LENGTH CHECK!!!!!!!!!!!

Check out the video!

Here are the pics from my last length check.

And here's my TWA from my big chop.

 

That's a lot of growth folks!! I'm so excited looking at my own progress!!

 

Hope you enjoyed!

 

TTYL!!!

Review Time

OK, here we go. I've been using a few new products lately and I feel that I have used them enough to give them an honest review. I'm only going to review the few I have used repeatedly. There will still be more to come.

First, I need to change my review of the Beautiful Textures Tangle Taming Leave-In. I don't know if I posted about it here or on FB or just talked about it, but it is no longer magic for my mane. It isn't thick enough. I don't know if I should have shaken it up more in the beginning & I used all the good mojo the 1st couple of times or because its colder now it just isn't doing the job or what, but after the last few washes, I can sadly say that the search for a compatible, ready-made leave-in conditioner continues.

Second, I'm going to retract a tad bit (just a lil y'all) about my statement that I'm not going to buy any more products. Why? Because I finally tried the line Koils By Nature that one of my YT vloggers raves about.  The product that I purchased, which was the Nourishing Hair & Body Butter in the scent of Tropical Splendor was HEAVEN IN MY HAIR! From the way it had my hair feeling to the smell to the consistency...yep. I think I'll definitely be buying this product again.

On a sad note, the YT vlogger who pointed me in the direction of KBN, Dawnyele, tragically passed away in her 8th month of pregnancy due to a heart attack They were able to save her son, but needless to say, her passing has rocked many of us in the natural hair community who followed her videos & FB fan page. As someone who has been following her for about 10 months, I must say that I am so glad I found her & was able to experience her enjoyment, information & love of her life. I still can't believe she isn't here and that I won't be seeing anymore video updates from her, but I know her husband & 8yr old son & her friends & fellow vloggers & naturalists are mourning deeply the loss of a wonderful person.  R.I.P. Dawnyele.

Also, I tried the Organix line coconut shampoo & conditioner. I really liked the conditioner, but didn't care for the shampoo. The shampoo was really glob-like in consistency & felt snottish in my hands. That's not something I want to feel...it just isn't. As far as cleansing. I felt like I had to use a lot of it because of the consistency. It would glop out of my hands to the shower floor as I was trying to rub it between my hands. It was not sexy at all. And my hair felt really squeaky after using it. And that was over top of my hot oil pre-poo treatment.  The conditioner however was great. It too had a a thick consistency but it was creamy and felt nourishing, not overly stripping. I did have to use a lot of it because it didn't have the best slip for detangling with what would be the typical amount of conditioner I would use, but I did like it. Whether or not I'll buy it again remains to be seen. I could just stick to my Head & Shoulders in the end.

Two more to go...

The last two are both curling creams/puddings that I have had for a while & JUST started using. The first is the Roots of Nature Mango & Cupuacu Butter whip coil cream. I have not used this for wash & go's as the product states is is made for, but instead used it for mini twists. I really liked it the product. It has a butter/lotion consistency, not the best smell (I can't really describe it...it doesn't stink, though) and left my hair feeling very moisturized even with me working out each day. For me, its a good product that's available in many beauty supply stores or beauty aisles in mainstream stores, for keeping moisture in your hair.

Then you have the Beautiful Textures Curl Control Defining Pudding. Again, not a bad product & it certainly does what it says it would do. Its at a lower price point than the Roots of Nature but it also has a few undesirables on the ingredient list. Pretty much, both products do the same thing. Its just a matter of what you want to pay to get the job done & how you want your hair to feel in the long run.

When push comes to shove on the future of styling products, if I'm not making my own, I'll be buying Koils By Nature.

TTFN

Mini-Vacation Haul

OK, those who know me know that one of the things I love to do when I make my NC visits to my family is go shopping. That is my down time. I can go through the stores and just...enjoy what they have to offer. The stores I go to there are not any different than the stores I have available to me at home. Truth be told, there's only one store I go to that is not available where I live. But when I am out of town, away from work and commitments at home (except for the Buffinator), I have the time to drive around and do a little shopping without feeling like I have to rush this place or that to do one thing or another...I'm sure many of you understand.

