tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39909525660250737342024-02-19T04:15:12.979-05:00Back To My RootsMy journey from Relaxed to NaturalUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger68125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-31182313865543569552010-11-03T07:33:00.001-04:002010-11-03T08:02:04.471-04:00BAA Challenge Month 6<p>Checking in <img style="border-bottom-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-left-style: none" class="wlEmoticon wlEmoticon-smile" alt="Smile" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_aPSY1sY2Z8g/TNFIm52RAhI/AAAAAAAAAhI/ZsUWIxOAyFE/wlEmoticon-smile%5B2%5D.png?imgmax=800"></p> <p> </p> <p>Month 1 on the left month 6 on the right:</p> <p><a name='more'></a></p> <p><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ4GvlEa8JFeyiEVYcNlWixWuNMA6EBsR9i_mHgfiRT5y1YARNORT7M2r37tySMnq9d4XxGcsPS2hct7Hn8ewYlkXkTRV4dpkZ_ELa2K66YNlwL-skzlyVSdxkg7DuyzaGMIya-yHScJI/?imgmax=800" width="262" height="332"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9e5nJYJ3dI1ASkyVIH3VSU0Cc3LlFXNfXGsnKgc_AFLLj00LtCgIG67YQUM1g13UC9r2XrWWjyyttG5pfc6Cdldq8PNOf407QGZ3OSGBHXd1xL-yTj50qVSn55Jqv1khzqT0ROxpJYfY/?imgmax=800" width="234" height="329"></p> <p><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGFOXDGDWVDjlUQbw1yKylpdjD5D4xmFzxlMXwSLVUFAx-E44vDgtISOQca7mfZj4hI3JTJ8TTAtsRC-qJi9bjGfbbgNKFN5TS2s5a6s12G1PhN1Lky0o5DqshW49X2vsuV1tn1FzWJ5Q/?imgmax=800" width="177" height="397"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhChvMgD7wUT6tMg5yN3B_AfGa-hYhfJ79uCfqlKB6exwUDe8HbAe2SIv0X765SrqKmvNaa-IOtdxnh5BW4UFCTdbiGwDKu8tV0nXxyBANN27Wet3aHrkTo4lwoMgIWNezOYV0L-eJ93D0/?imgmax=800" width="209" height="400"></p> <p><img style="margin: 0px; display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigbb0Y9N6a9vv2sBWi8NN54d4jZuELdnE_Oj3Duwv5DwB0IAUfoT6QDoOTtkjuOBwI1VlSgbr-d-Zvzs66yE-2n0GYx_SImYKqL7_Wp4VueE-N7Mf5sSoxqS782uIoj2MmBvHNzDde6cE/?imgmax=800" width="163" height="240"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCV-4XdsoEMuIcDJYsxO3aVBzGJI2HdFcUO0XnGKw6NbTCA383NNA6c8d4ZywXMDNu1eIxCi3l2cDvMUUnUSAkyRE7IWLXZBawK76U2t5PVlUY9Mo9bo-h6Ut1kCeltrI4uY4iQKCisYw/?imgmax=800" width="240" height="234"></p> <p><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihf2Cc9QyEtgN6X6Q_-PscR0X2GJaKv8Iqi3HtINb8JhMA74ZHAylLnDkgiVWgF5CQWCX-Vvrk-iqCzvYKRMrzr6X4q_wb1v2CuvKaOglpiZxGflT10h6ZNyOrfu-LM-Y-P18QmvTmhag/?imgmax=800" width="231" height="419"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjy1uhj7EtoUoi-Qah-WLalWgtR9VsHI9MnUYwrCSm8CWd2zv5H1yqPuXxdWtam8vgRfyJxHhW7dKUtH2QDQbB41unTMKaLA5SGbq5NCZIPtJSp3AbNQx53STvrsTo86cP9yhIgOHC-vA/?imgmax=800" width="161" height="424"></p> <p> </p> <p align="justify">I haven’t really been doing anything different with my hair this month. I’ve been working pretty much the entire month which means I’ve been mostly doing protective styles. For the last 3 or so weeks I’ve just been twisting my hair and wearing tams to work. Sometimes I’d untwist for a couple of days and rock a twist-out. The last two weeks I’ve started co-washing only again because it’s about to get cold and that means my scalp isn’t sweating as much so I can get away with just co-washing. I’m loving my growth though! I think it’s about as long as it was when I decided to transition. </p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-30815938670046650282010-10-04T13:00:00.000-04:002010-10-04T13:00:00.756-04:00Month 4 Styles<p>Here are some of the styles I did in Month 4. </p><a name='more'></a> <p> </p> <p><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXpeuI54OHmWYnUfA-WpDZ6aLuwJtG9EmvhpLYcJtXa594_hGbSVaB87HmbjxeiwHi3rUa3eM9z_ldjLRji6_sz6H_-QSiw6kBOiX6RBJWs9uI4EbsnoskarhkfhTDvyWFJcc2n4Y_C2I/?imgmax=800" width="310" height="265"> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_yFapIoxPwLqf4p5YwmMDw_RAaSS82JuP1V8PYhyphenhyphentuJ9BonfU-pT9bcs-TYkbHNtREZfIaRhdzG6HCFv2B9iFTgZhW0qnpc1CkPayA2z3NfGX5CVfnGEjH5aQdEpGEeulvrBarYGxM6s/?imgmax=800" width="263" height="276"></p> <p> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuuUgG3C2qz_4RHhOU5gJgiJKBpM4-XAg4vkOKNUA6QlOvVbg-HUzC8vd642mPaTnkSwPfKQFK26pwWlFX8F3Tx9B5xEs9gAVp37I-k96tgYFYr_ab9y08BWlNJKwp8KoMXDM356kBlws/?imgmax=800" width="304" height="326"> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQJjHIwYG31GjmoY83jN9ubHl_6DCj8GXNvv6VgiFA9mcb00OPmb8SqFDURElSOVGaQMXJifl0gv6k8ibGTVnUWLoXcL2kPlLR44N5jMaA5PXIOMtbcd4U5M-gAsB8123rM5sMssJuQag/?imgmax=800" width="297" height="325"></p> <p> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ZQb5a0hpY6upEUM8ou2X1het8iAT-_GKl22y8js6AXyiEabpo-d67xw1RdWrdu2HxgBWBDyS1XXssZTEyXLkB2GkYPSqjksIP4T7AOOvS5NjfPmvACPsSxs9lhkZes94Id6mf8Ljqr0/?imgmax=800" width="322" height="281"> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI2zWlbxUngOFJ5R7M0zyTg2iu0oafwJDFA2rVagS9KZCMDA_CyTF_EY8DilCS3-EzV20PJEYEX_3VMmsFbkwGulqIJSGjv3bNkY1eC2IoI7R07fRPf9PHSaGVGxtilvqev-h3kQTCqro/?imgmax=800" width="245" height="282"></p> <p> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZs-RjR_gUpaY8m2uHyqvufL-cQOCGx38sTzcENV_y90NINhM7tEIPeDBWZlJ4Gk1JvziAeoalTRSTilK8jXvlVkyWG2gwtW28cfHly1D0xvFvl1PBCTre0ogE_gNhiybf3Qk2KNnqEJs/?imgmax=800" width="314" height="286"> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLGhfo4u8VNoBW_8mQQ2NHRJn4q6Dc4nn8xX-_chfEXjGq7sQ7mFPH96KzZiF6Ogf_7BO_eXmybLXpVwrQlGbNG5y5LL84VPKLgYcBvWw-aNuI_2BeHiKwmHxny0gNOJ4wTkSYi4rQ0WM/?imgmax=800" width="260" height="287"></p> <p> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8NhwkV1fdSW81uK_irhgh96xvIlnVLJ0a9jXmP-b0p3PKVEoK9wtBTJbYUrI03c9cP0dIJjNevLab5dzoKEH3-U-crzxew-bIJfoyyWcuRbNVDuNqMp4mDw4lxpOyyqj_58ot47WcBJg/?imgmax=800" width="313" height="286"> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkeG81KKnTi-SOShkAn5-aeBYCp7hDV86pp4xajKdx_8hH3ZqrtFv47ZlIZBRmdZWDn0EU8Rlk62MwoRWKG_Z_VF8o5YSVcYTIllfPZPLijqdutBeA-Qk9m3v2m6SmVZK7Gs9T4c7U-9g/?imgmax=800" width="328" height="280"></p> <p> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_qVsROX9cS2I6lyF1_1yCrisSoqf_iDTSoqJAtNS8SqEJeb0PkfDRwygdxsZMxXB_LStrj36xHNiJmo5HrrCb-eT5sqVyt-Li8G57TztQu49OIkCStVCbMQOlYFsa1gs8mwgiTUDgKo/?imgmax=800" width="249" height="301"> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhriSsQWyIBW6T7oQPe3e1GbNKTOXwRXN-66A9UZPaXpClGNwhhjQ5x_80g57ew7L5okFGMJzXxzRBlKO3z0qc-RCd-LbSS4Hanx-sOrayqVxnRVrnhyI3KwuQ-glZu2PU39QL_PAau92E/?imgmax=800" width="365" height="312"></p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-76264741187322104832010-10-03T11:55:00.001-04:002010-10-03T11:55:25.294-04:00BAA Challenge Month 5<p align="justify">So I officially passed 4 months since my BC on September 22, which was cool. Hard to believe it’s been 4 months since I cut off my relaxed ends! I still haven’t had a day of regret. So it’s time for my 4th check-in for the BAA challenge (don’t be confused by the “Month 5” I started with 1 instead of 0. . . this challenge ends for me in December, but I think I may still track my monthly progress every 6 months).</p> <p align="justify">Pictures over the jump :o)</p><a name='more'></a> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify">Month 1 on the left, Month 5 on the right:</p> <p align="justify"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihsctNgf6xzZS9RWrhyGUnBNVGBFQSICRd8QXdrLykP6gWsL3MeAPCODXQbpxmJA1-u5f8LjCIBLJCui60JdxkhJ77bcOI_SEOgVS-WjrCHVPns7wXYPnubTemmqk_8oZoNaB2EO-npuw/?imgmax=800" width="227" height="417"> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiovCymDRfq7X_p9eFw4T7fACwUnuaKSxNQY0J78ePbuXcEHpU94vk4O2LyfmUb0rVPh4fCr7NzH0CRv8SnJTJr_agaRCXIcLt1NI4nGbR5nWgYgAUDqqQgRnuj2wnAef8K7Djpx_QNzm4/?imgmax=800" width="233" height="419"> </p> <p align="justify"> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFyqns4MhwFVFmPPNNLLxWRx3pSPB2RPP18XQKTmTG2oAFMuwlwcWo_2iJFdZ3ACqq5OGu6La3C4Io_bjKwI27mKXdm8RKhFLTZGTwsuFTNnWk-xX8MS0SZ6dRKfSIuy1ZPuRCDdiia3A/?imgmax=800" width="298" height="373"> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzgEsWr95DK4Ei_32sJ_6Yc117-JZyVSN8UFq0Th5in-ZXu1kiYJS1g0Ir-Zga134WJhUtcQGoSUVfm6IeyOffBpjEcE75E4sPy2QCcZEM7ry-T-hl6iw0O11Tu7JW0w-CPdpJPpfU2Vw/?imgmax=800" width="272" height="375"></p> <p align="justify"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG8z0_I3TXPoeTyX7xkqjMxMspQjv2QCk8TacPZdl8sYt8zTJtb0k-LS-nlTStiLH1JADHQlfP7dec2mAxUz14xNEuEhTVjU8PwBEqVcgQRoSQmWdbkBXckpSKbDIHhZbyLy7u5q8Agoc/?imgmax=800"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilS7WIi0j5fvIOEyJiNYLqBTcepmm83E5gaekKHJIr25wB4R7BNvJ0ASmMwbYVq4M0HiNPqkQyGyxhnVLmUI2QfL39GzYvRnzSifxX3Td16jJBNMI8NGvxNSPeTSqWuTyycMT1ufJM4ZA/?imgmax=800" width="289" height="412"></p> <p align="justify"> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQzcJ_m9UHoy6PsVbVCH2dzBYv2xfu0nNlbTCn5lh6pNvkruClhcGq-K5zxAWBx5LQmkBFIKHjYR3H8Gn469EefoAGr4VKheRrxuukWWLfWZew5CZA_7tdX6TiAsVGl9g79Qmhi3tBtu4/?imgmax=800" width="270" height="383"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS5hrhMiAR6fpIiFLjDOsUvAzoiw7FjSuOWZC8CWMb2eA7MlgeRoxhtvExiceRma-oElMcqNgDuMmNxc-HcYDda9LtMrtDl3QF1c7Op0VjnuF4ULx7I-xVugvhJP-Wo3rssf9Lg8z2vZM/?imgmax=800" width="377" height="346"></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p> </p> <p align="justify">I don’t feel that my front shots do a great job of showing my growth. . . I can tell you when I BC’d the top came to about halfway to the tip of my nose, stretched, now it’s a little bit past my nose. When I “start over” in January for tracking I’ll maybe to a pic off to the side or something so it’s easier to spot the growth. Also, the hair over my hear can now touch my collar-bone (not sure if you can tell from the pic). My neck and back pics are pretty accurate. I had mom assist for my back again so it only took one shot to get it. LOL, last month that back pic was giving me fits. I mean it’s not long enough for me to grab from the bottom, but it’s too long for me to really get a good shot of reaching my arm over the top like in the month 1 photo. Maybe I just need to be more flexible. . . </p> <p align="justify">This month I didn’t do anything special with my hair. I did pretty well with protective styling pretty often, or at least doing low manipulation styles. I seriously can’t wait for my hair to be long enough to just throw in a bun and be done with. LOL. I am worried about my edges (especially on the right side) so I’m taking extra care with them when styling. I don’t do as many puffs as before and when I twist I make sure not to pull too hard (the same with this random tender spot in the middle of the back of my head). </p> <p align="justify">As I’m sure you all can tell, the longer it gets, the more coily it gets. I love my coils, but sometimes they are HELL to detangle. LOL, I do a lot fewer WNGs in September (even though it was still hot as all get out) simply because the detangling session that follows isn’t worth it. I also have been trying to at least shampoo my hair in twists which makes it easier for me to get the shampoo on my scalp where it is needed the most. I’m still going to try to remember to get an applicator bottle the next time I see one. Maybe I’ll just make a special run to Sally’s. </p> <p align="justify">I also haven’t been doing my usual deep condition treatment the last 3-4 weeks because I’ve been playing around with 3 minute deep conditioners (as I’m sure you can tell from previous posts). I like the 3 minute DCs when I’m in a rush, but I may go back to my longer routine with Winter coming up just to see how my hair does. I DC with Raw Honey typically which is a humectant which may not be a good thing in the winter. But I don’t LEAVE the honey on my hair I rinse it out completely, so I’m not too worried on that score. Hell Castor Oil is a humectant and I used it all last winter with no problems, but then I was still transitioning so I don’t know if it will have a different effect on my hair fully natural.</p> <p align="justify">Alright, I’ve talked enough, adios!</p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-85766828096373924262010-10-01T21:59:00.000-04:002010-10-08T21:59:35.708-04:00My Advice To Transitioners<p align="justify">I often find myself being asked for advice by friends about transitioning and my routine as a natural, or reading posts on forums asking for advice and not having the motivation to type it all out. </p> <p align="justify">My personal transitioning journey actually started about 4 months after my last relaxer. I usually stretched my relaxers out that long (a habit I picked up going to undergrad away from home --I didn’t trust just ANYBODY with chemicals, or scissors for that matter, near my head-- so I had to wait until I got home on break which was usually about 4 months apart at a time) , but when it was time for me to get a relaxer I didn’t really have the money, and I didn’t really feel like going through the pain (my head always itched when it was relaxer time, and so I always scratched, and we all know what happens when you scratch), and my hair was growing wonderfully without it. I’d been thinking about going Natural for a while, but I kept putting it off for arbitrary reasons, so one day in October 2009 I decided to just stop getting relaxers. I called my stylist and told her what I was planning to do and tried to get a little advice, I don’t remember what she told me, but it wasn’t much. I do remember her telling me that she thought I’d only need to go about a year after I told her I wanted to just grow the relaxer all the way out (like my mom did) instead of doing a Big Chop. And thus began my journey.</p> <p align="justify">The first thing I did was start doing some research. I don’t know WHY exactly I decided to do research. Probably because I was excited and since I wasn’t working at the time I had plenty of time and nothing to really fill it with. The first site I found was Nappturality and then I started spending a lot of time on CurlyNikki. I used the message boards on these sites to reach out to other transitioners as well as people who were already natural for advice. I had no idea how to do my hair since I never REALLY styled it before. I’d just flat iron it after I washed and blowdried it every two weeks, then it would just end up in a ponytail or just straight down until it was time to do it again. Knowing what I know now I cringe at that routine. Eventually I got myself together, started co-washing every week and letting my hair airdry in twists, I deep conditioned weekly and mostly kept my hair in protective styles. I also clipped my ends about once a month since I was going to be cutting them all off anyway (when I was relaxed I HATED getting my hair trimmed with a passion, I was focused more on length than hair health. I’m glad I got over that. </p> <p align="justify">So anyway, my advice is fairly simple:</p> <a name='more'></a> <ol> <li> <div align="justify"> <strong>Have fun with your hair.</strong> If you aren’t used to styling your hair, like I was when I first started, this is an excellent time to learn how to do new things. I spent a lot of time trying to teach myself how to do various styles. Some I got very good at, others I’m still trying to master to this day, but through the entire process I had a lot of fun learning what my hair could do and learning new skills to keep my hair looking good. My hair looked better from the time I decided to transition than it ever had relaxed if it wasn’t someone else doing my hair. </div></li> <li> <div align="justify"><strong>Treat your hair like it’s already 100% natural.</strong> Again, the transition period is an excellent time to learn techniques, learn how to identify different ingredients, and what does and doesn’t work for your hair (and your budget). There isn’t one single thing I used transitioning that I couldn’t use today. Thanks to my limited funds I didn’t have the money to become a TOTAL product junky so I very quickly found some products that worked for me and stuck with them. Taking the time to get your regimen together NOW will save you time and heartache in the future. Even if some of the products aren’t as effective for your hair after you are fully natural, you can switch those out, but you will still have your routine (i.e., Wash every Thursday, Air Dry, Style using. . . , etc). You can really stop here with my advice, but if you want more detail, keep reading :o)</div></li> <li> <div align="justify"><strong>Set a goal</strong>. Transitioning isn’t just a physical thing, it’s a mental thing. I had a goal of at least a year before I’d even consider doing a Big Chop (BC). Even when I was in the last 4 months or so and starting to get antsy about seeing my natural hair in all of its relaxed-ends-free glory, I made myself wait a year. I think in making myself wait instead of cutting my hair off on an impulse I gave myself a lot less room to be disappointed. By the time I cut my hair I didn’t care what other people thought, I just knew I was ready and looking forward to the day. If you’re someone who, like me, wasn’t sure about having super short hair and shrinkage and all that good stuff, setting a goal for your long-term transition will help you greatly. If, like me, you did research the entire time, you will start looking forward to getting rid of those relaxed ends no matter how short your hair will be when you reach your goal date. If you join a couple of the Natural Hair Online Communities, you’ll have a huge support system of people ready to encourage you and help you on your way. When you have a goal and you reach it, you will just feel so awesome about your goal and reaching your goal that no one will be able to discourage you from your journey. At least that’s how I felt. In setting that goal for myself I gave myself the time to mentally transition because I knew come the end of May I was cutting my hair, I had time to prepare myself mentally for what that meant. This isn’t to say that some people who cut their hair more on a whim weren’t/aren’t perfectly happy with their hair. I’m just saying if you’re anything like I was, having that goal, that set date, went a long way in helping to mentally transition. </div></li> <li> <div align="justify"><strong>Don’t obsess over ingredients.