How to resolve problems with single strand knots

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Hey there everyone,

So I've been "pre-pooing" with oils (Jojoba or Vatika).  I read on MTM's blog that pre-pooing with oil helps with single strand knots.  I used to have single strand knots, but I didn't realize how many until now, now that I don't have any.  Single strand knots are easy to get caught on other strands of hair, and typically end up (for me at least) getting cut out.  Since I have started using oil prior to "washing" (I only use conditioner) I have noticed that I have not seen ONE single strand knot.  So, if you suffer from single strand knots do try pre-pooing with oil.  I think most oils are good, but the most common I have seen are Olive Oil, Jojoba Oil, and Coconut Oil. 

That's all I have for that.  Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!!!! 
Tootles,
Love, peace, and happiness

women don't wear pants anymore

So this is quite random, but I found this to be quite humorous yet true.  While I was at the mall in Charlotte with the greatest Charon I know, I heard one middle aged lady say something like, "well I just feel silly wearing pants, apparently women don't wear pants anymore."  Now, I while wearing leggings of course, found this to be quite funny.  I laughed at the observation and shrugged the comment off.  However, while I was hanging out at JFK airport for a billion hours I was people watching (one of my pastimes) and I noticed that women kind of don't wear pants anymore.  Well, women about 35 and under (including little girls).  Okay okay, of course not all women opt for leggings and tights, but the next time you go out take a look around and take note of how many females have on actual pants (or skirts) opposed to leggings or tights.  Now, I LOVE leggings and tights so I am definitely not opposed to this trend, but I do find it quite humorous now that I've actually started paying attention.  

Anyhoo, I know that's super random, but I had on leggings today and it made me think of the Charlotte lady.  Haha.

On another note, I bought a new hair product today, and I'm not telling what it is so you have to check back on Wednesday to see what it is and what I have to say about it ;-)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend
Love, peace, and happiness

a handy cheap solution to winter dried skin



how cute are they?!?!?!


Hello there to all you lovely people,

I just wanted to drop a quick note about a nice way to beat the harshness of winter on our skin.  If you, like I, am suffering from dry skin compliments of the cold, try a little unrefined Shea Butter.  As the name indicates this is a butter, and has a thick and solid consistency at room temperature.  To apply Shea Butter (to skin or hair) just take a bit and rub it between the palms of your hands and this will melt it down.  Apply all over as you would lotion and head out.  Shea butter is a nice alternative to lotion (or compliment if your skin is especially dry) because it's natural, cheap, helps reduce stretch marks (for those of us who have them), and is really absorbed by your skin.  If you are using both Shea Butter and lotion (or some type of cream) I would apply the Shea Butter last to help seal in the moisture from your cream.  Also, this can be used on faces, but I would do that with caution (only use a dab) because Shea Butter can leave you looking a little oiled up and greased down.  Shea Butter can also be used on hair to add and seal in moisture (for those of you who use an oil or something to seal your hair).  Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Shea Butter unless I am doing twists, but I do like to put it on my ends if I braid or twist my hair either for long term or just for overnight.  For me, Shea Butter is a little too thick and heavy for my hair.  I typically order my Shea Butter online from Butters-n-bars.

So, I hope that you all are staying warm and cozy in this winter weather (actual winter weather in Columbia, SC)

Until next time,
Peace, love and happiness 

Protective styles-Part 3: braid out

Good morning lovely people,

So I'm sitting at home waiting for some of the ice on the roads to melt so that these crazy Columbia drivers won't give me a heart attack out there.  While waiting, I decided to post a pic or two of my hair.  So as mentioned before (I think somewhere) I am trying to wear more protective styles for the winter to not only protect my hair from the cold, but also to avoid as much as possible going outside in the cold with wet hair.  My favorite protective styles include twists and style-outs.  My favorite style-outs to do on my hair are flat twist twist outs and braid outs.  So I wore a braid out on Sunday, and am wearing a fresh braid out today, and probably tomorrow.  The braid outs were slightly different-Sunday the braid out was from dry hair, and today from wet hair-so I'll let you know what I did for both. 

