Life After a Breakup

As many of you know, I recently ended a love-hate relationship with my Tangle Teezer. It was probably one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make in my life...tear. It was so tempting at first that I had to hide it from myself so that I wouldn't use it to detangle. So for the past couple of weeks I have been using my "handleless" comb and my Goody Jojoba Infused Brush. Out of the two, I TOTALLY prefer the Goody Jojoba Infused Brush because it's kinda like the Tangle Teezer in the sense that it can define my curls while I'm detangling. I don't really like the "handleless" comb because it basically picks my hair out...which is why my hair was looking a hot mess when I got back from Vegas. But now I can proudly say that my hair is BAACCCKK !! Lately, I've been trying to get back into doing twistouts...sidenote: I really loved the way my hair looked with twistouts when it was shorter. Hopefully, I can stick with these twistouts and stop doing so many wash n gos and ponytails. 

Click Here to see the " Twistout on Wash n Go Hair" video

My Essentials for Vacationing with Natural Hair

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Sumthin' New

I just posted this pic on Twitter and had to share it with you all too. 

After wearing my hair straight for a whopping 5 days (shame) I'm back to curly with a little something extra.

 

Freetress.

Celtic Girl.

Color 2.

Video coming soon.

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

It Just Hit Me!!!

Can you tell the difference between the these two pictures???

One looks really old and raggedy while the other looks neater...right.

Before I straightened my hair this past week I defined my curls again using the ECO Styler Agran Oil Gel and Sheamoisture. This time I noticed that my curls were much more clumped together and I was able to get more days out of it. Well I realize now why sometimes my hair comes out clumped and defined and other times just a mess after day 2. I showed you guys this technique back in Dec. but this past month I have been rushing when doing it and that's why. The key is to smooth the curls together, don't separate the curls (which gives me the twistout look), and let it dry like that. I also realized I wasn't getting my roots all over and that caused my hair to look frizzy.

Mom's Hair w/Eco Styler Argan Oil Gel

Here is my mom's hair with the Eco Styler Argan Oil Gel just applied. 

She BIG Chopped June 10'.

This is what it looked like after I diffused majority of it.

Nothin' Like A Good Hair Day

It seems like lately I've been having bad hair days like everyday. But today I must say I was really feelin' how my hair looked. I liked it because it was stretched but stringy and I was loving the definition (considering this was 4 day old hair). I switched it up an wore my hair pulled back with a leopard print headband. I originally pulled it up to so I could take a shower but then I started thinking of wearing it pulled up but didn't because I didn't like the back of it. Pulling it up helped to stretch the curls, so all I had to do was fix the top with some more gel and water. 

Braidout

Soorryy for the late post but here are the results of the braidout. I wasn't too happy with the results so I ended up wearing my hair pulled back into a ponytail for the week. As I look at these pictures I kinda like the results.

Lesson learned: I think next time I do a braidout I'm going to roll the ends with perm rods or flexi rods/rollers. 

Just Random

As you can tell from the pictures...I straightened my hair AGAIN (totally had no plans on doing it). Last Thursday night I washed my hair, did the 2 Minute Reconstructor by Aphogee, detangled, and was left wondering what I was gonna do with my hair. I've been wanting to do a braidout lately while also trying to stick with the styling options from the last post but by the time I finished washing I was too tired....I literally went to sleep right after doing all that. But I woke up at 5:00 am with this random urge to straighten my hair...so I did lol. Last time I straightened my hair I made a video and many suggested that I use a hot comb. Well I tried and let's just say that would have taken me forrrreverrrrr to finish....I only had 3 or so hours to do my hair. So I just used the flat iron.... comb chase method. Oh by the way this time went by soooo much faster because 1. my hair was already somewhat dry. 2. and because it was dry I was able to blow dry it better.

Products used:
-Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition Fortifying Shampoo
-Aphogee 2 minute re-constructor
-Tresemme conditioner
-SheaMoisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie

- Chi Silk Infusion

- Flat iron: Vi Sasson 

- Some other heat protectant that I can't think of the name

Darcy's Botanicals Sweet Cream Review...

Darcy's Botanticals Daily Leave-In Conditioner in Sweet Cream-

Price: $12.00

Where to Purchase: Surprisingly you can find these products in small random stores and of course online.

Consistency: Smooth light cream. Similar to Giovanni Direct Leave in.

To start this review I have to say the scent is probably the best part about this product. It smells exactly like vanilla Tootsie Rolls...ooo yum =) I did have high expectations for this product (maybe because it was $12) but I wasn't to impressed with how it moisturized my hair. BUT I will say it works pretty well getting my curls to pop right away. For example, when I twist my hair I can detangle and then apply the product and BAM! curls appear. I also liked that this product added some shine to my hair. 