</strong> Just because an ingredient is considered taboo, doesn’t mean it won’t work for your hair. For instance, a lot of people use the Curly Girl method which means no shampoo and no ‘cones in the conditioners you use. I’ve been using cones the entire time, they don’t really hurt my hair. So I’m not going to obsess over finding cone-free products to use because I don’t need to. Also, in a similar fashion, just because something DOES work for someone else doesn’t mean it will work for you. If you try something on someone else’s recommendation and you don’t like what it does to your hair, stop using it. You aren’t obligated to use a product because it works for your favorite guru.</div></li> <li> <div align="justify"><strong>Stay away from heat.</strong> I will admit that for a couple of months after my last relaxer, but before I decided to officially transition, I was following the same routine I had when I was maintaining a relaxed style—wash every 2 weeks, deep condition, blow dry (without any heat protectant might I add) and then flat iron (again without any real heat protectant, I think i did use some Oil Sheen, but that probably only fried my hair). I’m not sure when I got super lazy and stopped with that routine, but I do know that since I decided to go natural, or napptural would probably be more accurate, I haven’t TOUCHED a flat iron, and when I DO blow dry it’s on the lowest setting possible after my hair has air-dried for a few hours. Honestly, I think I’ve used the hair dryer like twice since this time last year. Heat damage can be just as bad as a relaxer when it comes to your natural hair, and if you are trying to maintain your texture staying AWAY from heat is the best way to avoid heat damage. I did a modified blow-out a couple of weeks ago, and I never put my hair on a setting above warm (on my hooded dryer it’s below medium and right above cool) or the lowest setting on my hand held dryer. I was VERY careful to not put too much heat on my hair. Some people go natural and flat iron their hair every week or two and that works for them, but I don’t do that and my advice is to not do that. </div></li> <li> <div align="justify"><strong>Keep your hair CLEAN.</strong> There’s a myth out there, that I think I once believed myself, that your hair grows faster when it’s dirty. That’s not true. Chances are your hair is growing at the same rate regardless, so you may as well keep it “so fresh and so clean.” Whether you do that with a shampoo or through-co-washing is up to you. </div></li> <ol> <li> <div align="justify">in this same vein, I’m going to advise you to stay away from shampoos with sulfates. This is the ONE ingredient I steadfastly avoid. If you’re like me and you had dry hair/scalp it may have been, at least in part, due to sulfates. Sulfates strip your hair of EVERYTHING, even the good oils that your body produces. You don’t want to strip your hair too much because then it becomes dry and brittle. The ONLY time I use sulfate shampoo is when I’ve tried a new product that I HATED (like Kinky Curly Curling Custard) and wanted to make sure ALL of it was out of my hair, and after I used that sulfate shampoo I did a deep condition for a couple of hours just to be safe. But again, if sulfates don’t hurt you and you like a shampoo that has sulfate in it and it’s working for you, don’t fix what isn’t broken.</div></li></ol> <li> <div align="justify"><strong>Air dry whenever possible.</strong> This may be a bit redundant to point #4 (staying away from heat), but I really think air drying helped keep my hair happy and moisturized while I was transitioning AND after I BC’d. If you’re worried about how long it will take for your hair to dry, just try to be light handed when the products. The more product you put on your hair while it’s wet, the longer it will take your hair to dry. It’s best to do your hair when you have enough time FOR it to air dry if you’re going to do this. I know some people sit under a cool dryer for like 30 minutes before going to bed so their hair will be fully dry in the morning, that works too. </div></li> <li> <div align="justify"><strong>Deep Condition regularly.</strong> I deep conditioned once a week while I was transitioning (even when I was just co-washing), something I still do to this day. Every time I shampoo my hair I deep condition (even if I am using my sulfate-free shampoo). </div></li> <li> <div align="justify"><strong>Don’t be afraid to trim those raggedy ends.</strong> I don’t mean you have to do a BC (unless your ends are split all the way up the line of demarcation), but if you see your ends are looking crazy, don’t be afraid to cut them, they’re going to be gone eventually anyway. As someone who really (REALLY) hated getting her hair trimmed when she was relaxed, I found that trimming my own ends was kind of like therapy for me. At first I had my mom do it, but there were times she didn’t feel like doing it, or I didn’t feel like asking her to do it, so I learned to do it myself. For me the best way to trim my ends was the “dusting” method which is where you twist up your hair and cut off the tips where it feels thin. I wasn’t overly concerned about it being even since I was wearing curly styles and you couldn’t tell if it was even or not. Also, getting over my fear of the shears (LOL) enabled me to do my own BC when the time came which again was very therapeutic to me. I didn’t trust anyone but MYSELF to cut my hair for my BC, and I’m glad I did it myself. </div></li> <li> <div align="justify"><strong>Protective styles are your friends. </strong>Your hair is already super fragile near the line of demarcation (where your natural hair meets your relaxed hair), so the less you are doing TO it the less likely it is to break off. When I was transitioning I did a lot of buns (when I’d cut it too short to make them like I liked with my own hair I bought a couple of fake ones and baggied my hair underneath for like a week), twists, twist-outs, bantu-knots, bantu-knot outs, and braid outs. Every style I did could/did last a week. So basically after I washed and DC’d my hair I styled it and that was pretty much all I had to do to it until it was time to wash it again. I think this is why I didn’t have huge problems with breakage and was able to last a year without BC’ing prematurely or getting a relaxer. </div></li> <li> <div align="justify"><strong>Seal the moisture in your hair after you wash it</strong>. I did a post on this while I was transitioning, and anytime anyone asked me how I kept my hair moisturized I pointed them to a video by BlackOnyxx77 on YouTube. Basically you seal the moisture in your hair by using a water based leave-in conditioner, followed by an oil, followed by a cream based moisturizer. You did it in that order for very specific reasons. Water is what moisturizes your hair which is why the water-based leave in was first, then the oil would seal that in, and the cream based moisturizer would seal all of it in. I frequently switch out the cream based moisturizer for my Shea Butter mix because that’s what I use to style. When it gets cold again I may use the cream based moisturizer AND whatever Shea Butter mix I’m using to style that week (now I have more than one ~lol~). </div></li> <li> <div align="justify"><strong>BE PATIENT</strong>. This is going to be my last little bit of advice. Just be patient with your hair. Don’t obsess over other people’s growth vs your own. Don’t freak out if you can’t get a style the first time you try it. Don’t freak out if you don’t think your hair is growing fast enough. Transitioning can be a tough journey for a lot of people, I think what kept me from freaking out or finding it overly difficult was my (admittedly surprising) patience in dealing with my hair. If you take care of your hair it will grow and it will be healthy and you will BOTH be happy. And if you’re doing like #1 advises and having fun with your hair it will be so much easier to be patient with it. </div></li></ol> <p align="justify">So there you have it, all of the advice I have to give on transitioning, and actually probably on being Natural/Napptural as well. It’s really all very simple, there’s no magic silver bullet on what you have to do to your hair for it to look good. One of my favorite things about being natural is the fact that no matter how badly I mess up a style I’m trying to do, I can always just throw it in a puff and it looks good (LOL). So if you aren’t natural yet, that’s something to look forward to.</p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-34483958942211018152010-09-26T16:14:00.001-04:002010-09-26T16:14:04.165-04:00Aussie Moist 3-Minute Miracle Preview and Some Randomness<p align="justify">So I wanted to see what was different about the 3-minute Miracle vs. Aussie Moist Conditioner and did a compare and merge in MS Word 2007. Here’s what it gave me:</p> <blockquote> <p align="justify">Water <ins datetime="2010-09-26T16:03" cite="mailto:Changes">(Eau) </ins>, Stearyl Alcohol , <ins datetime="2010-09-26T16:03" cite="mailto:Changes">Cyclopentasiloxane , </ins>Cetyl Alcohol , Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine , <ins datetime="2010-09-26T16:03" cite="mailto:Changes">Dimethicone , Ecklonia Radiata Extract (Australian Sea Kelp) , Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice , Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil (Jojoba) , </ins>Glutamic Acid , Fragrance <del datetime="2010-09-26T16:03" cite="mailto:Changes">(Parfum) , Bis-Aminopropyl Dimethicone , </del><ins datetime="2010-09-26T16:03" cite="mailto:Changes">, </ins>Benzyl Alcohol , EDTA , Methylchloroisothiazolinone , Methylisothiazolinone<del datetime="2010-09-26T16:03" cite="mailto:Changes"> , Ecklonia Radiata Extract , Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil (Jojoba) , Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice</del></p></blockquote> <p align="justify">Generally it looks like the same ingredients with different amounts. This should be interesting, I’m looking forward to seeing how it stacks up against the Biolage Hydra Therapie Ultra-Hydrating Balm. . . both only take Three Minutes. I’ll try it out this week, if I like it, it may become a permanent fixture. It’s kind of nice not having to take 15 minutes or more to DC, especially when I’m in a hurry. </p> <p align="justify">I also went to the health foods store and got some Aloe Vera Gel (the smell is horrible to me) to try out. I’m thinking of adding it to my Shea Butter mix, but I might try to come up with a new shea-loe mix since my Shea Butter mix is pretty awesome to me as it is. Decisions, decisisons.</p> <p align="justify">Oh, and I’ve been 100% relaxer free (as in no more chemically straightened hair) for over 4 months. YAY!!! I’ll do a post sometime soon with the styles I did last month since I did try to switch it up a little on the styles.</p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-74755900576388689012010-09-18T11:28:00.001-04:002010-09-18T11:28:16.483-04:00Matrix Biolage Hydra Therapie Ultra-Hydrating Balm Review<p><img style="margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; display: inline" title="image" alt="image" align="left" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_aPSY1sY2Z8g/TJTaipbEVaI/AAAAAAAAAds/6opfq-LZPuw/image2.png?imgmax=800" width="240" height="240"> </p> <p align="justify">So, someone sent me some of this to try and yesterday I decided to give it a whirl. This isn’t a product I’ve used more than once at this point, but I think I have enough to try it again next week. Overall, I like it. . . </p><a name='more'></a> <p align="justify"><strong>Ingredients</strong>: Aqua (Water) , Cetearyl Alcohol , Behentrimonium Chloride , Glycerin , Amodimethicone , Cetyl Esters , Fragrance , Methylparaben , Cetrimonium Chloride , Trideceth-12 , Chlorhexidine Dihydrochloride , Propylene Glycol , Hexyl Cinnamal , Polysorbate 20 , Coumarin , Linalool , Butylphenyl Methylpropional , Hydroxycitronellal , Amyl Cinnamal , Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) , Geraniol , Algae (Algae Extract) , Pollen Extract , Saponaria Officinalis (Saponaria Officinalis Extract) , Saliva Officinalis (Sage Leaf Extract) , Silk Amino Acids , Cymbopogon Schoenanthus (Cymbopogon Schoenanthus Extract) , Triticum Vulgare (Wheat Germ Oil) , Methyl-2-Octynoate</p> <p align="justify"><strong>Price:</strong> Anywhere from $15-25. For me this is a little steep for one product at this time, but it may be worth it on some level. . . </p> <p align="justify"><strong>Smell</strong>: The smell is actually kind of strong and it smells like a Salon product (if that makes sense). It doesn’t smell BAD but it doesn’t make me want to eat my hair either. LOL, the smell DOES linger so if you’re sensitive to smells, this probably isn’t the product for you. I mean after using the product, I did a green tea rinse, then I used my other products that I normally use to style, and I can STILL smell this stuff on my hair (combined with my leave-in). It doesn’t bother me because it’s a clean scent, but if it DID stink, I’d have a real issue with it. As it is, I rather enjoy the scent.</p> <p align="justify"><strong>Results:</strong> Here’s what the bottle says it will do:</p> <blockquote> <p>Intensely conditions very dry, thick, coarse hair. Formulated with a sumptuous blend of silk amino acids and shea butter to envelop and smooth the cuticle, helping lock out humidity, frizz and unwanted volume. <p>Made in USA <ul> <li>After Biolage Ultra-Hydrating Shampoo <li>Massage into wet hair <li>Leave on 1-3 minutes <li>Rinse</li></ul></blockquote> <p></p> <p> </p> <p align="justify">Now, I didn’t use the shampoo, but other than that I tried to follow the directions (although I may have left it on for a little more than 3 minutes because I was combing it through to the end and all that good stuff). When I put it on my hair did feel softer, and the product does have a good amount of slip. I didn’t even have to use a BUNCH of product to feel it. I maybe used 2 1/2 50 cent piece-sized amounts on my hair to cover ALL of my hair:</p> <p></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; width: 627px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:66721397-FF69-4ca6-AEC4-17E6B3208830:a45042d2-43b0-4e5e-9ac4-dcb345f2db42" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a style="border:0px" href="https://cid-fd239753d21d4071.skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?page=browse&resid=FD239753D21D4071!160&type=5&authkey=o3ugvupb04E%24"><img style="border:0px" alt="View hair" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixtFBkYTs0p8CL3IK6uAPWJI_W5ZaozNViC4gV7iEHJKlDYTVE9B8mJKzFD35ZKIWzCEz4Z7HR-hqCkPMtYpEG1NnJZDHUXccKuJltd38Zh3SDku88-Zh7rrAJeBwODYEJTtF3MsTljxU/?imgmax=800" /></a><div style="width:611px;text-align:right;" ><a href="https://cid-fd239753d21d4071.skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?page=browse&resid=FD239753D21D4071!160&type=5&authkey=o3ugvupb04E%24">View Full Album</a></div></div> <p align="justify">I REALLY enjoyed rubbing this product over my hair (which may have also contributed to my leaving it on for more than 1-3 minutes. After that I rinsed the product out of my hair. I loved that it didn’t take a super long time to get it all out of my hair (unlike my normal DC). Here’s my hair after I rinsed it out:</p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; width: 628px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:66721397-FF69-4ca6-AEC4-17E6B3208830:c7d523ad-f142-4339-be4f-7f60d5912e72" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a style="border:0px" href="https://cid-fd239753d21d4071.skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?page=browse&resid=FD239753D21D4071!164&type=5&authkey=LEyQ3pBFvgU%24"><img style="border:0px" alt="View hair 2" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcr8Dt0QCZWrJQrSma90BHoAndM-hzjXWCWDOMzTFkfmj1IKm0GoXzDa7LJbcww7A6lHBnIIFnNK9Q9CO8IWdLOvPnNbkC5PoW1oD8-5IFzpcnYe2MMvL9q8mpm1qxCLCqTyreSxdj3f4/?imgmax=800" /></a><div style="width:612px;text-align:right;" ><a href="https://cid-fd239753d21d4071.skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?page=browse&resid=FD239753D21D4071!164&type=5&authkey=LEyQ3pBFvgU%24">View Full Album</a></div></div> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify">My hair shrank back up almost IMMEDIATELY, which means it was pretty hydrated. It was soft and light to the touch. Overall, I was pleased with the results, even more so since I didn’t have to sit under a dryer for 15 minutes or wait 45 minutes-1 hr to deep condition. I think that was my favorite thing about the product. It’s an excellent time saver. On top of that, I didn’t even need to add raw honey and EVOO to it (which is good because I’m running low on both. . . ). Now I did follow this with a green tea rinse, but that was concentrated more on my scalp (I needed some relief there) so I don’t think that significantly altered the effects the balm had on my hair. </p> <p align="justify">Here is my hair now completely dry and set for my latest style:</p> <p align="justify"> <img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVDr2LsZKB6E0FawGYp2zmF6NUDfTMgyNhLHpxUenNqKCNYiJeEWpYfV-SYhI4k12wZTmymGo8xKu-WAI5XNQ-eNC_POhGRgMOZEZ_rtgeEJ2hw_zw9JIG8vclVKYX5bQm11hD2dlckkY/?imgmax=800" width="291" height="334"> </p> <p align="justify">It looks great and no different than it would if I did my regular DC. I’m excited to see what the style ends up looking like. </p> <p align="justify"><strong>Afros:</strong> <font color="#400040"><strong>Overall I give this product 4 out of 5 Afros</strong></font>. The only demerit is the price, while I love the product and the convenience, I’m reluctant to spend that much on one product since I DC once a week. I could see myself buying some for standby for those days when I don’t feel like doing the longer DC. If you are someone on a budget, this product may be too expensive for you without making a sacrifice somewhere else, but if someone gives it to you, I say go on and give it a try!