So, where did I do most of my shopping on this trip? Home Goods.  Now, there is a HG in my city...in fact, there are two. However they are too far away and they really suck for the things I would be looking for when I make the trips there.  When I'm home, I mostly do what would be my HG shopping at Marshall's and sometimes Ross. But mostly Marshall's. Ross is my dress heaven. The other two places I went to were Trader Joe's and an accessory store called Versona.  There's a TJ in my city too...but its out there with HG...and I'm not driving that far in all that traffic for a trip to the grocery store.

Any of you who have shopped at HG, Marshall's TJ Maxx or Ross know that this line of stores is the place to go for very reasonably priced, damn near cheap, decor, kitchen appliances/tools and specialty spices.  Seriously...my spice cabinet runneth over from the many trips I make to Marshall's alone. As often as I say "I'm not going to get another spice blend until I have made a dent in what I have at home," I walk out of the store with another spice, or marinade, or salad dressing, or oil blend....its really a bad habit.

So, here's my swag from my trip to Charlotte:

This is from my trip to Home Goods. This isn't all I bought, but its what I've been looking out for that I haven't found at my local Marshall's. Only one thing was over $10, I think. Even the pastas were $4 & $5 each. LOVELY!


Seriously...$8. I've been looking for one for a while. Now I have it to make my guac and grind whole spices.



I've been looking for one of these for a while. Rachael Ray uses them a lot to transfer food from the cutting board to the pan. $3 later, no more sneak treats for Buffy!



I don't know why this flipped back to the side, but I'm done w/picture editing...I have a candle problem. This smells heavenly. Bought two.

And this one



Yeah, so much for no more spices and stuff...
The preserves were bought just because of the "Habanero." It better be spicy!
Will post how I use it when I use it.
The dressing to the right is a vidalia onion & tomato dressing....HEAVENLY!!!! Good Lord its slamming!



More coffee. I love coconut and I love chocolate. This was in the aisle that taunts you and you are making your way in line to the register...gets me every time. But the one in the grocery store I can always ignore.

I had to get this. I love the different size & style pastas you can find at these stores and this is that egg pasta that they use on Food Network all the time and I always say "I have never seen that kind of egg noodle."
Seen and bought!



More pasta. Roasted red pepper fettuccine



More neat shaped pasta.

Super soft, cushy throw...$12.99

Flax seed gel is on the way!

And then we have the Trader Joe's run. I FINALLY bought the shampoo and conditioner that people have been raving about and I bought their one with rosemary also..just because I love rosemary. No captions needed, but dang folks, if they are as good for me as they have been for others, when I go back to Charlotte for the holidays, I'm loading up something serious! $3 a pop is an awesome deal.



 So that's it. I haven't taken pics of the jewelry I bought from Versona. Some of them are gifts, so posting spoils the surprise. So we're going to wait on that. 

TTFN!

Bath and Body Works Semi-Annual Sale

Oh my goodness! I told myself that I would not go overboard for this semi-annual sale because I still have PLENTY of products from the last one. I probably have enough from the last sale to make it through 2014 if I don't gift any of it. But, of course, being the person that I am, I couldn't let the sale go by and not buy anything.

Not buying anything turned into buying a lot of things! First of all, the lesson I learned this year: SHOP ONLINE!!!!! I don't know why I didn't know this already. I mean, I lived and read off of Amazon.com my entire college career and a few years after that because that was really the only way I could afford to buy books. But I have never done the BBW SA Sale online before this year.  What made me decide to do it? The sale started a day early online! So I told myself I would get in, get out and no one (like my pocketbook) would get hurt. I lied. LOL. My favorite fragrance was available online, but was not in the store at all and it was discontinued about 3 years ago. So I bought a lot of that.  Then one of my favorite hand soap scents was brought back online and in the store. So I bought a lot of that. Then I found another discontinued fragrance that I'd totally forgotten about and it was heaven way back when. So I bought a lot of that.

I take it you see the pattern folks.

Add to that the wallflower scents (because all that Cinnamon and Clove Bud I bought last year was a bust! I'll only buy the oil for the diffuser from here on out because the wallflowers do not give off enough of a scent to make a difference to the aromatic ambiance of my house) and you get another SA sale with a lot of products. I'm not complaining though. LOL. I'll stay away from the one in December...

Yeah right.

So, here's a listing of what I got. I'll keep the quantities to myself.

