What a great weekend!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Mine was relaxing and filled with shopping! My hair adventures were really interesting. I did the Henna on Wednesday night and it didn't look much different leaving it in for 7 hours rather than 3. I will say that every time I got into the sun, you could see the color (reddish) a lot more. I did a twist out(my go to hairstyle) and unfortunately, I didn't let it try all the way through and my hair looked a mess (to me at least). Friday night I did a dry twist out I hate that my camera didn't catch the true fierceness of the twist out. I must say I will be twisting my hair every night!! I experimented with a product called Shea Moisturizer Curl Enhancer Smoothie (Target $9.99) to define my curls when I do my twist and I must say that it did fairly well on my hair! The ingredients include Neem Oil, Coconut Oil, and Silk Protein. My hair felt soft and I really liked out the curls popped. With that said......I am off to search the Cyber Monday deals! ;-)

Gobble Gobble

I am excited and tired thinking about Thanksgiving. I am excited to be off of work and chill with the hubby and friends but I am also tired because we are cooking tonight and I am going to Henna my hair! YIKES!!!!!!!! I think I can get it all accomplished without going crazy.......maybe. So the plan is to go home, take a quick nap (yeah right), put the Henna in and while it's cooking on my head I will then start to cook my Thanksgiving meal. I am anxious to put the Henna on tonight because this will be my second attempt and this time I will have it on for about 7 hours vs. 3 hours! I promise to post pictures!!! Anyway, hope you all have an awesome Turkey Day and don't get too stuffed! ;-)

1 Month Nappiversary!!!

It has been 1 month since my big chop!!!!!! I am super excited for this amazing milestone! My journey so far.......I have to admit.......there were days when I looked at myself and thought "what in the HELL were you thinking!!" Those days were bad! Luckily it was only a couple of days (my aunt flow was visiting) so it was no big deal. ;-)  This whole experience so far has been amazing, nerve racking, confusing, and utterly expensive (I am a major PJ = Product Junkie). I have bought every conditioner known to man!!! LOL!! It's fun though, seeing how your hair reacts to different products. I need to learn to stick with one and I have to say that this whole month, I always go back to Giovanni Direct Leave-In! I actually found a combination that worked for me while doing my twist outs. I co-wash my hair with Hello Hydration conditioner, mix the Giovanni in with 100% pure Shea Butter, coconut oil, peppermint oil, vegetable glycerin, and Castor oil. I massage the concoction through my hair, brush my hair with a Denman brush and twist! The results are amazing and my hair is 100% moisturized!! I LOVE IT. With that said, check out the day that I big chopped and today!

Big Chop 10/23/10











1 month anniversary 11/23/10



Where have I been???

I can't believe it has been several days since my last blog post! Yikes!! I was putting together an AWESOME baby shower and I got seriously sidetracked! Sorry about that. So my hair has been going through some changes these past couple of days. I am experiencing massive shirkage and it is quite annoying! My hair shrivels up so badly with Wash n Go's!! UGH!! So I have decided that twist outs are my best friend. The only thing is, it takes me 1-2 hours to twist my hair! My hair is at the short stage, so it will be a little while before I can actually just throw 6-8 twists in my hair and keep it moving.

I was supposed to post pictures of my henna treatment and I totally forgot! My iPhone got jacked up and needless to say I lost all of my "after henna" photos! I loved it though. I will be doing henna 2 times a month so we will see how my hair behaves. Chat with you all soon!

Do You Henna Your Hair?



Many of you know Henna as an art that is used to tattoo. What some of you may not know is that Henna also has great benefits for your hair!! This powered substance mixed with green tea and a little honey can make your hair soft, shiny, and even give you a hint of color. It will not lift your hair color (even though if you use it constantly, it just might) but it will make healthier. I did my first Henna treatment last night and let me tell you, my hair has never been this healthy looking since I cut off my hair 2 weeks and 5 days ago (yes, I am counting)!!! Check out my fellow curly, Curly Nikki for the step by step tutorial! Pictures will be posted soon!

