Another Precious Curls Giveaway!!!!

Precious Curls and Blended Beauty are participating in an amazing giveaway from "Blended Beauty". Enter here http://www.precious-curls.com/2011/12/blended-beauty-giveaway.html

Good Luck!

My mani! Hot damn!

No words are needed.
I need more!

Yeah, change of plans.....

A few weeks ago, I decided to make the jump from loose hair to locs. At the time, I was extremely fed up with my hair, the constant breakage, the upkeep, just about everything annoyed with my hair. In order to save my sanity, I made a appointment with a loc-specialist to install starter locs. Well, long story short, my stylist was late(forgot that we had an appointment) and once she saw my hair she felt she couldn't install the locs because my hair was breaking, especially in the crown area.

Talk about a BIG letdown.....or divine intervention....

Hair before the cut: YOU SEE THOSE ENDS!?!?!?!?

After I left the salon, I felt ugly, defeated, and lost. I went home and chopped off my hair, as you can see here:

and here:

I guess in that moment it was my awakening, I decided to take the bulls by the horn and....get reacquainted with my hair. I was flying by the seat of my pants with my hair, relying on my sister and cousin for styling options, not getting the dryness under control, just a hot mess.

This blog post my Precious Curlsreally opened my eyes: http://www.precious-curls.com/2011/11/tip-moisturizing-and-sealing.html

I realized that I wasn't sealing my hair properly, I was using an oil to seal but was left confused as to why my hair was still so dry in certain areas.With that knowledge, I decided to embark on making my own hair butter. I purchased hemp seed butter, cupucau butter, and sweet almond butter. I whipped up a batch and so far my hair likes it! I added a few drops of Vanilla fragrance oil to give a nice warm scent. So I've started the habit of weekly scalp massages and sealing my ends with butter every other night.

After reading that all the oils that I was using was too heavy for my fine hair(castor oil, avocado oil, safflower oil, vatika oil), I decided to simplify my oils and to stick to grapeseed and sweet almond oil to seal.

I've also decided to become my own hair stylist, I now do my own hair and rarely use a comb to do my 2 strand twists, I must be honest, it's a very freeing experience. For so long I relied on my sister and cousin to do my hair with their small rat tail comb to the detriment of my hair, but since I've taken my hair care into my own hands, it's been amazing!

Onto a new journey!

Mani time!!!

Precious Curls Winter Wonderland Giveaway!!!!

Precious Curls and a few other bloggers are participating in an amazing giveaway from "Natural Hair Nutrients". Enter here http://www.precious-curls.com/2011/12/winter-wonderland-giveaway.html#more

Good Luck!

Uh, change in plans

Locs never happened. Details to come soon....

A new journey...

Tomorrow morning I'm getting my locs installed.

I'm nervous, excited, and frightened all at once. My reasoning for locs was pretty simple; I was sick of my loose hair. I was tired of split ends, the lack of styles due to the thinness of my hair, and frankly, just bored with it. In my heart I knew perms was out of the question and I refused to chop my hair off so, my only option was to loc my hair.

Once I made the decision to loc, a calmness settled over me(cliche, I know). It was the answer I was looking for the entire time. I've done my research and I'm happy with my decision.

So tomorrow at 8am, I will be embarking on a new journey. This time I'm going to do things differently, I'm going to actually keep a detail journal of my entire journey. I'm going to try to post more often, but since I'm in school full-time, I'm going to have my manage my time carefully.

Until we speak again.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Soo...

It's been a long time since I've updated my blog. Sorry about that, between quitting my job, starting school, being denied UE benefits, studying 95% of my time, I've had no time to myself.

I would write more, but I went shopping with my mother after school and I'm beyond tired after taking 3 exams today.

BUT

I will leave you with this.....

I've made the decision to loc my hair.

!!!!!!!!!!!

Whoa.

No words.
It's getting huge.
Nuff said.

Let's try this again...

I wanted to do a comparison shot of my twists and as you can see, my hair has definitely grown by leaps and bounds. I think at some point in my journey I'll probably loc my hair, but for right now, I'm enjoying the ride.

