Detangling my hair is going to be so much FUN tomorrow!

Can you hear my excitement?

Yeah, me neither.

I'm going prepoo overnight with Vatika Oil, deep condition with my AOHSR mix, cleanse with CV Mud & Clay poo bar, condition with Karen's and moisturize with Karen's hair nectar and seal with castor oil or Oyin's BSP.

Then BAM! My cousin is going to braid my hair in kinky twist! I can't wait!

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Holy afro!!!!!!

I finally took out my bantu knots this morning, and man, my afro has GROWN!

Wohoo!

Anyhoots, last night I went out with my girls and I wore my wig once again, lol. I did notice the amount of naturally curly girls that surrounded me, I loved it! I wish I wore my fro last night, but I was too damn lazy to do it, oh well.
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I love you, I love you not....

Loves

•Karen's Body Beautiful Herbal conditioner. I'm in LOVE with this conditioner....in LOVE I tell ya. I used it last night and let me tell you, I had slip like a mutha and ohhhhhweeeeee my hair was soft! I couldn't get over how soft my hair was. I wasn't a big fan of this conditioner when I had braids so I couldn't really appreciate it, but this works really well on loose hair. I will definitely use this to detangle and condition my loose naps from now on.

Not a big fan of

•Herbal essence hello hydration. This has cones and since I'm trying to steer clear of stuff that's harmful to my hair, I'm going to give this one away. The slip was ok, but it has nothing on Karen's condish.

Loves

•Oyin's burnt sugar pomade. I really can't get over how lovely this product is. It smells great, leaves my hair feeling lush, and its very versatile! I can use it to do my bantu knots, imparts shine, and it can be used to seal my ends. I think I'm going to keep this in rotation. Last night I layered this over Karen's hair nectar in Honey Oatmeal and holy batman the smell was divine! I have to be careful not to be so heavy handed with this product because it's oil based.

I still love my Qhemet's and whatnot. Can't wait to take the twist down today! Whoot!
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Repeat!

Tonight I remembered why I HATE doing my hair. I co-washed my hair with Karen's herbal condish mixed with some Vatika oil, then I used Karen's hair nectar as a leave-in and twisted and sealed my hair with with Oyin's BSP.

I'm pooped.

So I will post my bantu knot out on Sunday, I don't feel like unraveling my hair tomorrow.

Laziness is a curse, lol.

Wigging it....

For a second day in a row, I've thrown my wig on and went out the door. I found it to be very easy as I'm rocking fat twist at the moment and my hair is in no mood to be out.

In other news, nothing really except I'm trying to figure a regime for my kinky twist.

I'm thinking about shaving a piece of my coconut milk poo bar and diluting it in a spray bottle and washing my twist that way. Also, for my conditioner washes, I'm thinking about diluting my beloved Audrey's and adding a capful of vatika oil to my mix. I'm still planning to use Vatika oil and Shakakai oil for my prepoo treatment as well as washing my hair twice a week as normal. Since I work out three - four days a week, I have to be diligent about keeping my scalp, especially my roots clean and free of buildup.

Toodles!!!!
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More photos because I don't want to sleep.

Here are more photos, yippee!
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I'm bored....

So this what my hair looks like at the moment. I had to make my twist a bit smaller so it will be easier to do bantu knots. I just applied Oyin's Burnt Sugar Pomade over my twist and here's what they look like.




I LIKE!

ETA: My heavens I'm still loving Oyin's BSP on my hair.



Nappiness Leads to Happiness!

Random thoughts....

• I think the next time I'm going to do mini braids, I'm going to twist them halfway instead of braiding all the way down. Saves me the headache.



• I don't want to say, but I wasn't too impressed with Oyin's honey hemp conditioner. I don't know, I read it has silk protein and I am def protien sensitive. I'm going to use it again just to make sure



• I'm rocking my wig today because I have fat twist in my hair and I didn't want to be bothered.



• I'm going to experiment doing bantu knots with Karen's body hair nectar and Oyin burnt sugar pomade. I hope it comes out good.



• I took the bus to the other side of Brooklyn(about an hour on the bus) JUST to get perm rods from Sally's. If that's not dedication to the cause, then I don't know what is lol.



• It's official: my hair loves AOHSR + honey+ lustrasilk shea st+ vatika oil deep treatment. I think I'm going to rotate this with my hair masque from Hairveda.



• I really can't believe how much my hair grew! My next goal is bra strap length. I am more determined to keep this going.



• I love how thick my hair feels.



• I wanna do a henna treatment before I put the braids in....hmmmmmm





That's for all now!

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Hmm...

I think I'm going to do a bantu knot out comparison...hmmmmm

Nappiness Leads to Happiness!

FINITO~~

This weekend was very tiring as my "friend" decided to pay a visit. I've been moody, irritable and just overwhelmed. So overwhelmed that I decided yesterday morning to not only purchse Oyin's Juice & Berries and Frank's Juice, but to also take these braids down a week early. I'm not working out this week so why not? From the looks of it, my hair feels extremely thick and full(due to the henna treatments), which is great! I think my hair has grown considerably!

ETA: I finished taking my braids out this morning, so here are some photos. My hair looks great!









Nappiness Leads to Happiness!

Wishlist...

I really want to try Oyin's Juice and Berries and Frank Juice. The chapsticks are an added bonus, lol. I'm thinking about using them to keep my kinky twist moisturized.

Here are the items that I have in my shopping cart:







I am lipgloss, chapstick, lip butter obsessed.

In other news, my hair is progressing well. I can't wait to be rid of these braids next week! WHOOT WHOOOT!









Nappiness Leads to Happiness!

Lightbulb moment...

Ever since I started using Vatika Oil as a prepoo, I've been wondering what to do with my Hairveda Oil blends that have YET to arrive. So I've decided to mix Vatika Oil with my Cocasta Shikakai Oils as a prepoo.

Sounds good right? Both products state that they can be used as a prepoo treatment, so why not?

I hope it works.


Nappiness Leads to Happiness!

It's here!!!!

My Oyin products are here and they smell AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to use them!

ETA: Ok I tried the Burnt Sugar Pomade on my braids and HOLY HELL, my hair SHINES, SHINES, oh and they SHINE! I LOVE IT, and um...I wanna eat my hair. This stuff smells like pancakes. Now I'm hungry.

My hair

Wohooo! I think I'm going to have to buy some aloe vera gel or some Garnier Fruitis fiber gel for my twist. I did a braid this morning and it began to unravel.....yup need some type of gel that's safe for my hair. See how pretty the No. 33 looks? It definitely looks like henna'd hair.
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