Dry hair braid out:
Friday night I put Amla oil (I bought it from an Indian grocery store) on my hair, placed my hair in two side buns, tied with my satin scarf and called it a night.  On Saturday morning I rinsed the oil out well, put some HE Color Me Happy on my hair, shook and left.  I decided to do a wash and go since the weather was sunny and lovely Saturday.  Saturday night I braided my dry hair in about 7 single braids and put Raw Shea Butter on the ends.  Sunday morning I loosed the braids with a little Jojoba oil in my hands, fluffed a bit, and that was that.

Is it just me or do I look scary in this picture?  Anhoo, it's a good shot of my hair.

So overall I liked the dry braid out all right.  My hair wasn't quite as shiny as I would have liked it to be, and it didn't last super long, it was getting frizzy by the end of the day, but it was good church day hair. 

Wet hair braid out:
So Monday after I realized that I was not going into lab, I decided to deep condition and braid my hair.  I put Amla oil on my scalp and Jojoba oil on my hair and let it sit for about 30mins.  After like 15mins I realized that it may help if I put a warm towel around my head :-) and then the last 5-10mins I was in the shower with a shower cap on allowing the shower steam to work its magic.  I then rinsed the oil out well and got out of the shower.  I put HE Color Me Happy conditioner on my hair (my hair was divided into 4 sections so I worked section by section) topped with some extra virgin olive oil.  I detangled with my Denman and twisted each section as I finished.  I sat under my conditioning dryer for about 40 minutes with the conditioner/oil mix on (wearing a shower cap, high heat), then rinsed while my hair was still twisted.  I put Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie on each section that I was about to cornrow and then braided.  I put Raw Shea Butter and Jojoba oil on the ends of each braid.  I ended up with 5 braids.  This morning I put some Vatika oil on my braids (about a nickel size per braid) and then loosed the braids.  After all braids were out I put about a quarter sized amount of Vatika oil throughout my hair with a little scalp massage as I fluffed the hair, and that was it.  I really liked the braid out results (except one braid ended being a little puffy, I'm sure because it wasn't completely dry), my hair is soft, shiny and movable.  I decided to put it up into a bun to protect the ends against the wet day, but it still looks perty :-)

So, there you go, a few options for a braid out.  You can do a braid out on dry hair or wet hair.  You can also do cornrows or single/box braids.  the smaller the braids the more definition you'll have.  Personally I like 5-8 braids max.  Do be certain that if you are doing any style to take extra care of those ends since they are the oldest and most delicate part of your hair. 

Have a wonderful day,
Love, peace, and happiness

Don't comb your beautiful dried curls



The above picture is of three beautiful curls from Teri LaFlesh and the lower picture is the exact same three curls after being combed while dry
Image source

 It's amazing how different our natural hair is from our relaxed hair.  I remember when I wore my hair relaxed and I'd get it braided or put into some protective style, and after a while I couldn't wait to take the style out so that I could comb my hair.  As odd as it is, that was the only thing I ever remember missing about my hair was combing it.  Now however, I wouldn't dare put a comb to my dry hair.  Our hair is so delicate and so tender that combing is one of the worst things you can do (unless you are trying to achieve a fro, which I'll talk about a bit more in a second).  Aside from turning you into a complete frizz ball, combing/brushing dry curls will cause it to mat more easily, will pull your hair out, damage the cuticle (outer layer of hair), and likely introduce snags or split your ends.  Now, it is a-okie dokie to comb/brush (if brushing I'd recommend a brush specified for curls and/or detangling) your hair while wet and preferably while drenched in conditioner.  The water and conditioner will aid in the styling tool to move more easily through your hair without causing all of the damage.  And I know that some of you may like going for the fro look, which I definitely respect because I have seen some fierce fros, but this is a look that should be kept to a minimum if possible.  To achieve a nice fro (we're talking Thelma Evans from Good Times) you wash hair, let it dry, and then pick it out (with a pick or comb)-you can pick before it completely dries, but it shouldn't be soaking.  Regardless of if you are combing to obtain a fro or detangling wet well conditioned hair you should only use a wide toothed comb, so throw away those skinny rattail combs that you used to use for roller sets and cornrows.  Now of course if you have decided to wear your hair straightened it is a-okay to comb once hair is straightened (or during the straightening process realizing of course that this will pull some hair out). 