Body Lotions
Brown Sugar and Fig (discontinued, online only)
Juniper Breeze (discontinued, online only)
Cool Citrus Basil (discontinued, online only)
Aruba Coconut
Rio Rumberry
Mali Mango
True Blue Spa monoi oil lotion


Shower Gels
Brown Sugar and Fig (discontinued, online only)
Juniper Breeze (discontinued, online only)
Cool Citrus Basil (discontinued, online only)
Mali Mango
True Blue Spa Shea butter shower cream

Hand Soaps (foams and gels)
Fresh Lime Basil
Apple Lavender
Eucalyptus Mint
Aqua Blossom
Strawberry Basil
Wildberry Dahlia
Mango Mai Tai
Paradise Coconut

Wallflowers
Caribbean Escape
Market Peach
Cool Citrus Basil (discontinued, online only)
Clean Mist
Fresh Linen
Brilliant Citrus
Pineapple Orchid
Pink Sangria

If you notice the trend, you can tell that I love the basil scents. What can I say, basil & rosemary are my two most favorite herbs..I go overboard.

Of course, you don't have to go this far overboard on the sale, but if I had some restraint, I seriously could go a solid 2 years, at least, without buying shower gel or lotion. The only thing I would have to purchase on the next sale would be the hand soaps because I wash my hands a LOT.

But like I said...that would be if I had some restraint.

I will say this, Bath and Body Works shipping is the BOMB! I mean, super awesome. Two of my orders were received before the first projected delivery date. Like, one was ordered on a Tuesday and received by the following Monday. Another was ordered on a Wednesday and received by that Friday!!!! I mean, that rocks! Not many companies of that size will get you your product within 7 days of your original order if you only do standard shipping.  Even Amazon has slacked up on its delivery speed and ships closer and closer to the last date in the given shipment window.  So, I may be doing the majority of my BBW shopping online from now on.

TTFN!

Swiiing and a Miss...Jessie's (Product Review)

The verdict is in and Miss Jessie is not for me! Thank goodness I got 2 of the 3 products I have on sale.

Let me start w/the "no one paid me for this" and "this is my own opinion" statements.

Now, with that out of the way, I can't say that I hate the products...but I don't like them. The smells are very loud.  Too loud not to be delicious. The only one I don't mind the smell of is the curly buttercreme and that is because it reminds me of vapo rub and icy hot and I love how those smell. But I wouldn't put them in my hair!  Since I started with the Curly Buttercreme, let me continue.  This is the only one of the 3 that I bought that does not leave my hair feeling super dry once it has dried with my hair, but it also provides little to no hold.  I mean, this is what my hair looked like with the Curly Buttercreme:



I have gotten that same look with just using PINK Oil Moisturizer in my hair! And that is no where near the same price point as Miss. Jessie's anything! I did like how my hair felt moisturized after using it, but like I said, for the price of Miss Jessie's, I expected more.

Then there's the curly pudding. First and foremost, I do not like the smell. And try as I might to use less and less of it to try and reduce the odor, that sucka is potent! And its potency extended beyond the initial application. I mean, when I turn my head, I could smell it. When I would spritz and re-twist at night, I could smell it. When I would wake up and untwist in the morning, I could smell it.  It was in my bonnets, my pillow cases, my pillows....UH! It was just too much. Then, the first time I used it, I used it alone and it left my hair dry and brittle. I was not a happy camper! I immediately washed it out and went back to my Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie. That wasn't the last time I used it. I've used it a few times since then and have come to the happy medium of using an oil or other moisturizer in my hair first, then adding the curly pudding.  Having said all that, I will say that my twist out results with the product were stellar and the pudding didn't cause any build up in my hair.  But again, for something that cost as much as Miss Jessie's, I expected more. I don't have any pics of twist outs with the curly pudding because I can't tell the difference between Miss. Jessie's twist outs and the other products...again, for the cost, shouldn't I be able to?!

On to the Curly Meringue....What and why?! I used it for a flexi rod set because I had it, and there were a few people who used it for theirs and said they got really good results. Again, I didn't like the smell, but I could not smell it as much as with the curly pudding the following day.  It also gave me horrible build up. It was a glaze on my hair. I rinse a good bit of it out in the shower, and when I went for my trim, my stylist still said "what is this in your hair?" when the water hit it while she was washing me. But I will stop at just that initial review because I'm thinking as I type this that I may need to hold off on reviewing it further simply because I used it in conjuction with my EcoStyler olive oil gel and got the most ridiculous, crunchy hair ever...I mean, potato chip crunch. I know the EcoStyler didn't cause the build up because I've never had build up in my hair like that. Not even when I was new to the game. But I'm going to hold off on fully talking about the curly meringue until I use it by itself. But here's a pic of the crunchy flexi rod curls.

