I went thrifting!!!

I bought this shirt at Goodwill for I think $4.  The shirt is originally from the Limited and I have NEVER gotten anything from there for $4.  My hair is a flat twist out on an old twist out. 

I bought this linen overall dress from Pets Inc for $8.  The original price for this dress was $88 according to the tags which were still on the dress :-)  The necklace was a bit less than $5 at Old Mills Antique Mall.  My hair is pulled up in two day old twists. 

Hello there lovely people,


On July 9, 2011 it was national thrifting day.  For anyone who doesn't know (because I sure had to use context clues to decipher the meaning of thrifting) thrifting is shopping at thrift stores.  I personally have never been much for thrift stores; typically, I don't like the way they smell, they aren't organized enough, and if I find something I like but it's not in my size that's just too bad for me no online ordering.  However, I have been wanting some vintage pieces lately, so when I got a phone call from Ms. Williams about going thrifting I happily agreed.  So, on July 9 Columbia had its first I heart thrifting day.  The event was organized and publicized by Shanika Pichey and friends.  Prior to shopping everyone was encouraged to find an inspiration photo from a magazine or other source.  I of course chose a style from Victoria Beckham.  Anyhoo, we met up at Goodwill on Garner's Ferry at 9:00 and then moved on to Old Mill Antique Mall and ended the day at Pet's Inc. Thrift Avenue.  In between we had lunch at Strudle Cafe.  All in all it was a wonderful day!!!  I got back home around 5:00 and was exhausted.  However, it was all worth it.  I bought for around $60 a romper, a jacket, pants, 4 dresses, 3 skirts, 2 necklaces and a shirt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Can we say Shayna is now a beliver of thrift stores.  I do think that it helps a lot to go with a group of fun, fashionable, and thrifty women.  I'm excited about the next thrifting day, mabye we can go to Charlotte or Atlanta....they probably not ready for us, we did some damage :-)


Check out how the day went on Shanika's blog

That's all for now peoples
Tootles,
Love, peace and happiness!!!!

New (sort of) favorite conditioner

This is one of my new fashion icons. I mean, how many soccer moms look like this?!?!? Just as soon as hubby arrives, watch out, we are taking over as the Black Victoria and David B. Just wait!!!!

Hello there lovelies,

Yesterday/this morning was hair day, and I realized that I have not given a product update in a while.  So, here you go.  I am absolutely in love with Aubrey conditioners.  This line is all natural/organic and wonderful.  I have tried a conditioner in this line before and didn't like it so I will warn that you must be cautious of the specific kind that you are using.  I previously used swimmer's conditioner and didn't like it, but I love Honeysuckle Rose and GPB conditioners.  I use Honeysuckle Rose as my "wash" conditioner and GPB as my DC conditioner.  Both of these conditioners leave my hair soft, and my curls defined.  The Honeysuckle Rose smells good and the GPB isn't bad.  I have been using the Honeysuckle Rose for some months now, and just started with GPB, so if I change my mind about GPB I'll let you know ;-)  The conditioners, I must admit, are a bit pricier than I like to pay ($8.99 for 11floz.), but is well worth it. 

Pros:

• softens hair
• good for detangling (Honeysuckle Rose)
• can be used for regular conditioning or DC
• are easy to find (this can be purchased from Vitamin Shoppe-cheapest buy, Rosewood Market, Earthfare or most health food stores)
• is completely natural and not tested on animals

Cons:

• a bit costly
• doesn't come in a bigger bottle

Honeysuckle Rose-detangles & smooths for ultra-soft, shiny, touchable hair (bottle claim and I mostly agree)- ingredients: Coconut Fatty Acid Cream Base, Organic Aloe Vera, Organic Shea Butter, Wheat Germ Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Organic Rosa Mosqueta Rose Hip Seed Oil; Extracts of Fennel, Hops, Balm Mint, Mistletoe, Chamomile, Yarrow, Chrysanthemum, Angelica, Forsythia and Magnolia; Honeysuckle Oil, Carrot Oil, Citrus Seed Extract, Vitamins A, C and E. 

GPB (glycogen protein balancing)-nourishes & strengthens for full, shiny, healthy hair- ingredients: Coconut fatty acid cream base, organic aloe vera, wheat germ oil, milk protein, organic rosemary oil, organic sage oil, horsetail extract, coltsfoot extract, nettle extract, glycoprotein, balsam oil, citrus seed extract, vitamins A, C and E. 

That's all for now peoples, tootles.

Love, peace, and happiness

training your hair

image source

Hey there lovely folks,

Today I want to write about a topic that kind of irritates me. I must put a disclaimer up front: the views expressed in this post are purely my opinion, so take what's said for what it's worth. Additionally, my views are in no way meant to offend any of my lovely readers, and I hope that my thoughts/ideas will spark lively and friendly discussion :-)

Now, on to the topic at hand. I often hear women say/write about their hair being "trained." This term applied to hair completely baffles me. There is no such thing as training your hair. I mean, what exactly are you training it to do? Usually when a woman refers to having hair that is trained what has really happened is that the hair is heat damaged. Heat damage occurs, as the name implies, from too much heat being applied to the hair. If heat is applied to hair often, it does not matter how well moisturized your hair is or how much heat protectant products you apply your hair will be damaged. So how much heat is too much? Well, that depends on the health and nature of your hair. The better moisturized your hair is the more heat it can withstand. However, anyone applying heat every day or every other day is at a high risk for heat damage. And for most people even applying heat once per week (not talking about indirect heat such as conditioning caps used with a plastic cap underneath) for extended periods of time, such as years, will cause heat damage. Once hair is heat damaged the texture of your hair will change, this includes your hair's curl pattern. This is what makes most people say that their hair is "trained." A looser curl pattern as the result of hair that has been straightened every week for years is not "trained," but instead is damaged. The line is fine, but definitely there.

