July 4 hair



This is a sort of braid out.  I washed my hair two days prior and braided into two french braids, on this morning I took the braids out, spritz a bit of a water/conditioner mix on and pulled it up.



Hey there lovely peoples,

I wanted to write a quicky post about some ideas for July 4 weekend hair styles.  I am guessing that many of you may be going to cook outs, the beach or engaging in some type of outdoor activity with family and friends.  Of course since we (at least I) live in the south this means HEAT and HUMIDITY.  So a few styling options that I would like to suggest are as follows 

• two strand twists
• one or two french braids
• a bun or ponytail

I personally wouldn't recommend wearing your hair out/down if you anticipate getting it wet (and from sweat counts).  Since most holiday celebrations last for a long time you may not be able to quickly detangle and/or wash hair that has gotten wet (say from a pool party) and this increases the chance of tangles and mats.  All of the above mentioned styles are easy and quick to do/take out.  After a long day outside you will probably want to wash your tresses.  I have no idea what I will do with my hair for the holiday weekend, but it will def be something cool!!!!  And that's temperature cool. 

I hope that everyone has a happy, wonderful and safe weekend. 

Tootles for now,

Love, peace, and happiness

this is HUGE

This is some old random pic from an attempt at a twist/curl out....I just thought it was a funny pic, and fyi, that twist/curl out DID NOT WORK for me!!!!

Something absolutely amazing and unbelievable happened last night!!!!  My mother called and asked me for cooking advice. WHAT?!?!?  :-0.  Okay, so for those of you who don't know me so well.  I don't cook!!!!  I mean, I cook pasta, rice (in a rice cooker), beans, and sandwiches, but I am by far no Paula Dean.  I mean, I may be the only Black chick from Charleston who can't throw down on a pot of red rice and a pan of macaroni and cheese.  I was quite blown away by this and thought that it needed to be shared with the world.  Since I don't know the world I figured I'd just share it with you all.  So, apparently, if you need cooking advice I'm the one to call.  I have found that a little olive oil, cheese and basil makes just about everything delicious.  My mommy was making squash, she grilled it in foil with olive oil, garlic salt, pepper and a bit of Italian dressing.  I've never tried it but it sounds good, and vegetarian friendly!!!!!

Anyhoo, I hope that everyone is having a wonderful Friday, and that you all have an amazing weekend!!!

Tootles,

Love, peace and happiness

Product Review: Nature's Gate Conditioner

image source

Hey there natural beauties,

I wanted to give a quick product review of Nature's Gate hair conditioners.  I love them.  The end. 

Hehe, jk.  I have tried the Pomegranate Sunflower (my favorite so far) and the Jojoba.  These products are natural (I think), pretty inexpensive, and good moisturizers.  I typically have been using them as a leave-in (I use Jojoba more for twists because it is a bit thicker), but over the weekend I used the Pomegranate Sunflower for a DC and that was good too.  I purchase this from The Vitamin Shoppe and it's about $8 for 18oz which lasts me about 3-4 weeks (depending on how often I wash).  I have re-purchased this product now three times and haven't strayed (much); can we say winning!!!!!  Anyhoo, I thought I'd share this with you.  Currently this is my favorite wash and go leave-in and I at the moment have no desire to try any new products (and that says a lot for this product!). 

Pros:

• inexpensive
• moisturizing
• good ingredients
• easily attainable
• good for leave in and DC
• lasts a long time

Cons:

• if you use too much it won't absorb well and will be a white film on your hair (this happens more with the Jojoba, I suppose because it's a tad thicker)
• I love this product so much that I often use too much :-(

That's all for now, I'll be back soon for a product review of Shea Moisture Deep Treatment Masque
Tootles,
Love, peace and happiness :-)

Ingredients:  Water, Cetyl Alcohol, Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) Fruit Extract, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Extract, Aspalathus Linearis (Red Tea) Leaf Extract, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Extract, Equisetum Hiemale (Horsetail) Leaf/Stem Extract, Althaea Officinalis (Marshmallow) Leaf Extract, Salvia Officinalis (Sage) Leaf Extract, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Extract, Coffea Arabica (Coffee) Seed Extract, Viola Tricolor (Wild Pansy) Extract, Silybum Marianum (Milk Thistle) Extract, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Hydrolyzed Wheat Starch, Panthenol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Glycerin, Stearalkonium Chloride, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Glyceryl Undecylenate, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance.

Shayna's Grow Out Challenge....Part 2

I just thought this picture was adorable, I love his style

Hey there lovely people,

So, about a month ago I challenged myself (and anyone else wanting to join) to a grow out challenge, based on Kim Coles' Grow Out Challenge.  To begin the challenge I thought that it'd be a good idea to get a hair trim.  So, I washed my hair on Saturday, and then made about 8 braids on my wet hair.  I let my hair dry just a bit (maybe an hour or so) and then I blow dried section by section.  After I finished each section, I went back and did one last go through on the entire head with the blow dryer and then flat ironed my hair starting in the back and working my way forward.  To my surprise the process (minus washing) only took about an hour.  Also to my surprise my hair was about an inch from mid back length (I apologize, I don't have pics b/c I couldn't find my camera battery for a minute, but next time).  Unfortunately, I had some yuck split ends and figured I'd need to have about an inch or two cut.  So, on Monday, I headed over to Wal-Mart (on Forest Dr. for Cola people) and got a trim for $9.  I was a little hesitant at first b/c the girl who trimmed my hair looked all of 15, but she did an AWESOME job.  My hair feels so much happier and better with a fresh trim.  I have since washed and now have my beautiful curls back (well twists right now, but I'm sure I have beautiful curls in there).  I am sticking well so far with a trim every 3 months.  I've tried to do every 2 months, but am just not that diligent, so I'm going with what's reasonable.  For anyone thinking of straightening your beautiful locks, one word of advice, detangle well before blow drying.  I was lazy Saturday and did not detangle well (I just used my fingers) after I washed, but found out when I got to braid number one that detangling was necessary before the blow drying process started.

So, who's joining me in the challenge?!?!?! :-)

Tootles for now,
Love, peace and happiness :-)      

The banana is gone!!!!



I LOVE this hat, actually I'm diggin the whole outfit

 I just thought I'd share an update with you all and let you know that the banana is officially gone from my hair (please feel free to pause and celebrate).  Yes, 1 water rinse, 3 condition washes and 1 soap wash later my hair is banana free.  Being the extremely smart woman that I am, I tried the banana again :-)  I figured that the banana hung around because of all the banana clumps, so this time I attached that banana with the blender (I put the banana in my buttermilk mix), and this time, no banana left in the hair.  So, I give banana-based hair masques the Shayna seal of approval provided that you either blend the mix or mash REALLY well.  That's all for now, happy Friday!!!!!

Tootles,
Love, peace, and happiness

summer do

A braid out
Please excuse the messy bathroom and sleepy/lazy face. I took this picture a minute ago, must have been a rough day

Hello there lovely ladies,

With the quickly approaching (already here really) HOT weather, I was wondering what you wonderful people are doing with your hair for the summer.  I've been doing dry hair braid outs more, but have found it to be so hot.  I quite like the way my hair looks in a dry braid out-big and wavy-but having all that hair just hanging out there can get a bit hot, especially after the humidity hits and my hair gets bigger.  So, I decided to start wearing twists more because they are convenient and cool (temperature cool that is;-).  I am still looking for something cute to do with twists (I've been doing medium sized, about 20 total) because it is summer and I do want to be looking cute.  Anyhoo, send comments, pictures emails and give me some hair style inspirations please.  Thanks, tootles.

Love, peace and happiness