</p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-45328254279988874262010-09-13T09:31:00.001-04:002010-09-13T09:31:18.197-04:00Twist-UpDo on Dry Stretched Hair<p align="justify"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9uMVQ2aK5-9Ob4-dXcPL50JHmRqLt3U53YBzcMrBc_xeKA1jSvyWF9wlGFQWAEOOdEvXNa3Oj3R0AN4F9Tk_RZUKqix8uqfI7nmOZWJxtI_4CQHiDXIhAFO1HEWjs_6RI-qA-WuHYHDA/?imgmax=800" width="353" height="372"> </p> <p align="justify">So I decided yesterday that I wanted to try to come up with a new protective style, and I’ve always wanted something else to do with twists besides just twisting them. The above is what I came up with. </p> <a name='more'></a> <p align="justify">I started by co-washing my hair with my V05 Strawberries n Cream Moisturizing Milk and thoroughly detangling with a wide-toothed comb. Then I added some Garnier Fructis Sleek-n-Shine leave-in. After that I banded my hair by twisting the end (not two-strand twist, just twisting around themselves) and then putting on a ponytail holder and following through with other bands using the criss-cross technique <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QMv1g1-FR0" target="_blank">seen here in this video</a>. I then sat under a dryer on low for 30 minutes and cool for 30 minutes. After that I took each banded section out and blow-dryed on low for about 15 seconds just to get it dry, then I put Castor Oil on the ends and worked my way up before putting the section into a big twist.</p> <p><img style="margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; display: inline" title="" alt="" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVxvoCjufDGuEjRbkLeBZTV6-6lYJtXPWblWFW_lmgop-AYdUN_zLrAxzh1VSwdFQvmtoW-CXwlvBh3Up-A-BOhutOgKuEjVUrV4VkxdpQ3Q4nD1IcsNG5EJote1Vvhw1Ud3aD6ePi6dE/?imgmax=800" width="187" height="240"></p> <p align="justify">The purpose of the Castor Oil was to soften and moisturize my hair, particularly my ends. I try to pay special attention to my ends to avoid the need for a trim, or at least frequent trimming, which is why I start with any moisturizer at my ends and then work my way up.</p> <p align="justify"><img style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; display: inline" title="" alt="" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWAThUDhSS9JIGU9QigBaWkI0ORqPKFUU-6SXOEP60ojf4TsGIvN5NwWv-dZHStiNQUOjalPN4oZBVABlww1AjR4Y1g9HS8YmvphEv24Ym25fJP3mX2Bx3pB9-tXRvZ086JRhuLN7Izps/?imgmax=800" width="202" height="240"> </p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p align="justify">After I had my hair twisted up, I took it all out and played with it a bit (hey, I couldn’t help myself!) before parting it into 4 sections to begin the style. Section off a part in the middle and put the two sides into a ponytail or twist or whatever you do to keep it out of the way. </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify">Once you have your hair sectioned off, begin your flat twists. I was going to try to do fancy parting and a cute design, but I’m not that great with the parting yet. Although it WAS much easier with my hair dry and stretched, I’m just not that good with parting. So I did straight parts and twisted straight back. Once I got to the end I finished it as a two strand twist and used a metal duckbill clip (plastic ones just don’t last for me). Do each side, then twist the ends going up and put them into a loose bantu-knot.</p> <p align="justify">Now that you have your sides out of the way, simply do two strand twists at the top, once that finished those, I just took half and curled them under to the left and pinned and did the same thing to the right. You can pin these however you want. Here’s what it looked like when I finished doing all of that:</p> <p align="justify"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhanxVeF4hulvbkAs48iZr18GowXNICVFnNCx5epU8HnCkbw_DDF0M1dkHcVKDZjjOhS2MHelOkk5X2yFY8E38obni3DqeIJHiwH-qdQ37T-S1aCBuubJuLhOB2gXDXtzSuguZDwokyr6k/?imgmax=800" width="377" height="323"> </p> <p align="justify">Check out my puff! Actually, I was tempted to leave my hair like this, and if you want I imagine you can. But I told myself when I started this process that I was trying to come up with a protective style, so I parted the back into sections and did pretty big twists, there are probably only 20 back there:</p> <p align="center"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTFmlI6Ao12X8EmiqTtQJaWC7L9dY-ak8lgLLRFgwzZMn9b9_Aa5R_NCFhozxv9Jukmyo-yVW5t4gs5-QsdmPka1xFtDV20lsnO6YqywKLddC9uwhuxEcPN2XiPZTQJdtWdSQoxRgfMuc/?imgmax=800" width="201" height="240"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIe9Oa4SVdy53IvFnd7WR66vY_xQTi9qcnsOpnGJWxKCo8RXYnfFWjWi_28bpZ4AcDHVuBvYbBiuoL3JmjPTZv2ksi1jseHnx1ZnIosaUixZSXR_Upx_cAhyoVDp52SneuYHZiLSDVJ8E/?imgmax=800" width="204" height="240"> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaBPOw_hoKqPlnq-QReyPwYBVBXbmP0jSVTxlftLPI15AQZYx-bf_JYX-zTfJBrIQVFQjWAMrEeP1eVMJ0C77eoe-CH0oNkmSKyrdbTyCaIOU9z99pGc3J3XOA1G-5ovkseTC61hJojis/?imgmax=800" width="158" height="240"> </p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p>Again, you can leave your hair like this at that point if you want, but I wanted a protective style. So I experimented and ended up doing a bun last night:</p> <p align="center"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaOXKv8JpBH5q_TmItVV2FfwsSuL-98cwuCXpooFFH6M4fZLPW7Q7yJvbqxBcnCV8e4phvoEvLqlyAK2eKpTF0XGFIlC0N4bnrpVbH7vwC_jGClOkWjwZ0Yw6M22fEJTol-AMuIqTUFDk/?imgmax=800" width="185" height="240"> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoAUutyJxLqPsjGrJox9Am4UW79iqE72POFeKXlP_f99wDWeuMXHcQf8mQkJ33Gauzc3eJBMXML8dn0zCgnaOPpVDE7Io200Nhny9Kutvii35Os58tD4WijCEx3MP7L4BPjW4iGdCTlis/?imgmax=800" width="216" height="240"> </p> <p align="justify">Before I went to bed I rolled my hair on satin rollers and rods to get the twists curly, and because the twists on the left side (where I naturally have a looser texture) didn’t want to stay together. This morning I played around with pinning them using hair pins:</p> <p align="justify"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaXBX3s01s0VRmzVcb3s-_-nRyGWLwxA7yll7BmtZpLOBTo_WV2SGKsJ5aY46WDJQtt4vHfoNXVSdTDtFeg9EcU2ikD14qnNDTGcuswk9TlBDqnks8Qxjx7BMCsMG2w3Hd2f5u9G9l9V8/?imgmax=800" width="209" height="240"> </p> <p align="justify">It was actually pretty cute. I wanted to go for a pin-curl look, they don’t look precisely like pin curls, I may try them again. I took this down though because I really didn’t feel like having a bunch of pins in my hair all day. I took that down and just put my hair into the style you see at the top of this post. </p> <p align="justify">That’s all I did, pretty simple style, but I think it’s very cute. It’s going to be cold soon, so I need to come up with different things to do with my hair. One thing about fully stretching my hair out, it was cool to get a better idea of the length. Check my fro:</p> <p align="justify"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4cT-vEesYBVVgeErHW6YE2YgnyEoMKr487L_amLPM5dPR5BLWYHPDGxlCU9bPX0XpattSr5LfiCKz044vNd58f3g4ee3dg_BbJWyA58IrBRyDD_6GeCQsDwiB6eXFVCkqms98iGlUSx4/?imgmax=800" width="240" height="238"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify">That is a LOT of hair. LOL</p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-59586357884794634762010-09-11T20:19:00.001-04:002010-09-18T11:32:06.735-04:00Yes to Cucumbers Conditioner Review (Finally!)<p align="justify"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; display: inline" title="image" alt="image" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGEOktYvtJRYiQ9bpEzOdV7_V2rWU_Rq4dytb3eQAbLNGEgjBpIeYyrlo-G1QRvJEvG-iOtIWY5Q5TLG4DKyDCdweNqBzsGQUA-2k4dQyX8kCiMrjtkdzW0Zg8i-HS6Dyr01zgPER43UU/?imgmax=800" width="221" height="224">Yes, so I’m finally doing my Yes to Cucumbers Conditioner Review. I’m not trying to make this suspenseful, so I’m just going to say I LOVE this stuff. </p><a name='more'></a> <p align="justify"><strong>Ingredients</strong>: Water, Cucumis Sativa (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Cetearyl Alcohol, Peucedanum Graveolens (Dill Extract), Capsicum Annuum (green pepper extract), Maris Aqua (Dead Sea Water), Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Magnesium Chloride, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract (Chamomile), Olea Europaea (Olive) Oil, Brassica Oleracea Italica Seed Oil (broccoli), Benzyl Alcohol, Spinacia Oleracea Leaf Extract (spinach), Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Oil, Calendula (Calendula Officinalis) Flower Oil, Maris Limus Silt Extract, Cucumis Melo (Melon) Fruit Extract, Parfum/Fragrance, Triticum Vulgare Wheat Germ Oil, Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) Peel Extract, Lactic Acid, Centaurea Cyanus (Cornflower) Flower, Beta Vulgaris (Beet) Root Extract, Olea Europaea (Olive) Leaf Extract, Dehydroacetate Acid</p> <p align="justify"><strong>Price</strong>:<strong> </strong>Now, it’s kind of pricey if you get it in Target or Walgreens at around $9 a bottle but it’s totally worth it. I’ve heard people say they found it for $3.99 in Ross (I think that’s the name of the place) and TJMaxx, but I clearly haven’t been to either of those places. If I ever DO go to one of them and they have it for $3.99 I’m stocking up!</p> <p align="justify"><strong>Smell</strong>: I wasn’t crazy about the smell when I first got it. It doesn’t smell BAD, but it also doesn’t smell yummy. It just smells, I guess you could say “clean.” It’s weird, I don’t care for the smell too much when it’s just in the bottle, but on my hear it smells rather nice. I don’t know if it’s my body chemistry or the water or what, but I love the smell. </p> <p align="justify"><strong>Results</strong>: Here’s what the bottle says it will do:</p> <blockquote> <p><font face="Georgia">You will love our Color Care Daily Makeover Conditioner, specially formulated to protect your color treated hair. Add moisture with organic cucumber, spring water and hydrating green tea to give you a glossy tangle-free shine. </font></p> <p><font face="Georgia">Combines organic cucumbers, aloe vera, centaurea and Dead Sea minerals.</font></p> <p><font face="Georgia">We've also added extracts of centaurea that contain a powerful blend of potent anti-oxidants to lock in color and protect fading. You can thank us later! </font></p> <p><font face="Georgia">99.6% Natural ingredients. <br>For damaged/color treated hair. <br>Hydrates and adds shine. <br>Combines organic cucumbers, aloe vera, centaurea and dead sea minerals. <br>Free of parabens, petroleum and SLS.</font></p> <p><font face="Georgia">Yes To Cucumbers: A cool calming way to make your hair shine and your skin glow from head to toe.</font></p> <p><font face="Georgia">Against animal testing</font>.</p></blockquote> <p><font color="#a1a1a1" face="Arial"></font></p> <p></p> <p align="justify">I remember the first time I used this, and my hair INSTANTLY felt super soft. And when I say Instantly, I mean as I was raking the product through my hair, my hair felt cottony soft (it didn’t feel dry, just think of how soft good cotton feels). I was reluctant to rinse it out. This is not a one time event either. EVERY TIME I’ve used this product to co-wash my hair has felt the same way. No matter how dry it felt before doing the wash, my hair ended up feeling really soft. When I rinsed my hair felt super moisturized. </p> <p align="justify">I’ve even used it as a Deep Conditioner by adding Raw Honey and EVOO to it and LOVED it. Honestly, in my eyes this product can do no wrong. the only way I haven’t tried it is as a leave-in, and that’s only because I have this complex about using rinse out conditioner as a leave-in. I just feel like there’s a REASON you’re supposed to rinse it out. </p> <p align="justify"><strong>Afros</strong>: <font color="#800040"><strong>All in all, I give this product 5 out of 5 Afros</strong></font>. I can’t find anything to complain about other than the price, and honestly considering the product does what it says it’s going to do and NOTHING else I’ve tried makes my hair feel the same way I don’t mind the price. I’ve had this bottle for a couple of months and I still have like a third of it left. If you haven’t tried this product, I say give it a whirl, you may just fall in love with it. </p> <p align="justify">I took a picture of my hair after using this product as a deep conditioner to try to give an idea of what my hair looks like afterwards, it’s not as clear/defined as I’d like, but I think you guys will get the general idea. I also just wore my hair as a WNG (I can’t remember if I added a leave in/oil afterwards) but I’ll attach a photo of that as well. </p> <p align="justify"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvWvjAfagBCfI2aD4co5n2XOMNtlxlrfZsLHw-c1rDKmt3flgjDTC2Ej1x5FZSw3v57zi0QmvSqu1suQshlgeTh5qFqv_9Uc0aQGir_pbLklv2DIoMBiFbu0VRVJr3AW2nNN8cY_v_kcA/?imgmax=800" width="558" height="378"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhb6cpT2y9JZ3B2pDZXbKX2wlK8AIR6vTyWmMLbm1Spl2IzakZ4lx_vIz_dX149pnkYg_t26-qKC2knC8lESwcQBqHic9r5NF2NuwxSDj0aMUuyDEI3r-eD6FWphTjhR806aCgwZc59No/?imgmax=800" width="554" height="443"></p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-87990676103074794222010-08-31T19:54:00.000-04:002010-09-11T19:56:36.761-04:00Month 3 Styles<p align="justify">I realize this is Month 4, but I never did a post on the different styles I did in Month 3, so here it is (over the jump)!</p> <p align="justify"><a name='more'></a></p> <p align="justify">  This is just a WNG with two flat twists in the front:</p> <p align="justify"> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_OwQRKw2YJdEro6VAzziGcjNGUla_BF3i8atmvs6WWOhODQwUQnwBOLpCULcJcdieOPk2so6J45XT4bcGGADgKeaiUQs1KjJaH_IV7gx9fwWxknnEijALFU0pnv-A1Cd6gSC8p1y9_4M/?imgmax=800" width="345" height="360" /><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2bgBwDGcUJBxsQ9k2UtJmWb0lIbqle2ttDnrragBK2fmt64828JR9LGXtsHJEwc1YzKO2puU5_C-jka3PfMURwyYk4DaMYHo-Uz_3xdBz4k2Frcbx4fbB1S01vqxMXG6lreaoVjgKj3c/?imgmax=800" width="359" height="310" />    </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify">These are the best set of twists EVER! I loved how they looked :</p> <p align="justify"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_rYSTrt8_0C5mcDc6Krqk-DjoEBXtZ7i8IpozwxINVnxHkOzC4mydQzFgPZaVlmFz7WYr30YftXDzS_i1gLDZEaldmav59aRNaV5py41-Gkuon_l1Dqe9kpd2OTkZPP74omKCCdpIomI/?imgmax=800" width="361" height="383" /><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmojoXFu_eq2MD-j4hQqgbijMA1NSzDVvzBIbQPmbslAoieSMhKFEFcO4fA0JeIAi_PylD2273M7oQcJsIkcHxrrcfoa0PevlGjKQ1oVc8GDu2oCRiz3jXkWpoky9_aGzHIVStBWp6o4s/?imgmax=800" width="418" height="362" /> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqn0VlHv8tD4TYk6CsaQ-h9TKFczZD6CJO8msYSdVj655yLi7nXelJhykWSoD_WnSK5yAycrs-RhIBpIcizSu1wedS_9X_bppobiygNFUbj3atieXQEfjKL2KTF9IhavnQq0B3B2h5Cs0/?imgmax=800" width="386" height="441" /> </p> <p align="justify">This style is two cornrows in the front and a chunky twist-out in the back:</p> <p align="justify"> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIdkD370dBcQlev3QWq3yQMP1DKpDuf6XoRPffFUoMBsdc2ArB8H8n0RUWVcoBubREaQZP-QRqZFnI4NUhYC34Is5zJuK8BjKjkkrCXUwYolB9590amYMjK7tFrCQg7oSIrAGi15xY8ps/?imgmax=800" width="394" height="463" /> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaF83_EXGRt-qT_-snYThtIBEVPWAaEQ-6t1v9-kUnGRZ7jvgKSWkrKb_fNvWum8ZPaE3jhfWuAa5dShqBbSZqvW5rbeuPlvaJIVRWjcbQauGTTsGJbjNTY2gsBg5xFz6Q3XaUJH37vvQ/?imgmax=800" width="401" height="541" /></p> <p align="justify">This is the same style with the chunky twist-out pulled apart more to make it flufflier. I LOVED this and yes, my hair WAS as soft as it looked: </p> <p align="justify"> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyzvaWuR7Bj65LqIxknPmvtiJIW24R42famowNdpZTd518YWo_KMfjVHQa1kRLhrL_NV8M854776LIYnunJ9G7dzrTydD44x1udXhJ181mXJk4oO6zEFV7jh5GG3EWJ2uus9bFmOJEAAU/?imgmax=800" width="410" height="501" />  </p> <p> </p> <p align="justify">I didn’t experiment much this month as you can see. Hopefully I’ll experiment a little more this month! I really want to try a fro-hawk, and I need to start figuring out some pin up twist styles since it’s gonna be cold before I realize it (meaning it will sneak up on me. LOL)</p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-44180569362535685142010-08-30T18:11:00.001-04:002010-08-30T18:14:14.828-04:00BAA Challenge Month 4<p align="justify">This month I notice that my hair is curling up a lot more, I don’t know if it’s the length, or if it’s retaining more moisture or what, but you can see in the pictures below I have little spirals popping up all over the place. Even that part that’s not nearly as coily on the left side of my head is curling up more. </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify">Products I’ve been using this month hasn’t really changed. I feel like if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The last couple of weeks I did my DC with yes to Cucumbers instead of ORS still using the EVOO and Raw Honey and my hair loves it. Maybe that’s why it’s looking curlier too? </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify">I didn’t do as much protective styling since I’ve been working, but I am going to try to get better at that as I get more length. I’m not one of those people who can just wear twists all the time because I’ll get bored with it. I did learn how to cornrow last month though, so that’s a good thing! I’ll still have to practice at it more. I’ll do a post later on some of the styles I did last month (I think).