My favorite products

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Hello there lovelies,

So lately I've been reflecting on my hair journey thus far, probably because I am finally figuring my hair out.  Anyhoo, I thought that I would put a list of my current fav products.  Of course everyone's hair is different and what works for me may or may not work for you, but this at least gives you newbies and product junkies a place to start ;-)  

Conditioners: 

Aubrey's Honeysuckle Rose (co-wash, DC, and leave-in)

Aubrey's GPB (co-wash, occasional leave-in)

Herbal Essences Totally Twisted (co-wash, henna conditioner)

Shampoos:

Aubrey's Honeysuckle Rose

Leave-In:

Cantu Shea Butter Leave-in conditioning cream (twists, style outs)

Whipped Shea Butter (twists, style outs)

Gels: 

Flaxseed

Oils:

Jojoba (scalp, pre-poo)

Castor (addition to whipped Shea butter, twists)

Olive (henna, pre-poo)

Vatika (styling) 

Products that I have tried in the past and stopped using (either b/c of cost or a new fav product), but I do like

Conditioners: 

Herbal Essences Hello Hydration (co-wash)

Suave Essentials (co-wash, leave-in)

Suave Almond and Shea Butter (I think that's the name, in the green bottle) (co-wash, leave-in)

Say Yes to Cucumber (co-wash, leave-in)

Carol's Daughter Black Vanilla Smoothie (co-wash)

Giovani Smooth as Silk (co-wash, DC, leave-in)

Dominican conditioners (if you want specifics email me or leave a comment, I've tried and liked a few)

Shampoo:

Carol's Daughter Rosemary Mint

Leave-ins:

Carol's Daughter hair milk (wash and go)

Carol's Daughter some of Maurgerite's Magic (twists, daily moisture)

Giovani Weightless Daily Leave-in (twists, style outs)

Oils:

Grapeseed (pre-poo)

Gels:

Herbal Essences Totally Twisted

Happy Thanksgiving

Hello there lovely people,

I want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!  I hope that everyone has a wonderful day and is appreciative of all that we each have to be grateful for! 

I'm grateful for my family including my little Yum!

family time

Hello all,

This past weekend a cousin of mine got married, so I decided to post a few picks from the wedding.  Well, reception, I didn't take any pics at the wedding because I was late (thanks Avis).  Anyhoo, for the wedding I wanted to wear an updo, but I haven't quite mastered those on my hair, so I wore a large bantu know out instead with a feather accessory.  To do the large bantu know out I started with an old twist out.  I spritzed with a bit of water and added a little leave in.  I flat twisted the roots, and two strand twisted the ends and then twisted into a bantu knot.  I did about 6 or 7 of these so they were pretty big.  I learned this style from Naptural85, and I love it.  Anyhoo, I hope that everyone is having a lovely week and excited about Thanksgiving!!!

Tootles for now!

The happy bride and groom (my couso :-)

Daddy and me. Isn't he handsome <3

Mommy and me.  Some day I'll get her to smile for a pic! I like how Iook taller than her, it's all an illusion, I had on heels and she had on flats.

Fam left to right: Avis (sister), Tonya (sister-in-law), Raynard (brother), Mommy, and me

Cousos

Aunties (Mommy's sisters) and Micah (my nephew)

Avis and Micah

my DIY earrings

Hello there my lovelies,

So last week I decided to have a DIY day.  I worked on a couple of projects, but today I will share with you a pair of earrings that I made. These earrings were inspired by Mop Top Maven.  The earrings were pretty easy to make and took about 30-40mins to make (I think that if I make another pair in a similar manner it will take less time now that I have the hang of it).  I decided to use old denim that I had from some cut off shorts I made.  I wore my earrings today for the first time and got a couple of compliments.  Unfortunately, my "friend" (I think I need to re-evaluate our friendship) didn't believe that I made them so I thought I'd write a post about it since I wouldn't dare lie on my blog :-)

Anyhoo, if anyone is feeling creative I suggest checking out MTM's blog for some other jewelry, hair accessories, and clothes DIY ideas. 