Seriously...get a Pringle...crunch it...that's what my hair sounded like, but it felt more like a Lay's.

For the two products I have used quite a bit, I will say that I could have saved my money.  I could have gotten the same results for my hair at a much more economical price point. The lesson I've learned from this: I don't need to spend $22+ on 8oz of hair care product. But trust and believe I'm going to use what I have bought!

Anyway, TTFN.



Read Those Labels

Ok folks, I went to the wonderful Sally’s to look for some new products to try and get some input from the clerks on duty.  Basically, to have a good time. As I’m perusing the aisles, I come across some products I hadn’t heard of before. So the first thing I did was read the labels. I mean, I spent like 30 minutes in the store reading labels. Even the clerk, who was natural, told me she doesn’t read labels when she tries new products, she just gets them & sees how they work.

Here’s my issue with that: 1. I don’t have the money to spend on products to “test & see” if they work. So that is not a fiscally sound spending plan. 2. My hair does not like alcohol. Where some people have found that their hair is sensitive to protein (I have no idea if mine is or not), I have found that if alcohol is listed in the first 3-4 ingredients, my hair is going to quickly get ugly with me.

So, as I’m reading labels I’m seeing that there are a LOT of products with a LOT of alcohol in them, number 1. And 2, there are quite a few products that have ingredients in them that make absolutely no sense to me. Case in point, I’m looking at the argon oil products because argon oil is this great new oil that does great things for your hair and I have none of it in my product shed. So, I pick up a can of mousse from an argon oil line (that shall remain nameless) and guess what!? Alcohol was not in the first 3 ingredients. The first 3 ingredients, I kid you not, were water (OK), propane (huh?) and butane (WTF?!)!! The basic make up of the mousse is water, “blow-you-up” and “set-you-on-fire.” Needless to say, I didn’t look at anything else from that line!

I say all this to say, there’s always a lot of hubbub about reading food labels and making sure that you steer clear of this, that & the other, but the same needs to be done with hair products. I mean, imagine having that mousse in your hair and sitting next to an open flame! Or what if you leave the container in the car and it gets hot in the summer! Bye-bye coche!  I also say this because I read through a lot of labels while standing in Sally’s, and I haven’t done that in a loooong time because I haven’t bought that many styling products since becoming natural, but a lot of the products I looked at with “natural” in the title, or “for women with natural hair” or some variation of the two phrases, were so far from being natural when you looked at the ingredients. I mean, I’m a pretty good reader, so one of my initial deciding factors in choosing products for the future was “as long as I can pronounce the ingredients at first glance, it’s a go.” Well, propane and butane are pretty common words, so maybe I need to be a little more discriminating in that and be more conscious of what the words I can read actually are. At present, I’m going to continue using what I have, because I bought them and there is no returning them, but for the future, I may be a lot more choosy in my hair product labels.

Just some food for thought.  

Product Update

Since going natural I haven't really changed from any of the products I was suing while transitioning. I'm still loving the Head & Shoulders Itchy Scalp formula and it is working wonders for my scalp. I have, however, changed the routine.

Since going natural, I still do a pre-poo hot oil treatment before washing my hair with a mix of olive oil, caster oil, jojoba oil and honey. I still spritz my hair with a little warm water, then put in the heated oil and let it sit under a plastic cap for at least an hour. I still shampoo with my H&S once. Its my conditioning routine that has changed.

Because I am not washing my hair weekly like I was while I was transitioning, I now deep condition every time I wash my hair, which is about every 2-3 weeks. Now, some people will think that's either too often, or not often enough, but here's why:

When I was transitioning I had to wash my hair weekly because it took a lot of product and work to get the finished product, so after a week, my hair was too weighted down by the products in my hair and my scalp itched sooo much I had to wash it, or co-wash it before changing styles for the next week. Now, if I didn't change styles, I could let it ride for more than a week, but most of the time my scalp was begging for a cleaning, so I cleaned it. Now that I'm 100% natural, not only do I not have as much product in my hair, but my scalp is not so much of an issue thanks to the oils and treatments I'm now using (tee-tree oil, H&S and daily moisturizing). So, when my scalp itches a lot in one day, or I see a couple of flakes, then I know its time to wash. But I don't have that many issue with flakes anymore...I find that interesting.