</p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify">Without further ado, the pictures:</p> <a name='more'></a> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify">Month 1 on the left, Month 4 on the right:</p> <p align="justify"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihsctNgf6xzZS9RWrhyGUnBNVGBFQSICRd8QXdrLykP6gWsL3MeAPCODXQbpxmJA1-u5f8LjCIBLJCui60JdxkhJ77bcOI_SEOgVS-WjrCHVPns7wXYPnubTemmqk_8oZoNaB2EO-npuw/?imgmax=800" width="227" height="417" />          <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3i1sMdd2C380xDH7PqZdthTBZZ8KPn3_dFrtW3iAf0JmpooV4LHFpIAaVE64vyBwqDRaUX6Jr_G2P7qlQB2p7_vjM5T_5FU4kHCOS0ChqZIKuCWU-FeNAOCrs-V8BMoZxJUxrPKRgJQs/s1600-h/Neck-Month4%5B10%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYRbl8jjuM4wN_7zKNwcfuRyFE_Q_rjz6E-7TNQkZCSg2Z2hrQjVtJLjaMm-U0SNeErYXaRb2BcQoskv3FsOuOmuuS13rw2Q-l8dfSCD_qokF4jaIRaQ98xoce-_KKP9-jinoKQ3U6Uq8/?imgmax=800" width="218" height="423" /></a>        </p> <p align="justify"> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFyqns4MhwFVFmPPNNLLxWRx3pSPB2RPP18XQKTmTG2oAFMuwlwcWo_2iJFdZ3ACqq5OGu6La3C4Io_bjKwI27mKXdm8RKhFLTZGTwsuFTNnWk-xX8MS0SZ6dRKfSIuy1ZPuRCDdiia3A/?imgmax=800" width="298" height="373" /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi66hWfWCNBPKUIW5ruRNSOukTVAYBTH0SVXl5Ln0TQy43cc_ZWyTj1cC4aoqZFtDaYMFrQGoyMfmongZTyjJxz-Kf_K1i3ouA-jvA1nW9qPXdlj5weQKswZ9q9oyW-8XEw_VcO79-O4XU/s1600-h/back-month4%5B5%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzjn_zKA7oQvOVgt5yAMwU7ESifRHwY09YD2yLfwchBYYqayjLs_rt87iHu-Viz41ubc2rjTKk_PjtL2D3DqLZFdVdXHgzcfAFiLUCq9Izk7lEWhQgvkSvx3Wsyg3ffaApVo9b46GqvbQ/?imgmax=800" width="224" height="379" /></a></p> <p align="justify"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG8z0_I3TXPoeTyX7xkqjMxMspQjv2QCk8TacPZdl8sYt8zTJtb0k-LS-nlTStiLH1JADHQlfP7dec2mAxUz14xNEuEhTVjU8PwBEqVcgQRoSQmWdbkBXckpSKbDIHhZbyLy7u5q8Agoc/?imgmax=800" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9OWphDeiuO7d6f9L-k5OvrShJXD-7z_eLeaRKHPFhGidFRYnlzwUFbcC0X9BRlGDaryH-broLs4W3_AjaULdAtKJO5Hu1UwIebFCThHGXGGPZizhzs-BrVSI-3ZILCKNlSXW4KlS-b0k/s1600-h/Ear-Month4%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipCjaNiZtYSYOcU8M_Oox08xc-0DT0vPkPs9jlRC4NxGPaHQCmtuYgKsNqzVOQ7ECA-k-r0QMQHfLJnVwUbxNv5btUYic4t_DdlpdLeKFaQztCP259GFVtcD29ccbCjatL23_xQr_7FP8/?imgmax=800" width="185" height="417" /></a></p> <p align="justify"> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQzcJ_m9UHoy6PsVbVCH2dzBYv2xfu0nNlbTCn5lh6pNvkruClhcGq-K5zxAWBx5LQmkBFIKHjYR3H8Gn469EefoAGr4VKheRrxuukWWLfWZew5CZA_7tdX6TiAsVGl9g79Qmhi3tBtu4/?imgmax=800" width="270" height="383" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQOhuY2PHVTFifjeL7HmgInUc_KTK_neaIeotZzsvd_iy5vh9F85Q5W-UAK_Kfy1zk0BTT3dZcyT6O9EdBRw86jVw8J2vSDcS1Nrm-Hb92fMvIZPdVtRtT7hPZFX_0n5gltLt46xbIBvM/s1600-h/Front-Month4%5B5%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Y3xOPO2_a9BDFw9y4qvR8wVcpa731G8OOnDLJRjn1FIVYD8iuxnG8JyA5Hybr0eG5E7wh_PSR1WlYS8NJCYrruIUGrIKQqC2NF6qIXzvvh_YPuxHSAn_J88wNqxVXlGUaADH51boq1k/?imgmax=800" width="283" height="383" /></a></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p>  </p> <p> </p> <p>That back picture isn’t very good at all, sorry, I’m not as flexible as I thought I was and I couldn’t get it to show the actual length. Just trust me when I say it’s grown :o)</p> <p> </p> <p>That’s all for now! </p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-3649622333426476762010-08-15T20:37:00.001-04:002010-08-15T20:37:46.610-04:00Guess Who Finally Learned How To Cornrow?<p align="justify">YAY! So last night after the Carol’s Daughter FAIL, I decided it was a good time to give cornrowing another shot. After being unsuccessful at keeping it going once I got it started, I decided to look for a tutorial again online. I don’t know why I thought I’d suddenly find one, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olaZ29pOBDs" target="_blank">but alas I did! And from one of my favorite YouTubers no less.</a> Armed with BlackOnyx77’s awesome and easy to understand tutorial I set off to try cornrowing. Here’s what my hair looked like when I went to bed last night (OMG my arms are SORE, actually it’s mostly my shoulders and neck, clearly those muscles need to be conditioned):</p> <p align="justify">The one on the left is the last one I did:</p> <p align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1k9gtdqioj14n_mBZmEG2hdoAHX-d_swnV0W0317837g0D6uTMn3GWW0Sai1A_l44BLoGk5ALGRlc-yAdZwnD-itrTpbn2qIP3G6_1s5Wdpriy89lGJm6L6SaI4MzJpP1iMSPFss8ENY/s1600-h/August14-2010%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHQNNBt_jFAqcebkpwiPeY9a90-e96-3VvaKPxiWgM0ehpOR8kk0kDeQgO2GcaR1Tt3Cq6G3Ceha4aixJlW4lroOXYAZZ_NcjhvSLEgczsuLM3_6sAefuU8LmSRqukIpqzH3qUtKhQfjg/?imgmax=800" width="197" height="240" /></a>  </p> <p align="justify">I think it looks rather perfect myself. (Ignore the one next to it where you can clearly see I lost motivation ~lol~). So I woke up this morning and washed and DC’d my hair, then I set off to kind of imitate her style, I chose to do chunky twists in the back for a twist-out but here are a few shots of the braid:</p> <p align="justify"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAEEEt7rtI-0lgFAiEEJ49g_3NDDDMZYAqKvE2EIdfAMBfMDVE67Ss0tpZ6BsTZf7GD1q8eKooPUUJ3LlMVDU4ozumMeCUPBQHwiF6gUWvkdx5NE1DDwAfHNXWfSIRDB3YHjMMlkOhlqg/?imgmax=800" width="246" height="325" /></p> <p align="justify">This one is still wet</p> <p align="justify">These two are after tying it down for a while and letting it dry:</p> <p align="center"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhNeaOGneGHkMi5L8EC_OaIdXJmWbqUqySHll2Y-zw85L0CS7aZwEsb5BCKWhf4Y1TiDTtcQ5PL7IHXC6mxmweDnjGNHw7vGm-r1_Jzjl08H3O1pmgnXJmLhdCDfeyOri8eUIqA7QTXRo/?imgmax=800" width="286" height="254" />  <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilcZfKLH4148n-Xh09x-Nw9p7rQC7l76JRAw7LQYrmyWUCMgTWdMk9w8mYIcai_6ve96zCCsrt7fy5SJ4n3LojtSaOnjjUYSLfhPksM9tVLZFuweqt-YNZY4-wNoyhkJm_KQk_ysm6C3g/?imgmax=800" width="150" height="339" /> </p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p>I think I’ve pretty much mastered these! I’m so excited about it too because it opened up a whole new world for me as far as styles to try. </p> <p>Now, if you’re going to use the tutorial I just posted you need to know how to plait. I’m not going to take it for granted that everyone knows how to plait. I’ll try to find a good tutorial. Plaits are just braids that aren’t cornrows (bad description, I know. LOL)</p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-31987433910966005542010-08-14T21:01:00.001-04:002010-09-12T23:59:24.984-04:00Carol’s Daughter Hair Milk Shampoo, Conditioner, and Lite Cream Review<p align="justify"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_aPSY1sY2Z8g/TGc8OBpf0dI/AAAAAAAAAY0/lRgEBH9aY-8/s1600-h/image%5B4%5D.png"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; display: inline" title="image" alt="image" align="left" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_aPSY1sY2Z8g/TGc8OtVfcCI/AAAAAAAAAY4/rcCNNVgFlqo/image_thumb%5B2%5D.png?imgmax=800" width="240" height="240"></a> So, my mom bought some Hair Milk Shampoo, Conditioner, and Lite Conditioning Cream when Lisa was last on HSN. Although I HATE Carol’s Daughter Products generally when it comes to my hair, I decided to give it a shot. So without further ado, let the reviewing begin!</p><a name='more'></a> <p align="justify"><strong><u><font size="4">Shampoo</font></u></strong>:</p> <p align="justify">What it’s supposed to do:</p> <blockquote> <p><font face="Georgia">A nourishing shampoo for the type of hair that needs it most...curls. Cuts frizz, gently removes dirt, oil and product build-up. Made with essential oils plus Vitamin A to help condition the scalp and keep moisture in. Gives curls what they need for that desired healthy, bouncy look. </font></p> <p><b><font face="Georgia">Curl Perfecting Shampoo Benefits:</font></b></p> <ul> <li><font face="Georgia">Pro-vitamin B5 (Panthenol) – Helps minimize tangles and balance moisture </font> <li><font face="Georgia">Vitamin A (Retinyl Palmitate) – Scalp conditioner that also protects from moisture loss. Plus protects from environmental damage. </font> <li><font face="Georgia">Vitamin E (Tocopherol) – Conditioner that protects from environmental damage. </font> <li><font face="Georgia">Essential Oils of Orange and Lemon </font> <li><font face="Georgia">Paraben-Free, No Petroleum, Mineral Oil or Artificial Color </font> <li><font face="Georgia">SLS/SLES/Sulfate-Free</font> </li></ul></blockquote> <p align="justify">Ingredients:</p> <blockquote> <p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Georgia">Water (Aqua), Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Glycerin, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, PEG-2 Cocamide Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), *Arctium Majus (Burdock) Root Extract, *Malva Sylvestris (Mallow) Flower Extract, *Equisetum Arvense (Horsetail) Extract, *Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Peel Extract, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Peel Oil, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Fruit Extract, Camellia Sinensis (Tea) Leaf Extract, Pyrus Malus (Apple) Fruit Extract, Saccharum Officinarum (Sugar Cane) Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Oil, Elettaria Cardamomum (Cardamon) Seed Oil, Thuja Occidentalis (Cedar) Leaf Oil, Panthenol (Pro-vitamin B5), Biotin (Vitamin H), Retinyl Palmitate (Vitamin A Palmitate), Ascorbyl Palmitate, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E Acetate), Linoleic Acid, Linolenic Acid, Creatine, Sodium Hyaluronate, Cetrimonium Chloride, Betaine, Glycol Distearate, Hexylene Glycol, Hexapeptide-11, Citric Acid, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Hydroxide, Acrylates Copolymer, AMP-Acrylates Copolymer, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Hydroxypropyl Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Silicone Quaternium-3, PVP, Trideceth-7, Trideceth-12, Polyurethane-14, PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, PEG-150 Distearate, PEG-200 Hydrogenated Glyceryl Palmate, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Fragrance (Parfum) </font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Georgia">* Certified Organic </font></p></blockquote> <p>I followed the instructions:</p> <blockquote> <p><font face="Georgia">Apply a quarter-sized amount to damp hair. Work into a lather, rinse thoroughly. Repeat.</font></p></blockquote> <p> </p> <p align="justify">Well, I used more than a quarter sized amount because I didn’t feel like it was lathering. Which brings me to my first point, This stuff does NOT lather if you want a good lather. When I use my Shea Moisture, or even the ORS Aloe Vera shampoo, I get a great lather. Not so much with this product. I didn’t take a pic because I didn’t take a camera with me. But I did go get my camera to take pictures of my hair after I washed it out which will be posted directly. Now when I was using this shampoo I felt like my hair was being stripped, and that’s not a good thing in my book. My hair NEVER feels stripped, not even when I was doing ACV rinses or using the ORS Shampoo (which has sulfates in it). I was concentrating more on my scalp since I had a lot of buildup there (I was washing in twists at this point because that makes it easier for me to get shampoo on my scalp. I think I’ll have to invest in one of those applicator bottles), but I did get my hair, and I didn’t like the way it felt. </p> <p align="justify">When it comes to smell, the shampoo smells the best of the three products to me. I can’t really describe it, kind of sweet but not TOO sweet if you don’t like that sort of thing. Anywhoo, I think I don’t think I’ll be using this shampoo again unless I feel like there’s way too much product on my hair and it needs a heavy duty cleaning. My hair wasn’t really that dirty (as I had just co-washed a couple of days before). </p> <p align="justify">With that being said, I DID notice curls popping all over the place (click for larger photos):</p> <p align="center"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic0QCqmnA0bRQUs21EN9epyOa8k23IWKbRrv4IPC5zxsE_EQDSsTzXQoFyH1Uh_FacSXPgwg5xIuHh1t608Y4SZRDsfJuufxftbOUQtkpCCiX9AyYkKlotPhk_F8UoLNZF20uQmkB0Mns/s1600-h/1.3%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFEtsPt6yOkmiSlY8uyLLCFCyt-yANbbNuC_eB4AXJzOh5Q4Rs7nf5KjN4MRIko1Z5U2wU6unPiiUXqSi6Ap9P9vESzawCGr6BykgHmiOM6rGgxPGmB-RHXWhEAx64Z2OgHwyJhzNPvHQ/?imgmax=800" width="240" height="137"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLckbMF5HsUQg4gLqjtN0ubAgZVOR_Jpb9rAfZVFslg5uH4NL607NBjuCWGJoOx1beE9-L0mmUHRSwaU3TBFhzzlOHUlPpZxa4Z-hT5hGM4SBFuOa4kGYHYJSuJ8s6CXtb7GoCf4yaHqw/s1600-h/1.2%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSIaVgFjTMBvLM4x7NWIRlXo_qUdeJfbgxEouroYnACqD8AQOJC5_s5kpslMbs8tFyF_NFcLThyVFiee6tAxGGgmtoUAUTIav-VLyZEM5XNyZ7xZn1-ZzIPeO5fEBYniFhwGZm1GwMAR4/?imgmax=800" width="239" height="240"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVMmYgN2Kx1KvZmIQMbIbKxHE_TiqFD_b-XoFgnY83B4lcxWcP5fD0SCqCTju-J0EWx00kbE3X18Bu2PvHv2NL1a16KnrusZj9wmSQJTzbdnUyzoToKrbiIApu5SojxM7VgzzuZww04O4/s1600-h/1.1%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmgSxhKPbJLknhvajmRA2lPs90gT4JacHrqWt7sko7dt_XoJh-1xL7eqPu9-tdP_sZXdo0wM3Qy6zz5GaryfwvA6-Y-8SjGs2XcTwptr1Z1lRp-7Tep8arGEiE_bYFC95V39ecGRprAHQ/?imgmax=800" width="240" height="236"></a></p> <p align="justify"><font color="#800080"><strong>All in all, I’d give the shampoo 3 out of 5 Afros</strong></font>, I think it DID kinda do what it was supposed to do, there seems to be less frizz, and you can see curls popping and my hair was definitely clean. BUT, the smell was only “ok” and I didn’t like the dry/stripped feeling when I was done washing. </p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p><strong><u><font size="4">Conditioner:</font></u></strong></p> <p>What it’s supposed to do:</p> <blockquote> <p align="justify"><font face="Georgia">The perfect companion to our nourishing, Curl Perfecting Shampoo. An indulgent, penetrating, moisture treatment that restores while supporting healthy-looking natural curls. Made with essential oils plus Pro-Vitamin B5 and Biotin to help replenish and strengthen hair with the natural nutrients it’s thirsting for, leaving your curls under control…which is where they belong. </font></p> <p align="justify"><b><font face="Georgia">Curl Perfecting Conditioner Benefits:</font></b></p> <ul> <li> <div align="justify"><font face="Georgia">Pro-vitamin B5 (Panthenol) – Helps minimize tangles and balance moisture </font></div> <li> <div align="justify"><font face="Georgia">Biotin (Vitamin H): Strengthens hair follicles and helps promote healthy hair </font></div> <li> <div align="justify"><font face="Georgia">Vitamin A (Retinyl Palmitate) - A Vitamin A derivative known for its antioxidant properties and acts as a scalp conditioning agent. It also protects against moisture loss and environmental damage. </font></div> <li> <div align="justify"><font face="Georgia">Vitamin E (Tocopherol) – An antioxidant and conditioning agent that protects hair from environmental damage. </font></div> <li> <div align="justify"><font face="Georgia">Essential Oils of Orange and Lemon </font></div> <li> <div align="justify"><font face="Georgia">Paraben-Free, No Petroleum, Mineral Oil or Artificial Color </font></div></li></ul></blockquote> <p>Ingredients:</p> <blockquote> <p align="justify"><font face="Georgia">Water (Aqua), Cetearyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Cyclopentasiloxane, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Peel Oil, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Oil, Elettaria Cardamomum (Cardamon) Seed Oil, Thuja Occidentalis (Cedar) Leaf Oil, Panthenol (Pro-vitamin B5), Retinyl Palmitate (Vitamin A Palmitate), Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E Acetate), Biotin (Vitamin H), Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Linoleic Acid, Linolenic Acid, Cetrimonium Chloride, Dimethicone, Amodimethicone, Cyclohexasiloxane, Divinyldimethicone/Dimethicone Copolymer, Caprylyl Glycol, Propylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate, Citric Acid, C11-15 Pareth-7, C12-13 Pareth-3, C12-13 Pareth-23, Dicetyldimonium Chloride, Laureth-9, Polyurethane-14, Polyquaternium-37, Polysorbate 60, PEG-45M, PPG-1 Trideceth-6, Trideceth-12, AMP-Acrylates Copolymer, VP/DMAPA Acrylates Copolymer, Tetrasodium EDTA, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Fragrance (Parfum)</font></p></blockquote> <p>Instructions:</p> <blockquote> <p><font face="Georgia">After shampooing with Hair Milk Curl Perfecting Shampoo, apply a quarter-sized amount to hair, comb through from roots to ends. Leave on for 3-5 minutes, rinse thoroughly.