On another note, the pics above are taken from Teri LaFlesh's website.  She is a fellow curly girl and author of the book Curly Like Me.  If you have a free minute I definitely recommend checking out the website, if for no other reason, take a look at her pictures of before and after hair.  So in a nutshell, she is a biracial woman (Black father, white mother) who growing up had no idea what to do with her highly curly hair.  Therefore, she did just about everything except just let it grow.  After she got older she finally began figuring it out, and now she has beautiful long curls and lots of advice to give.  I haven't read her book yet, but it's on my list.  In addition, her website has lots of advice about styling, detangling, and products/ingredients; it also contains some videos that may be helpful.   

That's all for now lovely little people
Love, peace and happiness

PS-how about this blizzard in Columbia :-)  Okay, so it's so far (at about 9 am) only a few inches of snow, but that is Columbia blizzard right?

The Dangers of Hair Straighteners, Pt. 2

Hey there lovely people,
I received an email from Ms. Berry with a link to this video, and thought that it was really interesting.  It's amazing to actually see what it is that we are putting into our hair.  It's also amazing that many people know this and do not care as long as it gives them straight hair.  If you have time, check out the dangers of hair straighteners part 1 as well on Dr. Oz's website.  Part 1 focuses more on the Brazillian hair straightening system, but it's crazy what they have in that stuff, and the precautions that should be taken when handling it.

Flat irons, relaxers and the controversial Brazilian blowout. Dr. Oz reveals the shocking truth behind these treatments. Plus, learn how you can stay...

Tootles,
Love, peace, and happiness

NYC trip: Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5

Hey there,

So on day 3 of my NYC trip (this was Saturday January 1, 2011) Sloka and I didn't do too much.  First we went to Times Square (well, first was breakfast, but that's a given, I LOVE breakfast, and it's always a must).  And as it usually is, Times Square was a mad house.  We went to Macy's-the original Macy's.  Oh  my goodness!!!!  So, the store literally has 9 floors and is like a billion blocks long (okay the billion part is not literal, but there really are 9 floors).  The inside was decorated beautifully for Christmas, and the place was booming.  It was quite the overwhelming experience.  Sloka and I stopped at ONE of the information booths and asked which floor women's was on and two associates and a customer laughed at us.  The guy working said, you have to be a bit more specific hunny, what kind of women's.  I said I don't know, anything, and he replied, floors, 2,3,4,5,6,7.  Uh, yeah, so we only stayed in Macy's for like 20minutes most of which time we were on elevators or escalators.  I'm not really into that whole shopping with a million of my closest friends thing.  So we left Macy's and went to Forever 21 (my fav clothing store).  Sloka bought a cute red coat and I bought a flannel shirt (which is mega comfy, my first flannel piece, but I thought I'd try something different), a cute pencil skirt, and a couple pairs of sunglasses.  Then we headed back out into the madness of Times Square, went to a Pizzeria for lunch/dinner-it's amazing how time flies in NYC and your meals start to all run together- and then headed for the subway.  I think that's pretty much all we did that day, besides hang out at her place and talk.

Day 4 (Sunday January 2, 2011)-So this was by far my favorite day of the trip. I was very adamant about seeing a show while I was there.  While perusing the Broadway website I realized that Stomp was playing off Broadway.  For anyone who doesn't know Stomp is a production that was created by some people in England playing trash cans and other dump yard paraphernalia for musical entertainment.  There are no words (except the occasional yeah), and it's all music and dance.  It's amazing the "instruments" they use.  There was one number that was all lighters.  That's right, light up a fire lighters were used as a musical instrument and it was amazing.  Anyhoo, so Sloka and I went all over town-yeah, we got lost as usual-trying to find Orpheum theater where Stomp was playing to see if we could get tickets.  Thank God, we finally found it (and along the way stopped in a few stores and I bought a cute pair of fake glasses) and were able to get tickets for the 3:00 show.  It was around 1:00 when we arrived so we walked around, went to a park, and to a Whole Foods to kill a bit of time until the show.

Sloka and I trying to navigate the streets of NYC to find the theater where Stomp was playing.  PS, that's the read coat she bought from Forever 21 the day before, PPS-I took this picture, I'm good at this picture taking of myself thing, but I'll admit I had to take a couple to capture both Sloka and me while walking

 A silly picture of me in the park as we waited for Stomp to start.  I was eating a pear I think or an apple, some fruit.