Last night I used Alba Natural leave-in conditioner and a tiny mix of Qhemet's BRBC+ Qhem's Coco Tea Detangling Ghee to moisturize and sealed with my sunflower/jbco oil mix and can we say...SOFT HAIR?!!?!?!?!??!?!? I think adding a bit of CTDG to BRBC added just the right amount of moisture to my parched strands. I'm going to use this combo until September before I make a final decision.

Onto the pics!

2009




2010


June 2011

A hot mess all around....

I've been house/dog sitting for my sister since Wednesday and my hair is NOT PLEASED.
ugh.

Only Time Will Tell.....I guess.

I have a confession to make.

I've been battling dry, brittle hair for the past few months and I don't know what to do. I have a fairly simple routine, I wash/deep condition once a week, seal my ends every other night(always on damp hair) and I keep my hair in a protective style 99% of the time. So it's extremely baffling as to why my hair feels hard the next day after its been washed and moisturized. Maybe my hair doesn't like oils, maybe I'm using the wrong products, maybe my hair needs more protein, maybe I need a damn drink.

So last night, while browsing nappturality.com, I came across information about ceramides so I decided to post some information here:

What are Ceramides?

Ceramides are naturally occurring lipids (or fatty materials) found in the hair fiber or naturally in the skin. According to Butler and Poucher, ceramides molecules that "bind the cuticle cells to the cortex and Ceramides naturally exist within the hair fiber, sandwiched in a region between the cuticle and cortex called the cell membrane complex (CMC). Here along with the proteins in the CMC, they regulate the flow of materials in and out of the cortex. Because they essentially bind the cuticle cells to the cortical cells, ceramides help keep our hair from falling apart! Ceramides are also believed to play a role in the hair's transition from "live cells" within the follicle and beneath the skin's surface, to the dead, keratinized hair shafts that we see.

Think of ceramides as hair glue. Without them, our cuticle layers would simply fall off and unhinge themselves, rather than gently weather and erode, from the constant damage they endure. Damaged hair has typically exhausted its natural supply of ceramides, and is often brittle, dry, and difficult to manage as a result. Many hair products contain synthetic, lab-created ceramides to help replace the ceramides naturally lost from the hair during regular washing, styling, and chemical treating. Ceramides are needed as a part of any basic moisture and protein conditioning plan to restore the hair's health.

What Do Ceramides Do?

Ceramides perform a "barrier function" and help reduce the hair's overall porosity. Ceramides bind to the hair fiber in damaged, vulnerable areas to help prevent natural moisture and protein loss that occurs when we manipulate our hair. Natural ceramides keep the hair fiber tight, and cuticles flat so that the hair shines and has low porosity.

***Look for the following in your products***
3 Octadecandiol
Barley Malt Oil
Ceramide
Ceramide 3
Eucalyptus Extract
Hemp Seed Oil
Kukui Oil
Rice Bran Oil
Wheat Germ Oil
Sunflower Oil
Walnut Oil
Wheat Germ Oil



So upon reading more information, I decided to use a mix of 75% sunflower oil and 25%JBCO to seal my ends and so far, I like how my hair feels. It's too early to tell how my hair will respond so I'm going to give it a month or two. Furthermore, I'm going to experiment adding wheat germ oil or hemp seed oil to my prepoo mix and note any changes.

I plan on using Alba Botanica Leave-in Conditioner because while I love Qhemet's OHHB, the summer is coming and I need something lighter and less expensive. I will also use that for a month or two and see how my hair responds. Also, I've
re-introduced aloe vera juice into my daily spritz to help with flattening my cuticles and that's a trail period as well.

I've also decided to skip trying various hair moisturizers and stick to Qhem's BRBC. Everytime I tried to switch things up, my hair acts a fool, so no more moisturizers(well I do want to experiment using her Amla Heavy Cream in the winter time, but I digress)

So that's all for now, I think.

Taking it Back.....

I'm going back to the basics.

A simple leave in
Moisturizer
Oil

My choices are Alba Botanica Leave-in Conditioner or Karen's Body Beautiful Super Silky. While I love Qhem's Moringa Ghee, I need something with more UMP and slip.

I've decided to stick to Qhem's Burdock Butter Cream, that means, no avocado butter, no other crap.