So, back to the routine. After washing, I condition with H&S itchy scalp conditioner and let that sit for about 5 minutes, then I deep condition, then detangle. It sounds like a lot, but it really isn't and it works well with my routine. I will say this, though: detangling take a lot more time and patience now that I'm all natural. Or maybe its just the patience that's bugging me. I'm quite heavy handed and I find myself taking even more care detangling now than when I was transitioning...which leads to more time spent detangling.

The other products I'm using are still the same. The Shea Moisture curl enhancing smoothie and eco styler gel. I did splurge and buy a small, but $22 worth, container of the Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding. I haven't popped the lid yet. Right now, its $22 worth of decor on my vanity. HA!

That's all for now folks. Be blessed!

Note: This post was created in October...and I forgot to post it. Oops

Product Review

Typically, I would follow the directions of many YouTubers that I have heard over the past few months in reference to doing product reviews, which is waiting until you have used the product more than once. Some even suggest using it for a month before doing a review because you can then tell how it would really work with and in your hair, body, gut...whatever the product may be. BUT, I am oh so excited about the results of my first use of this product that I just can't wait to use it again. Call me impatient but I gotta tell somebody!!!

Previously, I wrote that I was searching for alternatives to deal with my scalp itching so much and that one of the things I purchased was Head & Shoulder's Itchy Scalp Care. Well, I used it a couple of weeks ago and it was AMAZING! Not only was it amazing but my scalp didn't itch for four days after using it!!! This is a major feat people! I have washed my hair at 1 and would be digging in my scalp by 8, so to go beyond 24 hours is more than I expected.

So, what's the first thing I liked about this product? The Shampoo was creamy. Almost the consistency of some conditioners, like a lotion almost, and it felt like it was really working in my scalp as I was using it. I was a little disappointed because I expected a little tingle to take place and there was none. There is eucalyptus in the shampoo and conditioner and that's supposed to be one of the ingredients that's really helpful to your scalp, but I also thought it would make me feel a little something....it didn't. Then I went to use the conditioner which was creamier than the shampoo and I really expected the conditioner to be as creamy as the shampoo, not creamier, but that was a good thing and as soon as I started massaging that into my hair & scalp...HELLO TINGLE! It was refreshing and felt really good. If I could have sat for hours with that conditioner on my head I would have (lol). My head loved the product and I'm going to use it again....and again...and again.

Also, in my alternative post I mentioned that I bought tea tree oil, as some people had advised me that it was also good for dealing with itchy scalp issues from a number of causes. Not knowing what actually causes my itchy scalp, other than the possibility of eczema, which I have on other parts of my body, I thought that maybe that would help too. Well, I have been using that for a little while now and I can't really tell a difference in my scalp from that alone. I'm sure it is benefiting my scalp in other ways (that I haven't looked into yet) but for the purpose of healing my itchy scalp issues, it hasn't proven itself to be something that would work on its own. I have, however, added it to my pre-poo hot oil treatment container as well as my moisture spritz that I use on my hair during the week. I do happen to love the smell. I don't know why, but the medicinal aroma it has is pleasing to me.

That's all I have for today. I plan to do a growth post in the near future because I have a lot of hair on my head! This no heat-reduced manipulation-treating my hair good thing is proving to have great results. Who knows, if I had put more effort into these kinds of things while I was processed I may have had a completely different experience over the last five or six years....but oh well. I'm not going back!

EPIC Haul!!!

Okay, this month has been a very busy one. With me doing some much needed things for myself both mentally and physically as well as getting back in the swing of being back in the swing of many things. So I am, of course, excited to be doing some of the things that I am doing (it really doesn't take much to please me, lol) and I also took some time to participate in some much appreciated (whether or not it was "needed" is yet to be seen) RETAIL THERAPY!

