My Essentials for Vacationing with Natural Hair

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The Regimens...

I transitioned for nine months...

I Big CHOPPED on Dec. 13,2008

From 08-Feb. 09
My regimen from this time was pretty much not structured and because of that my hair stayed dry and I wasn't using the right products (even though I thought I was). I was in love with using products like Sunsilk Captivating Curls and Herbal Essence Long Term Relationship because of the way they smelled.


---I co-washed everyday...morning and right before bed.
---I was kinda against shampooing so I shampooed maybe once or twice a month....but I was constantly co-washing so that kinda cleaned my hair
---Whenever I did shampoo I made sure to deep condition and detangle
---I had a bald spot in the front of my head from transitioning so I made a mixture of rosemary oil, shea butter, castor oil, and jojoba oil and every night I massaged that oil mixture onto my scalp and mainly that bald spot. Within a couple of months I saw growth and now THERE'S NO BALD SPOT!!!

====Main products used====

 Sunsilk conditioner and leave in, my shea butter mixture, my hair growth mixture, and that's all I remember

From the end of Feb 09- May 09
By this point I started to see growth and with more growth came more tangles. I noticed that I needed to start detangling more and I needed to do something so that I didn't have to walk in the freeze'n cold in the morning with wet hair.So I started twistin.


---I co-washed no more than twice a week.
---Shampooed once or every other week.
---Deep conditioned everytime I shampooed
---I TWISTED MY HAIR UP EVERY SUNDAY NIGHT AND WORE A TWISTOUT UNTIL FRIDAY....Sat. and Sun. were my off days.
---I started back taking my vitamins and biotin supplements. 
====Main products used====
Cantu Shea butter used for twistouts, and my shea butter mixture

From May 09-Aug 09
During this time I was on summer vacation and didn't feel like twisting my hair up every Sunday night so I pretty much wore a puff or a wash and go.


---Co-washed a lot 
---Shampooed, DC, and detangled once a week or every other week
---Every now and then I wore a twist out.

====Main products used====

Cantu Shea Butter, shea butter mixture, Aussie Moist conditioner, Clean Eco styler Gel, and Giovanni Direct Leave in

From Aug 09-Dec 09

By the time I went back to school my hair grew a lot and I could finally say I had some type of regimen. Because of the amount of growth I had I was able to start doing way more styles. And in Oct I was finally able to get a PONYTAIL...YAY click here to watch the video. 

---Co-washing became more of a style so I didn't do it a lot only for certain styles 

---Shampooed, DC, and detangled once a week

---Every other night I would either castor oil or my Wild Growth oil from Sally's and massaged my scalp

---By Nov. I started wearing medium sized twist as a protective style

====Main products used====

Eco styler Gel, Organic Root Stimulator Lock and Twist gel, castor oil, Wild Growth oil, Giovanni Direct Leave in, and Bed Head Moisture Maniac

From Jan.10

I finally started to find my staple products and finished putting the final stages on my current regimen. There's nothing really major to talk about. 

My current regimen:

---Again I don't co-wash a lot only if my hair is dry, I am about to switch styles, or I just feel like it.

---Shampoo and detangle once a week

---I don't deep condition any more only if it is a protein deep conditioner

---I have trimmed my hair multiple times since I've been natural.... so I guess I trim maybe every 4-6 months

====Current products being used====

Sheamoisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie and Moisture Retention Shampoo, Eco Styler Argan and Olive oil gel, Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding, Pantene Curly Conditioner, and Tresemme Conditioners

Make Your Own Spritzzzzzz

Are you experiencing dryness? Would you like to learn how to make your very own hair spritz to moisturize your hair? (say yes,please..lol) Well you are on the right blog post....lol

What you'll need:

• a spray bottle
• water
• vegetable glycerin
• oils of your choice (optional)

This is realllllly simple. Take your spray bottle and put one part glycerin to two parts water. Then take your oil (essential, fragrance, carrier,or the not so pure beauty supply oil. lol) and add a few drops. If you are using essential oils, YOU ONLY NEED 1-5 drops. Essential oils are very POTENT!!! Carrier oils are easier to get away with. Give your mixture a good shake and you're done. I would suggest every time you use the spritz you shake up a little =)

   Happy moisturizing (=

Bucket/Experiment List

I recently have been busy thinking of different styles and techniques to try on my hair. Since it's summer and I'm out of school now, I figured it would be the PERRRFECT time to start checking off stuff from the list. So instead of keeping track of them in my head, I decided to document them on here. Feel free to post yours as well in the comment box =)

• Apply gel to my hair while in the shower to see if I get the same definition as when I section my hair off and do
• Complete a whole head of mini braids <<< I did mini twist
• High bun
• Rollerset
• Find an easy everyday style, that doesn't involve a ponytail or puff
• Incorporate more hair accessories
• Be able wear a fedora   <<<< not happenin :(
• Try the cinnamon hair lightener 

I'll update this post if I think of more =)

Party, Party, Party...