Strictly Qhem's until the foreseeable future.

and finally, sunflower oil + jbco to seal.

That's IT!

My first puff!!!

What you're looking at right now, is unwashed, un-detangled, dirty, smelly, oily(overnight oil treatment) hair.

But damn it looks gorgeous!

That's how I'm wearing my hair today, after being in cornrows for the past 3 weeks, I finally decided to take them down because I couldn't deal with the raziness. I've realized that wearing my hair in cornrows really works for me, they work with my busy schedule, easy to manage, and I wash my hair as I like. Win-Win!

In other hair news, I made a "Love Potion No. 9" so to speak, to use on my ends. It consist of avocado oil, vatika oil, JBCO, and grapeseed oil. Let's hope my ends respond well. I haven't had time do a thorough review of my haul from SheaMoisture, because well, I'm way too busy these days.

BUT

I will say that I'm a BIG fan of the mosisture retention shampoo, the jury is still out on the anti-breakage masque and yucca hair milk.

See you later!

Hair for the week...

Free again....

*twirls*

Coming soon!

I could pass up a good deal, buy one get one free? for SheaMoisture? I got two each product, 6 products totaled for 25 bucks? I love a good bargain!

Reviews to come soon!

Nails!

China Glaze- Phat Santa

Not worth the hype

When I decided to embrace my natural hair, I was a BIG fan of Aubrey Organics HoneySuckle Rose conditioner. I raved about it many times on this very blog, and read endless reviews about the wonders of this HG conditioner. However, as time moved on, and as I tested many other deep treatments, I've realized that this conditioner is not for me.

What made me come this conclusion?

Henna.

This past week, I did a long overdue henna treatment, and since I wasn't sure if I could do a Rhassoul clay dt after a henna treatment, I reached for AOHSR as alternative.

and boy did it SUCK.

Don't get me wrong, I understand henna leaves your hair very dry and stiff which is why you're advised to do a moisturizing deep conditioner afterwards, but I couldn't help but notice how dry my hair felt.

Now to compare how my hair feels after a rhassoul deep treatment? AOHSR doesn't stand a chance. So my friends, I'm going to have discontinue using this condish(I got my eye on MyHoneyChild Olive You Deep conditioner...hush)

Now in other news, MY ANITA GRANT RHASSOUL BLOCK IS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can I tell you how much I LOVE the fact that I can get Anita Grant's products in the US? I've already ordered the rhassoul clay cubes AND block, and also her hair butter.

*twirls*

reviews coming soon!

Addicted....

I've been wearing this style for at least a month. Everytime my sis does my hair, I always come back to this, it's just too cute!

Acceptance?....Finally?

I guess it took the Weave Fiasco of 2011 for me to "get it", but...I get it.

My naps may not be everyone cup of tea, but for me? I love my hair.

I've spent so long hiding my hair under extensions, that I used it as a crutch when the fall rolled around. I'm listening to my hair more, accessing its needs, and making the correct adjustments. I learned that my hair loves when I add more oil to my daily spritz mixture, that I can't use the Tangle Teezer for every wash, finger detangling is OK too, that I need to moisturize my hair at least twice a week, and deep conditioning is my friend.

My hair isn't %100 percent because I'm still dealing with excessive splits in my crown area, but I'm getting there.

Drool worthy manicure....

Deborah Lippmann- Don't Tell Mama

The accidental hairstyle.

See that Kool-aid smile? My friends, that's the smile of a woman who LOVES her accidental hairstyle. I took my cornrows out last night and kept most of the parts which I then braided and attached to each part. The bang area gave me an issue, but once I attached that braid to the other side? Perfection! I can't wait to rock this in the summer.

A new...love?

As you know, I've been taking ayurvedic approach to hair care due to the weaken state of my fine strands. Well last night, I added a teaspoon each of brahmi, maka, amla, JBCO and fenugreek to my rhassoul clay mixture, slapped on a plastic cap and relaxed for 2 hours.