</font></p></blockquote> <p> </p> <p align="justify">Soooooo, I was a little leery of following the instructions since that’s not how I NORMALLY condition on wash day after using shampoo, but I went with it because I wanted the review to be “pure” or whatever. LOL, so since I had already thoroughly detangled with Suave Humectant before washing it wasn’t a hassle to comb through my hair. This conditioner immediately made my hair feel a bit less stripped, and it felt like it had slip. . . at first. I don’t think this conditioner has enough slip to apply only a quarter sized amount, so again I added more than the instructions stated. Then I went through and combed my hair with my wide-tooth comb which wasn’t hard at all really. But I don’t know how much of that was the Hair Milk Conditioner, and how much of it was the fact that I’d already pretty much detangled before washing. I don’t think it would have been as easy had I just washed and then conditioned without detangling beforehand, ESPECIALLY considering how much hair was in those twists since they were in for a week (I wanted to leave them in for two, but it didn’t happen. More on that in another post. . . maybe). </p> <p align="justify">The smell, I didn’t care for the smell. It smelled a little better in the bottle than it did on my hair. </p> <p align="justify">I left it on with a shower cap (because hey, I didn’t think it could hurt to add a little body-heat) for 3-5 minutes (I didn’t get an exact time) Here’s my hair after conditioning (click for larger photos):</p> <p align="center"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Q2pf37ogxzhu3Of09x7YVULT20jP2L8sFRb4wPCw9cR4h3oA91KKiNsygTUC3TS_jdC1R5ygo3EfLXMZdPI9m2lS5Q9KsQTEpgM2NqvNbjPdIq-VHDxJXAqR9n9k-Fzt7XUUYyyAlXA/s1600-h/2.2%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaxeVjgZDEwmYt0V83ezoFsDFXp4V5CMedxB0MSt9GhqvR7Xqrtagkl1vt-b-zyiTEMlzuXMmgi8IbFgGl_ZfFj6ykiK-t4Nbq1EK9bWw0Xj9hdE4JewPMB-DOqT2zyzFQHZThhrEN55I/?imgmax=800" width="223" height="240"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOBIfYldx1j8kI42K76YcVU2Zl3UVJVEWePmWxVvWqw36dPcngczaTEWIICdJvXGKEsEBb2MYcnYmx8iapj9blGlKk4ynJTkIBim-1id2mmE1EuDe-mq2g7_ry6cnwrTcUeSGkoRTJMFU/s1600-h/2.3%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhez3w2o88u2jJ8Ka6T92UwhvZLuiJ7gEiX09Y-5fOaB4bD7qLqsZ35-muv8Er0emFZHQIHggSsMCla3e5wVrnFsTzdETi8WrvQ2HgwhXPR1nv1osbyfuOUmzTA7rb3Cb1m5VjxoCGiRMQ/?imgmax=800" width="234" height="240"></a></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Q8YXVgXAJ-5Logog62hMKQVVT6yiM0cUd21Z0XP9QIPNfmABAjdvc7K6_GgJIAOMKz3OZmk9AVuNqYIh3hvpH24G5SWyutMKumoMatp40QG_QmQzZ7JTTp2KzEEoOkIvFPewxpdh444/s1600-h/2.1%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrXaNx5DQ5HK8T94i123RR8MO0JmOqxKIUJ7j11CcH5MROeGWfjIoSkTyKwvglLEaxvoD2bzMo55LkWSu4P1T3h72RV3U4hWFogeUaGhi4XTVs8O_JUBGZH8rPcseE7fFaSyUDcplFUI4/?imgmax=800" width="240" height="206"></a></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p>Here it is after rinsing the conditioner out (click for larger):</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiluLMV5I8hn8Wt9WyJTf4nV7bssanYUW5Hvywu7beN86Zr1_Kqn-W6s3qm8Oo4bhMiNEoKOM_Q-rYk8Xe_EgBjnikmZM1sB51Q8aPVygVKc5mpkqJWlha6MC4AqpF0FC5-BhDAWw1_TQk/s1600-h/3.2%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimzGO9pM154CkhxNFreR1JOI5-d56OfBJ5_Z3SUEfF12liMX8M0d4YzuEJAHRtos8zBOni7GT5LnLfJCmOfec2K_AsWzw_8NlNOH6KZ085ih6DmKfxeLiKuxNG6zgjV1CaXMpCItvlXF0/?imgmax=800" width="188" height="240"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDQf-PzpGGuBa-tBpAd84TkRj8sfubgsVPLDFqAfr1gcVIEX0PtTvQXpH0icfBIOpaBoLPCAeh1kP_HWTnSsbI-PIRJmW6nWv7I_G9ShT9Y4K5RrR-5hGhsqvUXOWFvp02rFQCOMIVt9g/s1600-h/3.1%5B5%5D.jpg"></a></p> <p align="justify"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDT1NOzuDQIzPPcQtlM8YWGVScKAQphmWFz8KYB474vUDSu6Q7S6AFrLKMSI96DOWqA3BQdNQWTUnS6WjryIsPC3xzuec2bqDSBj28kW-xS5wMvI4v861CUoTQdpW_8uQ8NuQ2sQSH1Mg/?imgmax=800" width="240" height="167"></p> <p align="justify"> <font color="#800080"><strong>All in all, I’d give the conditioner 1 out of 5 Afros</strong></font>, Again, curls are poppin, but I’m not convinced they are poppin’ any more than usual. I didn’t like the smell, and my hair doesn’t really feel all that conditioned at this point. I get the same results from co-washing with a cheapie conditioner. </p> <p></p> <p><strong><u><font size="4">Conditioning Cream:</font></u></strong></p> <p>What it’s supposed to do:</p> <blockquote> <p align="justify"><font face="Georgia">A curl’s best friend. A curl boosting, weightless lotion that tames frizz while defining your curls. Adapted from our famous original formula, Hair Milk Lite is made with essential oil of Lemon and Vitamin C for an extra light, moisturizing hold. </font></p> <p align="justify"><b><font face="Georgia">Hair Milk Lite The Curl Booster Benefits</font></b></p> <ul> <li> <div align="justify"><font face="Georgia">Apricot Kernel Oil – Increases moisture </font></div> <li> <div align="justify"><font face="Georgia">Cocoa & Shea Butters – Condition the scalp and hair </font></div> <li> <div align="justify"><font face="Georgia">Vitamin C – Protects from environmental damage </font></div> <li> <div align="justify"><font face="Georgia">Lemon Essential Oil – Gives this formula it’s energizing and uplifting fragrance </font></div> <li> <div align="justify"><font face="Georgia">Paraben-Free, No Petroleum, Mineral Oil or Artificial Color </font></div></li></ul></blockquote> <p>Ingredients:</p> <blockquote> <p align="justify"><font face="Georgia">Water (Aqua), Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Cetearyl Alcohol, Polysorbate 60, Dimethicone, Cyclopentasiloxane, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Kernel Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ Oil, Beeswax, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Peel Oil, Myristic Fragrans (Nutmeg) Kernel Oil, Xanthan Gum, PVP, Silica, Phenyl Trimethicone, Polyurethane-14, AMP-Acrylates Copolymer, Caprylyl Glycol, Hexylene Glycol, Potassium Sorbate, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance (Parfum)</font></p></blockquote> <p>Instructions:</p> <blockquote> <p><font face="Georgia">Apply a dime-sized amount to damp hair and style as desired. Add more as necessary</font></p></blockquote> <p align="justify">Ah, Hair Milk. I’ve used the Original before, I didn’t like it. In fact, the first bottle I got when I was still relaxed so of course it did nothing for me. I ended up giving it to my Grandma and she loves the stuff. My mom gave her the second bottle of her Light Hair Milk and my Grandma loves that too, she likes it a little more because it’s not as heavy which is good for her hair since her curls are way looser (I love my Grandma’s hair, if I live to be old I want it to look like hers). </p> <p align="justify">So it said a dime sized amount to damp hair, so I dried my hair a little with an old white T-Shirt. Then I took some Hair Milk (more than a dime, I figured it’d be okay because it’s “Lite” and my hair definitely needs more than “Lite” conditioning). I put it on my head rubbing it back like I was gong to put it in a ponytail a few times before shaking. here it is right after application:</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_tjp36sOgclZEGoLQms4g-oAqJHQPMtfTLhJelyJm_tmIvn9Z3fxTXbzny-KQhpA8Vj_hgYM7twJXle8VGInxZsWiYBxIrYuAvPiadqwzfuNmHIIGjpdlr3mQy4dwaO7JwG7JpYZQAfw/s1600-h/4.4%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7V-2uvXh_heCJuxEsc77oqXQ7KMqkeYitaawuLMtVu54DdmvSD1wkPfvYYXQQ98LuG74pkmDyMmma7uKNMeE8NcC9MtARhe_UX083PAZIV7fXPTf8KZaP8K-5HD5Y2_P88agcijsgnQc/?imgmax=800" width="227" height="240"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSi7Af-66WG9Mn_Qv_mDiBkLxSeCjgHwei7qGD_Qwz3iqSOqMJ-Wf0_GYY6Qeei2rAoPIMrN7MSfVeQ9kWtHvx-SjDqhS9yo_3EjT6oTty2ptSeFnHMcNe_PX1-wtng35UTCGjj8RX9VE/s1600-h/4.1%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibNFVFcKanU3oxv-mFc4w8JdCcUea2-SeFTRhGTUUDOKahsPNj07Jt5YWDUcWLrUd3GCVs4syh0N-FmsMOJI2ZCbFf5DwQ8VRHqL_Ushgc0rE2mpcRM0w1u-t10l8CG4B-N7hv_xZFXbw/?imgmax=800" width="240" height="181"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBXedD5fX9AiN1_3aWBdM-dLmzNn5XMdcAJWmykte_vmefIJyYlpAx6kteowO_enxHHiRQ1ctHXFp7k3iDugnkmt2NorfMQG67II6U5W49ZFMPpZXEFGQ5JREv3_p7lsV1TuiVPZ3f2nE/s1600-h/4.2%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9JcxGLRP0b0-f9nNTXzlSohQyjvZtLbHENNQuyRu-MR3tryGQrqf6n53ojZbLNZ0iASPgtmXJ_N9db_4vJRhxVGs7RosPcDij74TN1CKljRSi6Dyf-wZS1aUqu27y_NFbU02noa8sSII/?imgmax=800" width="236" height="240"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGhuy_SdPnMvf8fgrxlpXlD5wIiJx-y-bEYvVjDXfdFciVWlQj8OR5au6sW3GCRxqzP7mSEVKJCQK8BHSItH8gBIOljZ5PyN5XEFtH3mZCtLobVKlxQqvUvSVUSHCeh9B94su8hemsanc/s1600-h/4.3%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMAAiQLaZfcxY1zdeALQ7l5xma15kT773CVjK-1z7C1h5h3X94HbTz5Yk_QixpK0CUV1uu9Yz6Wc9diFW1L1-74F54WWr_0m1FhMcijACM9hutdEraIU_KdznfQl4Oe0NTgYXJ5AdQJ5k/?imgmax=800" width="240" height="149"></a> </p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p>I wasn’t worried about the white because I know creams will eventually absorb. </p> <p align="justify">Here it is mostly dry (click for larger):</p> <p align="center"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgTv0uw06ylDRB3AfLxW6Qm0ZdN2C_FKarSsmDxG7yYCSbqs-2aCLdozW2P2dxSdaG2UIEZGX5t-wtX851VH4rmxEr93elgeq4Z27ICQ8uVs_9aMhq_x7tn4sI4JSMfn86FV-NvdoH4RE/s1600-h/5.1%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6MFlIBvbSv_X8zADrx9XQ0NUb0MdFDUVFFhTl7YmY0nv9wN37zg05mzt83maH2EHJkwK2clp9UTluCoRT0CzouSkiZA87M8bbc6pvRuiAdiXKdUNQVz6HsaJ8OFOf_TIGLMFIVjHYlVo/?imgmax=800" width="230" height="240"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhumk4RgbDoC0Bi-JvvWhwOIVg75buu2-iJqWXZTT2Tm_ip2jHZdVKLE_07o6tPgLv3-Q-GmP1gBdQhM1znD5OV2fJrjS7spxNegJmSlAxLdkwWKVKf-8yXolhX3Bia2vr87WnCtOc3FHI/s1600-h/5.2%5B7%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY_gKnKDLaLC-oTn5k2u1zFWcsZaczILNSOLXhyEtLJg4Eq8hWchl_LSA7RqF800EIFpRQMRDfCZow82U8CQq4oE3i4XWvCn3x82Ri0rrOpthKAun42ETvm_kD2x0_Ut55C6xG1wZpsFE/?imgmax=800" width="177" height="240"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXzJnQg7elCS4wCe5mFJyPEvgReah7IeLS4xJwxV0oU4HdMBSq45Cmnz8JUBjwj2UD92tlH7kSt2GYw2l_qt7rFBeoXRXfOyCnKSyErfgZJ94V3F65OLW0tNMpPr3RF1JDts_zu_nabow/s1600-h/5.3%5B5%5D.jpg"></a><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTmiq0elWlEYGGXTaP2n3XpYAV3CjiPusaJt5FM9r2f54TelUV5Z7rhN1Bxko0JJ9oyoiTV8NMnlK9AGDiWQOvOM2neRlaF42ajH0l3JVJvPBs9wU5sn-gXADchYaF236F05eFpky-MCw/?imgmax=800" width="240" height="186"></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p align="justify">Now it IS soft, and as you can see it’s actually pretty defined. Makes me wonder if maybe the Original Hair Milk would work better with the Shampoo and Conditioner. Buuuuuuuuuuut, the smell is making me want to throw up. I WOULD wash my hair again right now, but it’s late and I don’t feel like sitting under a dryer. </p> <p>But again, I’m not convinced that this product (the smell of which makes me nauseous) does anything I can’t get from just a regular leave-in conditioner the smell of which doesn’t make me sick. </p> <p align="justify"><font color="#800080"><strong>All in all, I’d give the Lite Hair Milk 3 out of 5 Afros</strong></font>, My hair IS soft, and it IS pretty defined. I don’t really feel like I can run my fingers through my hair, but that’s a usual for me just because of how my coils form. Once my hair is dry, at least at this length, it shall not be moved. LOL. I don’t TOTALLY hate this product, but I definitely will NOT be using it again. </p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-77170729996466633772010-07-29T18:13:00.001-04:002010-08-30T18:10:42.009-04:00BAA Challenge Month 3<p>So I’m actually on time this time! LOL</p> <p align="justify">I didn’t really do anything different this month. I did get some Yes, to Cucumbers and some Suave Humectant that I’ve been playing around with the last couple of weeks. I tried a new style: Bantu-Knot Out. I loved that style of course. I didn’t do many WNGs this go round. I did re-incorporate Castor Oil. </p> <p align="justify">Hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. LOL! I am thinking about getting the Yes, to Cucumbers shampoo, but it has sulfates in it, so I’m still marinating on it. Oh, and I’ve been adding Raw Honey and EVOO to every DC. I can’t tell you the ratios, I just kinda eyeball it. </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify">Without further ado, the pictures:</p> <a name='more'></a> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify">Month 1:</p> <p align="justify"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihsctNgf6xzZS9RWrhyGUnBNVGBFQSICRd8QXdrLykP6gWsL3MeAPCODXQbpxmJA1-u5f8LjCIBLJCui60JdxkhJ77bcOI_SEOgVS-WjrCHVPns7wXYPnubTemmqk_8oZoNaB2EO-npuw/?imgmax=800" width="220" height="404" /> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFyqns4MhwFVFmPPNNLLxWRx3pSPB2RPP18XQKTmTG2oAFMuwlwcWo_2iJFdZ3ACqq5OGu6La3C4Io_bjKwI27mKXdm8RKhFLTZGTwsuFTNnWk-xX8MS0SZ6dRKfSIuy1ZPuRCDdiia3A/?imgmax=800" /> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG8z0_I3TXPoeTyX7xkqjMxMspQjv2QCk8TacPZdl8sYt8zTJtb0k-LS-nlTStiLH1JADHQlfP7dec2mAxUz14xNEuEhTVjU8PwBEqVcgQRoSQmWdbkBXckpSKbDIHhZbyLy7u5q8Agoc/?imgmax=800" /> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQzcJ_m9UHoy6PsVbVCH2dzBYv2xfu0nNlbTCn5lh6pNvkruClhcGq-K5zxAWBx5LQmkBFIKHjYR3H8Gn469EefoAGr4VKheRrxuukWWLfWZew5CZA_7tdX6TiAsVGl9g79Qmhi3tBtu4/?imgmax=800" width="298" height="422" /></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify">Month 3:</p> <p><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjudGnsyTEDXD8Pnwh6i8jXX4jR5bENcYJYqZG1r5cJT8sjNeq7x1rk5bwbRbZ4Wxe2dGqjG8AqZWkpD6CoHgeyMzs9AhHxROFwLV7RORpqwVcE3Gma43XXh7V-ghyjh0EXAl1lNwCFQrk/?imgmax=800" width="187" height="477" /><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipk0WEvilpwKfPnQKSJN0IMmPFx7hLS6_R6uivYF-rhOcBtKL8xrFZaoCRJBvV77O2lLXJNlgePEEOZVqZAp6BfegN9GAWt2WdbUmK5obIVUxX6jHawf2-ZRoTQCA5QvC7XrUu5FqZO0w/?imgmax=800" width="338" height="482" />  <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBG7a8z2g3kkwT0OM_HPV5noRVByWGdg3c_LkFRImSDQ1L061OwPqhtG4T5lB1vjlfBUt18zE_90QAy7Ohvqit4ERZ0YSyzIviA7dm2BEb6NdMHZcRxWIJQpHkRbcsbTZCcH_A8-wSoRg/?imgmax=800" width="220" height="333" /><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj86c_5iCUwmR6oYdNpcFR7j0wcBk9mVc1Pkgjbko_RZwi0-noZt6NaG5HXmAnz3F-a0n2Jf3fQgIYzf81-cZh4Uu4Wd5JzZe99mm5syD5L4evvcMrmVbODJ7MrWzbmNUjiQrjy5VGoTLU/?imgmax=800" width="338" height="322" /></p> <p> </p> <p>That’s my Mom’s hand in the back picture, I needed an assist. </p> <p> </p> <p>Again, my shrinkage amazes and amuses me. LOL</p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-46448979753015117492010-07-25T19:00:00.001-04:002010-07-25T19:02:18.369-04:00Bantu-Knot-Out<p align="justify">This was actually done in Month 2 (and it shall be tagged as Month 2), I was just too lazy to do it then.