http://www.curlynikki.com/2008/12/henna-pictorial.html

What Relaxers Have Prevented

Relaxers have prevented so many women from truly enjoying life and what it has to offer. Many women don’t like getting in the water at a pool party because “Girl, I just got my relaxer in!” Men have been trained not to caress their woman’s hair because “Honey, don’t mess up my hair, I just got it done.” Even we have been deprived of a good nights sleep because we didn’t want to mess up our hair *cue movie scene with Regina King trying to sleep and at the same time not mess up her new do*. How many times have you told your partner these things, had a horrible night of sleep, or just looked cute in your bathing suit……..outside of the pool? Since cutting off my relaxed hair and embracing my natural hair I have been able to take a shower without the fear of messing up my tresses. I can literally stand underneath the shower head instead of playing dodge ball with it! The shower head is no longer my enemy and steam is a welcomed friend. Sleep is amazing and as far as the pool is concerned, maybe now I will learn how to swim (yes, the relaxer prevented this too). I will say that when I had my relaxer, I always did my best to make sure my hair was healthy and full of life. Now that I have been natural for a full 2 weeks and 3 days I am learning what it means to really have healthy hair. Water is now my homey and sometimes my lifesaver and I can honestly say I wish I would have done this many years ago. When a natural says she feels free, I am sure she is speaking to one of these points. ;-)

Kinky-Curly Knot Today

As I continue my journey as a natural, I have encountered some products that work and some that don't. I love Giovanni Direct Leave-In Conditioner, but I am almost out so I decided to try Kinky-Curly Knot Today Leave-In Conditioner. I must say that Giovanni may have some competition! I loved the way my hair felt when I was done putting it in and once my hair dried, it felt so soft, moistrized and smelled oh so good! I will contiue to try it this week and see how my hair reacts to it. I will give you all an update on Friday!

BTW, I didn't do a review on the Indian Clay because I forgot!!! The results were great!!!!! My hair had shine and felt great!! 

Clay for your hair????

I have been using Indian Healing Clay on my face for.........well.......facials and I did a search on youtube for the benefits of this clay for you hair and wow!!! The results are AMAZING!!! Not only does the clay pull out the dirt and build-up of products, it adds sheen and curl definiation to your hair. I will be trying it tomorrow and I will post before and after photos.

Hair Growth

So I have been natural for 1 week and 5 days! Check out the hair growth!


Fist Day of Big Chop 10/23/10




Look at those Curls



11/3/10

Love it!

Just because you can..............

.............really doesn't mean you should. Yesterday after work I had an assignment to turn in at school. I made the drive from work to the UTA campus on a cold and rainy day in the DFW. As I'm driving I immediately start stressing because I didn't have an umbrella and I had to walk across campus to get to class. I'm looking in my car for any kind of scarf or sweater to throw over my head when it hit me..........I DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT MY HAIR GETTING WET!!! YAY!!!!  So I proceed down the road filled with confidence because I am a natural sista with hair that LOVES water. As I pull into the farthest space from my entry point I get out of the car in confidence, lock my car and walk to class. Here is where is got ugly. 30 seconds into my walk it hit me. It's raining and it's 50 degrees outside and my head is exposed! We all know what that can lead to...........that's right.............a damn cold!!! Needless to say as I was walking (well running at this point) to take cover from this down pour, I knew that I should have grabbed that stupid sweater off the back of my seat! I walk in class soaking wet (my hair still looked fly), drop off my paper and left. I was not about to sit in that cold classroom. Again, I ran across campus back to my car and sat there for a minute thinking "Just because I can walk in the rain without worrying about my hair, doesn't mean I should do it when it's freezing outside." With that, ladies and gentlemen, I am off to take some sinus medicine. :-(

For the Babies and Chi'ren

So there have been a couple of people asking me about hair care products for little curlies. I personally have not had any experience with anything for the young ones, but there are a couple of products that have been reviewed on other sites. Here are a few:

http://www.beemineproducts.com/

http://shop.curlisto.com/catalog/Curlisto_Kids-18-1.html

http://www.originalsprout.com/styling-products/curl-calmer?cPath=78



Again, I have not had any experience with any of these, but I may look into Original Sprout's adult products.....they are an organic company and 100% Vegan! Happy styling!

Not more products!!!

I was at Whole Foods yesterday (I cheated on Central Market) because I was on a quest to find some Aztec Indian Clay that my gorgeous friend suggested as a facial mask. Upon entering I was really surprised at how many natural curlies were in there. One lady came up to me and asked what I used in my hair because she thought it looked "healthy and thick" (and to think I was about to put on a cap). I explained my process to her and she in turn said to me that in all of her 10 years of being natural, she had never thought to use most of the stuff I was using! I must say, that I was blushing a little. :-)

As I am strolling through the store, I come up to their aisle filled with natural curly hair products and there was a gang load of Kinky Kurly on the shelves. Now I have heard good reviews and bad, but I didn't want to purchase ANOTHER product. I know my husband is going to kill me when he sees my secret stash of every conditioner known to man. As I continued down the isle, I noticed that there were so many products that I hadn't seen or heard of before and I am really anxious to try them out. Even though I LOVE my routine now, I am always trying to find out what's out there because I know that my hair will change and this hair is about to get a lot bigger! With that said........check out my curls! They are really starting to get their definition on!!!