As I'm washing the mixture out of my hair, I can't help but notice how strong and incredibly soft my hair feels. I'm not sure if its because of the JBCO or the herbs themselves, but I was able to gently run my fingers through my hair with no snags. After adding a dollop of Yes To Cucumbers(I need to stock up) and detangling with my trusty TT, I plaited my hair and sealed my ends with JBCO.

and BOY is that baby thick as hell! A capful was all I needed, yikes! My hair feels better, it definitely looks better, and I'm happy with the results.

I can't wait to see what my hair looks like with continuous use.

Sidebar: I need to restock on the following items: Avocado butter, ALL the ayurvedic herbs, YEs to Cucumbers and JBCO. It's on like donkey kong!

Some background information....

Recently, I purchased a bottle of Jamaican Black Castor Oil from my favorite e-tailer.

Due to an unfortunate mishap, my order was sent to another customer and I was sent her order by mistake. Thankfully, the vendor was very accomodating and stated that I can keep the items and she would send my original item immediately.

Yesterday, I went to the post office to retrieve my packages and imagine my surprise that I not only received my JBCO but the mistaken items were Bhringraj oil AND Brahmi oil...the MINERAL OIL FREE versions!

That hair gods are smiling down on me right now!

So not only do I have the powders on hand, but I have the oils as well...FOR FREE!

It's on like Donkey Kong....

No words needed.

Jamican Black Castor Oil

I'm battling a headache due to lack of sleep, but here is a quick post about a new item in my quest to retain healthy hair. This is Tropical Isle Jamaican Black Castor Oil. I ordered a 8oz bottle this week and hope to have it by next week.




Uses

• mix with Vatika Oli for pre-poo
• on my thinning edges
• mix w/ regular castor oil to seal
• add a teaspoon to my rhassoul clay deep treatment.

Me and JBCO are going to be the BEST of friends...

Hair.

I like this style...sometimes. However, I don't have the luxury to be picky so, this is the style I'm sticking with.

A new plan?

I've adopted a new plan.

I'm going to make a homemade rhassoul clay mix with amla, bhrami, maka, fenugreek, and Jamaican black castor oil. Once done, I'm going to follow up with a moisturizing conditioner(Yes to Cucumbers...I LOVE THIS CONDITIONER!).

I've also decided to track my progress every 2 months, so be prepared for updates!

Backt to the land....

To combat the extreme dryness and split ends, I've come up with a plan to help save my hair.

• Deep condition weekly with my homemade rhassoul clay mix. I've altered the ingredients to include yogurt, avocado butter, jamaican black castor oil, and coconut milk.


• I'm also going to be more diligent with tea rinses and incorporating ayurvedic herbs as well
• Moisturize my hair every other day
• Keep my hair covered outside

Hope this helps.

The weave that lasted 1 day....

(pretty)

Oye. What a weekend. So in my previous post, I mentioned that I was getting my first sewn in weave. I picked up the hair on Wednesday, which I LOVE by the way, and prepped my hair for the big day. I also gave myself a big trim due to horrible split ends and knots which was cause by the kinky twists and dry winter air. Because of this, I've made the decision that I'm going to give extensions a rest and focus solely on the health of my hair. I've already purchased Jamaican Black Castor Oil to help restore my edges and split ends.

Now back to the big day.

My cousin/stylist was going to sewn in my weave because after spending $150 on hair, I refused to shell out another $100+ to have someone sewn it in.

My cousin was Free99.

Holla.

So to prepare my hair for the weave, my cousin braided my hair horizontally so that she can sew in the tracks of hair.

Red flag No. 1

I wanted my hair to braided in a circular motion because it makes it easier to clean your scalp and since I workout 4 days a week, this was very important to me. So I asked my cousin if she could braid the hair how I wanted it, she said she couldn't because she didn't know how to.

Red flag No. 2

*sigh* ok fine, I'll adjust. However, I noticed as she's braiding my hair, the braids were SUPER TIGHT. Like, OMG WHAT THE FUCK! tight, so as she's braiding my hair, I'm trying desperately to loosen up the braids because my scalp felt like it was being ripped off my skull.

Now once she was done, and I finished loosening up the braids, it was time for the weave. However, by this time, my scalp is sore and tender, and worry begins to set in. If there's too much tension on my scalp I can get traction alopecia which causes hair loss...holy hell.

