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....