</p> <p align="justify">So I finally got around to doing some Bantu-Knots, they weren’t comfortable to sleep in at all. Here’s the final result of the first set:</p> <p align="center"> </p> <p align="center"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFoEY5b6aAqx175UDSqVmVxTrkbTKr03h-2FPnsnCpNc6X07sonEu0SebddQmGEVFekf5QPyMev5aVT1RKz6pG1xwtxRdw-V4vJmjDwBVyqmWCVlvXic9mPX-LuwWdHMEtwRSYxd3Zwx4/s1600-h/July19-2010%5B10%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjat_eF4FwDdVzGPEbAkNmmY_30WWoVvsxUUWnoYLN41UJZbPunqROT_uv_RyvTwaH3RpabwZnDm98Fq3jraHy8j80PqxEFLDfX6hVuI6tr_3uZWd97LSFQPppQZ47O1woW-uX9DdPk8zc/?imgmax=800" width="214" height="240" /></a> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw0stjEZbT5xHV8aFJ62AJpdVZ6MO-Q3vruWf6loIlBrWsKN8mLF6XxtJqYYLiLCEOBkYXeJwvAsE1NvhEy_BokJoS0v5XlaYzd2TyhyphenhyphenUf8XQEGtNXW-He8q_BhV33xj7VeJC8elzJut4/?imgmax=800" width="240" height="236" /> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHZER6Hds87LpNYuukQeAGCL3WwzSaLSYn9-yi8WdW9laAPKt0RBZy4jxoocwrenXe2uz5H6HlEaM1Dow6nrkE-7qb6cbSxcvF1QK2XHpAkpyx8jZuL7zY_e-CmUCYLavyKL7zn0A1_UI/?imgmax=800" width="220" height="240" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlRocCsr7VSZQMaCls0MAvBJNKZuLhHeTPCpSiy7rsmrLanHsZ_PheY3iGWaHwkpQNOvMbS11F6Z1Xfn_kH6fFw7rHquaHRMIZh4zRKq71XHrDSBasAonw2Yvp-pdoi4KtEwhRt_cFoc/s1600-h/July19-2010-3%5B5%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5XO0WuVTUlmgtojoacYXCd1ZD0nhQaHoZJ2yU9oTlFS_JV19kLRXjnZEqLfqSkguhgu_GEdpOrgshYHe-1h7claXiHq-oyBFqoIKCPPP2gdu3guLkTGJp5xHAK1Iunp3fqu9htp4XN4c/?imgmax=800" width="240" height="188" /></a> </p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p align="justify">(click for larger pictures). Pretty, eh? LOL, well once the humidity got to my hair it looked like:</p> <p> </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9P7ISJrMXuGVUI9iP_kZzgGXS7rJWlHEz5pj3cE0N0sMOtZZC6HYKaMRYz-SC6UdoASsSKYOPM5apfK9f9H-hfL9SU33L-7fztJZAQJ8Dq1rxuApLX_wsVWHDIIke2v36PEGcy5cTXcw/s1600-h/July19-2010-4%5B6%5D.jpg"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxkgSFK-QXPKvVhyphenhyphenHGJOAkvagp9RBG8jODdlNuPAai5Qr3315icWmBQDdbwtg9lgw3z_j_qkL6OReTu02tRYx36Xc3dUCIHutBToOIeEMIZjiT9mAL7HdtlY87KltRJI0dwC4uu26Xoks/?imgmax=800" width="210" height="240" /></a> (click for larger picture)</p> <p align="justify">So I put them back in that night, and the new set lasted for the rest of the week WITHOUT me having to “sleep pretty” because I don’t “sleep pretty”, when I try to do that, I don’t end up getting much sleep.</p> <p align="justify"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-d-QjrHv0MZegCOx-rtz08QqMpii94Ua4HRgf9vCDz99q_v1NFQ5eQCu-p3zRwwSMwjoy9VH9VX3bhVSPHCrXK1ILltJVFNmBAbGutMmTLOfKRUlIBr8rC14JEMXwq_isB6Pvz65nDuQ/s1600-h/July20-2010%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfW6de0HIHebslmBke8EsqRBDbLfuQ35ZR7z4qdYupQxzVUvIZyfWDCucm9CIxAOYp7WcaYJN1noXX8GbMIbIa2aHEwdhYYzP87ZCw8DRxI31iRH-280q_eBODyZYiO2X9MyX1SkpuaNg/?imgmax=800" width="201" height="240" /></a> </p> <p align="justify">It wasn’t as fluffy as the first one, but it was still very pretty. Anyway, over the fold to see how I did it. </p> <a name='more'></a> <p align="justify">So first I washed and DC’d. I think I used ORS Aloe Vera Shampoo because my scalp was giving me fits, which meant it wasn’t clean enough. I only do sulfates once every couple of months, so I figured I’d be okay. After that I DC’d with ORS Replenishing Condis, Raw Honey, and EVOO (I still haven’t found anything better than this combo. I don’t measure, I do the old school way of cooking which is just doing it by eye. But I do know I use a lot of Honey and EVOO and Conditioner because I like my head to be fully saturated). </p> <p align="justify">After I finished DC’ing, I did my “old school” (LOL) sealing method from when I was transitioning. That meant a water based leave in (I think I used my Aussie Hair Insurance), Castor Oil, and ORS Olive Oil Moisturizing Hair Lotion. That’s it, I banded my hair to let it dry stretched bececause I tried doing the knots on wet hair, and my hair isn’t long enough yet for me to do that without driving myself crazy. Here’s a pic of my hair banded:</p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb94808NhbUD0lUviqYTSCzqOKjldb5e5OLXCOVH3EOX0YQoY5eigM4czAwAzxQEeClHNa6lTMpZXLgoX2woXN3Tb3PypOQF_qSJt0HJrx21zi_5fiDnvJ9_kLthyT6abOwS2Tvg4R8pw/s1600-h/July17-2010%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0SXyEShWhyphenhyphen1TKV4TNCF44NKTilffqACu-2QNIscS5Bu5z8q5lWhVnrsRbfZdgQMTH1ZwTi56FyO_BVPRvTjOd2De_HgLihwFrodYErQgANEY7JyyEDgyZuD1d5nS7PnUHbsM9sDf4VEc/?imgmax=800" width="199" height="240" /></a> </p> <p align="justify">After it was almost dry (probably 4 hours later) I took them down section by section and detangled again using a cool hand held dryer with a comb attachment (I know this is a no-no, but I only did it for probably 20 seconds per section, and my hair was already thoroughly detangled before banding it) to get it more dry. After that I put in my Bantu-Knots (notice, without adding anything to “set” the knots, which is why I think the humidity did a hatchet job on it that Monday ~Lol~)</p> <p align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMSFwIPMVrUHxto8_0pzFy6fO01X4QGIycS3CbfBm9HxL4JkdlglFscMiYNObZI9VYcMGI-CUrdBtNryuzzAUyLA6F_0JQCbceDzwXpP6RVMEAhg5BIpLvMXoLr-zSXZ-71pFvf_FNoig/s1600-h/July18-2010-1%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="" alt="" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij0QyaJv12SLzHwN-hkmdNq3Uuncp7kS6_-W8h5p3IVUFlom-w9fCEmDSgxebIa7k7HFF8LJjNbCKs4AgWAl55DUkPD01Qm3P9pSu1CsrY2cj2NC01M3SZ-JgeXCkuq-aHsMaj-bKIhHw/?imgmax=800" width="240" height="119" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Db_cj6seznbyhzXz2kNt7rvPCegf4o4eaz0krRKqNrcAKCG7b6sbYQFiNY6OFp2xrVeICG-ru8fBLWyqcQjVTsUmmx5RYSJaL2rzNejMFhcw-_It2MhDdLO-GNw1ZckfCt42uTWH_0o/s1600-h/July18-2010-2%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 15px 5px 0px; display: inline" title="" alt="" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRnT60GNAhzDpIyyY5B8vY7doSyuwMyqbmQ0kJfxbW_jOs6iEW64CJ-C-Ntc-mo_o6JsbokXPw7Dj0j4GeQghq8_eggwkPQytmEtR4r_u3DNPIsKKYOpX-DI0kDfTmIg7LP6Lhmdx6cyQ/?imgmax=800" width="187" height="240" /></a> </p> <p align="justify">I used the method where  you two strand twist and THEN knot it. This is the first time I did them that way and liked the outcome (I didn’t care for that method when I was transitioning.</p> <p align="justify">As you can see I used my ponytail holders to keep them in place, I didn’t want to use bobby pins because I don’t have any plastic ones, and I’m not scared to use the metal ones (LOL). As Bantu-knots tend to do, it was very hard to sleep in them. It wasn’t a comfortable 3 nights (the two on the weekend, and then again on Monday when I r e-did them). </p> <p align="justify">I did them in larger sections because I wanted a looser curl, I think it came out beautifully. When I took them down I just carefully removed the ponytail holders and kinda pulled so the knot would come out, then I gently took apart the twist. Sometimes I took the twist apart a little more to cover some parts (this is what made it look fluffier) since the parts were so huge. I only wish that humidity hadn’t gotten to me. The day after the humidity, I re did them using some ORS Wrap and Set Mousse, and like I said before they lasted until Friday. </p> <p align="justify">I have quite a few weddings coming up where I’m a bridesmaid, at least for the first one this may be the style I do, it’s cute, I can do it myself, and I don’t have to worry about what some stylist may be putting in my hair. </p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-21666877932705199252010-07-22T10:00:00.000-04:002010-07-22T10:00:06.073-04:00Two Months Down!<p>In honor of my second month natural, I made a video of what I did this month. Enjoy!</p> <p><object width="540" height="405"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/G4bHGWPWViE&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0&color1=FFFFFF&color2=FFFFFF"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/G4bHGWPWViE&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0&color1=FFFFFF&color2=FFFFFF" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="540" height="405"></embed></object></p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-56485421557083986752010-07-17T12:23:00.001-04:002010-07-17T12:23:38.444-04:00LOL<p>Gotta love shrinkage. . . </p> <p> </p> <p> <img style="display: inline" title="this is my hair a week ago Sunday" alt="this is my hair a week ago Sunday" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQgQSnaqu2TpyN9pePoiQKJNEVk41IHKuFrAe_Q39Q9DMgcGA3AH_1HJsRVAH5QTLsxipzf97kMeemOEkO0iiBv64umEOV504Fyxw_OAO8XWcPPrDgzeptw4NgDF9gTweSEZwEw1222hI/?imgmax=800" width="498" height="377" /> <img style="display: inline" title="this is my hair today. . . " alt="this is my hair today. . . " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUjawPveSk4SyISVLbpm6Cv_mISwtJDOGDVgg3blNuNJKuAODGSW6EBIzXJyq4byFQpRv_6gNAob19nclygke4vPpy9obYw9TDzYDgp-lyXmek33xy-eC9Sp_7fRuCPwFpxCUhDyb5Krc/?imgmax=800" width="398" height="480" /></p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-24731192547541455412010-07-13T18:14:00.001-04:002010-07-13T18:14:49.859-04:00SheaMoisture Organic Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment Masque Review<p align="justify">Okay, I am totally backlogged on everything I keep meaning to blog. LOL, I’m going to try to catch up tonight. This is the product I’m reviewing:</p> <p><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="" alt="" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_aPSY1sY2Z8g/TDzlVt42U_I/AAAAAAAAAXI/-Xvo2ttnESM/DSC04649%5B4%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" height="225" /> </p> <blockquote> <p><font face="Georgia">The ingredients are:</font></p> <ul> <li><font face="Georgia">Deionized Water</font> </li> <li><font face="Georgia">Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter)*</font> </li> <li><font face="Georgia">Argan Oil</font> </li> <li><font face="Georgia">Cetyl Esters</font> </li> <li><font face="Georgia">Sea Kelp Extract</font> </li> <li><font face="Georgia">Panthenol (Vitamin B-5)</font> </li> <li><font face="Georgia">Ammonium Salt</font> </li> <li><font face="Georgia">Essential Oil Blend</font> </li> <li><font face="Georgia">Avocado Oil</font> </li> <li><font face="Georgia">Lonicera Caprifolium (Honeysuckle) Flower (and) Japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle) Flower extract</font> </li> <li><font face="Georgia">Tocopherol (Vitamin E)</font> </li> <li><font face="Georgia">Hyssopus Officinalis Extract</font> </li> <li><font face="Georgia">Salvia Officinalis (Sage) Leaf and Equisetum Arvense Extract</font> </li> <li><font face="Georgia">Soybean Oil</font> </li> <li><font face="Georgia">Daucus Carota Sativa (Carrot) Seed Oil</font> </li> </ul> <p><font face="Georgia">*Certified Organic Ingredient</font></p> </blockquote> <p> </p> <p align="justify">Now as you can see, this product is supposed to be for Dry, Damaged hair. I don’t think my hair is or was particularly dry or damaged, but I’d seen other people on different sites raving about it, so I was excited to try it. </p> <p align="justify">First thing is first, this stuff smells DELICIOUS. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to eat it or put it on my hair, and while it was on my hair, I kinda wanted to eat my hair. LOL. Also, the price was pretty reasonable at $9.99 for 12oz. </p> <p align="justify">Other than the smell, this product disappointed me. It has a consistency like cake icing (the kind you buy at the store), but when you put it on it doesn’t feel nearly that thick unless you use a whole bunch of it. When I used it I left it on for 45 minutes to an hour. I tried it twice, once without heat, and once with heat. Neither result impressed me. My hair didn’t really feel particularly soft and/or moisturized afterwards.</p> <p align="justify">The instructions state that you can also use this product as a leave-in, but I don’t think that will work if you aren’t doing something like twists. I tried it as a leave in for a wash n go, but it’s too heavy for that. That may have been my own heavy-handedness more than it was the product, but I applied the same amount as I do of my Garnier Fructis leave in. I had sat under the dryer to expedite the drying process because I was gonna go somewhere later that day and didn’t really want to roll out with wet hair, and it was drying WHITE (if you remember my KCCC experience, you know I HATE that), so I ended up rinsing it out like it was just a DC and my hair did fine. </p> <p align="justify">So basically, I don’t think this product was really all that moisturizing. I will try to use up what I have but I will probably add honey and EVOO to it to see if I get better results. </p> <p align="justify">I will not be repurchasing this product. Heck, I might give away what I have, I don’t know. . . LOL. Anyone wanna trade? </p> <p align="justify">I give this product 2/5 Afros for the smell and the price. </p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-53144908472995648082010-07-04T20:10:00.001-04:002010-07-04T20:15:50.982-04:00BAA Challenge Month 2<p align="justify">Hola chicas, so I’m checking in (late of course) for my  BAA Challenge, month 2</p> <p align="justify">First off, what I’ve been doing since the last length check. I’ve added shampooing once a week to my regimen. Co-washing was great and all while transitioning, but after I BC’d (as I’m sure I mentioned before) I really wanted to start shampooing again. I still co-wash for WNGs and if I’m washing again after an initial wash. The night before I wash, I detangle my hair with water and EVOO, and leave the EVOO on with a conditioning cap and satin bonnet to sleep (aka pre-poo). I use the SheaMoisture shampoo I reviewed below. I shampoo twice, the second time I shampoo I de-tangle with the shampoo in it. </p> <p align="justify">After I finish shampooing, I do my deep condition once a week. I used the SheaMoisture Deep Treatment Masque twice, I don’t think that’s really something I will/want to use every week. Other than that I used my staple ORS Replenishing Conditioner to deep condition. Once or twice I sat under a warm dryer to speed up the process, other times I just left it on with a conditioning cap and my satin bonnet for 30 minutes to an hour. </p> <p align="justify">After I rinsed out the DC in cold water, it was time to style. I think I did mostly twists for the entire month. There was a week in there where I did a bunch of WNGs when I was trying to perfect my method, but so far my go to “protective” style has been twists. Maybe this month I’ll stop being lazy and start trying to do different things like Bantu-knot outs and braid-outs. </p> <p align="justify">When styling I did my traditional sealing method, but I cut out the last step. Since it’s hot outside and too much product on my scalp when I’m sweating makes my head itch, I just do a water based leave in, and then seal with EVOO. Then if I was twisting I’d use my Shea Butter mixture (which my hair and I LOVE). </p> <p align="justify">During the week I’d spritz my hair with water, the last couple of weeks I started using Green Tea for my daily spritz, and it made my hair really soft. </p> <p align="justify">So I haven’t really been using any new products or done anything unusual with my routine. the biggest change I’ve made from my “winter” routine was using EVOO instead of Castor Oil to seal, and skipping the creamy moisturizer to seal, oh and shampooing once a week. </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify">Things I think I want to try for the next month:</p> <ul> <li> <div align="justify">Hot Oil Treatment</div> </li> <li> <div align="justify">Braid-Out</div> </li> <li> <div align="justify">Bantu-knot out</div> </li> <li> <div align="justify">learn how to cornrow/french braid</div> </li> </ul> <p align="justify">I don’t know if that last one will ever happen because I always lose motivation when I try. LOL. So it will be on my list until I accomplish it. <br /></p> <p align="justify">Now for the length checks:</p> <a name='more'></a> <p align="justify"> Month 1:</p> <p align="justify">   <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihsctNgf6xzZS9RWrhyGUnBNVGBFQSICRd8QXdrLykP6gWsL3MeAPCODXQbpxmJA1-u5f8LjCIBLJCui60JdxkhJ77bcOI_SEOgVS-WjrCHVPns7wXYPnubTemmqk_8oZoNaB2EO-npuw/?imgmax=800" width="212" height="396" /> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFyqns4MhwFVFmPPNNLLxWRx3pSPB2RPP18XQKTmTG2oAFMuwlwcWo_2iJFdZ3ACqq5OGu6La3C4Io_bjKwI27mKXdm8RKhFLTZGTwsuFTNnWk-xX8MS0SZ6dRKfSIuy1ZPuRCDdiia3A/[9].jpg?imgmax=800" /> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG8z0_I3TXPoeTyX7xkqjMxMspQjv2QCk8TacPZdl8sYt8zTJtb0k-LS-nlTStiLH1JADHQlfP7dec2mAxUz14xNEuEhTVjU8PwBEqVcgQRoSQmWdbkBXckpSKbDIHhZbyLy7u5q8Agoc/[10].jpg?imgmax=800" /> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQzcJ_m9UHoy6PsVbVCH2dzBYv2xfu0nNlbTCn5lh6pNvkruClhcGq-K5zxAWBx5LQmkBFIKHjYR3H8Gn469EefoAGr4VKheRrxuukWWLfWZew5CZA_7tdX6TiAsVGl9g79Qmhi3tBtu4/[6].jpg?imgmax=800" width="290" height="414" /></p> <p>  </p> <p> </p> <p>Month 2:</p> <p> </p> <p><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNkHhNGrxoXTdHgMZachYi3c1CDNRggjVE94z5aXjFrMTvYol-2TvoY6GfcJqWkSnrJTfBLL4xUg6mY9u9iA1h8nyApjFAQK0YY1uMXbRKpai7LereZe8WZpY_1hdCnPsKLlouRb9RQuY/?imgmax=800" width="195" height="440" /> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5X8YWmRYJ-h6c6WWJ2WNhw2m-NLlDbQcdB0DgtrR-QrTDtH7EIG_FvKsFWioDAd6xhDXV-A02CMqUEXiIG6b5zA4xf_WQ9ONVUK8YaSr2hQSLDdLu7AkkiYZfTDUubR1S6pWGJ696pAk/?imgmax=800" width="292" height="447" /> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii859l3dR7ALjf7toCxgWG0vgtbwx9vateretQIMP713JZ3-jq7oKnUlMMqerBOcdfSx0UDGVfin-GlkkOPtZLOWv12JV9B53RONIaCctZjnND49aFz3U595mWY2DVlpNL2veW3oSy7mw/?imgmax=800" width="206" height="405" /> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_eszjbkZ4t_BoS1cbm2HyEX4-MjtFN-99yl08RJpFqRGme1fBNvHV6xGhEpyH3qj8MHyEqE2L1ZXZoMI81VVJSM6Bgfj056tKzAllICQDCouEnoB51gW-JFE0u0ieXn_MKPEWeAfv1Mw/?imgmax=800" width="332" height="286" /> </p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p align="justify">So far I’m happy with my progress. Next month I will compare the pictures to the first month, not the second month, and so on. That way when I get to the 6th month I will be comparing those photos to the beginning as opposed to the month before. Maybe at the end I’ll also do a