For those of you who were not aware, Bath and Body Works's Semi Annual Sale was this past month, in fact, it ended July 3rd. They have this sale twice a year, in June and December, and this is the time that I avail myself to stocking up on their anti-bacterial hand soaps for my bathrooms. So I walked into BBW with the intention to buy "hand soap." I picked up the mesh shopping bag to load it up with "hand soap." Then....I looked around me at the massive display of all things 75% OFF and in the "Hello, Goodbye" containers to see that many of the fragrances that I liked were on sale either because they were discontinuing them or because they were changing the packaging of the product. Either way, I couldn't beat the deals! I loaded up on shower gels, hand soaps, some of the fragrance oils that you can heat up in the little devices with a tea light (I have no idea what they are called). Long story short, I got a lot of stuff. Five trips in three weeks and seven BBW bags later and this was the end result:

   As you can see, I have

much more lotions and shower gels than hand soap.........But I can pretty much promise that I won't be going back to BBW for quite some time. I'm even considering giving away these coupons I earned while shopping....CONSIDERING! They would have to be used before 7/29, so we'll see.

Next in my retail therapy escapade was a trip to Lane Bryant. There, I stuck to my guns. For those who shop there you are very much aware that LB tends to be a tad bit overpriced and, while the clothes do tend to be long-lasting and of decent quality, trips there are better left few and far between and specified to the sale racks. Well, this time, I went specifically looking for shorts, which I haven't bought or worn in about 8 years, and tanks because the tanks were on sale and I love using them as a pop of color to my strapless sundresses. I walked out with 3 pairs of shorts and 4 tanks. Job well done!



Then, there was a trip to the outlets. Including my 5th and final trip into BBW (they had an abundance of the White Citrus shower gel that other stores had sold out of), I picked up these wonderful items:

First were these cute little babies from Adidas! I needed some new walking/workout shoes and these were on sale at an unbeatable price and they have a little bit of purple in the color scheme. Although my favorite color is blue, nothing with blue was on sale at a price that could beat these bad boys!



Next were these cuties from Nine West. Now, I must admit, these were not what I initially went in there for, but they didn't have my size in the grey (which they called black) and upon rationalizing that I have no natural toned shoes that I could wear in the colder months, I scooped these up and they are adorable! I must give myself kudos for waiting for my payday to get these also because they had gone down another $10 in price when I went back to get them.



Then there were these little puppies from Charlotte Russe. I must admit, I am not a Russe shopper and only, typically, go into the store for their accessories (I also got some earrings for $4) but I had been watching these shoes for about 4 months and finally decided to buy them and was able to get them at less than half off!!! Yay me!

Last, but certainly not least, I attended the CD Celebration Concert for my friend Derek Dunn and I purchased his sophomore project entitled "Relationship" (available on iTunes). The music is awesome and Derek is an anointed minister and amazing vocalist.

That is the end of my haul and the finale of a wonderful Fourth of July weekend! Needless to say, I won't be doing much more shopping in the near future, but it was certainly fun while it lasted!



Searching For Alternatives

My scalp itches like crazy often and needs frequent moisture or lubrication. What I have found is that there are many naturals who are oh so adamantly anti grease and, while I am not, I am open to trying alternatives to see how my head responds to them. Typically, I will use Sulfur 8 regular or light formula on my scalp or the Parvaneu tee tree oil grease formula.  All three of those products would be used 2-3 times a week (not together) to keep my scalp from driving me to digging in it with my nails.

Yesterday, I started using tee tree oil on my scalp. Just the oil. Not a petroleum/petrolatum based product, just oil.  I can already tell that using it will be a daily regimen because I had to use it today as well and I am still having some itching issues. From what I have heard the benefits of tee tree oil are, it may help resolve some of my scalp issues for good. But nothing is instantaneous, so I am willing to dedicate a month to this product and see how my scalp responds to it.

I recently bought the Head & Shoulders Itchy Scalp Care  shampoo & conditioner. Like I said, I'm open to alternatives.  While this is not a product that was recommended to me by any other naturals, I have had great success with using H&S while I was processed and, if it doesn't work for me, I can always give it to my brother because that's all he uses to wash his hair, so that won't be so bad.

Like I said, my search for alternatives will continue. It takes me forever to go through grease & I can honestly say that I haven't purchased any grease in over 3 years, so if either the tee tree oil or the Head & Shoulders work, or even if they don't, I haven't hurt anything by trying.  Honestly, I would dare say that if people were washing their hair as often as they should & co-washing or clarifying on a regular basis (which I have yet to do) the issue that many naturals have regarding greases wouldn't be an issue at all.  Maybe I'm wrong, but grease hasn't done me a bit of wrong in all its years of being used on my head.