 Can you say BUSY!!! March and April have been INSANE for me...Besides the mountains of work, projects, and events going on at school, my family has thrown two big parties. One in March and the other this past Saturday (April). But all the work put into it both, were sooooo very worth it.

 

This event was my dad's birthday, 70's Soul Train theme. You can't see but I have on high waist bell bottoms =)And of course I was SUPER excited to rock MY OWN afro puffs to the party...a lot people actually came up to me and asked if I had on a wig..lol Oh and that's my boyfriend with his unshaped afro...lol

Okay these 3 pics are from my aunt and uncle's anniversary party. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THAT DRESS!!! Thrift store $$$. The look I was going for with my hair was the cinna-bun hairstyle inspired from many youtube ladies...but it wasn't as defined as their but it was still cute =)

Summer Regimen

Co-Washing and LOTS OF IT!!! The only problem I have with co-washing is that my hair seems to tangle more but I like doing it because my hair stays moisturized even days after co-washing. 

 

Okay for us beach and pool goers, it is important to make sure all those chemicals from the pool and the dirt from the sea get out of our hair, so make sure you are shampooing, co-washing, and then of course deep conditioning. Follow that up a moisturizer and seal it with an oil.

Oh and make sure you're drinking plenty of WATER!!! I know I will....I've seen what kind of damage it can do (my hair sheds like crazy when I'm not drinking enough water and eating right).

That's pretty much...keep it simple...and have fun (=

PS. By the way, I will definitely be using my mango butter and oils like coconut and olive oil for the summer... I'm soooo ready for this semester to be over and my vacation to start.

Define-A-Curl

 

A highly requested video for how to get your curls to pop!

Hair Jewels.

As I explore new styles, I have found that I really love hair accessories. And one of the main places I get mine from is Forever21. They have trendy hair accessories at a decent affordable price.
Here are some of my faves I just randomly picked through. Accessories are great for everyone transitioners, twas, and even the long big hair don't care ladies =.)

Items in this set:
Jewel Strip Hairclip, $4.80
Disco Glitter Headband, $3.80
Zipper Floral Bobby Pins, $3.80
Floral Sequin Hair Clip, $3.80
Large Blossom Hair Clip, $3.80

The Results are In...

Thank you guys so much for participating in my poll!!! I know it ended a little sooner then it was supposed to but something happened in between switching templates for the blog. Luckily, I've been watching closely. So now I have an idea of how many relaxed, transitioners, newly naturals and naturals I have reading the blog. Once again thanks so much for voting and continuing to read The Golden Sparkle = ]

Summer's Commin #3

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS DRESS!!!! I got it from Ross for $15.99 :)
Necklace: Forever21
Ring: Forever21
Earrings: Peruvian coconut earrings
Flip Flops: Forever21

I love dresses like this one because it looks super classy and somewhat vintage! It has a visible zipper in the back and it was cheap...can't go wrong there huh!!!!

New Found Love

I recently updated you guys that I was getting tired of wearing the same ol' hair style day after day... Well a few weeks ago I started doing twist outs and wearing it for about 3-4 days and then re-twisting it up that night. I found that this was good for me because when I would co-wash it would take FOREVER to dry and sometimes it would leave balls of white stuff in my hair (yuck!). It's good for my hair because I don't have to do much to it :) So it's kind of a protective style.




Right now I am not comfortable wearing the twist by themselves (it has the Kris Kross inspired look going lol). Plus the top portion of my hair is too loose to stay twisted by itself.

While I twist it I spray a little water and use Cantu Shea Butter Leave in. And then in the morning I use my shea butter mixture to untwist them. It takes about an hour to twist my whole head.

Summer's Commin #2

Summer's Commin #1....

Here's an outfit I threw together of what I plan on wearing this summer. This is perfect for those SUPER hot days with a nice twist out.