timeline progression thing to see how it went from month to month side by side. </p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-29701624863878644172010-06-24T17:27:00.001-04:002010-06-24T17:37:14.917-04:00SheaMoisture Brilliant Curl Shampoo Review<p align="justify">So I’ve had this product for almost a month now, and I’ve been using it to wash at least once a week. I figured I’ve given it enough time for me to write an honest and accurate review of it. Here is a pic of the product of which I speak:</p> <p align="justify"> <img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="" alt="" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_aPSY1sY2Z8g/TCPNuiTGFAI/AAAAAAAAAWI/PSzcsPm1AXE/shampoo5.jpg?imgmax=800" width="237" height="302" /> </p> <p> </p> <p align="justify">First thing’s first. This stuff SMELLS AWESOME. I know the scent of something shouldn’t be your biggest concern, but for me if I don’t like the smell of a product there’s no way I’m going to want to use it consistently. The smell is pretty coconutty. </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify">Ingredients are as follows: </p> <blockquote> <p><font face="Georgia">Here are the ingredients in order:</font></p> <ul> <li><font face="Georgia">Deionized Water</font> </li> <li><font face="Georgia">Decyl Glucoside (Sugar Beets)</font> </li> <li><font face="Georgia">Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil* </font></li> <li><font face="Georgia">Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter)*</font> </li> <li><font face="Georgia">Aloe Vera Leaf Juice</font> </li> <li><font face="Georgia">Vitamin E</font> </li> <li><font face="Georgia">Melia Azadirachta (Neem) Seed Oil</font> </li> <li><font face="Georgia">Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate (Coconut Oil)</font> </li> <li><font face="Georgia">Panthenol (Vitamin B-5)</font> </li> <li><font face="Georgia">Rosemary Extract</font> </li> <li><font face="Georgia">Silk Protein</font> </li> <li><font face="Georgia">Lonicera Caprifolium (Honeysuckle) Flower (and) Lonicera Japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle) Flower Extract</font> </li> </ul> <p> <br /><font face="Georgia">* Certified Organic Ingredients</font></p> </blockquote> <p> </p> <p align="justify">All good stuff, nothing that is on the “bad” ingredient list for Natural hair. The price is also VERY reasonable. I paid $9.99 (plus tax) for it at the local Target, and I have a feeling it will last me until like the end of the year. In the picture above that was after like 5 or 6 washes (one day I used it to wash my hair 3 times in a row trying to figure out a WNG, I think I talked about it in a previous entry). </p> <p align="justify">If lather is important to you, then you will LOVE this stuff. A little more than quarter sized amount is enough to get you a nice lather all over your head the FIRST time you shampoo. You know how sometimes with shampoos you don’t get a really good lather out of shampoos until the SECOND time you do it. Not with this stuff. You get awesome lathering EVERY time you use it. </p> <p align="justify">The only thing I did before washing my hair was pre-poo overnight with EVOO. Since this is a sulfate-free shampoo I didn’t have to do any of the diluting stuff I’ve heard other people do to their hair. This shampoo does NOT leave your hair stripped at all. In fact, I think I could get away with not conditioning afterwards and just going straight to my leave-in and some EVOO for WNGs. I’m not going to TEST that theory (LOL), but I think I could get away with it. </p> <p align="justify">Additionally, if you want to revive your curls, this shampoo will DEFINITELY do it for you. While washing my hair after the first rinse I can feel curls popping all over the place (especially in the back where my curls are tighter). It’s a wonderful feeling. The bottle says that you can use it for detangling, and I will say that the bottle isn’t lying. I like to rake my fingers through (not a comb!) to get any shed hairs I may have missed detangling the night before. </p> <p align="justify">When I rinse my hair out it feels REALLY soft. For those of you who watch Rachel Ray, you know how she’s always talking about “smell-a-vision”? Well I wish computers had “feel-a-vision” because my hair feels so wonderful after using this shampoo. I think it does what it says it will do. I think there was an accompanying regular conditioner or hair milk type thing, I may have to go back and get some of that. If just the shampoo is as moisturizing as I find it to be, it may be even BETTER if I use it as a set. </p> <p align="justify">Which brings me to another point, this product DOES work well with others. I don’t think  you will HAVE to purchase it in a set of other SheaMoisture products if you don’t want to. </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify">Here’s my hair after my first use of the shampoo, this was BEFORE I used any type of conditioner:</p> <p align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh564YW0lrRfHBUzXrQt8-6cp8wwuX5pq0onzz4EHPf19hzIHr1kHXP_eYvQWvqd9rnZQDhFyDTftIJx4z4cdxYalhusE7WicmC4NIWmle3ucvpVFywH6D8G43jxT9UXoDZKHxdSWUQU_g/s1600-h/curl%5B6%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOrTmN5wNfsApVGd9n-NBiGOi8S_lXaX-yX6Ug1RjEYparVrY1TziJRypygPWZRXCwphSyZP1RjJgEcNjKwv3J8yVtHKUczpM9py4rrK8z4YR65DHeMDrU1Jr_eKSUn7lydJThg0PFBQI/?imgmax=800" width="563" height="365" /></a> </p> <p>Here’s my hair on the 22nd after washing with the shampoo and DCing with my ORS/Honey/EVOO mix:</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxPExQHuy70OE9huVTw4npbq-GwRlNNePWVLUBSO0B2TZ5oX5XcEL2K60bjkgUOAovD_B_kfOvHveL8xWPtnxRj4SsFs1pMck33lSiZX-TXPd255iLhLRX5XxZUY4DVjqti58GwI4Ud6U/s1600-h/June22-2010-2%5B11%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjqq2NRlALXORRrbYAkkYTYsheUD5wsZPOEmiGDdEfOBTC1vwiKGcwn44oNBUpGmbQhykUOKX0TeIcUYqeEbM0QyLejOYIIc3vlGoTp2UWToiJFytom3RlgxTifxmHEautG-67E13E1kc/?imgmax=800" width="554" height="340" /></a> </p> <p align="justify">My hair loves this stuff (oh and in the second pic, that’s water running down my forehead, not a vein or something. LOL). If you click on the pics I think you may be able to see larger versions.</p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify">So basically I give this shampoo 5 Afros out of 5 (LOL). I recommend it to anyone with curls and thick hair. There is not one thing I dislike about this shampoo. It’s also excellent for your scalp. </p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-29319282310620499562010-06-23T11:24:00.001-04:002010-06-23T11:51:37.321-04:00Green Tea, Oh How I Love Thee. . .<p align="justify">let me count the ways ~lol~<font size="2"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_aPSY1sY2Z8g/TCIm_kDJaLI/AAAAAAAAAV4/fiNh-yHJlRE/s1600-h/Herbal_Tea%5B6%5D.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; display: inline" title="Herbal_Tea" alt="Herbal_Tea" align="right" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_aPSY1sY2Z8g/TCInB_brEWI/AAAAAAAAAV8/IBTItEgTfnw/Herbal_Tea_thumb%5B4%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="317" height="230" /></a></font></p> <p align="justify">So I participate in a couple of hair forums, and on one of them a few ladies would talk about doing “tea rinses” to their hair. It sounded interesting, and since the ladies had beautiful hair I thought “hey, maybe there’s something to this”. So, I started doing some research on tea and hair. As it turns out, I only had green tea in the house so I wanted to see what benefits it has for the hair. Here’s what one article had to say about it:</p> <p align="justify"> </p> <blockquote><h4 align="justify"><font face="Georgia">Soothes Dandruff and Psoriasis</font></h4> <li> <div align="justify"><font face="Georgia">Research also suggests that green tea can help with scalp conditions such as dandruff and psoriasis by soothing skin and reducing inflammation. Using a shampoo that contains green tea or using a green tea rinse after shampooing can help reduce scalp irritation. Many commercial anti-dandruff shampoos contain carcinogens, making green tea products a safer alternative. When choosing a green tea shampoo, look for one in which green tea appears close to the top of the list of ingredients and that does not contain harmful chemicals such as sodium lauryl sulfate or parabens, which could contribute to scalp irritations. </font></div> <h4 align="justify"><font face="Georgia">Strengthens and Conditions</font></h4> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><font face="Georgia">Green tea also contains vitamin C, vitamin E and panthenol, which are all common ingredients in hair conditioner. Vitamin E restores dry or damaged hair, while vitamin C guards against damage from UV radiation. Panthenol, a provitamin, strengthens and softens hair and prevents split ends. Choose hair products that contain real green tea extract or EGCG. </font></font></div> <p align="justify"><font face="Georgia">Read more: </font></font><a href="http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5002209_how-green-tea-benefits-hair.html#ixzz0rgj2IALf"><font size="2" face="Georgia">How Green Tea Benefits Hair | eHow.com</font></a><font face="Georgia"><font size="2"> </font><font size="2"><a href="http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5002209_how-green-tea-benefits-hair.html#ixzz0rgj2IALf">http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5002209_how-green-tea-benefits-hair.html#ixzz0rgj2IALf</a></font></font></p> </li> </blockquote> <a name='more'></a> <p align="justify"><font face="Georgia"></font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Georgia">It also supposedly makes hair grow, but I’m more concerned with dandruff/itchiness and conditioning. So I made up some green tea using loose herbs and a personal tea maker thing I got from Wal-Mart. I can’t remember the name of it, but here’s a picture:</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="2" face="Georgia"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="" alt="" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_aPSY1sY2Z8g/TCInC4qKoYI/AAAAAAAAAWA/KlMbTZiRe3w/DSC04269%5B4%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="212" height="240" /> </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Georgia"></font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Georgia">So it’s like a little tea kettle and cup, it’s for making individual cups of tea. I think if you fill it it actually makes a little over 1 cup. So I’d put in two teaspoons of the herbs to a cup of water. Then I’d microwave the water and let it stew for about 5-10 minutes. Then I’d put it in a little plastic container and throw it in the fridge. I filled a little spray bottle (like one of the $1 travel ones you can find at Wal-Mart or CVS) and I keep it in the fridge. I wake up in the morning and spritz some on, and I spritz some on before bed. I use this instead of water now (something I picked up from one of the ladies on CurlyNikki.com. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Georgia">After doing this for a week my hair was soooooo soft and moisturized. Here’s the twist-out I ended up with after using this method:</font></p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:66721397-FF69-4ca6-AEC4-17E6B3208830:2ccb1e1a-7a8a-4e65-b229-d9ad878d8075" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a style="border:0px" href="http://cid-fd239753d21d4071.skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?page=browse&resid=FD239753D21D4071!152&type=5"><img style="border:0px" alt="View Twist-Out" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWFrrSZtTeGBYJficRArxm81cH7Ydv1f86t7WhiwaD-fDNDpjECWdzMtWJ4qcHZ-hfD8444z8QU9PvG0cHnMVQG5dbzt5VLICYbzaqj8r8q_92d4v0zvnx_kD9UT7uqNUoQM-taxCEdmA/?imgmax=800" /></a><div style="width:567px;text-align:right;" ><a href="http://cid-fd239753d21d4071.skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?page=browse&resid=FD239753D21D4071!152&type=5">View Full Album</a></div></div> <p><font face="Georgia"></font></p> <p><font face="Georgia"></font></p> <p><font face="Georgia"></font></p> <p><font face="Georgia"></font></p> <p><font face="Georgia"></font></p> <p><font face="Georgia"></font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Georgia">Now, I didn’t do a great job of getting the tea on my scalp, I really need to figure out a failsafe way to moisturize my scalp. My HAIR was really soft and moisturized, but my scalp was dry, and I ended up with a lot dandruff for like the first time in a long time. I think that also may have been from the fact that I didn’t DC last week. I only co-washed. So I washed my hair with my SheaMoisture Brilliant Curl Shampoo yesterday and DC’d with ORS mixed with Honey, EVOO, and a couple of drops of Jojoba Oil. My scalp feels MUCH better. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Georgia">I think the next time I wash I’ll actually try the tea as a rinse as well as a spritz. But basically, I say if you haven’t experimented with tea, you should give it a shot! I may even try drinking more green tea too (even though I don’t care too much for the taste). </font></p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-60718778418335632152010-06-23T10:37:00.001-04:002010-06-23T10:37:21.333-04:00One Month Natural (As Of Yesterday)<p align="justify">So yesterday was my one month anniversary! YAY me! So what did I learn in the first month?:</p> <ul> <li> <div align="justify">Conditioner only does not work for me as far as WNGs</div> </li> <li> <div align="justify">Gel doesn’t really work either</div> </li> <li> <div align="justify">Leave-In Conditioner and EVOO works wonderfully for my WNGs</div> </li> <li> <div align="justify">My smaller twists look better if I just grab and twist </div> </li> <li> <div align="justify">Trying to part my hair is definitely a process. I’m hoping it will get easier as my hair gets longer (so it’ll be easier to clip out of the way)</div> </li> <li> <div align="justify">My hair apparently LOVES green tea</div> </li> <li> <div align="justify">Detangling at night and pre-pooing the night before washing = happy hair and a happy me</div> </li> <li> <div align="justify">SheaMoisture Brilliant Curl Shampoo is awesome on so many levels (review pending)</div> </li> </ul> <p align="justify">Here’s some of the styles I’ve done over the last month:</p> <a name='more'></a> <p align="justify"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="Twist n Curl" alt="Twist n Curl" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9xKaneleL3WwW8DyM1A4mjVIPoYddzJZGuV6ltxLtMtuqp6ipdSFOC_SgRxmsq_YugHRJQVFazrt8uxSgYQ97PfowV909HlPotFGwtZFpvgrHGgLYMjZZSLBLaMyokSFtdGFqoS98DTk/?imgmax=800" width="213" height="240" /><img style="display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="Twists" alt="Twists" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXCjaN4mE4LdDefEDkS8rvHMKiwf9QM2UdorStCygszYdQLBchfDfI_MPjVBHt5XEJp4bGx3895uN3QREV4CXK-WeO-S-Hyv8yU7Nll1hoMzRyI6kn2O33LbDEH9H7nfYGqhJ6tIsSiY/?imgmax=800" width="199" height="240" /> <img style="display: inline" title="Twists" alt="Twists" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW4pC8yFNeGVb-PtyfRmsBsUVU520rH1anE2h8VdnWENT0qK3gCH1rqaeN3UUVzhRN8iBNmGqGtf9Bi8s6fNNLNn9qVyPp7dUphE61XwrPWKQkiHQjE7ACAzUCJZVLJHyEsGl5Y-7WVK8/?imgmax=800" width="207" height="240" />  <img style="display: inline" title="WNG Puff" alt="WNG Puff" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEJbZ5RjaJ_MW0U0VQwsIJsABPQbup58RWH2zFOecTgCkwoOYK-MLbA1nKWW6_ZWHI-cyz59A5ghxPNGNJR4Ur5udNH1_KXXNuYP4NEo4ndojOmltHocB6isYaEKqtij7dtZsJiWCiivI/?imgmax=800" width="240" height="184" /> <img style="display: inline" title="WNG Puff" alt="WNG Puff" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixuZ77k3pLmHsioc09AOyTA6PPI1iMMO2-4ZwYz39Jo27T96a2Y-NxiKh1Oc__v4lZj0uDUd0KsAmj_eWRLWlkxKBaWSZ1N3SUg9D7ZCxOHQtbC_YoQUS0dLlcc7IcdtgqIH70_2hBJ_E/?imgmax=800" width="212" height="240" /><img style="display: inline" title="Coils" alt="Coils" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhArkCtmM_T0ZOYKTRwFZaUMzkmGNIWtIwLD2S7b9ZIj1fFj-8HvpxT7FIsNom6cNFPvm-GxMnC-qxcloNJf6TsFCcdiEyAgEAtGxctT2O-DxRL17EoLlTvij-aOmD4HmfSS9BlaosQ7tU/?imgmax=800" width="204" height="240" />                                                <img style="display: inline" title="Coils" alt="Coils" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidjWOgLL77nSQ9gKhe2-hYE_sZMk1J4i4FEe6FNPlaYgerj7xLSopatzvZqTwf1dFxmfxdJiPwYIeBP_8f74RvdttRqh8joSwkq7NGnduyo4lf4Y_nyBJ-64wl4l3V27W3l3D3Wf4ESB0/?imgmax=800" width="184" height="240" /> <img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="WNG Puff" alt="WNG Puff" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjNDE7gDIh_dO3-5XaDlfLZSEDhE5oRzcEvtW62FF57r1cFD4Lb-KRLjWDmFGe8N3sH2XaXNgGaEM1vtENwzuZI5Yd1GZ_0L4DMMUSCT4Zx0GurcC6NmvZITLzmXklygEqLltU_8DLAv8/?imgmax=800" width="210" height="240" /> <img style="display: inline" title="WNG Puff" alt="WNG Puff" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKyQwiASKQRZxu8cr_FSUn90z3LlVwt6pn6qFJaNwbiNuRqd6QNm2rR5EjokVsiJv8jgFxE07xMCxwIj45f-hOGY8rqx6oJUqK7r_3W6jyx5SS6eKGQbhNGr8FziPT0f39hukCsuAzNIo/?imgmax=800" width="240" height="220" />                         <img style="display: inline" title="WNG Puff" alt="WNG