So, those are my thoughts on "training" your hair. Let me know your thoughts on the use of the word, "trained" as it relates to hair.

That's all for this post,

Tootles!!!

I need blog help please!!!

Hey there lovely people,

I have no idea what is going on with my blog these days!!!  For some reason the blog is not letting comments come through unless they are posted anonymously.  Also, when I sign in to write a new post or do anything to the blog I get an error message.  I can still get through to the blog, but the error message comes up every time and the design looks different.  If any of you expert bloggers out there have advice please let me know and give me some help!!!!

Signed,

Desperate and confused novice blogger

PS-until this minor issue is resolved, please do still leave comments and feel free to put your name at the bottom of the comment (or keep it as anonymous)

I will become an expert braider!!!

Okay, so I feel that as a Black woman from the South with natural hair (who apparently looks African) it is my duty to be able to braid my hair well!!!! So I decided that I need to start practicing since I am currently HORRIBLE at cornrowing my hair. Today marked experiment 1 of my braiding mission. When I braided, my hair was damp and had a leave-in on it. I started in the back (I made a row in the back and then a row in the front) and had at it. The back is okay, the front def needs some work. I made the braids pretty large, but as I practice I will start making them smaller and doing better/more creative styles. I can see it now, all kinds of awesome styles created on me by me (hmmm...not sure when that day will be, but it will be). Anyhoo, I am proud of my first (recent) attempt, and will keep these in for the week. I'll probably be wearing mostly hats this week, but underneath I'll know there's a wonderful attempt at conquering the ability to cornrow my hair:-)

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday, and enjoying this lovely not 200 degree weather in Columbia.


Tootles for now,
Love, peace and happiness!!!!

deep condition!!!!

Hello there lovely people,

I didn't want to tell anyone, but I got slack with my deep conditioning for a little while (:-( shame). However, I am proud to announce that I am back on the bandwagon!!! I am back to deep conditioning every week, and my hair is so thankful. Deep conditioning is so important because it adds moisture to your hair, and makes it unbelievably soft. I can definitely tell a difference when I deep condition and when I don't just by how soft my hair is. Deep conditioning is a wonderful process to engage in despite the state of your hair: relaxed, transitioning, natural, well moisturized, dry, damaged etc. I know that it takes time to do the process, however, deep conditioning does not have to be an hour long process under the dryer. I recently started deep conditioning overnight, and find this to be wonderful. Overnight treatment allows for more freedom and no need for heat. So this is me threatening you that if you all aren't deep conditioning you better start or else you have to answer to me, grrr!!!!! :-D

 

Overnight deep conditioning-no heat necessary:

• wash hair (either with shampoo or conditioner)
• detangle hair and twist detangled sections (twist hair into about 4 twists)
• put a plastic cap on hair followed by a stocking cap and a scarf
• leave on overnight
• wash hair in morning, admire your soft and well moisturized hair, style as normal

Quick deep conditioning with heat:

• wash hair (either with shampoo or conditioner)
• detangle hair and twist each detangled section
• put a plastic cap on hair
• sit under high heat of a conditioning dryer, low heat of a hooded/bonnet dryer, or wrap a hot towel around your plastic cap
• wash hair, admire your soft and well moisturized hair and style as usual

So go forth and deep condition :-)

Tootles for now,

Love, peace and happiness!!!

no such thing as a bad hair day

I love how big her hair is

Hello there lovely people,

Lately I have been wearing my hair in twists and twist-outs.  So today I decided to do a wash and go.  Sunday is my typical wash day so I decided to just wet my hair and put my leave-in on (gel today).  Well.....that didn't go quite as expected.  I put oil on my hair throughout the week to help keep moisture, so there was some build up making it difficult to soak my hair.  I was too impatient to continue wetting my hair, and decided to just go with it (by the way, that is my new catch phrase since watching the movie "Just Go with It" highly recommended). Well, I was very displeased with the way my wash and go turned out.  I felt like my roots were too frizzy, my hair was still a bit oily, and I just wasn't pleased with it.  However, I figured the day must go on, so I carried on with my day plans.  On the way back home I decided to stop by Little Caesar's for a pizza, and the first thing the girl working the drive-through said was " I love your hair."  I smiled and said thanks while thinking what a hot mess I felt like my hair was and how dissatisfied I had been with it all day.  

This was a lovely reminder that there is no such thing as a bad hair day.  As I'm sure most of you have also experienced, I typically receive the most compliments on my hair when I feel it looks the worse.  It's amazing how much higher our expectations of our hair is, than other people's expectations of our hair.  This was a nice simple reminder to not get so caught up in every curl, but instead to embrace the uniqueness of my hair and appreciate it for its diversity and beauty.  

That's all for now, as always, please leave comments.  

Have a happy Saturday!!!

Tootles

PS-There is a free concert in Finley park tonight (the artist is Terrance Young).  I will be there, and if anyone is interested in joining please do.  The concert starts at 8.  Send a text or give me a call if you are coming and want to meet up.