Stomp was absolutely amazing and is highly recommended for everyone to go and see if you get the opportunity.  Photography inside was prohibited so this was the best I could do to document this, but I really did see it :-)

So next we went to walk the Brooklyn Bridge.  We walked from Manhattan to Brooklyn.  I'm not sure how far it is, but it's a good little walk.  There were lots of pedestrians (and a few runners) on the bridge, but it wasn't too crowded which was nice.  The view of the river was really pretty and I saw the Statue of Liberty.

So this is my picture of the Statue of Liberty with my camera zoomed as far as it can go, yeah, see that speak, that's her.  Needless to say the Statue isn't too close to the bridge, but I saw it, and that's what matters :-)

After we got to Brooklyn we walked around for a bit.  I personally really liked Brooklyn, I mean, I liked it better than Manhattan.  It was still nice with a big city feel, but with not nearly as much crowd.  Also, the streets had cute Christmas lights decorations, and I just found it to be a cute little place.  IF, big old IF, I were to move to NYC I'd want to live in Brooklyn. 
Next we walked the bridge back to Manhattan, and I have to say that the view of Manhattan was breath taking.


A view of Manhattan from the Brooklyn bridge.  The picture really doesn't do the beauty of the city justice, but you get the idea.

Me on the Brooklyn bridge headed back to Manhattan

So once we got back to Manhattan, we uncussefully tried to take the subway back home, and after much walking and confusion gave up and caught a taxi home.  So once we got back to Sloka's apartment we were pooped and again ended up just hanging out there talking.  You'd think that as much time as we spent talking we hadn't just seen each other two weeks before :-)  But I guess that's what women do.
The next day (day 5, Monday January 3, 2011) Sloka and I sadly said our goodbyes as she headed out to work.  I mustered up the courage to brave the subway to go to MoMA (museum of modern art).  After getting lost only once, I arrived at MoMA, and it was packed!!!!  I really enjoyed the photography and the architecture exhibits that they had.  However, I have to say that a lot of the paintings, some of the statues, and all of the films were a little two modern for me.  Although there was this one film of a piano being played, and the song was really pretty, but the screen was blank.  There was another film of a lady brushing her teeth :-/  And I saw the world famous paintings of the campbell soup cans.  I did find it really interesting to see and think about what different people consider art.  After MoMA I walked around 5th Ave. for a bit (did you really think I'd leave the city before hitting up 5th Ave;-).  The only store I actually went into was Forever 21 which was 6 floors tall.  After being overwhelmed and exhausted from MoMA and navigating the subway I left Forever 21 empty handed, and just walked around looking for the right subway station to get me home.  Once I found the right subway station I actually didn't get lost until I got back to Sloka's neighborhood, and I had to figure out which random building that looked as if no one should live in it was her apartment building.  It amazes me how the apartment buildings there and the stores all look the same.  I guess it's because half of the apartments are over stores.  Anyhoo, then I packed up my stuff, and headed to the subway for one final trip.  I safely made it to JFK with only getting lost one time (I was proud to have taken only 1 wrong train;-). 

A picture of the city from one of the windows inside of MoMA

Okay, now comes the most hilarious part of the trip.  I finally make it to JFK (it's about 1.5hrs. by subway from Sloka's apartment), and I go through security, and then I hear, is this your bag?  Oh boy, so they do a bag check on my back pack.  They take my reusable tin water bottle out and say they have to swab it.  They swabbed it in Charlotte too so no biggie.  Then dude says, uh, we're going to have to search you.  What?!?!?  Because of an empty water container.  So I'm thinking these people are nuts, the only thing on that water bottle is NYC tap water.  So I say fine.  Then they make me wait, which annoys me of course so I ask if he can just throw the bottle away.  He tells me no.  Now let's just pause for a minute.  What in the world could they have possible found on the water bottle to make me-5'1" 115lb woman-seem suspicious and become worthy of being patted down.  So, the lady is finally ready to do the pat down, and as she explains it to me I am so dumbfounded by the national security of the US that I just give her a blank stare.  She goes, "do you speak English?"  So I say yeah, and the patting begins.  Well, by this point I am just tickled to pieces that there are people out there killing, stealing, plotting assasinations against world leaders and I'm being patted down becuase of an empty water container that for the past 4.5 days has contained nothing but NYC water.  Of course me being me I laugh the whole time until she says I can go. 