Tootles for now,

Me

Style out help please

Hello there lovely people,

So lately I have been wearing my hair in twist outs more than I ever have.  I'm getting pretty good at figuring out what to do with my hair to achieve a nice twist out for the first day.  However, after day 1 things go down hill for me.  Day 2 and 3 twist out hair is usually still pretty well moisturized and all that jazz, but it gets limp as the days roll on.  On day 1 my hair is usually full and awesome, but this is not the case for the rest of the week.  Are there any suggestions for keeping that full look for days2 and beyond twist (or braid) out?  What do you do with your hair at night and the next morning?  Help me please!!!!

Looking forward to hearing from you, and if I come up with anything myself I'll share.

Tootles,

Love, peace and happiness

Was that an insult or compliment? :-/

Okay, so yesterday evening I'm walking Miles around my neighbor and this car pulls up along side of us.  A lady with natural hair says what do you do with your hair?  I told her that it was a twist out, and told her how I do my twist out.  She says "oh okay, thanks.  I saw a frizzy headed black woman and I said let me pull over to see what she does to her hair."  Pause.......a frizzy headed black woman?!?! 

Now let me just re-cap my hair situation from yesterday for you (I didn't take any pics, so use your imagination).  On Sunday I washed (with shampoo :-0), deep conditioned, and twisted my hair.  Monday morning I took the twists out, applied a bit of oil and went on about my business.  Now indeed this wasn't the most defined or best twist out I have ever seen on myself, but I thought it looked pretty good (there were a few frizz spots due to my impatience when loosing the twists, but overall pretty tame). 

Back to the story....So naturally after this lady told me my hair was frizzy I smiled and kept all words in my head to MYSELF.  I decided not to say anything mainly because I wasn't sure if I had just been insulted or complimented.  In a matter of minutes she told me she liked my hair, asked what I did, and said it was frizzy :-/

Hmmm......I so dislike when I don't know if I've been complimented or insulted.  Oh well.  Lesson learned from that encounter: even when you think your hair looks good, to someone else it is just frizz... 

Let me know if you've had any awkward hair encounters lately, especially with other naturals....

Tootles, that's all for today!

So today I am wearing my hair in a high bun.  I started with my twist out from yesterday spritzed it with water and pulled it back into a high puff using a scarf.  Then I shapped the puff into a donut like bun and put a ponytail holder around it.  I then tucked loose ends away with bobby/hair pins.  Next I respritzed the front and back, added some gel, brushed and secured loose areas with bobby pins (this was done on the hair that is not in the bun).  I tied my hair with a scarf for about 20mins and that was that.  I'll probably leave this in tonight, tie down with a scarf and wear the bun again tomorrow.

Flax seed gel results: Part 2

After twisting my hair with flax seed gel I did notice that my twists had more shrinkage than usual and the ends were curlier, I think that both of these were due to additional moisture.  This picture is from the day after I twisted so the twists here are damp.

I don't usually like the way that my twists look when I wear them down so I pinned them up with bobby pins and called it a day.  This pic and then next two are my hair after my twists have been put up.  This pic is the back view of course.

front view

Me!

Hello lovelies,

So, I am back to report my thoughts on the flax seed gel used on twists.  I twisted my hair as usual (co-wash, leave-in and twist while dripping wet), but this time I added flax seed gel with the hopes that it would help keep down the frizz.  Unfortunately, the gel didn't help much with the frizz.  Usually I can wear my twist comfortably for a day, I wear them on day 2 despite lots of frizz and by day 3 I feel it necessary to take them out, because they are too frizzy.  With the flax seed gel I was comfortable wearing the twist for 2 days, and could have made it 3.  So the gel helped a bit, but nothing tremendous.  I'm not quite as in love with the gel as I first thought, but I do still really like it and plan to continue using it.  This weekend I made some more and re-used old flax seeds (as Naptural85 said I could), but I prefer to just start afresh with the seeds. 

On a slightly other note, I used shea butter (whipped) as my leave in for my twist out, and this is the first time I have ever done that so I'll let you know the results of that a bit later. 

That's all I have for now.  For all you Marcus D Wiley (Bishop Secular) fans, he is performing on Sunday evening at the Medallion Club here in Cola, tickets are $20.

Tootles for now,

Love, peace and happiness