So overall I think this product is alright it's not AMAZING and I think there are plenty of cheaper and better products out there. I'm not going to give up on this company because their products seem to be promising. 

Will it Work?

Every time I have good hair days with twistouts or wash n gos (defined curls) I always tell myself that I'm gonna start wearing my hair like that more often...of course that usually doesn't last long. But in the last few months I have to say have been rockin' some successful twist n curls and wash n gos (defined curls) and I've wondered if I could really keep my hair healthy and in those styles. I have found that those styles are kinda like my protective style because I'll wear them for like a week. In addition there's less manipulation involved,it's versatile because I can always pull it back into a ponytail or something, and it's good for my edges because I don't have to brush them a lot.

Old Twist n Curl

Old Wash n Go

So what do you all think??? Will it work...I'm going to see and keep you all updated. 

Having Soft Hair Isn't All That Great...

Lately I have been defining my curls a lot (that's a whole other post) and using my two favorite product combinations, Sheamoisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie and Eco Styler Olive Oil. Before I started using the Sheamoisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie with the Eco Styler, my hair would have a little crunch to it but that hold would slowly go away after like three days. But now that I have found a product that will cut down on the amount of hold it seems like my hair is just too soft to get multiple days out of it and it frizzes up much easier. Now I'm torn between having soft-bouncy hair or stiff-crunchy hair. Take a look at these pics:

Giovanni/Eco Styler:

Sheamoisture/Eco Styler (2nd Day Hair):

What's a girl to do???

Stylin'

Here's another hairstyle for styling your mini twist and also the EZ Combs.

Also check out my latest video....

Itty Bitty Twistssss

Finally after two and a half days my mini twists are done. It was hard in the beginning but I got through it (had a little accident with the wii...lol) 

Products used:


*Yes to Cucumbers Leave-In (revisting and it seems to be great for these twists)
*Sweet Almond oil


Done on dry stretched out hair. I also didn't wash my hair before I did these because I had just shampooed my hair like 4 days before but I co-wash the day before twisting)

Look I what I got!!!

As I type this post I am extremely excited and overjoyed. I bought the Ez Combs today...and they actually work. At least the little style that I did worked. I finally decided to get them because 1. they are really cheap at Ross and Marshall's and 2. they seem like you can do a lot of styles with them in a few minutes. Since it has only been like 30 minutes since I got in the house and popped one of them in my hair I can't do a full review (plus I didn't want to mess up my hair) but please believe once I get some time with these bad boys I will definitely let ya'll know how they work. Oh and the price was $ 2.99 at Ross and $ 3.99 at Marshall's.

 
Right now I can tell you all that it felt very comfortable and secure on my hair and removing it wasn't bad at all. Stay tuned =)

Review for Taliah Waajid Curly Curl Cream

Has Anyone Tried These???

Hey ladies have any of you tried any of Goodys Simple Styles collection. I have the Volume booster...thinking it was something else. But I'm curious to see how the others work on natural thick hair.

Goody Jojojba Brush Works Great on Straight Hair TOO

You've heard me rave about this brush before and this time it just keeps getting better and better.  The Goody Jojoba Infused Brush is great for your curly and amazing for you straight hair. Since I've been wearing my hair straightened lately, this brush has become my best friend. I still don't think it does much for adding shine but it sure does smooth the hair down and remove tangels wonderfully. 

It's Straight Baby!!!

I finally worked up the confidence to straighten my hair. Thanks to anautralbeauty3's video which basically said DON'T BE SCARRRED!!! You guys have no idea how many videos I watched about natural's who straightened their hair. From that I found that using the comb-chase method (i think that's how it goes) really works!.

Products used:

-Suave Shampoo

-Organix Pomegranate and Green Tea

-Giovanni 50:50 conditioner

-Chi Silk Infusion 

Ravishing Red!!!

Thursday night I colored my hair a FIRE red color....not really :\ I put a rinse in my hair because I'm too chicken to put permanent color in my natural  hair...because of past experiences with coloring. 

EX #1: When I was in high school I decided to highlight own hair. The outcome=EPIC FAIL. Due to the embarrassment I felt after months of wearing the highlights, I decided to go to a professional and get my hair colored JET BLACK w/bangs. 

Of course since it's a rinse you're really not gonna be able to see much of the color in the pictures (you can see a little. But you can definitely see the color in certain light. I've used this brand before but with a dark brown color but this time I have to say I absolutely love the color and my next little color experiment will be henna.