Phew....what a trip.  I need a nap now just writing about it.  Anyhoo, I'm back home in the slow paced world that I'm used to safe and sound.  NYC was nice to visit, but I think that's one city that can be crossed off of the potential places for me to move to after graduation. 

Well, that's my trip in a nutshell
Love, peace, and happiness

NYC trip: Day 1 and Day 2

Hello there lovely people,

So I spent a few (actually 5) days in "the city" and thought I'd share my trip with you.  So I went to NYC to visit a friend who recently moved there (Sloka).
I arrived on Thursday (Dec. 30, 2010), and spent the entire day in the airport.  For some reason-probably because she knows me and knew that I'd get lost-Sloka was adamant about picking me up from the airport.  However, she had to work, so I ended up spending about 7 hours in the JFK airport.  Bummer right?  Wrong!! :-)  The airport wasn't so bad and I got some good reading time in that I probably would have put off otherwise.  So after we finally made it back near her house we stopped for a quick bite to eat.  I had Lentil Soup and she had Split Pea Soup at Belini 181.  It was a cute little place and the food was good.


Me at Belini 181

Sloka at Belini 181

The next day we went to the National museum of natural history, and then we walked around Central Park.  Central Park was so much prettier than I expected it to be.  Who knew that there were pretty parks in NYC :-)  The snow from the blizzard had not melted yet which made it very picturesque there.  I also didn't realize how huge the park is.  It was a lovely walk.  We then somehow ended up in Harlem which isn't really the kind of place you should just stumble upon, but it was cool to see a different, very different, part of town.  I think Harlem was the only place that I saw large quantities of only Black people in one area.  Then we went and hung out near Columbia University.  We went to a bookstore and then hung out at a coffee shop for a few hours.  While we were at the coffee shop (I guess it was a coffee shop, they also had pizza though, but I guess that's NYC for you) I got some dinner, a panini, and found it to be quite delicious.  Then we went home, and watched the Times Square new year's eve celebration on the internet.  So I was a tad bummed about not seeing the ball drop in person, but Sloka really didn't want to go, and that kind of chaos isn't the type of thing you try to coerce your friends into if they don't want.  Besides not going last year gives me one more goal to achieve for this year :-)  

Picture in Central Park, who knew that they had trees in NYC

Me in Central Park.  I just loved these red leggings.  And I have to say, I'm a little disappointed that everyone in NYC thinks that Black is the only acceptable color to wear.  Needless to say, I quite stood out, and loved it :-)

Sloka and me in the coffee shop where I had an awesome panini.  I was very surprised because I don't  usually think of coffee shops as being the top notch place to go for food, but this place was on point. 

So, that pretty much sums up days 1 and 2.  The city was fun for the brief time that I was there.  However, I definitely don't foresee myself wanting to move there.  I found the city to be too crowded, too dirty, and quite gloomy.  During the freak occurrences of sunshine all of the buildings crowded in one itty bitty place blocked the sunlight leaving the place gloomy, and don't even get me started about the lack of stars.  But it is a cool place to visit.  And I can definitely see why in Sex and the City, Carie says that everyone goes there looking for love, I mean, surrounded by a billion people you are bound to find love somewhere right? 

Anyhoo, that's all about that for now
Peace, love and happiness

happy new year!!!!!

Me pondering life and all of my goals for the upcoming year.  Ha, j/k, just a random pic.

Happy New Year to each and everyone of you!!!!  I am so excited to be beginning a new year.  Being able to start a new year is representative of so many things: a new start, new relationships, new goals being achieved, new beginnings.  I'm traditionally not big on new year's resolutions, but instead I like to set goals to be achieved throughout the year.  What's the difference you ask, there really isn't one, but I for some reason like the idea of goals better than resolutions :-)  So this year I have many goals to be achieved; however, the biggest are wisdom, peace, and clarity.  I am "decluttering" my life this  year.  I don't want to have any room for chaos or confusion.  No time for negativity or pessimism.  I am excited about all of the things that God has planned for me, and I intend to enjoy them to the fullest. 

So, I hope that everyone had a wonderful, happy, and safe new year's eve.  And I hope that you all are super excited for a great 2011.
  
The best 2011 ever, the year of love (as said by one of the hosts at Times Square) 

Love, peace, and happiness
(I think that'll be my closing for this year ;-)