Twist Out Triumph!!

Oh my goodness!  I am so excited!!! Today, I have had/discovered my first successful twist out of my transitioning journey. I have attempted twist outs or curly twist/braid outs before and they failed amazingly.

Here's one to the left. I had hair with twist & curl but it was a frizzy mess of a fro-like bush.  Even the jacked up flat twist or cornrow (whatever that thing is) to the side couldn't save it. The results I had, of course, did not make me excited about trying it again and I was a little upset at finding that I was only going to be able to rock roller/rod sets or flat ironed hair.  Considering my desire to reduce my heat usage, that was not good news for me.  As the months have gone by I have found ways to experiment and vary my roller/rod sets so it wasn't the same thing over and over again, and in doing that, I gained some other skills...like learning how to flat twist.

So, a couple of days ago, after my having to co-wash out the Herbal Essences feeling in my hair, I opted to twist my hair instead of rolling it right away because I really had nowhere to go that I couldn't throw a hat on my head and go. When I decided to take the twists out, I was happy to have a much more attractive look to my hair...it didn't resemble a bush, thanks to the additional nappy growth.  But I still felt like something was missing.  Like if I added something to my prep work my hair would look like it had some life.  Using the setting lotion I have on hand did not make it lively at all.

Targe' to the rescue!  I drove my life-challenged twist-out to Target and spent quite some time looking at the natural hair products they had available.  I had 2 requirements for my search: 1: I wanted a cream-based product; 2: It needed to be a product that did more than just define curls.  I hadn't narrowed for myself what that "more" would be, but purchasing a product with 1 function was not my goal.

I went specifically looking for the Kinky Curly Curling Custard.  Why? Because just about everyone uses it and I haven't heard many poor reviews of it, so of course, I want to first examine what seemed to work for everyone else. The second product I looked at was the Taliah Waajid....and I'm totally spacing on the name of her loc gel, but she has two.  One is regular hold and the other is a tight hold.  Well, both of these are gel based products. I have gel, a big bucket of it. I don't need anymore gel. So I look further down the aisle and see the Shea Moisture line.  Now, let me say, I have not heard so many good things about the Shea Moisture line in general.  Certainly not when being compared to the KC line of products, but when taking into account that I wanted a cream-based product, that was reasonably priced and of all the products available, only one was cream based, Shea Moisture's Curl Enhancing Smoothie won the product battle. So, having used that, here is today's twist out result:

All I can say is THANK GOODNESS!!!! Now I have another style in my pocket!! Woo hoo!!!

Hello...Goodbye

The short version of this post is this: Herbal Essences Hello Hydration is NOT for me!!!!

The long version: Keep reading...

I am learning my hair...and its exciting me! I used to think that it was a little...weird to hear people say that they were masters of their hair.  Of course they  should be since it is, after all, on their head. I mean, who else would master it?! But after a few months on this journey, I can say it is quite real. If that makes me weird I guess I can just add that to a pretty long list.

As I am sure I stated in my product haul post, I have not bought many new products because I am determined to use what I have in stock already first.  Save the Herbal Essences, ORS deep conditioner, I have not bought any new shampoo or conditioner products.  So, what I have been using weekly to wash my hair has been an EVOO pre-poo, either overnight or for a few hours prior to washing, and the Dove Intensive Repair line of shampoo and conditioner.  Using this regimen has left my hair feeling healthy and...supple.  When I used the Hello Hydration this past weekend, still doing a pre-poo treatment, I could tell before washing the shampoo from my hair that the line was not for me.  My hair felt stringy and dry, even though it was saturated with product and water.  It didn't feel much better after using the conditioner either so I styled my hair as needed for the weekend, but later in the week, I co-washed to get it back to itself.  I don't know what I'm going to do with the product. I could use the conditioner on my dog (seriously, I used to condition her with Thermasilk) and it would be great for her fur, but I have almost a whole bottle of shampoo left. Oh well, I guess, but that is precisely why I was determined not to purchase new products willy nilly as soon as I started.

Product Haul!