Puff" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOwHMfDVFYEns1nOJspP07wyjWjBvzm2nzW_-7TiX_C64FdDuHiM1m1tnL7szNQ1RcDFH7jGQ_HkL85ADuKuVmGRQqe0epIk2BxNHECsEGhI80FXlcjKU19Y01ajhJesqqFtIQ6EVzvJ4/?imgmax=800" width="240" height="180" /><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="Twist-Out With Flash" alt="Twist-Out With Flash" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinZiRJZQ2qdjpH0bhZhEalLkvX4rAuuEdtpOIQXOGEc4RRKp-9RD0ol3tNL3cz1qX1k2CxHJN-zCWjmZ82rTNAQNcOPmNK7THIgbPZycsVNrIIjy2FIQs1fWSEsRKuVz3xlU2IiSWwyOc/?imgmax=800" width="226" height="240" /> <img style="display: inline" title="Twist-Out" alt="Twist-Out" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5RoEvziGzfWyc4e4y9WNn1R9K_oKu08M-6XMp6wwyTdOOd_MS2SpjvsWQV7rYGKR3OZp4LgXpPJDIonokEiO2E4rSMLy564WkEYPSt0aJAbM44hVzfnCde5FquwNJGw3s4Hie9YZMEAU/?imgmax=800" width="212" height="240" />                    <img style="display: inline" title="Twist-Out" alt="Twist-Out" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYTV3JWqtI0wHO4MmXBnqWzxPw2MfXR60m5XDG4odqd5_6DsTqjK0PWaKf7QrMYeJzAE_UOKsrnZHl4TJqqJrnx_aIC3euHuF6RQ0VvS7xEn__iNWqt2S9Yq1RxqocypYPV81vji2K9Qs/?imgmax=800" width="273" height="186" /> <img style="display: inline" title="Twist-Out Day 3 hair" alt="Twist-Out Day 3 hair" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMZiKQ7J1FQwxG9sOxOMhvgmwtSV9IaaoXHD1TbbEZC9frsDLEsHVLxdW3dTqDYik8CuKgW8DLVgkoWn9tZodPP4up-4fIQ02yb-AA-LMZKf-pEMnBhQtz6_4pOXOiM5_4dJ9tBFKVuF0/?imgmax=800" width="240" height="215" />            <img style="display: inline" title="Twist-Out Day 3 Hair" alt="Twist-Out Day 3 Hair" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ-5-IR5mU1Yra5CYXKWYztQ3jy7E04AM1uKBRcDjD46x0vKXX7d1E7JzsbN-955jrKD03bddQrSnXY32tF35svsAy9OgHWxKaqURm_fuBtK1DUkLWuo1K1ln5wahRg0eGrzmGruHqGuA/?imgmax=800" width="225" height="240" /></p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-480296408367866602010-06-14T17:39:00.001-04:002010-06-14T17:39:59.968-04:00My New Wash N Go Method<p align="justify"><img style="display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="" alt="" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXHZRc_l_pHhnH7bXQyOUQtezj3EtJj5xqeEOchGUHBfbYxPTeAb6kBzTd9kWDJMgie4vHWMtgsVgftErUbRqzHBKNztwyth86lk9nqlvdbMw7rNOQ4q73kYA5fCb_lsProzV4alO0Bx0/?imgmax=800" width="465" height="432" /></p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"><img style="display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="" alt="" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXZRUxOlHSGyGcJipfBFwuRUX23cqyn-Bqowr8rxEfGqkMZTyz9-uaLiXBNIQM8rOUDqAou0u5MWuRF__6QmLx3wI8vjBGIzNonPWf-kV31lHJG92yYWcXCSae9EEv8AJ7LPIecsZiWIg/?imgmax=800" width="470" height="364" /> So even though I BC’d less than a month ago, I wanted to perfect my WNG. I knew it was going to be one of my staple styles over the summer since it’s hot, and I’m lazy when I’m hot. So the accordion method I was talking about in previous posts works out fine, but my hair wouldn’t stay defined when it dried. It turned into a curly fro. I liked the curly fro look, but I still wanted to try my hand at defining the curls a little. Find out what I did over the jump</p> <a name='more'></a> <p align="justify">  </p> <p>So here's exactly what I did: <br /></p> <p>1. Wet Hair thoroughly (I used cold water) <br /></p> <p>2. Add V05 (the day before I used Tresemme Naturals, both worked equally well, I tried a different one today to see if I could get the same or better results) and detangle with fingers in sections (this really doesn't take very long at all, especially if you did it the day before) <br /></p> <p>3. After de-tangling using the kimmaytube method to get rid of shed hairs, flatten your hands and run them over your hair <br /></p> <p>4. Rinse your hair, don't touch it, just let the water run over it, I start out leaning back and letting the cold water run over it then when I feel like all of the conditioner is out, I may bend over to make sure I get the back, and the same for the sides. You can run your hands OVER your hair but make sure you run it in the same direction the water is going don't rub. <br /></p> <p>5. Shake, shake, shake, shake, shake until most of the water is out. I start out shaking while leaning back, then I stand up and shake, then I shake from side to side by tipping my head from left to right, then bend over and shake. This basically makes your hair really fluffy. <br /></p> <p>6. Add leave-in of your choice making sure to get it all over. Again don't rub, just run your hands over your hair repeatedly. I do it from front to back, then from back to front, then from side to side. Until your hair is saturated. It should dry clear, so don't worry if your hair is a little white. <br /></p> <p>7. Shake it like a Polaroid picture (LOL), seriously, shake your hair again as much as you want. You should see the curls clumping together at this point. <br /></p> <p>8. Add oil of your choice to further seal in moisture the same way you added the leave-in, I used EVOO. <br /></p> <p>9. Shake again as much as you want (or can handle) </p> <p> <br />Here's what my hair looked like after that: <br /><a href="http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=183&u=14644839"><img alt="" src="http://i64.servimg.com/u/f64/14/64/48/39/june1015.jpg" width="529" height="314" /></a> <br /><a href="http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=184&u=14644839"><img alt="" src="http://i64.servimg.com/u/f64/14/64/48/39/june1016.jpg" width="523" height="568" /></a> <br />10. Style as you wish, or you can wait and style after it dries a bit <br /></p> <p>11. Resist the temptation to touch it. </p> <p> <br />All of this takes less than 10 minutes really. </p> <p> </p> <p>Here it is dry:</p> <p><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6BezGZE7tJOtYGcTzT4pDxHV_Je-HRMPdmBvMJiCChVUZkfRQp4OxJgeBkO-0me2KoRWlofsdcNlqvpslWRb03dVqqWuauJmGUa17pPta35ehIJrq8V7q04zHhygifCGP_TvE2HrbwQs/?imgmax=800" width="504" height="498" /> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKImJQ6dsneqWYvdB3M7SWTH3nlqTTU4BdAjkUIwz9FX6n80IWhn7GyA-DdnZ9PQVU4Q2ZLepsOH_v4qqByQmMT5RVvDavOkEcZJx6FNjAeZR2JBr4cOxKJoC9lE90kxekah_8CGIb-74/?imgmax=800" width="502" height="537" /> </p> <p> <br />The product does dry clear (as you can tell better by the pictures at the top of this post. And it’s really nice and shiny (as shiny as our hair can get) from the inside pictures. </p> <p>My hair dries super soft and light, it doesn't feel weighed down at all, and it's MOISTURIZED which stops tangles (because you're actually sealing in the moisture instead of just leaving on a conditioner alone). No gel is required, you may be able to add it, but my hair doesn't really care too much for gel when it comes to WNGs. </p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-22762193105749356422010-06-09T12:13:00.000-04:002010-06-09T12:13:00.515-04:00Embrace the Shrinkage<p align="justify"><img style="display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="" alt="" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXqocKRYPfTR2Vyojzli2oWwiFjQuUaJF03aOL82YAMYgIfpF_ZbZ3yAkLCHzu1L-NN1pJAEB2Om9T5hjfkIP3vPwTVWhbFa3B6nCSjM1D9cDshnOzNKfw0EM1WWIxVaCb4afkGVOeR1c/?imgmax=800" width="235" height="240" /> So I BC’d a couple of weeks ago, and one thing I was really worried about before BCing was shrinkage. For the last few years I was obsessed with length. I even hated to have my ends clipped even when I needed them clipped. It’s amazing how far I’ve come in less than a year. Yes, less than a year. I may have BC’d a year after my last relaxer, but I didn’t “officially” officially decide to go natural until about 4 months later. I usually went that long without getting a relaxer since I got used to it in undergrad (I didn’t like non-professionals putting chemicals or scissors in my hair), but one day I just decided “f-it, I don’t want anymore relaxers.”</p> <p align="justify">Anyway, my point is, I was once afraid of shrinkage and obsessed with length. Now I’m more obsessed with the health of my hair. I don’t want it to be dry and nasty and dirty. I want my hair to be happy, when my hair is happy, I’m happier. When my hair isn’t happy, I’m not happy. It may just be a psychological thing, but when you look good, you feel good. </p> <p align="justify">The way I see my shrinkage now is, it’s healthy. My hair is curly almost to the point of being coily in some spots, and less so in others. When my hair is healthy, it will shrink. When I pull a piece of my hair out, it usually snaps right back into the curl, and I love it. When it grows out some more it will still have shrinkage, but it probably won’t be able to do what it does now, so I’m embracing my shrinkage. I love my shrinkage. My shrinkage is part of what makes me and my hair uniquely beautiful. I’m sure there will come a time when I dislike the shrinkage (no one loves anything ALL the time) but I suspect those times are going to be few and far between. </p> <p align="justify">So embrace your shrinkage, especially in the summer because while some necks will be baking, mine will be nice and cool. :o)  </p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-51467616263446270432010-06-07T09:24:00.001-04:002010-06-07T09:24:55.393-04:00Perfecting my WNG<p align="justify">I’ve pretty much decided that I cannot do the whole “curl defining” thing, at least not at this length. I don’t have the patience, and when I do try to be patient with it it ends up being too white (as in too much product) and I was paranoid that it wouldn’t dry clear. So I went back to the conditioner only method (LOL@ “went back to” when I’ve only been natural like two weeks. . . ). I love the accordion method from Mahogany Curls for my WNGs, the shake method didn’t give me the same results. But with the accordion method, it took my hair way too long to dry. I think part of that was using HEHH because that conditioner is so thick, and part of it is my hair is thick as all hell. So it takes almost 24 hours for my hair to dry. </p> <p align="justify">This morning I woke up and refreshed my WNG, but then I decided to try something different. So I co-washed with my V05 Strawberries n Cream conditioner (which is lighter than HEHH) and then I rinsed my hair and shook it to get out most of the water. THEN I took about two quarter sized amounts of the V05 conditioner and ran it over my head. After that I did the scrunching method and pulled it back into a puff. Now it hasn’t even been an hour yet, and my hair is pretty close to dry (except for the very back which for some reason always takes a really long time to dry ~shrug~) And it’s bigger and fluffier than when I use the HEHH. Here’s a picture of it now. </p> <p align="justify">The curls aren’t really “defined” per-se, but I like the curly/fro look. <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE0s-uMT7x1rfM-Lob7FvV92GOZlRIVCkzFX44ajXZPvFGwAsK8ntiY30i8FC8sA-r36OjWEW1w4aFx40Y64wKv2HiPuYN-Vh1loZvoSgzudh13puvGluGzSYonpAMC5s3TU-H3teBaeg/?imgmax=800" width="529" height="336" /> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaWUjQk7vixqjfafxxEu6iNOFYBCXtXk1jwk1bAE6r72AoSoL2Sj0n4Dx6lMdzBuKkozAPzU7hdlYuyPqbO9f5MoeEDRgJYonU5Xyyo4SvS2PBdV6cZmwHuXG5a5R-dwlBnSUbMVgF9bI/?imgmax=800" width="526" height="407" /> </p> <p></p> <p align="justify">This is my first time trying this method, I like it, I’m going to try again tomorrow to see if I can get a little more definition, and to try to figure out a way to get the back to not take as long to dry. Right now it’s really trial and error. </p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3990952566025073734.post-71911481405276981662010-06-01T21:11:00.001-04:002010-06-01T21:24:25.538-04:00Twistouts<p align="justify">So I’ve been natural what 10 days? LOL and I’ve already done TWO twist-outs. That is out of control. So here are the twists I did like the day after I BC’d:</p> <p align="justify"><img style="display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="" alt="" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQU4jEZUk0BaBxNAi09Dh9ZRIqeDhEHRwmtyvn1mJIIvXT77JdvK9yH_2dTNHkDilpPqWw4JkWO31aYDFOacysZQPmF6YNe5JykJLqxIwAP_Ec8Kz5o4WHK-HwY9WkuwSPWF6LyvSPqlM/?imgmax=800" width="361" height="396" /></p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify">I wasn’t crazy about them. I don’t think I did them small enough that time, but considering it was a first effort, not bad. As you can see the ends were looking kind of dry and crusty. I think that’s the only spot where I’ve really had that horrible dryness that I heard a lot of people have after they BC. But night after night I’d put some EVOO on my twists and slowly but surely those ends came to life. Also, some of them were being plagued by some stowaway straight ends, I’ve been snipping those off. I did my first wash n go AFTER these twists and the subsequent twist out, and between the WNGS and the lastest set of twists, I think I may have finally gotten them all. . . </p> <p align="justify">Here is the resulting twist-out:</p> <p align="justify"><img style="display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="" alt="" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfR_FnxbZ8ZUg9f2UcH7BsGGoqVsxdhMFXOlRoEpEVqbJDYkk__FuC03j4GePJRGAIatfB_PRfHd3oM1AYg13TkNdu5CC7FfYZJMSbpeiuaWIEPVZ9MRm_gde7BQ_XR4FqKC6IfzfuUxc/?imgmax=800" width="252" height="309" />  <img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimy6ncQsymbqVejQfgZ6EaJHI5JVkH2M6CuQktKS9h3Q2YB8j3P7X9HQ9Um91mKqcL41ihmvR25LaHOGJaBgJH0DQkt4mc_432vEBwe18ySFrPJyWakHyXnWtGAhMZjXr3hNcRBG4OMnQ/?imgmax=800" width="287" height="190" /></p> <p align="justify"> <img style="display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="" alt="" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi22jimQrYn4MCz_2CflCRrihhrbAePr8TEUUDPGNENjBotl-Ep9KnziTETgK2gX2CcWv-1Pf9uj6UBAoFAMUGLnDeqY5jW8javYdLmY9MJGMQS8A7xboApaGQph1ijY1y6_zdFIaNySAo/?imgmax=800" width="269" height="304" /> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify">Not bad. There’s a lot of definition which is good, and the twists were about the size I liked, but I didn’t like how much scalp was showing. I think that will go away though as my hair begins to get used to its freedom, I’m already seeing it stretching to be free. </p> <p align="justify">Then on Sunday after that WNG I did I got bored and decided to re-twist my hair again, this time I did it much smaller (at least I thought I did. . .  And I just grabbed and twisted, no comb was really used. Pics over the jump.</p> <a name='more'></a> <p align="justify">So here are the pics of the smaller twists that I did which I liked more. I actually was going to try to keep them in for two weeks, but due to a mistake in styling the night before I had to go on an interview, I ended up taking them out sooner and so I’ll be rocking a twist-out for the rest of the week. I am DETERMINED to keep my hands out of my hair for at least a couple of days. We’ll see if I last. </p> <p align="justify"><img style="display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="" alt="" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfewASqSGtN5ds_U6ItYIQcF0SZGDgKy5Ri1yZEX8qgpYqoPbYY1kwOQ6XnxIyLwhi8LpoFuoNw6WT-R0rJpHKX1KpVMWdz6cstoYqfVf0f-_xyeo0vscr-UJzxTqZ_dbzw9sqwnUBqXU/?imgmax=800" width="249" height="279" /> <img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLH0-jHArK9cAq_H9vNcoNh64hAtGBLUTVGN1awvrVQ9T8AIJgzIdJTIp1S8gzIpkjMVrIRpsqKE86o7_I_nC1CX8uicMkZGYTLtViOTAO0UxW_vVR7fBYVmazU9gpA12GxBjkMmmRHFU/?imgmax=800" width="258" height="305" /> <img style="display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="" alt="" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsDx7VKTWr0v23dk40e09kWZdNmv5DQ2q5BKHwIGQv448jleMySKtXTDvabf037jaK5OfUqBRwUxLJb3AGcwEGRxaUDn50krSRPjEYqwiUkI_sykIF-mmFHyP8UlyKct0zpGuBSmcJ6Bc/?imgmax=800" width="254" height="303" /> <img style="display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="" alt="" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdyPMmzEIMT26eHs9F7tpdT6i2Gpiphhv8h4aFcl1bFLbIY-q2YNcvVzOyabMl5i9h1v961N17P34NNPVrIkkUNKUDS1g9ZZqeLuLjC9OS3H5VY_qPbeQZLRnqIBMyrXrsOPbymurM2vY/?imgmax=800" width="248" height="285" /></p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"> I think the twists came out very well, and I really did love them. I’m actually kinda pissed that I couldn’t keep them in longer since it took me so long to do them, but a sistah is trying to get a j-o-b. . .  Here’s the twist-out:</p> <p align="justify"><img style="display: inline" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK7B1tw0dC5s9-Qv87pczz81NVIGmlq2E5Tal0uMG55JTx1XFCiYLgKtVVCgv5FVo2ncNg1qsGdUfMpzGUwNAqs9M-bJH_DtnQlaBY0QDUzKWkHmh0sO7qzuFvZW2k-ONSOp7KXY6JygE/?imgmax=800" width="338" height="349" /> <img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfPUs4urWkRFHsu2-6VLIz9qYdlUbFm81u-MBSMqLWecIFtQGblzmFfDxxYq-eRmilgB0D9UhtlL_iDE6ZWed1eqCr0vfe3YxDSZKZs7q2b0YgCO_zBbH7RConQghL93QlUt9CBcsdAf0/?imgmax=800" width="358" height="348" /> <img style="display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="" alt="" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS-1HQLw-F2AEe8sh28kxIZuH6ecc04-52YMgbVrp-bdjsGE8iqHXe1g8npnJS2VnMNGVI-OQlLGl70B2oRWOY5QDid1WZ9pfMNViV1qvmMt_H_Jh2iynGOHizaEpaFoRsfCnv4TLjxxg/?imgmax=800" width="339" height="380" /></p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com