So while my cousin is sewing in the weave, my scalp feels like hell and I'm starting to feel unsure about the whole thing. See, you have to understand, this was my very FIRST weave. I'm not a weavologists so I don't know what to expect.

Moving along...

Once my cousin was done with the middle of my hair, she started to sew in some tracks on my edges and my fucking good gawd, she sewn in one track tooo tight and I screamed out "FUCK".

Red flag No. 3

Because by this time alarms are BLARING in my head! I want this shit out! It hurts! I feel like an elephant is on my head! OMG IM GOING TO LOSE MY HAIR!

The pain was unbearable at this point, my entire head was throbbing. I consulted with my friends and everyone said this was normal, but it didn't feel normal to me. I was in serious pain and all I could think about was my hair underneath it. It was braided so tight and I was scared that I was going to be bald when all was said and done. She finished up by doing individual braids in the crown of my head that was WAYYY too tight. I did noticed however that you could see the tracks of the weave underneath the braids...like it was REALLY noticeable.

Exhibit A:

Red flag No. 4

So once she was done, I put my newfound hair in big twists and went to bed with a sore scalp and uncertainty.

Fast forward to Sunday morning, and to make a long story short...I couldn't take it anymore.

My scalp was sore, the hair, while big and luscious, was too much for me to handle and the pain was unbearable. So once I got home, at the suggestions of my friend Joy, I took the individual braids out in hopes of going to a weave salon and getting it fixed. However, while taking out the braids, I decided that if I couldn't find a salon to fix the weave, I was going to pay for someone to take it out.

and that's where my mom comes in.

So while talking to my mom about my hair situation, she said she was wondering WHEN I was going to take the weave out because she noticed my obvious discomfort and pain when my cousin was sewing it in. So she offered to take the tracks out for me(Ugh I love that woman). I gave her my scissors and she went to work.

Once she removed the weave, I had the task of gently removing the cornrows from my battered scalp. While doing this I noticed a small bald patch with small bumps located where my cousin sewn the track too tight....oye.

That's when I decided that I'm done with extensions. From now on, I'm going to focus on the health of my hair and work diligently to have healthy hair.

What a weekend....

Breakage....

Lots...

Time to trim...

Announcement....

More
Snow

Hair today and Tangle Teezer review!

*le sigh* Words can't describe how much I love my hair right now. It's healthy, GROWING and it's all mine.

With that said...I'm getting a weave next week! Don't worry, its a kinky curly weave! Even though I LOVE my hair right now, I have to protect my strands from this brutal cold(It's going to 5 fucking degrees on Sunday...ugh). I'll post pics soon!

Now about the awesome Tangle Teezer....*drools*
This hair tool is nothing short of amazing. It has the ability to not only get rid of shed hairs but I'm able to run this baby through the thickest part of my hair with no problems and no breakage! I can gently glide it though my hair and it removes every single tangle, and when I run my fingers through my hair afterwards, it doesn't snag or break. When I'm done, my hair is fluffy, thoroughly detangled, and my ends doesn't clump(which causes MORE tangles and knots) and for some AWESOME reason, it prevents shrinkage...SCORE!

I haven't even bothered to use my magic rake seamless comb....opps!

Two words...

Tangle Teezer.

Buy it.

Nuff said.

FREEDOM

...and let the choir say...AMEN!

Now with that said, while I really like kinky twists...I'm tired of them.

The take down is time consuming, I hate that my hairline is suffering(I think), and I miss taking care of MY hair. I miss pampering my hair(and trying new products...don't judge me) so I think I'm truly done with kinky twists...for now.

All in....UPDATES!!!

It's been awhile, no? Since I don't feel like writing a whole lot, I'm just going to give a quick rundown:

. ordered more rhassoul clay!

. restocked my henna supply...MY FAVORITE HENNA TOO!

. ordered Darcy's Botanicals Coconut pomade

. getting a weave in 2 weeks...I think I'm getting sick of the kinky twists...time to switch things up

. took adavantage of Zoya's FB promo

. just ordered China Glaze Spring 2011 collection..*faints*

. unleashing my hair within the next week or so...

and.........that's all folks!