So this is my first haul post! I'm kind of excited to have the chance to do one. I'm sure there will be many others as time goes on. These are all products that I have purchased, with my own money, within the last two months. I am not being paid to review any of these products (I've heard/read other people say this...figured I'd throw it in for good measure).  I haven't used all of the products yet, so I will only be speaking on what I have used so far and I will list the rest.


Passion Fruit Curl Control Paste sculpting shine pomade by Curls

How can I put this nicely?  I hated it!!! It felt like gunk on my ends when I used it on a roller set and it felt gunky on my edges when I used it to smooth them down. I don't know how I feel about the smell either. It has a sweet smell to it, but it also smells a little plastic.  Had I known it was going to feel like that, I would not have spent the money to buy it.  Having said that, because I did spend $11 on it, I am going to hold on to it until after I do my BC to see how it holds up against strictly natural hair.  My processed hair can be a little fickle and also because it is so thin and damaged in some areas, it doesn't respond well to some products. So, all hope is not lost for this product...but I won't be using it for a couple of months.

The Tangle Teaser

I fell into the hype. Something I often try not to do, and bought this tool because I heard so many people rave about how well it worked on their transitioning hair.  That was music to my ears as someone who spends a lot of time detangling and trying not to break and damage hair that is already fragile.  So, I went shopping for it...it took a trip to three different Sally's before I was able to find one.  The verdict....loved it!!! It does a great job detangling which is what it is supposed to do.  I do have the same issue that some others have had when detangling in the shower with it slipping/flying out of my hand, but other than that, Love it.  What I have ended up doing is using my big tooth comb for shower detangling and the tangle teaser when I'm detangling after I'm done washing my hair.

Eco Styler Gel with Olive Oil

I finally bought it, after not even knowing it existed and it has a really good hold! I was surprised to find that, at least where I bought mine, there was no Eco Styler w/Olive Oil that had a softer hold.  All the containers available had the max hold of 10.  That's okay though, because I do have another Eco brand gel that I have used for years that has a softer hold of 7.  So that just means I'll be using both products depending on the style. I was surprised at how well and how quickly the Eco w/Olive Oil brought out the curls of my natural hair!  I currently have my hair slicked back on the sides, pulled to the back in a ponytail with a roller set on top (a variation of a style I saw on Youtube by prettydimples).  I used the Eco w/olive oil to slick the hair back and in some parts had to pull out the brush to de-accentuate the curls!  I've seen people use just the Eco on the youtube vids, but never thought it would happen that fast on my hair...wrong! I'm not complaining, I'm looking forward to the wash & go's I will do after I BC.

The other items I bought were little $0.99 testers of Palmers Olive Oil Formula Gro Therapy and ORS Olive Oil Moisturizing Hair Lotion.  I have yet to use either of these products because I don't want to mix up regimens so I can get a true reading on what does and doesn't work on my hair after long periods of use.  I have oil and tee tree oil treated sleep cap also. I haven't used that yet because I was sleeping in rollers for a few nights. I also bought a little spray bottle that was just too cute (and had a blue top). If its blue I gotta buy it!

Currently, I am using Herbal Essences Hello Hydration shampoo and conditioner.  I think I like my Dove Intensive Repair better for what it does for my hair. My hair comes out feeling softer after using Dove vs "doing the Herbal." I'm not going to toss them, I'll probably be out of the conditioner in a couple of co washes because I have to use a lot to get the job done when detangling and I bought the smaller bottles (they were like 2 for $5 on sale at Target).  I'm also using ORS Hair Fertilizer, though not as often as it says you should simply because I have been doing roller sets and the less you fuss with that, the better. So I am going to use continue to use that for a few months before trying the Palmer's gro therapy so I can make an true determination of which product works better.  For shine I've been using ORS Nature's Shine. I got a tester of it during a natural hair seminar/gathering and loved the results I got after using it for about 2 weeks so I bought the real deal....$5.

I do grease my scalp. I know there are many naturals who are opposed to this but as I have dry skin & scalp issues as well as some eczema issues, I use Sulfur 8 Light on my hair very lightly. I don't plop it in like a salve, but I do need that for my scalp. When I don't use it or even the Bronner Bros. extra lite I have severe itching and flaking...and that's just not attractive.

So I think that's it for this product haul. I'm still enjoying the journey and learning to be more daring and experiment with my hair more. Go me! Until next time...PEACE!